Coming into the brand new season the Toronto Raptors emphasised that they have been going to play laborious, quick, aggressive basketball. 9 video games in, that model of play has turn out to be a double-edged sword for Toronto.
Coming into the brand new season the Toronto Raptors emphasised that they have been going to play laborious, quick, aggressive basketball.
9 video games in, that model of play has turn out to be a double-edged sword for Toronto. Regardless of their 2-7 document, the Raptors lead the NBA with 30.6 assists per recreation and have the eighth-best offence with 118 factors per recreation.
Toronto can be permitting a league-worst 124.7 factors per recreation, however has misplaced 5 of its previous six video games by six or fewer factors.
Their suffocating transition defence has an NBA-best 19.5 turnover frequency proportion, however the Raptors are third worst within the league with their offence giving up 16.8 turnovers per recreation.
“We have simply bought to proceed to play laborious and determine it out,” swingman RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., informed reporters, noting that the Raptors led after three quarters of their 122-107 loss in Sacramento on Wednesday and led by as a lot as 15 in a 121-119 loss in Denver on Monday.
“We’re doing the precise issues, we have simply bought to learn to maintain these over the course of 48 minutes. When you may have a brand new crew, a number of younger guys, it is a studying course of for all of us.”
Toronto has needed to lean closely on its rookies or second-year gamers with all-star ahead Scottie Barnes (damaged orbital) and level guard Immanuel Quickley (proper pelvic contusion) out. Veteran reserves Kelly Olynyk (lumbar pressure) of Kamloops, B.C., and Bruce Brown (arthroscopic knee surgical procedure) have additionally been unavailable.
“The blokes which might be enjoying are getting used to enjoying with one another and that manner we are able to hit the bottom working after we get Scottie and Fast and everybody again,” sophomore swingman Gradey Dick informed reporters after the loss in Denver. “(Head coach Darko Rajakovic) got here in and talked about how he isn’t large on ethical victories so I believe we take that mentality that going into this with we won’t simply be glad that we made it shut.
“However with the crew that we have now we have to know that we’re enjoying good however in the end we have to know easy methods to end out video games.”
Drilling down into the Raptors’ numbers paints a sophisticated image of who they’re this season.
Toronto is fourth within the NBA in offensive rebounds with 13.8 per recreation, however is seventeenth in general boards with a mean of 44.2.
Maybe most complicated is how typically Toronto will get referees to blow the whistle.
The Raptors are averaging 26.2 fouls per recreation — second worst within the league — however are tied with the Washington Wizards for tenth most drawn at 20.8.
That second determine would make extra sense if Toronto’s forwards have been struggling, however they don’t seem to be. The Raptors are scoring 60 factors within the paint per recreation, second most within the NBA.
A crew that is doing a lot across the rim — each scoring and grabbing offensive rebounds — ought to be capable to draw extra fouls, however they have not been capable of get the good thing about calls to this point this season.
“It is each night time we’re fouling rather a lot,” Barrett informed reporters in Sacramento after Toronto had 15 free throw makes an attempt to the Kings’ 32. “We simply should attempt to determine that out, work out easy methods to play defence with out fouling.
“Then on the offensive finish simply going to the paint robust and making the precise performs.”
The Raptors proceed their west-coast swing with a Los Angeles back-to-back, dealing with the Clippers on Saturday and the Lakers on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Nov. 7, 2024.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
