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"I thought we had good looks," said Raptors head coach Jay Triano. "They changed up their coverages, but I thought we had the right guys shooting the basketball. What are you gonna do?"

"We've gotta try to finish the games, try to play for a full game," said Calderon. "We've been talking about that all season. We did a much better job today, but we just couldn't finish. We missed some shots, and (there were) some turnovers."

"I'm not going to take the ball out of his hands (Turkoglu)," said Triano. "He's a guy who has made plays in the past, and he feels as bad about it as anybody. We do it again and we give him the basketball. He's a guy who can make plays for people."

"When Arenas and Jamison got it going a bit, we had to bring a guy over to help," Triano said. "And when you bring a guy over to help, you're in a tough spot for rebounding on the weak side. We got the help we needed, we got the stop we wanted, but you're susceptible to offensive rebounds."

"They gave me the ball when they needed it and I lost the ball that was a really big-time for us," Turkoglu said. "It just slipped out of my hands. I really don't have much to say about it.

"I've been in that situation a lot in my life. I've had game winners and I've had shots that didn't go in and we lose the game. You learn from those and don't do the same mistakes in the next situation."

At least they're not the New Jersey Nets.

It might not be much, but after a spectacular 146-115 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, fans of the struggling Toronto Raptors need something in which to take solace. Right now, the comparison to the Nets might be the only comfort.

The Raptors' losing streak is at five games and they have lost eight of their last 10. But the loss to the Hawks was especially tough in that it proved beyond any doubt (if there was any left) there is no "D" in the Raps' defence. Some players have begun to point fingers at head coach Jay Triano.

According to a report in the Toronto Star, several Raptors would like more accountability for defensive miscues.

"Every time something happens it's always, 'It's okay, it's all right.' It's not all right," guard Jarrett Jack told the Star. "Problems go by without attacking them or challenging them or bringing them to the forefront and getting them solved. We can't keep keep putting them to the back of the bus and just saying, 'That's okay.' It's not all right.

"Everybody can't walk on eggshells around here and say, 'We're playing good basketball.' We're not."

Jack was not the only player to speak out.

"You've got to address (the defensive issues) and you've got to show people on tape. It's not personal. If you want to win, you're going to have to make some sacrifices," Antoine Wright told the newspaper.

The Hawks used the Raptors' shoddy defence jumpstart their offence. Atlanta had not scored over 90 points in three of their last four games and the game where they topped 90 was a win against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team riding an eight-game losing streak.

Atlanta's point totals over their previous four games are as follows 88 (loss at New Orleans), 76 (loss to Orlando), 100 (win at Philadelphia) and 88 (loss at Detroit).

"We didn't magically appear last on the charts defensively," Chris Bosh told reporters. "Defensive effort hasn't been there for a while. ... I mean, tonight was just a total embarrassment."

Coming into this season the Raptors were not pretending to be a strong defensive team. Their offseason additions all were - save for Reggie Evans - offence-minded players. And Evans, out with a foot injury, has been missed, but he is not going to turn the team around by himself next time he takes to the court.

As it stands, the Raptors sit fourth in the NBA in points per game (105.3), but are second-last in points surrendered (111.0). If the trend continues, the math just won't add up to a winning season.

Bosh, who becomes a free agent at season's end, believes it is an issue of team pride.

"We've got to care about it," he said following the loss in Atlanta. "That's what it comes down to. Have some pride. Without that pride teams just score at will, like [the Hawks] did tonight.

"The past few games we have been outworked in every aspect. We don't get on the ground. We don't consistently get rebounds. We give up a lot of points in the paint. No coverage is good for us. I mean it's just not a good team."

Raptors grapple with communication breakdowns
Dave Feschuck Sports Reporter
2009/12/04 12:34:53

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Raptors held an hour-long team meeting on Friday morning to discuss key issues affecting their down-spiralling season.

Among the topics on the agenda: The need for better communication between the players from North America and the ones from Europe.

"A lot of times we let the simple things – a guy being from Italy – make the decision on whether you want to talk to that guy, or to the next guy," said Antoine Wright, the California-born reserve swingman. "If we want to win, we need to talk to each other. (The meeting) did a good job in addressing that problem."

Feschuk: Communication problems btwn Euros, Americans?

Not everybody in the room sees it the same way. Jack, a product of Maryland, pointed out that he has a fine relationship with Marco Belinelli, the Italian guard. It helps that they share the same agent.

"I say some things in Italian now that I didn't know before. My number 1 thing for him, because he's got, like, 8 per cent or 9 per cent body fat, so I call him ciccione - it means fatboy, in Italian. (Bargnani) taught me (to say) hoodie, that's a capuccio. I'm getting there."
.....

"Other guys got a chance to step up today and I don't think anybody really did," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "It came down to not being able to get stops. We had matchup problems all night long."

The Huge ha scritto:Ma Wright si riferisce a Gherardini?

"Coach is coaching us differently now. He's pointing out guys on tape and just holding guys accountable," said Wright. "And you can see other guys getting on guys."

Wright said Hedo Turkoglu, the soft-spoken forward, has even raised his voice.

"(Turkoglu) has been very vocal these last couple of days about what he wants from (Andrea) Bargnani and what he wants from (Marco) Belinelli. That's just been helping us a lot. Turks is talking. ... We need him to get those guys on track when we can't connect with 'em," said Wright.

The division Wright spoke of – he and other American-born Raptors have referred to the club's European players as "those guys," among other descriptors – is real, but not unworkable. And there are those who continue to reach out. On Monday, as practice was winding down, Italy's Belinelli swapped soccer kicks with Memphis's Sonny Weems

DanDan ha scritto:Ultimissime, dichiarazione shock di Bargnani su ESPN :

"I think that Antoine - Wright the California-born reserve swingman - is a scarpone with square hands. He can't wash my shoes and he talks to the journalist...mah"





(magari)

DanDan ha scritto:Ultimissime, dichiarazione shock di Bargnani su ESPN :

"I think that Antoine - Wright the California-born reserve swingman - is a scarpone with square hands. He can't wash my shoes and he talks to the journalist...mah"





(magari)