NFL
By: Greg Rector
Once again the team known as “We The North,’ are looking to be a playoff team when so many experts doubted them going into this season. Most folks don’t even get to see them play as the U.S. networks do their best to not have their games even shown. Just about every pre-season prediction had the Raptors as an under .500 team, yet as the league returns from the All-Star break, the Raptors sit seven games above .500 with a 32-25 record good enough for 6th place in the Eastern Conference. I wrote about the “Position Less,’ experiment heading into the season that team President Masai Ujiri, general manager Bobby Webster, and head coach Nick Nurse were going to employ this season. Let’s see why it’s worked so far.
The Backcourt
Fred VanVleet was selected by the coaches to his first All-Star appearance and deservedly so. This is his team with the departure of Kyle Lowry, and the Raptors have been led most nights by “Steady Freddie,” second in made three-pointers in the league, VanVleet is averaging 21.6 points a game, along with 7 assists and 4.6 rebounds. His leadership has been a huge factor, especially at the start of the season when Pascal Siakam was still dealing with the recovery from his shoulder surgery. VanVleet has improved every part of his game so far and I don’t see a drop-off coming barring an injury. It was great to see him go to Cleveland. His partner in crime is Gary Trent Jr, who could be a candidate for the most improved player in the league. All Trent Jr is doing is average 18.6 points a game and has quite often led the team in scoring with a recent run of games where he had over 30 points each game. The big improvement though has come at the defensive end where he has developed very good habits that were used to from VanVleet, Trent Jr is near the top of the league in steals and if deflections were a stat he and VanVleet would be near the top of the league in that stat as well. This is another example of the Raptors player development focus succeeding again. Not only is Trent Jr greatly improved he is ecstatic being in Toronto. In a recent interview, he spoke about what a difference Toronto is for him compared to Portland. Trent Jr is appearing in commercials and while I don’t have a dollar amount he’s doing quite well in his off-court income. It’s really fun to see the improvement and his re-signing with the Raptors is proving to be a steal at $18 million a season.
The Frontcourt
Since the Raptors played so much of the season without the group they had hoped to have thanks to injuries and COVID, they’ve only played 22 games with their projected starting roster. Of course, that in large part was due to the absence of Pascal Siakam early in the season. Siakam has only played in 44 games however he’s been playing at a very high-level averaging 21.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game. Those numbers are awfully close to his 2019-2020 season where he was named an All-NBA second team member. Siakam has also been able to overcome the pressure he so obviously felt to be the number one scoring option after the trade of Kawhi Leonard. There’s been no pouting, no confrontations with his coach, and most of all despite the recent COVID restrictions on crowds at home, has absolutely loved being back in Toronto. Siakam is no longer settling for three-point attempts and isn’t shy about playing inside as he was for most of last season. With no true center on the team having Siakam attacking the basket has been a huge reason, the Raptors are playing so well. OG Anunoby, another season where he hasn’t been able to stay completely healthy but when he has been 17.5 points 5.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists a night to go along with his usual great defensive play doesn’t hurt the Raptors cause. Anunoby is the frontcourt version of VanVleet, you know exactly what you will get from him night in and night out. The last piece of the starting five is of course this years 4th overall draft pick Scottie Barnes. All Barnes has done is average 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. Barnes routinely guards some of the opposition’s best players, and his 47% FG shooting has been above expectations. He can also play the point-forward spot quite nicely allowing VanVleet to play off the ball. His rookie campaign is going better than most could have expected. Ujuri and Webster surprised many when they selected him over Jalen Suggs, it appears they knew what they were doing. Barnes simply has made the Raptors better at both ends of the floor save for one area, and that’s defensive rebounding, although Barnes is better than most of his teammates at that aspect. Five starters are now 16-6 as a group. Included in that are very close games against Phoenix, Brooklyn, and the Nuggets. This group has only been in one bad game and that was just before the break against the Pelicans.
The Weakness
While the five starters are indeed statistically one of the best in the NBA, the same cannot be said for the bench. The best of the bunch has been Precious Aichuwa, who was the piece the Raptors wanted in the Lowry sign and trade deal. Aichuwa has had his ups and downs but seems to have settled in recently. One thing he’s doing is making 3’s lately. He was unable to show that in Miami, add to that his improved play in his own end, and the recent improved play has been sorely needed. Khem Birch the other option at the 5 has been injury-plagued. Chris Boucher struggled mightily early on so much so he wasn’t even in the rotation for several games, his play has been much improved lately. No bench player in the league has more double-double games in the last two seasons than Boucher. The surprise off the bench has been Canadian Dalano Banton, the second-round pick went through a bad stretch and was sent to the G-League’s 905 team. It made a world of difference for him. He averaged 26 points a game for the 905 and has come back with much better play lately. The guy is an energizer bunny. Malachi Flynn, fan-favorite Yuta Watanabe, and the rest of the bench though are not playing consistently. Nurse has had to use a seven or eight-man rotation some nights with the starters averaging over 40 minutes a game, that’s simply not sustainable. The deadline deal to get veteran Thad Young for Goran Dragic should also help the bench contribute more on a consistent basis. Young looked a bit lost at first but definitely has the savvy to give Nick Nurse a leader of the bench the second unit has needed.
Outlook
With more consistent bench contributions this Raptors team can certainly continue to be a playoff contender. They have swept the Milwaukee Bucks and have had very close losses to Denver, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. They will do what the championship Raptors and Nick Nurse coached teams have become known for, defend you to no end, cause turnovers and get quick transition buckets. Even in their half-court sets, they are making better decisions which on most nights has seen them be very balanced between going inside and out. If you try stopping VanVleet it makes Trent Jr dangerous, focus on Siakam? He’s going to find others, especially VanVleet for three’s. If the bench can find a way to score just a bit more on a nightly basis, the Raptors will be that much tougher. A couple of weeks ago they played the Heat twice in 72 hours, the first game was an absolute classic that went to triple overtime and the second came right down to the wire as well, both were Raptor victories. Besides the bench scoring the one area that must improve is defensive rebounding. At the bottom of the league while they remain near the top of the league in offensive rebounding. Having witnessed Nick Nurse over the last few years, I believe he will get the Raptors to improve on those details. The Raptors being able to play in front of their own fans has also been a huge difference. Scotiabank Arena is a tough place for visitors. Exceeding expectations has become the norm for the Raptors and they’re doing it again. I can see them winning between 46 and 50 games which would see them probably as a 5th or 6th seed in the Eastern Conference. Come the playoffs don’t be surprised to see We The North and the crazy crowd outside in Jurassic Park make a return to TV’s in the United States.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
