2009–10 Toronto Raptors season

2009–10 Toronto Raptors season
Head coach Jay Triano
Owner(s) Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Arena Air Canada Centre
Results
Record 4042 (.488)
Place Division: 2nd (Atlantic)
Conference: 9th (Eastern)
Playoff finish Did not qualify

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television Rogers Sportsnet, Raptors NBA TV, TSN, TSN2, The Score, CBLT-DT
Radio CJCL

The 2009–10 Toronto Raptors season was the 15th season of the Canadian franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Raptors were the busiest team in preseason transactions, replacing the previous season's entire roster with the exception of Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, José Calderón, Patrick O'Bryant and Marcus Banks. Although the Raptors were chasing the fourth playoff seed at one point, they capitulated after the All-Star break, and eventually lost the eighth and final playoff spot to Chicago.

Roster

Toronto Raptors roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G 3 United States Banks, Marcus (IN) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) UNLV
F/C 7 Italy Bargnani, Andrea 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Italy
G/F 0 Italy Belinelli, Marco 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Italy
F 4 United States Bosh, Chris  (IN) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Georgia Tech
G 8 Spain Calderón, José 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Spain
G/F 10 United States DeRozan, DeMar 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Southern California
F/C 14 United States Dorsey, Joey (IN) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 268 lb (122 kg) Memphis
F 30 United States Evans, Reggie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Iowa
G 1 United States Jack, Jarrett 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Georgia Tech
F 15 United States Johnson, Amir 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Westchester High School (LA)
C 12 Slovenia Nesterović, Rasho 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Slovenia
C 13 United States O'Bryant, Patrick 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Bradley
F 26 Turkey Türkoğlu, Hedo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Turkey
G/F 24 United States Weems, Sonny 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Arkansas
G/F 21 United States Wright, Antoine 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Texas A&M
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Summary

Preseason

Türkoğlu was brought in for his playmaking and scoring abilities

The Raptors entered the 2009–10 NBA season in a state of flux: they had failed to qualify for the 2009 NBA Playoffs; it was Jay Triano's first full season in charge; and there was much uncertainty over the futures of perennial All-Star and captain Chris Bosh (who was into the final year of his contract), as well as Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker, both of whom could possibly become free agents before the season began. The roster shakeup began on 9 June 2009, when three-point specialist Jason Kapono ended his two-year tenure with the Raptors, and was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the aggressive veteran forward Reggie Evans.[1] Toronto then drafted DeMar DeRozan with the ninth pick, enabling them to fill a spot on the wings.[2] The other major roster change came in the form of signing free agent Hedo Türkoğlu; this led to a sign-and-trade agreement involving four teams, with Toronto landing Devean George (who was later traded for Marco Belinelli) and Antoine Wright, while trading Marion, Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai.[3] Around the same time, Parker signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Indiana point guard Jarrett Jack was signed to back up José Calderón and former Raptor Radoslav Nesterović was brought back to the fold. Finally, Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukić were moved to the Milwaukee Bucks for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.[4] It became increasingly clear that Colangelo, in securing a credible nucleus for the future, was doing this to persuade Bosh to stay.[5]

Regular season

The starting line-up for most of the 2009–10 season: Bargnani (centre), Bosh (power forward), Türkoğlu (small forward), DeRozan (shooting guard) and Calderón (point guard)

The Raptors opened their season with a 101–91 home win over LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.[6] Bosh and Andrea Bargnani recorded impressive numbers—with Bosh leading the league in rebounds and free throw attempts, and also as one of the top scorers—but the Raptors were slow off the blocks, going 7–8 in their first 15 games. In that period, although the Raptors was fourth in the league in number of points scored per game, they were second last in the league in number of points allowed per game as well. Newcomer Wright criticised the team for being unfocused in pre-game preparations, and appealed to team captain Bosh to change that.[7] The Raptors persisted in being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, and their descent culminated in a 146–115 drubbing by the Atlanta Hawks—the second worst defeat in franchise history—bringing their record to 7–13.[8] They were soon ranked last in most points allowed per 100 possessions, earning a defensive rating that was 10.8% worse than the second-last team, which was the largest disparity in NBA history.[9] The team held a meeting to clear up communication issues among teammates, and this was followed by three consecutive wins.[10]

Türkoğlu was having difficulty adapting to his new team, while injuries were also an issue for the Raptors: Evans had yet to feature with more than a third of the season gone, while Calderón missed a dozen after 20 games into the season. This, however, allowed front court role players like Johnson and Weems to pick up more minutes, and Jack to start at the point. Toronto compiled a 5-game winning streak—its best in years—to climb back into the playoff race, and found themselves 16–17 to round off the year after a bad start to December, and .500 after 36 games. They were able to maintain this record for the next few games, beating premier teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers along the way, while Bosh continued leading the league in double doubles and was only one of three players to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. By the time the All-Star break arrived, the team had a 29–23 record, going 18–6 after the emergency team meeting in mid-December, which was the second best in the league after Cleveland.

After hitting a season-high of six games above .500, Toronto's run of good form came to a halt after the All-Star break, due in large part to an injury to Bosh which occurred in a Feb. 17 OT loss to Memphis.[11] The team struggled and went under .500 on 14 March 2010, going 32–33. Their form in March continued to be patchy, and their drop in the conference rankings resulted in a close jostle with the Chicago Bulls for the eighth and final playoffs spot. Triano also adjusted the starting lineup, moving Türkoğlu and DeRozan to the bench and Wright and Weems in the opposite direction. As the Bulls closed in on the Raptors, Bosh and Türkoğlu suffered injuries, with the former being ruled out of the regular season five games before it ended.[12] When Chicago subsequently routed Toronto, the eighth spot remained up for grabs until the final day of the regular season: if Toronto won New York and Chicago lost to Charlotte, Toronto would prevail as they led the head-to-head 2–1; however, Chicago won and they took the final spot, with a record of 41–41, one win above Toronto.

Standings

Atlantic Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div
y-Boston Celtics 50 32 .610 24–17 26–15 13–3
Toronto Raptors 40 42 .488 10 25–16 15–26 11–5
New York Knicks 29 53 .354 21 18–23 11–30 6–10
Philadelphia 76ers 27 55 .329 23 12–29 15–26 7–9
New Jersey Nets 12 70 .146 38 8–33 4–37 3–13
# Eastern Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 z-Cleveland Cavaliers 61 21 .744
2 y-Orlando Magic 59 23 .720 2
3 x-Atlanta Hawks 53 29 .646 8
4 y-Boston Celtics 50 32 .610 11
5 x-Miami Heat 47 35 .573 14
6 x-Milwaukee Bucks 46 36 .561 15
7 x-Charlotte Bobcats 44 38 .537 17
8 x-Chicago Bulls 41 41 .500 20
9 Toronto Raptors 40 42 .488 21
10 Indiana Pacers 32 50 .390 29
11 New York Knicks 29 53 .354 32
12 Detroit Pistons 27 55 .329 34
13 Philadelphia 76ers 27 55 .329 34
14 Washington Wizards 26 56 .317 35
15 New Jersey Nets 12 70 .146 49

Game log

Regular season

2009–10 game log Total: 40–42 (Home: 25–16; Road: 15–26)
2009–10 season schedule

Player statistics

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Marcus Banks 22 0 11.1 .534 .292 .828 1.0 1.2 .6 .1 5.0
Andrea Bargnani 80 80 35.0 .470 .372 .774 6.2 1.2 .3 1.4 17.2
Marco Belinelli 66 1 17.0 .406 .380 .835 1.4 1.3 .6 .1 7.1
Chris Bosh 70 70 36.1 .518 .364 .797 10.8 2.4 .6 1.0 24.0
José Calderón 68 39 26.7 .482 .398 .798 2.1 5.9 .7 .1 10.3
DeMar DeRozan 77 65 21.6 .498 .250 .763 2.9 .7 .6 .2 8.6
Joey Dorsey 0 0 .0 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Reggie Evans 28 1 11.1 .493 .000 .450 3.8 .3 .5 .1 3.4
Jarrett Jack 82 43 27.4 .481 .412 .842 2.7 5.0 .7 .1 11.4
Amir Johnson 82 5 17.7 .623 .000 .638 4.8 .6 .5 0.8 6.2
Radoslav Nesterović 42 8 9.8 .544 .000 .200 2.1 .6 .2 .4 3.9
Patrick O'Bryant 11 0 4.6 .533 .000 .500 1.0 .1 .2 .4 1.7
Hedo Türkoğlu 74 69 30.7 .409 .374 .774 4.6 4.1 .7 .4 11.3
Sonny Weems 69 19 19.8 .515 .133 .688 2.8 1.5 .6 .4 7.5
Antoine Wright 67 10 20.8 .406 .335 .688 2.8 1.1 .4 .2 6.5
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game Source: [13]

Transactions

Trades

July 9, 2009 To Toronto Raptors
Hedo Türkoğlu (From Orlando) (via sign and trade)
Devean George (From Dallas)
Antoine Wright (From Dallas)
To Orlando Magic
Cash (from Dallas)
Cash (Toronto)
To Memphis Grizzlies
Jerry Stackhouse (from Dallas)
Second-round pick (from Toronto)
Cash (from Toronto)
To Dallas Mavericks
Shawn Marion (from Toronto) (via sign and trade)
Kris Humphries (from Toronto)
Nathan Jawai (From Toronto)
Greg Buckner (From Memphis)

Free Agents

Additions
Player Date signed Former team
Jarrett Jack July 21 Indiana Pacers
Radoslav Nesterović July 30 Indiana Pacers
Pops Mensah-Bonsu November 16 Houston Rockets
Subtractions
Player Date signed New Team
Pops Mensah-Bonsu September 3 Houston Rockets
Quincy Douby November 17 Darüşşafaka Cooper Tires

See also

References

  1. Philadelphia 76ers Acquire Forward Jason Kapono From Toronto, nba.com accessed 15 June 2009.
  2. Griffin top pick in NBA draft, sports.espn.go.com, 26 June 2009, accessed 27 June 2009.
  3. Stein, Marc, "Four-team trade gets league OK", sports.espn.go.com, 9 July 2009, accessed 10 July 2009.
  4. Bogut aiming for training camp, sports.espn.go.com, accessed 24 August 2009.
  5. Grange, Michael, "Jack could provide fringe benefits for struggling Raptors ", The Globe and Mail, 12 July 2009.
  6. Cavaliers at Raptors Boxscore, nba.com, 28 October 2009, accessed 29 October 2009.
  7. Feschuk, Dave, "Feschuk: Raptors criticized within for pre-game attitude", thestar.com, accessed 29 November 2009.
  8. Feschuk, Dave, "Feschuk: Triano criticized by players", thestar.com, 3 December 2009, accessed 4 December 2009.
  9. Grange, Michael, "Colangelo doesn't pass the buck", Globe and Mail, 4 December 2009.
  10. Smith, Doug, "Raptors crush Bulls 110-78", 5 December 2009, accessed 6 December 2009.
  11. Scaringi, Joe, "Raptors’ lacklustre season leads to uncertain future", thegoodpoint.com, 16 June 2010, accessed 21 June 2010.
  12. Smith, Doug, "Raptors dismay: Bosh done, Turkoglu hurt, loss to Celtics", thestar.com, 8 April 2010, accessed 10 April 2010.
  13. "Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference.

External links

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