Balzac

I know the Raptors are only giving up about 95 points a game, but it is quite misleading. The Raptors only score about 96 points a game, so that's just a +1 difference. A high scoring team would, naturally, give up more points purely because of the game's tempo. It doesn't mean that they are inferior defensively.

For those of you who think defense is not an issue: Do you honestly have faith that a lineup of Bosh, Bargnani, Moon, Parker, Calderon can stop anyone in crunch time? We saw Lebron completely demolish the defense. We saw Chauncey Billups dominate Calderon for an entire game. We saw Rasheed Wallace drain 3 after 3. I have no faith in this team, collectively, to stop the opposition when it's down to the wire.

Don't look at the stats. Think back to all the games you've watched this season. How many times have you seen Bargnani out of position? How many times have you seen Mitchell call a time-out after a blown assignment? To me, there are only two good defenders on this team. One is Parker, the other is Delfino. The rest are either average or incompetent. Some of you would say that Moon is also a good defender. But anyone who is so over zealous and gets faked out that easily is not a good defender.

The 3 point shooting is not an issue. The Raps are still leading the league in 3pt %. I agree, however, that the ball movement we saw last season has been a rarity so far.