NFL
By: Greg Rector
The young NBA season has been wild and wooly thus far. For the Toronto err Tampa Raptors this has also been the case. The team has had to search for combinations that mesh together without having Gasol and Ibaka upfront. Thus far that’s been a major issue for the Raptors. Aaron Baynes and Alex Len have had very few moments where they appear to fit well into what Nick Nurse wants to do.
As I write this the Raptors are 5 and 8 although they could easily be 9 and 4 or 8 and 5. The biggest issue facing the Raptors on a nightly basis is which Pascal Siakam shows up. Siakam started very slowly, then on a recent west coast trip appeared to find himself, only to come back to being a tentative offensive player. When he simply reacts and plays decisively he can easily put up 25 points. Too often however he isn’t decisive on his first move and settles for jump shots.
The other issue that thwarted a good start to the season for Toronto was their reliance upon shooting 3’s and nothing but 3’s. Over the last five or six games, however, they’ve gotten far better play in the paint. That forces teams to commit fouls and that has been a constant struggle for the Raptors in getting those calls that other teams seem to get on a regular basis. The lack of calls saw the Raptors at the very bottom of the league in free throw attempts for the first seven games of the season. Since they have taken fewer three’s their percentages have improved greatly in the most recent games.
No one can question the “handles,” of Fred VanVleet, however, you can certainly question his ability to finish, especially inside when facing the bigs. It’s the biggest difference between him and Kyle Lowry. Simply put Lowry has an incredible ability to get the ball in the bucket against much bigger opponents while when Fred attempts to do the same the results are not there. If you’ve read anything else I have written about the Raptors or heard me on The Full Monte Sports Show, you know my feelings about having two 6′ guards in today’s NBA.
Now for the bright spots. There’s absolutely no doubt that for the Raptors the brightest star has been the tremendous play of Canadian Chris Boucher. He has found his game at both ends of the floor for Toronto. I dare anyone to find me a guy that blocks shots as explosively as Boucher does. It’s not easy to get clean blocks on guys taking 3’s and almost nightly Boucher is doing so. He rebounds well and oh has his shooting improved. Draining 3’s on a regular basis. He has also developed that pick and roll game with Lowry, not a bad thing to be trusted by the team’s best playmaker. Averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds a night, he is currently in the top 5 for bench scoring in the league. Add that to getting better production from Norman Powell and OG Anunoby, the Raptors are now winning games that they were losing early on. Stanley Johnson is also contributing defensively off the bench as the Raptors tend to play small ball for long stretches because Baynes and Len aren’t contributing very much.
With Giannis staying in Milwaukee and Harden now moved to the Nets, if there’s going to be any change made by Ujiri and Webster, there only seems to be one name in the conversation’s up here in the north. Bradley Beal of the Wizards. However, for me, I think they need to look at a deal for a big. The team I would deal with is Cleveland who has three big’s all contributing, that includes yes believe it or not Andre Drummond, who is actually contributing meaningful numbers for the Cavs (2020-21 stats – 12 GP – 19.3 PPG – 15.8 RPG – 2.9 APG – .475 FG% – ..000 3P% – .558 FT% .) I could see Powell and Terence Davis being used in that scenario.
The signs of life have been good against the Hornets and Mavericks the last three games, all Raptors wins, however, the missing ingredients have been 48 minutes of defense, 5 leads lost this season thus far, and contributions from the 5 which definitely affects the rest of the team’s play. If they want to be in the mix it’s the 5 that needs to be looked at in my opinion before doing anything is done with the 2 spot. The Eastern Conference is loaded with good, not great teams as the records indicate, the Raptors can and should be in that mix between the 5the and 8th seed in the conference.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
