Now, with Lowry resting — there is no timetable for the all-star’s return to the lineup, but there is no urgency to get him back until he recovers from an assortment of ailments — Vasquez is the starting point guard. And he is the starting point guard on a team that has struggled to move the ball well. “That’s my goal from now on, if I start or if I don’t start: trying to get 10 assists. That’s my job,” Vasquez said. “That’s what I do best. We’ve all got to do what we do best, whatever role you have. At the end of the day, we’ve got to eliminate those one-on-one plays, the selfishness. “We were coming in with so much pressure, trying to solve the whole situation [during the team’s five-game losing streak]. Everybody was trying to get the answer. We did it a bit selfishly. I put myself first; I took some bad shots. I made some mistakes.”
Then along comes a win over the host 76ers and all is well in Raptorland. It would be foolish to assert such a statement, but wins, no matter the opposition, breathe life into a team that was clearly struggling with its identity. Philly made 52.6% of its shots with the visiting Raptors needing a season-high 35 points from DeRozan to produce the win. Vasquez has never lost sight of the big picture, even as the bandwagon began to swell. Toronto isn’t equipped to win an NBA title this season, but Vasquez knows the franchise is pointed in the right direction. And when it comes to his role, he’ll do whatever it takes. “I just want to win,’’ said Vasquez. “I just want to play in May.” Whether it’s Vasquez or any other player in the NBA, the difference between starting or coming off the bench is mental. When one starts, one is virtually assured minutes, barring early foul troubles, getting into a rhythm made easier given the nature of a starter’s role.
Ironically, Toronto’s defence has been better of late. Though the Raptors gave up a whopping 103 points (on 52.6 percent shooting) to a crew of relative unknowns in Philly, the team had been better at locking opponents down of late. Even during the five-game losing streak (which included blowout losses to Houston and Golden State) Casey’s crew had crept back to the middle of the pack in many defensive categories.
Why the Toronto Raptors offense is inconsistent | Raptors Cage
Starting to get the picture? The isolation heavy offense that the Raptors resort to is significantly unsustainable and inconsistent. If DeRozan, Lowry, or Lou cannot create offense on any given night, the Raptors offense goes kaput. Thus, the Raptors winning or losing seems to heavily rely on these three, and given how inconsistent have been offensively, it’s lead to an inconsistent Raptors offense. DeRozan is an interesting case, because we all know what he’s capable of (H/T last night). His injury really has taken away from his aggressiveness, and the shooting slump has been concerning. However, DeRozan is the type of player that improves as the season goes on, and he should start to pick it up. We’ve seen Kyle Lowry save the Raptors many times, and I think anybody could have told you that the team needs him more than anyone in wins. Given that, Lowry is also relied upon to bail the Raptors out, and he’s usually trying to be a hero when the Raptors are on the verge of a loss. The spike in his field goal attempts exemplifies this. The huge drop-off in Lou Williams’ production is particularly interesting. His FG% in losses is substantially lower than in wins. Does that mean Lou is the x-factor here? Potentially. It also means that he needs to shoot a lot less and stop chucking in situations where the Raptors are in a hole.
NBA power rankings: Raptors are now a bad good team | New York Post
“Every team in this league goes through it. We feel it’s magnified because it’s us,” said Casey, whose Raptors won the Atlantic last season but were bounced by the Nets in the first round. “All the good teams go through it. But it’s how you come out of it and learn from it. If you go through it and don’t learn anything, you just get your butt kicked.”
Toronto Raptors: Did They Peak Too Early? | Hoops Habit
The Raptors have the 20th-ranked defense in the league, which is far less than ideal. Teams with true title hopes tend to have their defense lying at least in the top 15. To go along with that, DeRozan has been having a rough season (poor shooting, groin injury) and Kyle Lowry has dropped off significantly ever since he ran out of gas in the game against Portland back on Dec. 30. But all is not lost! Toronto does still hold the third-best offense in the league, and they’ve got a deep bench that will be extremely helpful in the slower paced games of the postseason. And, hey, would you look at that! They also won’t have to play any teams from the Western Conference unless they make it to The Finals. So that’s a bonus. It’s still going to be one heck of a struggle though, make no mistake. If the playoffs began right now, Toronto would be playing Miami, which is a scary team to have to play in the first round. And yet maybe this is all just as DeRozan said after the win against Philly.
The XX-Files: Hedo Turkoglu Answers Jack Armstrong with “Ball” | Raptors HQ
By January, things for Toronto were on the upswing. The team was working on an eventual five-game win streak and had dug themselves out of an aforementioned hole in the early season. They went into New York and their big name free agent Hedo played a monster game: 26 points, 11 rebounds, 8-for-16 shooting, 3-for-8 from 3, 7-for-9 from the free throw line, two assists, two steals, a block and only one turnover in 34 minutes. This was what around $10 million a season got you. It may have been a weird team, but it was a good weird at the time. After the comeback win (against a Knicks team that was 18-26 at the time, but never mind that), Hedo gave us his most indelible moment, an interview with Jack Armstrong that came to define his protracted Toronto career.
Photo by Casey Campbell
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