Fragen und Antworten » movement," Casey

Its not the first time that the New York Yankees have raided the Boston Red Sox for a free agent outfielder -- Johnny Damon comes to mind -- and the Bronx Bombers werent shy about offering big money for an outfielder that is a premier base stealer, when healthy. Numbers Game looks at the Yankees addition of Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees Get: CF Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury, 30, has been a productive player when healthy, a career .297 hitter who has led the American League in steals three times. However, hes missed a lot of time -- 264 games to be precise -- over the last four seasons, which makes a long-term investment risky, particularly for a player on the north side of 30 years of age. While Ellsbury had a 32-home-run season in 2011, thats the only season of his career in which hes finished with more than 10 home runs so, even in new Yankee Stadium, which plays well to lefthanded hitters, its not likely that Ellsbury will be a significant power threat. He could hit double figures in home runs, but its a long way from 10 or 12 to 30-plus. But, a little power to go with tremendous base-stealing ability makes Ellsbury an asset offensively. Over the course of his career, he has stolen 241 bases in 287 attempts (83.9%), including a ridiculous 52 in 56 attempts (92.9%) last season. The question, on top of whether Ellsbury can stay healthy, is for how much longer can he be that top-of-the-order base-stealing threat? Is it three years? Five? Given Ellsburys speed on the bases, it should come as little surprise that he covers a lot of ground in centre field. Over the last four seasons, he ranks among the Top 10 centre fielders with 25 Defensive Runs Saved, while ranking sixth in Ultimate Zone Rating. Putting Ellsbury in centre field, moving Brett Gardner back to left field and Ichiro Suzuki in right will give the Yankees exceptional range in the outfield and ought to help their pitching staff to some degree. Despite his injuries, Ellsbury has accumulated a fWAR of 22.4 since 2008, which ranks fourth among centre fielders. The odds are that, over the course of the deal, there will be years that the Yankees regret because injury and/or age prevent Ellsbury from contributing like he has to this point in his career, but if there are five really good years in there, then that might be enough for the Yankees. A healthy Ellsbury improves their chances of returning to the postseason. The Red Sox are likely to move Shane Victorino to centre field to make up for the loss of Ellsbury and they could still be active in the free agent market looking for a corner outfielder. Additionally, prospect Jackie Bradley Jr. could be ready for another chance to stick as an every day player in the majors. Signed for seven years and $153-million, with an option for an eighth year that would run the contract to $169-million, Ellsbury is the latest in a long line of lucrative Yankees free agent signings, many of which have not panned out, but its only money and the Yankees generate enough of it that they can afford to swing and miss every so often, particularly with the chance to hit a proverbial home run. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Air Jordan 11 Australia . The Thornhill, Ont., native, who is ranked 11th in the world, said hed hoped he would be ready when Canada begins its World Group first-round tie against Japan in Tokyo on Friday. Air Jordan 11 Wholesale Australia . -- Manager Bob Melvin shuffled the Athletics batting order and got the type of production he was looking for from the top of the lineup. http://www.cheapairjordan11australia.com/ . Nikolaos Kounenakis has been hired as an assistant coach, the team announced on Monday. Jordan 11 For Sale Australia .com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South. Cheap Jordan 11 Retro Australia . Phoenix originally signed Barbosa to a 10-day contract on Jan. 8 after Eric Bledsoe injured his knee and then signed him to another 10-day deal.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. 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 pllayer Casey trusted to run the pick and roll efficiently and with consistency.dddddddddddd 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. 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