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TORONTO - Ten months after their previous general manager pulled the trigger on a franchise-altering trade, the Raptors are still searching for their identity offensively while working around the obstacles created by that roster shakeup. Randy Johnson Jersey . On Jan. 30 Bryan Colangelo acquired Rudy Gay in a three-team trade, jettisoning Ed Davis and the expiring contract of starting point guard Jose Calderon. Since then, Torontos most consistent area of weakness has been moving the ball. It has been a focus for Dwane Caseys team early this season after spending most of training camp emphasizing defensive principles. The Raptors coach has shouted it from the sidelines, preached it after games and drilled it in practice but still, sharing the ball appears to be an incurable allergy for this team, as its currently constructed. "Were 30th in the league in assists, so were trying to promote ball movement," Casey acknowledged after practice Tuesday afternoon. "Its something weve just got to stay on, harp on and try to do what fits our team." TSN 1050s Josh Lewenberg and Duane Watson weigh in on the teams ailing offence and ongoing ball movement concerns in this weeks Raptors Report podcast. Through 11 games, the Raptors are last in the NBA, averaging 16.5 assists per contest. Their offence has routinely looked stagnant, relying mostly on isolation sets and late-game hero ball. Its not necessarily for a lack of effort on the part of Casey and his coaching staff. "We do it every day," point guard Kyle Lowry admitted. Ball movement has been a daily focus in practice. "We have drills where you dont shoot it before [theres] five passes, so its nothing new," Casey has said. The problem boils down to personnel, a team - built primarily by Colangelo - that was not designed to front a fluid NBA offence. Caseys challenge is essentially to teach old dogs - by league standards - new tricks. "We want there to be movement," he said following Sundays overtime loss to Portland, a game in which only three of his players recorded an assist. "We have our limitations from that standpoint but we want to move the ball. Weve got to do a better job of that and thats where weve got to find ourselves offensively, in ball movement." For the most part those limitations can be traced back to last seasons trade and arent likely to be corrected as easily as they were created. In 45 games prior to the trade last year, Toronto ranked 10th in assists (22.7 per game) and was second among 30 teams in that category (25.1 per) during the 23 contests that Calderon started directly before he was moved. In 47 games since, the team is last in the Association averaging 19.2 assists. To put that in perspective, the Raptors recorded 20 or more assists in 22 of those 23 games Calderon started in succession. Theyve exceeded 19 dimes in just 19 of 47 games since, including one of 11 this season. Calderon, one of the most reliable distributors in the league, was a player Casey trusted to run the pick and roll efficiently and with consistency. Replacing the long-time Raptors point guard - who may have bolted as a free agent during the summer anyway - continues to be a significant factor in the teams offensive identity crisis, but not the only factor. Its fair to argue that Lowry is an upgrade over Calderon - in many areas of the game he has been - but theres no denying hes a very different point guard than his predecessor, one who is less renowned for his work in the pick and roll. Then you add a high-volume scorer in Gay and pair him with a similar wing player in DeMar DeRozan. With Gay, the Raptors got what they paid for. Hes led them in scoring, become the face of the franchise and has played the role of a closer, for better or for worse. Hes also a player - like DeRozan - who takes a lot of shots, many of them outside the flow of a cohesive team offence. Simply put, theyre iso players. That duo has accounted for 46 per cent of the teams field goal attempts, shooting a combined 39 per cent to begin the season. Until Masai Ujiri takes his first stab at reconstructing this talented, albeit flawed roster, Casey has no choice but to work with the pieces he has. Therein lies the challenge. "To turn a guy into Pete Maravich at this stage in their career is very difficult," Casey pointed out. "Youve got to tailor your team according to your personnel and try to get movement out of that. A guys DNA is who he is. Weve got to tailor our offence to fit our players." Torontos best ball movement was achieved in the first half of its win over the Grizzlies in Memphis, also their most impressive outing; not a coincidence. In that game both Gay and DeRozan set the tone early by looking for their teammates. The Grizzlies put pressure on Torontos top scorers but they both passed out of double teams with poise and found cutters on the weak side, a focus for Caseys club in practice Tuesday. Not surprisingly, whenever the Raptors have moved the ball good things have happened. They just havent done it enough. "Believe me theres not a selfish bone, I dont think, in our players bodies," Casey said. "When the game starts guys will revert to what they do naturally, but what weve got to do is try to help them see their options, understand where their teammates are in certain sets and read it from there." Casey knows his team. He knows their strengths and he accepts their weaknesses. Still, masking one with the other is easier said than done. Defence is the great equalizer. Even if the Raptors offence can never function quite like Portlands - the team responsible for their most recent defeat - Casey knows they will remain competitive if they can defend with the ferocity of the Bulls, the team that handed them their previous loss. As long as the current core remains intact, these roadblocks will continue to stand in their way. How well they work around them will determine their success. David Peralta Jersey . The San Angelo, Texas product, who was a high school and college quarterback sensation in the Lone Star State, will start his first CFL game with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-4) on Friday at Mosaic Stadium against the leagues top team, the Calgary Stampeders (11-2). Stefan Crichton Jersey .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Former Sabres owner Tom Golisano has met with Buffalo Bills officials and public leaders, and informed them of his interest in purchasing the NFL franchise, said people involved with the negotiations. One person said Wednesday that Golisano also has had talks with developer Scott Congel to be his partner in the potential ownership group. The person added that their discussions have included the proposal of building a new stadium in West Seneca, about a 10-minute drive from the Bills current home, Ralph Wilson Stadium. The people spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because Golisano has not publicly announced his plans. The land where the proposed stadium would be built belongs to Pyramid Management Group, which is owned by Robert Congel, Scotts father. The Syracuse-based company is one of the largest shopping mall developers in the northeast. A person at Golisanos office told the AP Wednesday that he has no comment regarding the Bills. Golisano also failed to return a message left on his cellphone. Congel declined to comment about a potential partnership with Golisano in an interview with The Buffalo News published on the newspapers website Wednesday evening. Congel did confirm he has made plans to redevelop the Shops at West Seneca land, which would include the potential of building a 60,000-plus seat stadium. The Bills are on the market after the teams Hall of Fame owner and founder, Ralph Wilson, died in March. Wilsons estate hired an attorneys and an investment banking firm last week to oversee the sale. They are expected to begin contacting prospective ownership groups by the end of next month. A new owner could be identified by as early as the end of July. The new owner would require approval from 24 of the NFLs 31 owners. New York City real estate mogul Donald Trump has already announced his interest in buying the team. Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly has also said he has had talks to partner with numerous ownership groups. Golisanos entry into the bidding process does not come as a surprise. He first discusseed the possibility of buying the Bills not long after purchasing the Sabres out of bankruptcy in 2004. Roberto Alomar Jersey. Golisano said he would especially become involved in an ownership group if there were any fears of the team relocating. Wilsons death has raised concerns about the franchises long-term future because of the possibility the team could be sold and eventually relocated to a more prosperous market such as Toronto. Golisano sold the Sabres in 2011. Later that year, he became involved in a group that failed in a bid to purchase the Major League Baseball Los Angeles Dodgers. The 72-year-old Golisano made his fortune founding Rochester-based Paychex, a payroll processing firm. His net worth was most recently estimated by Forbes to be at about $2 billion. Hes from Rochester, but now makes his home in Florida. He came to prominence in New York in the late 1990s, when he made three unsuccessful gubernatorial runs. Congel was previously a principal at Pyramid. He has most recently run into difficulties attempting to redevelop the Medley Centre mall outside of Rochester. The mall is now vacant. Earlier this month, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that Monroe County officials voted to declare that Congel was in default of his tax deal by failing to invest at least $165 million to redevelop the property. Pyramids holdings, by comparison, have been lucrative with the company estimated to bring in estimated $5 billion in annual revenue from its 17 properties. The land the Shops at West Seneca are located upon are partially undeveloped and on the site of a former mall. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said a new stadium would be the next step in securing the teams long-term future. New York state has also hired an architectural and design firm to identify between three or four sites across the region that could serve as the teams new home. The Bills are essentially locked into playing at Ralph Wilson Stadium through the end of the 2019 season under the terms of the lease the franchise reached with the state and county in December 2012. ' ' '
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