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CLEVELAND — Let the themes begin.
More than in any other year, the Toronto Raptors will be making their case on the floor when the season starts and games actually count.
The roster is set. There are no significant position battles. There are no contract extensions to be signed. No trades brewing.
Still, the exhibition season must be played and in fact started last night when the Raptors won 104-84 over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, center, loses control of the ball as he drives between Toronto Raptors' Jamario Moon and Kris Humphries, right, in the first quarter in Cleveland Tuesday. The Raptors won 104-84. (Tony Dejak/AP)
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Yet if anyone ever needed an example as to why exhibition results must be viewed with an arched eyebrow consider this essential statistic: LeBron James played eight minutes.
That doesn't mean the Raptors exploits don't deserve attention. Preseason or not, they made their opponents take notice by adding Jermaine O'Neal in the summer in a trade with the Indiana Pacers.
"It's a great pickup for them," said Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, an assistant with the Indiana Pacers for two seasons. "He's a good guy. I liked him as a person and he's got a terrific family. And he's a talent. You got a 1-2 combination at your four and five spot in Jermaine and Chris Bosh. It's a nice tandem to have. People in Toronto will see a lot of good basketball there."
It will take time to judge. "The main thing is getting to opening night healthy," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said, playing down the idea that he would be watching his team with an added bit of interest, given it marked the debut of O'Neal in a Raptors uniform.
O'Neal acknowledged that he wasn't exactly feeling goose bumps in the moments before the tip.
"Not at all," he said when asked whether he had any butterflies on the eve of his 13th NBA preseason. "Maybe when I'm in Toronto."
He'll get that chance tonight when the Raptors play the New York Knicks at the Air Canada Centre.
That didn't mean O'Neal didn't make a contribution in the early going, none bigger than when he walked out to take the opening tap and matched up with 7-foot-3, 280-pound Zydrunas Ilgauskas, leaving Chris Bosh the relatively low-stress job of defending Ben Wallace, one of the most limited offensive players in basketball.
But as for his game readiness? Well, that's still a work in progress. He looked crisp on a gorgeous spin move to his left hand, but failed to finish the play. He looked wooden on as he drove baseline, but had his layup attempt gobbled up by the Cavaliers Sasha Pavlovic. He picked up three defensive rebounds, but just one offensively.
He looked sharper in the second half than in the first, though in all it was a performance that screamed that the regular season is three weeks away.
Another early-season theme to be monitored is the development of Andrea Bargnani, the franchise's "X-factor;" If he delivers on his talent, he would give the Raptors a roster of elite big men. If he fizzles, he would be a drag on the bottom line and the club's long-term prospects.
The early returns showed some promise and some concern, depending on how full your glass might be at any given moment. He looked to put it on the floor, but was called for one charge and should have been called for another.
But he showed some nice mid-range moves off the dribble and his confidence seemed to grow as the game went on — his six third-quarter points led the Raptors to a 35-22 advantage in the decisive period.
Most impressive to Mitchell were his defensive chops and a game-high eight rebounds: "He was supposed to be in his traps and his rotations and he finished off the plays by rebounding the basketball."
One of the most interesting elements to watch was the playing time accorded to the backup point guards, Will Solomon and Roko Ukic.
Solomon got most of the minutes, counting 32 in his first NBA action since his rookie season in Memphis seven years ago.
There was much to like. He used his exceptionally long arms and quickness to aggressively pursue the opposing point guards, but offensively he showed a tendency to pick up his dribble earlier than would be ideal and made six turnovers against four assists.
"It's just getting the first game under your belt," Solomon said "I committed a few turnovers early in the game and that was the speed of the game and their defensive strategy...but there's little adjustments I need to make."Like everyone else, a work in progress.
