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As I sit here in Milwaukee waiting for the Raptors last game of the first half of the season to be played tonight, I give you five quick thoughts on areas that the team needs to improve on in the second half. After a wonderful start, its been a rough recent stretch that has exposed some concerns. Nonetheless, overall its been a positive run. In order to reach their potential, here is a little food for thought. 1. DEFENSE: Its been difficult to watch of late and I must say how surprised Ive been with the deterioration from where it was early in the season. This team with much greater effort and attention to detail can be a solid club. Right now, not even close. A quick observation - Dwane Casey had great success in Dallas teaching the zone. This team struggles to guard dribble penetration and protect the paint. Why not a little zone to hide some weak perimeter defenders and change the look on certain possessions? Just a thought. This team concerns me. When their offense goes south, the D has to be able to find ways to win ugly. They havent been able to. Thats what playoff basketball is. 2. TERRENCE ROSS AND AMIR JOHNSON: Are these guys starters at this stage of their respective careers? If yes, then we need much better play. They have been inconsistent and it holds back their unit on occasion. Need greater focus and consistent effort and productivity. Cant be as patient as youd like. 3 OFFENSIVE EXECUTION: Deterioration on this end as well. We saw this during the playoffs against the Nets. When you really guard them and body them with physical force, they wilt under the pressure. This is a good offensive club thats become too nonchalant and individual of late. Player and ball movement is a must and the screening and usage can improve. You do that and the turnovers will decrease. 4. HABITS: This is my biggest issue right now. Somewhere along the path from Oct 1 to now this group has taken some shortcuts and its showing now. Seems like this club only plays at optimal level when it feels challenged. The Backs to the Wall mentality they display is terrific, I just dont see it as their daily makeup yet. I look at the best teams and they sustain sound habits and demand the optimum from themselves for long periods. This group can do it. Commitment time. 5. ATLANTIC DIVISION: Congrats! 9.5 games up with 42 to play. Unless you totally screw it up and/or experience multiple injuries, youre going to win back-to-back Division titles. Cool! Heres the question; Are you going to be satisfied with that or is the focus now going to be on being an elite Eastern Conference team? Success has a way of messing with your focus. Do you really want to play a brutal opponent at the fifth seed (Im saying it will be Cleveland - good luck winning that series) even though you have home court as a fourth seed? In the Atlantic, you have three teams in a rebuild mode (Im being kind) and the Nets up for sale and trying to figure out what to do. Great spot to be in to get a top-four seed. Some of its you being good and some of the rest is the other four teams being so lousy. Dont fool yourself. To make next step as a franchise, theyve got to grow to the point that they can compete and win a first round series. How does that happen? Not being satisfied and pushing on to a new and greater challenge. Player internal leadership, professionalism and maturity are a must. This team has good guys. They can do it. Now time to do so. Devon Travis Jersey . With his father watching from the stands, Harrison homered, doubled, single and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Pirates to a 8-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Jesse Barfield Jersey . The Italian football federation announced the appointment, three days after new president Carlo Tavecchio was elected. Tavecchio and Conte spoke on the phone early Thursday. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-...ris-jersey/.com) - A pair of programs shooting for their 10th win of the season get together at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, as the NC State Wolfpack tangle with 22nd-ranked West Virginia during the challenge round of the Gotham Classic. Marcus Stroman Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. Justin Smoak Blue Jays Jersey . Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 per cent of his to 47 per cent for Kukushkin.TORONTO -- Craig MacTavish isnt taking too kindly to comments made by Nail Yakupovs agent about his clients role with the Edmonton Oilers. A day after Igor Larionov told ESPN.com that hed be open to a trade from the Oilers, MacTavish accused the reporter who wrote the story of "manufacturing it" and defended the teams treatment of Yakupov. "Theres nothing changed from our perspective on Yak," MacTavish said after the NHL general managers meeting in Toronto. "The only thing I will say is that adversity in my mind is something that helps spur development. Yaks facing a little bit of adversity, but there arent too many players of that age that havent. Thats really all I have to say about it." Larionovs message to the Oilers, via ESPN.com, was to let the 20-year-old Yakupov play. The 2012 No. 1 overall pick was a healthy scratch for two games earlier in the season and is averaging 15:28 of ice time a game. "I asked Craig, I said, If you guys (are) not happy with him or you have no room for him ... were willing to make a move. Any team," Larionov told ESPN.com. "That happens and thats part of life. Lets move on.&quuot; Coach Dallas Eakins told the Edmonton Journal that Yakupov was not going anywhere, a sentiment MacTavish repeated Tuesday.dddddddddddd. Asked if Larionov might have a point about Yakupov getting a chance to play more, MacTavish voiced support for Eakins decisions. "I think Yaks been treated very fairly since hes been in our organization," he said. "We like Yak, Ive said that many times. Its a much bigger story for you people, and its becoming a bit of a distraction for us right now because were having to answer these questions. "We feel the same way about Yak as the day we drafted him. Hes a dynamic player thats going to need time to develop and get to the level that we all expect him to get to. Is it a smooth line from where he is now to what hes going to become as a player? No, theres going to be ups and downs along the way, and anybody thats been in the game for any length of time will tell you that that is the case." MacTavish said Yakupovs struggles are part of his development and that "anybody with any common sense would tell you the same thing." He then told reporters to relax and left abruptly. ' ' '