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CBCSportsca Blogs Offensive focus a risky venture News Sports Radio TV My Region Watch Listen Member Centre Login Sign UpCharlottetown Change City0c Mainly ClearHockey Headlines Scoreboard Standings Stats NHL Schedule Teams Players Hockey Night in Canada Highlights Fantasy Pool Football Headlines CFL Scoreboard CFL Standings CFL Stats CFL Teams NFL Scoreboard NFL Standings NFL Stats NFL Teams NFL Players Video Alpine Skiing Curling Figure Skating Basketball NBA Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Basketball News Feed Baseball MLB Scoreboard Standings Stats Teams Players Baseball News Feed Soccer MLS Scoreboard MLS Standings International Stats Soccer News Feed Amateur Sports Golf Tennis Blogs and Columns BasketballSubscribe to Blogs and Columns Offensive focus a risky venture November 18 2009 0529 PM Posted by Paul Jay Comments3Recommend11 When a team allows 130 points in a game of basketball even in the thin Colorado air its usually hazardous to a coachs careerLast year Sam Mitchell learned this as Melo was his Alamo and ticket to early retirement after a 13293 drubbing in DecemberJay Triano is on much safer ground however even though his team collapsed in the second half of an 130112 loss Tuesday nightFor one there is a big difference between an 18point loss and a 39point one But more importantly the Raptors of today are committed to a more offensive style of basketball and sometimes when a team makes scoring a priority you get games like this or the earlyseason stinker to the Memphis GrizzliesMitchell on the other hand known as a tough defender as a player cringed at shootouts so when the Raps got smoked Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo might have taken it as a sign the team was no longer buying what Sam was sellingTriano cant be pleased his team is allowing 1081 points a game only the aforementioned Grizzlies are permitting more but the 1074 points a game they are scoring must be at least a partial salveIts tempting to suggest that these gaudy numbers are the price of implementing a shootinsevensecondsorless uptempo style of basketball but the truth is the Raptors arent a particularly fastpaced squadThe numbercrunchers at BasketballReferencecom chart the Raptors pace factor that is an estimation of the average number of possessions per game as distinctly average ranking 14th in the 30team leagueSo why the high scores Because the numbers say that on a per possession basis the Raptors are both the most efficient offensive team and the least efficient team in the NBA Its feast and famineThe most plausible reason for this selective attention deficit disorder is not the coach but the players The Raptors have an enviable collection of gifted offensive creators and scorers but players like Andrea Bargnani Jose Calderon Hedo Turkoglu and Marco Belinelli to name a few have no natural talent at defending oppo...