With Wednesday's 21-point loss to the Grizzlies, the Toronto Raptors have now dropped six straight games to sit a woeful 3-13 on the season.
If not for the Wizards (who finally won their first game of the season on Wednesday), the Raptors would be sitting at the bottom of the entire NBA.
As the losses continue to mount for Toronto, so does the frustration, especially at the Raptors' regression defensively.
This was a team that was supposed to be moving in the right direction. Last season, under the tutelage of Dwane Casey, the Raptors shaved their points allowed by more than 11 per game and finished as a top-10 defensive unit overall.
And that was with basically the same cast of characters that had struggled so badly to stop opponents under previous head coach Jay Triano.
This team was supposed to be even better with the additions of Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas and active wingman Landry Fields.
That hasn't been the case, though.
The Raptors are allowing opponents an average of 101.5 points per contest, which is tied for 27th in the NBA and up more than seven points from a year ago. They're also near the bottom in opponent free throws allowed (27th), opponent assists (26th), opponent field goal percentage (t-26th), rebound differential (22nd) and a number of other statistical categories.
Basically, they're getting beat everywhere.
The question is why?
Is it injuries? Is Valanciunas simply not developed enough to be a premier interior defender yet? Is coach Casey not getting his rotations right? Is it effort? Is it simply a lack of good defenders? Or does the old 'all of the above' answer apply here?
Whatever the reason, if the Raptors can't figure out their issues at the defensive end of the floor it could be another long year in Toronto.
So, what is wrong with the Raptors defensively? It's Your! Call.
