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. Hugo Ayala 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. Jonathan dos Santos Jersey . - Young and old. Mexico Jerseys . Crawford hit his slam off Pirates starter Edinson Volquez to give San Francisco a four run lead in the fourth and they never looked back. Brandon Belt had three runs batted in as well. Bumgarner pitched all nine innings and allowed just four hits. http://www.soccermexicojerseysteamstore.com/edson-alvarez-mexico-jersey/ .Y. - Peyton Manning made his fifth MVP award a family affair.RALEIGH, N.C. - Even as Buffalo goalie Michal Neuvirth made save after save Thursday night, the Carolina Hurricanes did not get frustrated. "We were creating a lot of opportunities," Carolinas Eric Staal said. "We knew that wed eventually break him." When it finally happened, the break came fast, with Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty scoring in a 1:55 span in the third period to give the Hurricanes the lead in a 4-2 victory over the Sabres. Semin tied it at 2 on a power play with 8:12 left, and Tlusty scored the game-winner with 6:17 to go. Carolina put up a season-high 55 shots against Neuvirth. "The guys did a good job of not getting frustrated," Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. "We talked after the second period and said, Lets take a breather, get our rest and lets focus — and lets play the same way." Jeff Skinner had a first-period goal — his 26th — to help Carolina win its second in a row after losing seven of eight. Nathan Gerbe added an empty-net goal with a second left. Cam Ward made 21 saves, making his second consecutive start after backstopping the Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Tyler Ennis scored on a penalty shot and Drew Stafford added a goal for Buffalo. Neuvirths season-high 51 saves came in his second start for the Sabres since being acquired in a trade with Washington on March 5. "I thought he was good again," Buffalo coach Ted Nolan said. "The one thing our goalies are going to end up doing in the remaining 16 games we have — theyre going to get a lott of good looks and play for that position. Miguel Layun Jersey. ." Tlustys winner came after he took a pass from Semin, walked into the slot and beat Neuvirth with a wrist shot above the glove. Stafford scored with 11:17 left to give Buffalo a short-lived 2-1 lead. The Sabres Cory Conacher attempted a wraparound on the play, but the puck bounced off the skates of Tlusty and Carolina defenceman Andrej Sekera in the crease before coming to Stafford at the side of the net. Stafford snapped it past Ward for his third goal in three games. He has nine goals in his last 15 contests. Carolina tied it when Semins slap shot from the wing deflected off the skate of Buffalo defenceman Mike Weber in front of Neuvirth. It was only Carolinas second power-play goal since the Olympic break. The Hurricanes came into the game mired in a 1-for-32 slump with the man advantage. Buffalo opened the scoring midway through the opening period after Tlusty was called for slashing Ennis on a breakaway. Official Eric Furlatt called a penalty shot for the infraction, and Ennis beat Ward with a rising shot above his blocker. The Hurricanes tied it little less than 3 minutes later when Skinners shot from a sharp angle went under Neuvirths blocker. "That first goal they scored was not a very good goal for my part," Neuvirth said. Carolina dominated for long stretches of the second period, outshooting the Sabres 22-4. But the Hurricanes couldnt find a way to beat Neuvirth. NOTES: Carolina D Joni Pitkanen said his recovery from a broken heel was progressing and that he hoped to play next year. Pitkanen has missed the entire season. ' ' '