Raptors: Dwane Casey still searching for answers after road trip

Nine games into the regular season, Dwane Casey still can’t figure out what Toronto Raptors lineup will truly work.

One could say the Toronto Raptors are struggling to create a real identity. With DeMar DeRozan on the team, they will always manage to score points. For better or for worse, he is a one-man army on many occasions.

Although, after a long, six-game road trip, it’s been proven again that DeMar being DeMar is not enough. Things didn’t improve in Sunday night’s match-up against the Washington Wizards, as the Raptors lost by 11 and looked lackluster all-around.

While a rock-bottom 3-point percentage (29th in the NBA, to be exact, but pretty darn close to worst) definitely has something to do with their woes, but that alone does not tell the full picture.

Normally known as a defensively-oriented coach, Dwane Casey can’t seem to shore things up on that end either. The Raptors rebound extremely inconsistently, and have frequent lapses in the paint.

In fact, the Toronto Raptors rank 20th in the league for opponent points in the paint, at 45.8 points given up inside. That’s a 4.6-point increase on last year’s numbers, and will have to improve.

Serge Ibaka has provided only minor value defensively, with his blocking and rebounding at an all-time low. Jonas Valanciunas has never been a prime-time stopper.

Even with Norman Powell having a good game against Washington, he is still finding his rhythm. Powell is slightly under-sized at small forward, and though his level of effort is admirable, he can’t be the only starter getting at it.

The Bench

Throughout most of the Raptors’ first nine games, the bench has clearly out-played and out-hustled the starting five. Who is contributing on any given night varies, but the fact remains they are keeping the team in games.