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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - The 2014-15 Toronto Raptors were not a bad defensive team because of their bad defensive players, at least not directly.

Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez are the easy scapegoats - a couple of poor defenders jettisoned after last year's meltdown and replaced by better defenders to help spark this season's turnaround on that end of the floor. It seems pretty straight forward, but it's not.

Frankly, assigning too much blame to a pair of back-up guards would be giving them more credit than they deserve. Last season's Raptors team was bad defensively because their best players allowed them to be.

Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas are gifted scorers at their positions, offensive-minded players first and foremost. They're all capable defenders, Lowry in particular can be very good when he wants to be, but none of them are natural defenders. There's a difference.

The natural defender consistently prioritizes defence above all else, it's ingrained in their DNA. At times the capable defender can be just as effective, perhaps more so, but it requires a heightened level of focus and commitment that often wavers. The capable defender is a product of their environment, often susceptible to the style of play around them.

A top offensive club, without many - or perhaps any - natural defenders on the roster to set the tone, it was easy to get seduced by the way the Raptors were winning games.  

Up until recently a change in culture, identity and supporting personnel had reinvigorated Toronto's three most important players, the only three holdovers in this year's starting lineup. Lowry, the NBA's leader in steals, is having one of the best defensive seasons of his career while DeRozan has shown signs of growth on the perimeter and Valanciunas is evolving as a rim protector.

From day one, the presence of off-season additions Bismack Biyombo, Cory Joseph and DeMarre Carroll - all plus-defenders at three different positions - has made a big difference. Not only have they helped fix Toronto's broken defence, but their effort and commitment to the craft has been contagious.

"When I played against Kyle I thought he wasn't a good defender and I always tell him that and we joke about that," Biyombo told reporters after practice last week. "But when I had a chance to play with him starting in training camp I was surprised."

Ranked 23rd in defensive efficiency last season, the new-look Raptors had been a top-10 team in that category going into February. Since then, things have taken a familiar turn. Over the last 14 games, Toronto is 26th in defence. Only four clubs allow more points per 100 possessions: the Lakers, Timberwolves, 76ers and Nets - four of the league's five worst teams. While those teams are a combined 17-41 in that span, the Raptors are 9-5 thanks in large part to a red-hot offence that ranks first in the association.

Despite the record - 41-20, second-best in the East - and all their recent success, having won 20 of the last 25 games, the Raptors have reached something of a crossroads and, once again, it'll be on their best players to decide which team they want to be going into the stretch run and ultimately the playoffs.

At some point soon they hope to have Carroll back in the lineup, which should help a great deal. There's still no timetable for his return but the injured forward has been ramping up his activity after practices, taking jump shots and participating in one-on-one drills with coaches. If nothing else, he gives them another natural defender at a crucial position, one that will presumably have fresh legs after being out for over two months.

This is the toughest time of the season, which shouldn't be overlooked. Only six NBA players have logged more minutes than Lowry and DeRozan and their workload, particularly on the offensive end, has been significant. Fatigue becomes a factor and defence is usually the first thing that falls off. The playoffs are less than six weeks away, a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's human nature to look ahead and lose focus on the day-to-day. Dwane Casey and his coaching staff continue to preach defence, their message hasn't changed and, to their credit, the players have acknowledged there's a problem.

"We've talked about it, we just have to do it," said Lowry, following the Raptors' ugly 113-107 loss to Houston - the fourth time they've surrendered 100 or more points over the last six games.

"It's a broken record for all of us but I think that's where we have to get better and I think everyone in our locker room, coaching staff, will agree defence is the priority."

There doesn't seem to be that same complacency in the locker room as we saw a year ago. The notion that 'our record is good so we'll be fine' at least appears to be a thing of the past and, in that sense, coughing up an 18-point lead to the Rockets could be a blessing in disguise. It needs to be a wake-up call for them because, as they've been reminded, trying to out-score people every night isn't a sustainable strategy come playoff time unless you can get stops when you need them.

"We learn from it, we've been preaching it," Casey said moments after Sunday's loss. "So I guess it's a situation now where you get your butt kicked and it kicks in."

Unlike last season's team, these Raptors have proven they can win with defence so, no, you shouldn't be having deja vu, not yet anyway. Now more than ever, their star players will be tested. Can they fight through the fatigue and the temptation to take possessions, or even nights off defensively? Will they re-focus and commit to being as valuable on one side of the floor as they already are on the other? More than likely, that will determine their fate.