A Brief Insight on Toronto Raptors Standings in NBA Games

It's no secret that the Toronto Raptors have been struggling through this condensed 2012 NBA season. With a record of 4-10, the Toronto Raptors are currently sitting in 4th place in their division, and 29th overall in points per game. The recent loss of Andrea Bargnani has not helped the Raptors case at all, as they have lost their last 5 games in a row. Without Bargnani to compliment his performance, DeMar DeRozan has fallen out of the spotlight and his number and shooting percentage have dipped considerably as he draws more attention from opposition defence. For the Raptors to snap this five game losing streak, DeMar DeRozan needs to realize his potential and step up with a great performance.

Dwane Casey's story so far this year has continued to circle around "learning opportunities," and for the Raptors to realize their mistakes and grow from them. In the past few games, they have not capitalized on offensive opportunities, and they have been forcing shots by racing the clock. To be successful, the Toronto Raptors need to get back the defensive mentality they were demonstrating early in the season, which in turn gave them the confidence to perform offensively. It is definitely a cliché, but to be successful you must start at the base and work your way up, and being strong on defense was working for the Raptors early on. The problem with the Toronto Raptors is that for the past few years they have been plagued with inconsistency. Although Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan have been playing better for the Toronto Raptors, they are still too inconsistent for the Raptors to maintain a winning streak.  Especially with Bargnani hobbled, depth players like Leandro Barbosa and Rasual Butler will need to chip in on the offensive end.

Other concerns involve the young core comprising of DeMar DeRozan, Jerryd Bayless, Ed Davis, and James Johnson. These young players were to be the upcoming core from which the Raptors were to build from, but judging from their performance thus far it is difficult to determine whether they will be the contributors they were made out to be.  Ed Davis especially should look to take advantage of the starts he is receiving with Bargnani's absence.  Although the Toronto Raptors are undoubtedly inconsistent, they definitely seem like a better and more comfortable team with the presence of Andrea Bargnani, so getting him back in the lineup as soon as possible will be important to the Raptors performance.  He is currently listed as day-to-day with the calm injury however; the concern rests with the fact that this is the same injury that had Bargnani miss time last season.  Raptor fans have to hope that this does not become a chronic injury for the Italian big man.

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