Regeln » Moor. "We dont want to sit in and come in on the road and

MEMPHIS - For a brief period of time to begin this season, the Raptors ranked among the leagues top 10 in both offence and defence as they raced out to their best start in franchise history. Since then they have struggled to find a balance between the two, a phenomenon thats not easily explained, though Greivis Vasquez gave it a shot after his teams latest defeat. Yes, its kinda weird, man, Vasquez said following a 92-86 loss in Memphis on Wednesday. Maybe its something in the water, I dont know but its weird. I shot it terribly, [DeMar DeRozan], Kyle [Lowry], [Patrick Patterson], the guys that usually hit shots. Collectively we have to do it at both ends. Weve got to get back to us. Weve got to score. At one point, and for most of the seasons opening months, only one NBA team - the Dallas Mavericks - scored more efficiently than Toronto. The Raptors have scored 110 or more points in 16 games this season, already surpassing their total from last year, scoring 120 or more six times, something they failed to do in regulation a year ago. But as their mid-season slide continues - Wednesdays loss was their eighth over the last 11 games - their offence, once elite, has come apart. Its frustrating, said DeRozan, who made just two of his 11 shots a couple days after being held scoreless on 0-of-9 shooting in Mondays win over Milwaukee. Especially with the looks weve been getting the past couple of games, not falling. Were just going out there playing extremely hard. Sometimes bad luck just falls your way for a period of time and youve just got to fight through it. To their credit, they have been fighting through it, at least lately. For the first time this season, the Raptors defence has started to look like the unit that ranked 10th in the league during the 2013-14 campaign. Through three quarters, the Raptors led Memphis by one despite hovering around 30 per cent shooting from the field all night and finishing the game 5-for-28 from beyond the arc. For 36 minutes Toronto outplayed a notoriously physical Grizzlies team by beating them at their own game. In a gritty performance, Caseys team grabbed a season-high 21 offensive boards while holding Memphis to 46 per cent shooting and 1-for-7 from long range. I was happy about our defensive effort, the Raptors coach said after the game. The focus is there, the energy is there. The shots will fall. We’ve got to play with that type of intensity, that type of physicality in the paint to win games. Mondays game and win over the Bucks had a similar pace to it and Casey has been seeing a renewed defensive focus for a couple weeks now. In fact, the offensive drop off may be tied in to that defensive emphasis, to an extent. I think right now weve hit that full reset button and our defence is completely ahead of our offence, said Lowry, who had 20 points Wednesday but shot just 7-of-23, 2-of-8 from three-point range. Thats one of the things were struggling right now. I think once our offence catches up with our defence well be back to a hell of a team, going out there and winning more games. Maybe were too focused on defence, Vasquez wondered. Maybe we have to figure out a way to have a balance. Were going to have to hit shots. And it goes for all of us, we shot it terribly tonight. And we are concerned. I cant give you the right answer. We have to figure out a way to play good defence and good offence. As a team, the Raptors have been held under 100 points in four straight games for the first time since November of last season, winning only three quarters (of 16) over that span. After earning Player of the Month with an average of 22.3 points on 46 per cent shooting (41 per cent from three) in December, Lowry been mired in a shooting slump of his own to begin the new year. The point guard has yet to shoot 50 per cent in any of the teams 10 games in January. Over his last four games hes shooting 34 per cent and has hit just three of his 26 attempts from distance. Every player will encounter a shooting slump, to some extent, during a long 82-game season. In Lowrys case, the timing is hardly a surprise given the load he carried last month in the absence of the injured DeRozan. Oddly, most of the team is fighting through it at the same time, the primary reason for their stalled offensive attack. DeRozan has not looked like himself over the past two outings after a strong three-game stretch returning from his groin injury. While his effort on the boards has been noteworthy, Pattersons been ice cold from his sweet spot, shooting 29 per cent from distance in January after hitting the three-ball at a remarkable 55 per cent clip in December. Vasquez, who has been erratic all season, was 1-for-8 on Wednesday, the struggling Terrence Ross missed all three of his shots in his second straight game off the bench and Lou Williams hit two of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. We always can live with if its just one person, DeRozan said. If it was just me, for example, having a bad shooting night, everybody else hitting, thats perfectly fine for me to deal with. Its just frustrating when collectively were all getting good looks, but everybodys missing. Theyre confident those looks will start falling again but in the mean time their defensive effort, up to par once again, is keeping them in games and thats an encouraging sign for Casey and his club. The Raptors battled on Wednesday night. In the first quarter, Lowry went to the ground diving for a loose ball, almost a nightly occurrence for him when his right ring finger popped out. Immediately he knew something wasnt right as he darted for the locker room. I had to get up out of there, he said. I dont want nobody to cry and be squeamish with that finger so I ran off. The trainers popped Lowrys finger back into place and tapped it up. He was back in the game shortly thereafter, crashing the boards and playing hard on defence as his team followed suit. It hurts really bad, Lowry said of his ailing finger after the game. Really really bad. But theres no excuses. Im not going to complain about it, Im not going to worry about it. Im going to go out there and do my job as always. We cant hide from the struggle, Vasquez said. I thought our defence was there. We played good defence but now were not hitting shots. Before it was we were playing good offence but we werent playing defence. At least were doing the right thing. In order for us to win games weve got to play defence and thats what we did. Shots will come and unfortunately tonight we couldnt hit shots. Lawrence Taylor Youth Jersey . - Mathew Barzal scored 3:47 into overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds downed the visiting Everett Silvertips 4-3 on Tuesday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Phil Simms Youth Jersey . -- Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo is going to the Pro Bowl as a replacement for San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks. http://www.giantsonlineteamshop.com/evan-engram-jersey-cheap.html . Louis Cardinals have agreed to a one-year contract. Harry Carson Giants Jersey . -- Jack Del Rio only wanted to talk about the Cowboys, not the Trojans. Dexter Lawrence Giants Jersey . - Robert Griffin III has a sprained throwing shoulder that limited him in practice Wednesday as the Washington Redskins prepared for their season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. VANCOUVER -- Jay DeMerit sounded like a boxer who did not see the knockout blows coming. The Vancouver captain and his teammates were left stunned after Jose Mari scored a pair of goals three minutes apart in the second half as the Colorado Rapids came back to beat the Whitecaps 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 21,000 at B.C. Place Stadium on Saturday. "We all feel like we got punched in the gut a little bit there," said DeMerit. "Unfortunately, that happens in our sport. Some things you cant control. I thought the things we could control (were) enough to win. Unfortunately, that didnt happen tonight." It was the Whitecaps first loss of the young season. "Ultimately, its disappointing," said DeMerit. "I think everyone will walk out of B.C. Place tonight thinking like something got taken away from them." Mari scored in the 79th and 82nd minutes shortly after Matias Labas ejection for a second yellow card reduced Vancouver to 10 men. "It kind of hit us at the wrong time, too, when we think we had the game by the scruff of the neck and were controlling things," said DeMerit. "It was kind of a one-two punch there, and you find yourself on the back foot therea You have to say that the guys fought for 90 minutes tonight, even when we went down a man. We had enough chances to win." Laba was sent off in the 77th minute following his deliberate hand-ball as he fell and grabbed it to prevent a scoring chance. He had already received a yellow card for a foul in the 54th minute. A Colorado (2-1-1) player said a few words of reminder to referee Ioannis Stavridis, after he showed Laba another yellow card and the official pulled out a red one. Mari then sliced home a left-footed shot off the goalpost from the left flank. With the Whitecaps (2-1-2) still reeling from that goal, Mari put a right-footed chip shot from the top of the box over Vancouver defenders that shocked Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted. "Youve gotta give credit to their two finishes," said DeMerit. "Same guy. Same two finishes. And, if he doesnt win player of the week this week, I dont know who will." Darren Mattocks scored for the Whitecaps as all of the goals came in the final 45 minutes following a scoreless first half in which Vancouver had more scoring chances than the Rapids. Colorado triumphed despite playing without strikers Vicente Sanchez, who shared the MLS scoring lead before Saturdays games, and Edson Buddle. A team spokesman said the two players missed the game because they chose not to play on artificial turf. Meanwhile, Colorados No. 1 goalkeeper Clint Irwin excelled in his first game of the season after being sidelined in the pre-season with a strained quadricep. He was kept busy, and won many races to the ball, as the Whitecaps pressed for most of the first half. Vancouvers Mattocks had a goal disallowed in the 14th minute because he went off-side, slightly behind a Colorado defensive wall. Pedro Morales took a shot and the rebound from Irwins save came right to Mattocks, who made no mistake in converting, but was victimized by his own mmiscue seconds earlier.dddddddddddd Mattocks had another chance five minutes later as he raced in on a breakaway, but Irwin got his hand on the shot and the rebound bounced off the Vancouver striker and over the end line for a Colorado goal-kick. In the 37th minute, Irwin knocked over Caps striker Kenny Miller as they both raced to the ball inside the bottom right corner of the Colorado box. But to Millers chagrin, no penalty was called and the Rapids were awarded another goal-kick. Mattocks luck finally changed in the 67th minute as he outraced Colorado defender Drew Moor to a lead ball from Miller, raced in on goal and scored. Irwin got his hand on the shot, but could not keep the ball out. The goal resulted after Vancouver coach Carl Robinson had injected more speed into his lineup by inserting speedy substitutes Sebastian Fernandez (57th minute) and Kekuta Manneh (74th), providing even more opportunities off long balls that created many chances in the first half. "Obviously, when Im walking off with (about) 15 minutes to go with Manneh coming on, I could never have envisioned that we were going to lose that game," said Whitecaps striker Miller. "But, obviously, the red card had turned the game on its head." Robinson was contemplating a defensive change to help preserve the lead when Laba was ejected, but Mari struck for his quick markers. "The first one, especially, just gave us so much life," said Colorado captain Moor. The two Colorado goals prompted Robinson to make further goal-oriented substitutions instead, but they did not pay off. While the Whitecaps lamented a win that they felt got away, the Rapids gave themselves credit for their comeback a week after they had lost to Kansas City by allowing a late game-winning goal. Moor called the early-season win over a Western Conference rival "a good sign." "We want to play against teams," said Moor. "We dont want to sit in and come in on the road and hope to get a point, hope to get a tie. We want to go win games. In the game last weekend against Kansas City, I thought we were unlucky, a couple lapses of concentration. But this week, I think we just had the belief the whole time that we were going to get something out of it. Its pretty powerful sometimes." Irwin was credited with three saves in the opening 45 minutes and six on the night, while Ousted recorded just one save. Vancouver put seven shots on target compared to Colorados three. "You can create chances, but youre not always going to score three or four goals every week," said Miller. "You want to (finish) the chances when you create them." Notes: Injured Whitecaps midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker (concussion) missed his second consecutive game, but has resumed training. a Rapids midfielder Kamani Hill received a yellow card for a deliberate hand-ball as he palmed Russell Teiberts intended cross for Miller on a counter-attack off Colorados lone corner-kick in the first half. a Colorado defender Marc Burch was cautioned in the second half for taking Morales down with a hand to the head. ' ' '