Raptors get passing grades with win over Mavericks | Toronto Sun
As early as Monday morning back in Toronto, Dwane Casey was talking about mental toughness. The Raptors first foray into the west and the first extended road trip was on tap and Casey was expecting he would learn something about his team. Through three games they had shown very little if any backdown, but to do it against Indiana and Boston and even Milwaukee is one thing. On the road against a solid opponent in front of an opening night crowd would take the test to a different level. Consider this first stop on a four-game trip test a definite pass as the Raptors hung tough for 31/2 quarters and eventually started to pull away for a 102-91 win, spoiling the Mavs home opener.
Raptors beat Mavs for first 4-0 start in team history | Toronto Star
Toronto held Dallas to just 38 per cent shooting and forced 16 turnovers with a defence that’s become the team’s calling card. “Toronto’s a really high-level team, they’re giving up 39 per cent from the field and 31 per cent from three,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said before the game. “A fair question would be how are we going to score on these guys? Right now, they’re not giving up much.”
Game Rap: Raptors 102, Mavericks 91 | Toronto Raptors
Luis Scola had his best game in a Raptors uniform with 19 points (9-for-13 field goals), a game-high 12 rebounds, an assist and two steals in 31 minutes. Scola was solid throughout and sealed the game with a corner three from Lowry with under two minutes remaining.
4 things from the Mavericks home opening loss to the Raptors | Mavs Moneyball
Kyle Lowry absolutely obliterated the Mavericks all evening. Lowry lost a ton of weight over the offseason and he used that newfound quickness to compromise the Mavs defense all night. The Raptors struggled to generate good looks from the perimeter, but Lowry was there to pick up the slack time and time again. He was a constant thorn in the Mavericks side with his timely shotmaking.
Toronto Raptors beat Dallas Mavericks to remain undefeated | Raptors Cage
The Raptors did a good job of establishing their bigs early, particularly Luis Scola. He and Jonas Valanciunas combined to pour in 10 points within the first 6 minutes of action. There seems to be a noticeable effort to look for Jonas out of timeouts which is a welcomed new development. Kyle Lowry took over a few times in the second and third quarters and while it’s great to have a player that can generate so many scoring opportunities its not a good sign that the offence can get completely cold without he and DeMar DeRozan. For the most part, the Raptors did a solid job of identifying their advantages and exploiting them. Nearly every time the Mavericks deployed their two or three PG line-up Dwane Casey had one of the wings, usually Demar, take the ball to the post. They didn’t get to the line often until late in the 4th but they found other ways to score efficiently.
DeMar DeRozan speaks about his Raptors future | Sportsnet.ca
With a player option for next season the basketball universe is expecting him to decline, DeMar DeRozan’s future with the Toronto Raptors remains in limbo. A hefty raise awaits DeRozan, sure, but as the former all-star explains to Eric Smith prior to tonight’s game in Dallas against the Mavericks, DeRozan’s loyalty could keep him in Toronto for the foreseeable future.
Free Association ft. Jalen Rose, talking Vince, Raptors, & Terrence Ross | Sportsnet.ca
Rose shares stories from his book, and looks back on the roller coaster years he spent in a Raptors uniform. He also helps the guys break down this year’s Raptors squad and explains why he thinks the Raptors were right in extending Terrence Ross, and why DeMar DeRozan is a player worth building around in the long-term.
Why the Terrence Ross deal isn’t as crazy as it seems | Sportsnet.ca
Over the past two years Ross has shot 38.3 per cent from three and made an average of 153 triples each season. Only eight players topped those thresholds last season and they are some of the most lethal perimeter weapons in the NBA. According to Basketball-Reference.com the list starts with Steph Curry and ends with Kyrie Irving. Wesley Matthews is on it and he signed a four-year deal worth $70 million with the Dallas Mavericks this past summer while he was out with a torn Achilles tendon. Danny Green of the San Antonio Spurs is on it and he got a four-year deal worth $40 million this past summer, one that many thought had a heavy hometown discount. The Los Angeles Clippers have J.J. Reddick under contract at four years and $27 million.
Welcome to the new NBA, where Terrence Ross is worth $11M annually | Hardwood Paroxysm
With that in mind, the Raptors had every reason to lock up Ross before he hit the free-agent market. DeMar DeRozan is in the midst of a contract year, and there’s no telling whether Toronto is willing to match his asking price, particularly if he’s angling for a max deal. If DeRozan does wind up fleeing town, Ross can slide right into his vacant starting 2 spot, giving the Raptors a relative discount at the position for the following three seasons. In essence, then, the Ross extension could simply be Toronto’s way of hedging its bets. Even if the Raptors do re-sign DeRozan, Ross could become intriguing trade bait for shooter-needy team, or they could simply continue trotting him off the bench as a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate down the road. So long as he keeps regularly knocking down triples, he’ll be a valuable piece for the Raps, even if he is relegated to limited minutes.
Ross is flawed, yet there’s still time for him to make mental strides that would maximize his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses – and he could take advantage of it immediately while playing a more finite role off the bench. It’s that capacity for which he seems best suited in both the present and future, but there’s still wiggle room on either side of it, too.
“There was a lot of excitement, a lot of buildup,” said Stoudamire, now an assistant coach at the University of Memphis. “I just wanted us to win that first game.” The Raptors played their first three seasons in the SkyDome — now known as Rogers Centre. The venue is a fine home for MLB’s Blue Jays, but it’s suboptimal for basketball, to put it mildly. Nevertheless, the large capacity allowed the Raptors to rank third in the league in attendance their first year. “I can’t remember how many people were there,” Stoudemire said of the Raptors’ debut. “But, man, there were people sitting in places where I know they couldn’t see the game.”
Happy Birthday, Toronto Raptors! | Hardwood Paroxysm
The debut game, highlighted perfectly by Raptors Republic’s Blake Murphy, featured quite the lineup. Damon Stoudamire, the early face of the Raptors franchise was accompanied by Alvin Robertson, Ed Pinckney, Carlos Rogers and Zan Tabak. Robertson and Pinckney, the veterans at 33 and 32 years old respectively along the youngsters, 22-year-old Stoudamire, 24-year-old Rogers and 25-year-old Tabak. To the surprise of many, it wasn’t Stoudamire who led the Raptors to a 15-point victory over the lowly New Jersey Nets, but instead crafty veteran Alvin Robertson. Robertson scored the first points in Raptors history then made 10 more shots, ending the night with 30 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. This was the culmination of a huge comeback for Robertson who had missed the prior two NBA seasons with a back injury. Unfortunately, this would be the best output of the year for Robertson who wouldn’t eclipse the 30-point mark again that season. Robertson was out of the NBA the next year and has since ran into his fair-share of legal issues.
Raptors-Oklahoma City Thunder: Game preview | Toronto Star
The Thunder are finally whole with Durant and Russell Westbrook healthy and in sync. They had Tuesday off while the Raptors played in Dallas . . . Oklahoma City got off to a 3-0 start before losing in Houston on Monday night, but Durant and Westbrook combined for 54 points on 19-for-35 shooting from the field . . . After losing to Western Conference rivals Houston on Monday and with a game in Chicago on Thursday, OKC’s in the middle of rough week but there are no plans to rest Durant, who is returning from foot surgery.
NBA Preview – Toronto Raptors at Oklahoma City Thunder – Nov 04, 2015 | CBSSports.com
While the Thunder have been tough to stop, they have also stopped themselves by averaging 19.4 turnovers per 100 possessions to match Philadelphia for the league’s worst mark. They had a season-high 25 turnovers in their first loss, 110-105 at Houston on Monday. “I thought our turnovers tonight, (25) is too much and we’ve really got to try to make some strides and get better in that area,” first-year coach Billy Donovan said.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
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