Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

Happy New Year folks!!

The 2009 calendar year ended on a good note for the Toronto Raptors as they won their fifth straight game Wednesday night with a 107-103 defeat of the Charlotte Bobcats. It was one of those wins that came despite all the numbers that you usually point to Toronto wins. The Raptors did not hold the Bobcats under 100 points, Raptors are 12-0 when they achieve this, they did not keep Charlotte under 45% from the floor, which they have done in 14 games this season to yield an 11-3 record, but they won it on effort.

There are a couple of plays that come to mind. The initial one happened in the first quarter when Chris Bosh went head first toward the Charlotte bench to keep the ball in bounds and it led to a score at the other end. Then late in the game with Toronto holding on to a one point lead, Bargnani did a good job of defending Raymond Felton, who had a fantastic night, and got help from Jarrett Jack. The ball is knocked loose and Antoine Wright gets on the floor after it, secures the ball, and calls a timeout to keep the possession alive. Following the time out, Andrea Bargnani knocks down a three-point goal that sealed the game on a great decision and pass out of the double team by Chris Bosh.

Need more evidence that the team is hustling? How about Marco Belinelli with three steals and I sure would have loved to have seen the number of deflections recorded not just by Belinelli but by the entire team as they forced Charlotte into 23 turnovers and converted them into 33 points. Toronto outrebounded Charlotte 16-7 in the final quarter and for the game posted 17 offensive rebounds outscoring the Bobcats 20-9 in second chance points. They did all of this without Hedo Turkoglu who had a right knee contusion and did not play in the second half.

Head coach Jay Triano commented on his team applying more defensive pressure on the ball, something that had been missing early in the season. OK folks, just a little basketball 101 here on the defensive end. There are three essential parts to defence that all need attention. 1) Pressure on the ball and having the ball handler on one side of the floor 2) Denial of a player who is one pass away from the ball and forcing the catch a little farther out on the floor to take a shooter out of range and increase the distance on a drive to the hoop and 3) Proper positioning on the help side. Principle number three doesn't happen without number one and point number two is useless without the pressure.

Toronto applied more pressure Wednesday night and has been doing so for the last little while. Charlotte came into the contest ranked 30th, dead last, in the NBA in turnovers but Toronto's pressure must have had something to do with the 23 miscues last night. With so much concentration on defensive positioning early in the year, there was, at times, only token pressure on the ball. How much does pressuring, yet containing the ball handler disrupt an offence? Just ask any football quarterback. If he has all day he can eventually pick out a receiver and defensively, even the most average of defensive backs is better when he only has to cover for a limited time.

It was also nice to see Toronto showing more grittiness. For the second straight game Toronto showed some resiliency, and a willingness to put an index finger on an opponent's chest and say "nah, you got to take some back." It happened against Detroit and it went down again last night and it is a good sign. If Toronto doesn't jump in the faces and talk back when they play some of the "lesser lights" around the NBA, then it sure as heck isn't just going to just materialize out of the blue against Boston, Cleveland, or the Los Angeles Lakers.

Marcus Banks was in the middle of it again, pushing Gerald Wallace to the floor trying to box him out as Banks continues to show he is unwilling to back down. Now, is it just me, or is Gerald Wallace one of those guys that goes after it at both ends of the floor always willing to dish it out but is very reluctant to "take some back" as he flops conveniently at times? Just wonderin'?

So it's five wins in a row and an 11-5 record at home. Let's see what kind of effort is expended in January, particularly over the next three games against some of the NBA big boys, Boston, San Antonio and Orlando. The upcoming month will see Toronto with an even split of home and road games and with recent play a chance to be above the .500 mark as they head to February.

To those that have been regulars contacting me with questions via e-mail. We'll start to publish some of those in the New Year with the answers. Happy New Year to all and may 2010 bring you all you hope it will.