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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. Bob Griese 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. Nat Moore Jersey .com) - SirDominic Pointer posted career highs of 24 points and seven steals to lead No. Mark Duper Jersey .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/Larry-csonka-dolphins-jersey/ . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Once Ubaldo Jimenez got through the fifth without allowing a hit, he began thinking back to his no-hitter at Atlanta in April 2010. He couldnt help it. Jimenez walked six batters that day. He carried a no-hit bid into the sixth Saturday night, backed by home runs from Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn as the Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics 7-1. Jimenez (9-7) didnt allow a hit until Josh Donaldson lined a run-scoring single to shallow centre with two out in the sixth, ending the pitchers night after 105 pitches. He struck out eight and walked five. "Since I got in the fifth inning, it brought a lot of good memories of my no-hitter in Atlanta," Jimenez said. "Especially when I walked six guys in that no-hitter." Asdrubal Cabrera drove in two runs and Michael Brantley hit a pair of doubles for Cleveland. A day after the Indians matched a season high with 13 stranded base runners, they took advantage of timely opportunities. Swisher drove the first pitch from Dan Straily over the right-field fence for his 13th home run, staking Jimenez to an early lead in the first. Cabrera later added a run-scoring single before hitting an RBI double in the sixth. Pitching on six days rest, Jimenez bounced back after taking a 7-2 loss to the Angels on Aug. 10 for his second straight defeat. He hoped he could have talked manager Terry Francona into staying in the game if hed kept the no-hitter going into the seventh. "We established the fastball in the first inning," he said. "Its not like I was wild. I was pretty much close in the strike zone. ... I wanted to get out of the sixth inning without (more) damage." The As drew two walks from the right-hander in each of the third and fourth innings but failed to capitalize. Jimenez plunked Josh Reddick in the right shoulder with one out in the sixth and Rich Hill began warming up in the bullpen. Jimenez walked Yoenis Cespedes on his 101st pitch and received a mound visit from pitching coach Mickey Callaway. Brandon Moss then struck out swinging before Donaldson singled. The As didnt do much more. "Jimenez was at times effectively wild today," As manager Bob Melvin said. "He does have good stuff, he does have a lot of different pitches that you have to worry about. He walked some guys but we couldnt square him up." Coco Crisp flied out as a pinch-hitter with runners on the corners to end the eighth. Bourns seventh-inning drive ended an 0-for-11 stretch for just his second hit in 21 at-bats during the teams rooad trip. Miami Dolphins Jerseys. . Swisher added an RBI single and Jason Kipnis a two-run single in the ninth as the Indians won for the fifth time in the first six meetings with the As after sweeping a four-game set at home in May. "To put up seven runs on a team like that, thats doing something," Swisher said. "We got a lot of contributions from a lot of guys ... adding on runs every inning and not just getting up early and coasting." Straily (6-7) extended his losing streak to five games. He is winless in six outings since being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on July 20, though he had received no run support in three of those outings since the All-Star break. He allowed three runs and six hits, struck out seven and matched his season high with four walks over 5 2-3 innings. Straily allowed Swishers one-out homer then struck out Kipnis before allowing back-to-back walks to Carlos Santana and Brantley. Pitching coach Curt Young made a mound visit when he went 2-0 to Cabrera, who then hit an RBI single to snap an 0-for-20 streak. After Drew Stubbs doubled to start the Cleveland fifth, Gold Glove right fielder Reddick started a sensational double play when he caught Bourns liner and made the perfect throw to third to get Stubbs. The sold-out Coliseum crowd of 35,067 booed former As fan favourites Swisher and Jason Giambi whenever they came to the plate. "Thats crazy, man," Swisher said. "Me and G. both. I dont get it, it is what it is." Cespedes went 1 for 3 with a walk on a day fans arrived more than four hours early to get his bobblehead. Notes: The Indians scored in the opening inning for the first time since Aug. 3 at Miami and put up multiple runs in the first for the first time since July 24 at Seattle. ... Crisp took batting practice but didnt start for a fourth straight game because of a sore left wrist, yet he stayed in the game at CF for the ninth. Crisp received a cortisone injection Tuesday and isnt expected to start Sunday. ... The Indians are 18-7 against the AL West with eight games to go. ... As RHP Bartolo Colon is headed to the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained left groin after he was hurt throwing on flat ground Friday. Oakland will recall lefty Tommy Milone from Triple-A to start the series finale Sunday. ... Indians RHP Josh Tomlin, who hasnt pitched all year as he works back from Tommy John surgery, got through his rehab outing with Double-A Akron with positive results. Francona said he likely wont rejoin Cleveland until rosters expand in September. 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