Raptors’ big men battle on court
Coach may need to decide between keeping Amir Johnson or Ed Davis
HALIFAX— There has never been a clear-cut winner in the competition between Raptors big men Ed Davis and Amir Johnson. Each possesses attributes that should keep them in the rotation, and neither has emerged decidedly better than the other in the two seasons they’ve been teammates.
One may never end up being substantially better, but in what’s looking like a crowded frontcourt for the coming season, coach Dwane Casey may have to ultimately decide on one over the other.
“There’s going to be nights when one guy is going to be more important than the other,” Casey said after his team went through its first training camp workout here Tuesday. “Maybe one night we may need a little bit more speed running the floor, the other night we may need shooting.
“There’s going to be competition between those two young men on any given night; again, I don’t think we’d be wrong by playing either one of them.”
But Casey also doesn’t want to crowd his rotation too much; he’d like to settle on eight, maybe nine players to count on every game, and if one of the two could find a way to become clearly the better man, it would make the coach’s job so much easier.
Given that Andrea Bargnani and Jonas Valanciunas are locked into two spots in the frontcourt, and with Aaron Gray the most physical defender on the roster and with Linas Kleiza available to spend at least a little bit of time up front, there won’t be room for both Johnson and Davis on a regular basis.
“I would say that Ed is an excellent offensive rebounder, one of the best; he has a knack for being around the ball,” said Casey. “Amir has worked on his shot this summer: Amir’s one of our best rim-runners, so he gives us that presence ... They both give us different things.”
Davis is fully aware that this, his first full training camp and preseason in his third season in the league, will be hugely important.
“I look at it as more like me and Amir play good together, we both can run, we both rebound, jump, are athletic, so we’re just going to fight hard and coach is going to put the right people on the floor. Everything is going to work out,” said Davis.
“Everybody wants to stay on the floor and compete, but we have to do our part and whatever happens happens. All you can do is work hard every day in practice, every drill, show the coaches you’re working hard and you’re in it for the right reason.”
Davis, who missed his first training camp because of knee surgery and his second thanks to a lockout, spent most of his summer working on a flawed jump shot and toning his body. He seems more confident, more aggressive, more mature.
“Ed’s a different young man right now,” said Casey. “He’s more confident as a basketball player, he’s more confident with his shot, his ball-handling is more confident.”