Paul Jones

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

Minny ranks fourth in the NBA in second-chance points.

Not exactly the calm before the storm but Monday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves is one the Toronto Raptors almost have to win.

Just look at the upcoming schedule and you'll see why the contest against the West's worst team is such an important game for the Raptors. A victory puts them one game above the .500 level before home games against Utah and Denver and then a back-to-back with the teams they are chasing in the standings, Sunday in Miami and Monday night in Charlotte. As it stands right now, all three teams are tied in the loss column with 34 defeats.

I promised you this on Sunday, compliments of John Rusin, ace stat man on the Raptors broadcast crew: Toronto has 14 games remaining on the schedule with seven of those games at home and seven on the road. Of those games, seven are against teams with a .500 or better record. Miami has 13 games left with four at home and nine on the road but as it stands right now, only two of their opponents have a record of .500 or better. And finally, Charlotte has 12 games remaining with eight of them at home and four contests against teams with a record above .500.

It looks like the Raptors have the toughest road to the sixth spot right now, but it all depends on how they are playing and another win always gives the team a shot of confidence heading for the next contest.

That is why the game against Minnesota is an important one for Toronto.

By the way Raptor fans, let's go against the old Satchel Paige quote that says, "Don't look back, someone might be gaining on you" and take a look at the Chicago Bulls' remaining schedule. The Bulls have 13 games left with eight at home and five on the road with nine of their foes being above .500.

One of the keys for Toronto in Minnesota will be its defence (no kidding, huh?) and pushing the ball as the Timberwolves are last in the NBA in turnovers. Minnesota coughs up the ball over 16 times a game, more than any team in the NBA, which has allowed the opposition to score more points off turnovers against Minnesota than any other team in the league. That's a bad combination for the T-Wolves and the Raptors have to take advantage of that trend. Toronto will have to hang onto Jonny Flynn who is fifth in rookie scoring and as head coach Jay Triano says, can make plays that get everyone involved and brings fans out of their seats.

Something to keep an eye on is Minnesota's rebounding. The Timberwolves are fourth in the NBA in rebounding, third in offensive rebounding and rank fourth in the NBA in second-chance points. In short, Toronto better rebound well.

For those of you that watch the game at a different level, keep an eye on Minnesota's offence. The T-Wolves, under rookie head coach Kurt Rambis, are operating out of the vaunted triple-post offence -- aka, the triangle offence. It doesn't look nearly the same as it did in Los Angeles or Chicago, but if the front office is going to stick with Rambis and let him grow with the team, then there is time for them to learn it and hopefully master it. It is, however, an offence that depends on ball movement and reads based on what the defence does, which makes it more suited for a veteran team and one with a good one-on-one player in the post area and the wing. If it happens to be the same guy, like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, a coach has it made. Maybe that's where some of Minny's turnovers are coming from right now.

The "triangle" also forces the defences to be aware because of ball and player movement. We'll see how Toronto reacts to it. And from the sounds of it, assistant coach Alex English says, if guys aren't doing the job, they will find themselves on the bench. English, one of the NBA's all-time greats, says that the two-part motivational tool consisting of a player's butt and the team bench will be used if needed.

"I remember having that meeting with John Wooden," English said. "The great equalizer was his bench and if you are not doing the job you come sit down."

But can you do it 68 games into the season?

"Of course it does," English said when asked if benching a player at this point in the season will still work. "We're going into a new season if we make the playoffs, it's a different season and every team in the playoffs is focused on every little element. And if we are going to be a good team in the playoffs, we have to be the same way."

OK, so is this a harbinger of things to come or just a coincidence? We'll tell you after the Minny game. The Raptors get on the bus to head to shoot-around Monday morning and the bus driver can't move the bus. Why? The door is stuck and can't close. He fiddles with it for a while and when it's discovered that the bus can't go, the equipment manager and travel secretary, Kevin DiPietro, walks out onto the street and starts hailing taxi cabs. The coaching staff gets off and starts the walk to the Target Centre.

They eventually all get there, do their time with the media and get out on the court for practice. For the record, the front-end of the bus was up and ready to be towed when we arrived back at the hotel from practice. Hopefully the replacement is ready to go Monday night to get the team to the arena on time.