Revamped Raptors Giving Nets a Run for Atlantic

The Nets are finally showing signs of life. A 6–2 stretch has lifted them out of the doldrums and back into the Titanic Division race, and with Jason Kidd looking strangely rejuvenated by his now public divorce proceedings and Richard Jefferson appearing less gimpy on his troublesome ankle, the Nets might romp to the division title everyone expected before the season, after all.

For now, however, there's still a little fly in the ointment — and it's called the Toronto Raptors. Though little was expected of this team before the season, it entered Tuesday 's games percentage points ahead of the Nets in the standings. Moreover, the Raps' record looks more impressive once you consider a few factors.

Although Toronto still must travel to the dreaded Texas Triangle of San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas, it plays 25 of 43 remaining games north of the border, and 31 of those games will be against the felines of the East rather than the lions of the West. In contrast, the Nets play 26 of their final 44 contests away from the Swamp, including a West Coast swing and a trip to the same dreaded Texas Triangle.

Additionally, the Raptors have already survived a major injury, splitting 12 games while Bosh was out with an injured knee. Since his return, the team has been even better, going 4–3 — two of the losses were close shaves to the nearinvincible Mavs and Suns. (A onesided loss to the Nets was their only bad game in that stretch.)

Indeed, the Raps are playing better now than before because they've revamped their offensive strategy. Toronto began the season with plans to play an up-tempo game similar to that of the Phoenix Suns. What it learned was how hard it is to play that style when you lack great offensive players. Toronto succeeded mostly in forcing long jumpers near the start of the shot clock, and then abandoned the strategy fairly early in the season — but not before sputtering to a 2–8 start.

But this isn't necessarily Toronto's ceiling. The Raptors are likely to improve as the year goes on, as many of their players get on-the-job training. An obvious example is no. 1 overall draft pick Andrea Bargnani, whose play has already improved since the start of the season. Toronto's "veterans" have a learning curve, too: Jorge Garbajosa and Anthony Parker both played in Europe in the past several years. Point guard Jose Calderon and forward Joey Graham are second-year pros, and point guard T.J. Ford is 23 and still developing. Even Chris Bosh, who is already an All-Star at a mere 22, improves every week.

All of which makes the Raptors a serious threat to rain on the Nets' parade. Which is surprising considering nobody much feared the Raptors heading into the season. The team was among the dregs of the East last season. Yet one year later, they appear on pace to a near .500 record and, possibly, a division crown.

You can thank the new management. Under team president Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors have employed a strategy that both Rod Thorn and Isiah Thomas could learn a lot from. Rather than use his cap space to pursue the glitziest signing, as Thomas would have done, Colangelo spread it among several less heralded players to fortify his depth. And instead of crossing his fingers for healthy players, as Thorn essentially did last summer, Colangelo got his team to the point where it's twodeep at every position and virtually immune to injury — as recently demonstrated by solid play during absences by Bosh and Ford.

Still, this strategy would have failed if Colangelo hadn't simultaneously pursued another goal: vastly improving the team's defense.

Colangelo recognized interior defense was a serious problem and endeavored to fix it even if it meant taking on salary. Along those lines, he traded forwards Eric Williams and Matt Bonner to San Antonio for big man Rasho Nesterovic, exchanging two expiring contracts for an overpaid slice of beef, but allowing the rail-thin Bosh to avoid nightly beatings in the middle.

The second plank in Colangelo's strategy was spending some of the club's free agent cash on veteran forward Garbajosa. His smarts and toughness at the defensive end have proven invaluable. As a result, the Raptors are harder to score against in the paint, and thus have made a quantum leap on the defensive charts. Using my Defensive Efficiency statistic, which measures a team's points allowed per 100 opponent possessions, they're at 15th this season up from 29th a year ago.

A couple other moves helped round out the roster. First, Colangelo split the rest of his cash on two wing players, Anthony Parker and Fred Jones, deepening an area where the Raptors were short of bodies. Then, he sent a promising forward, Charlie Villanueva, to Milwaukee for Ford, while allowing holdover point guard Mike James to depart as a free agent. James had a career year last season while Villanueva was second in Rookie of the Year voting, so some wondered if Colangelo had a screw loose. But James has struggled this year, and Villanueva has missed most of the campaign with a shoulder injury. Ford, meanwhile, has blossomed. He is the Raps' no. 2 scorer.

So when you look at the standings in the next few months, understand that Toronto's position is largely the result of outmaneuvering both local clubs this past summer. And despite New Jersey's hot streak, Colangelo's sharp decision making has the Raptors in position to do something that would make their fans' dreams come true — send Vince Carter to the lottery.

jhollinger@nysun.com