Coach Dwane Casey still doesn’t trust Valanciunas late in games, though that’s not an immediate issue now that he’s out with a broken hand. DeRozan, one of the franchise pillars, still takes a lot of shots and misses a lot of shots; the Raptors’ ceiling might stay where it is as long as he remains one of the two best players. But the bright spot to the young season is Lowry, who looks, again, like he could drag Toronto to its second-ever playoff series win all on his own. He started strong last year before fading, and the hope is that his newly svelte form and help from Joseph and Carrol will keep him fresh through a full season.
Lowry ‘carrying’ Raptors: Casey | Toronto Sun
Besides his production, Lowry also impacts games simply by how hard and determined he plays. “He does that, sets the tone. Let’s the other team know that, ‘hey, these guys are scrapping, it’s not going to be an easy night,’” Casey said of Lowry diving to the floor after loose balls. “When you see your best player going on the floor diving for the ball, it makes the other four guys out there thinking we have to do something extreme as well to keep this going,” added DeMar DeRozan, who was an all-star two seasons ago. DeMarre Carroll spoke afterward of how it feels almost like Lowry can simply turn it on and off at will.
Raptors’ James Johnson uses Twitter to vent frustrations | Toronto Star
“(Valanciunas’ absence) does cause an issue with our bigs’ situation,” Casey said earlier this week. “It’s going to be big-by-committee. Everybody has to be ready. It’s a disaster on one side, but it’s an opportunity for someone on the other side.” Heading into Wednesday’s game, Casey figured Johnson would be involved, going from power forward to centre in certain situations. “(It’s) not really a role change but the position will change. I think (Johnson is) going to be doing some things: one is defending, one is rebounding, one is making sure he plays within himself. “The responsibility will not change, just the position.”
James Johnson Watch Week 5: A humble reminder that Twitter is public | Raptors HQ
Pursuant to the reality-avoiding bender we’re on, maybe Johnson’s “under-utilized” mood is in regards to something besides basketball. Have we ever considered that? Have we? Think about it. Maybe the Johnsons were cooking up Thanksgiving dinner today and young James didn’t feel like his family was getting him involved enough. Maybe Johnson wanted to be given a fair chance to carve the turkey, or prepare some stuffing, or candy some yams. Maybe he would love it if someone asked him to pass a dish instead of just reaching over his plate. Dammit, maybe James wants to slice the pumpkin pie this year! Just some food for thought.
“Vocalness. Athleticism. Understanding where to be. Timing, he has great timing,” Kyle Lowry said, when asked what Biyombo brings to the team. “And just being able to affect shots without fouling, and clean up the defensive rebounds.” Biyombo is known for his rim protecting — Casey has said it’s “off the charts.” Critics have claimed he can do little else. But the six-foot-nine centre came up big on the offensive end Wednesday when Lowry fed him for back-to-back uncontested dunks in the dying minutes to put the game out of reach. “Those last couple of buckets were big for us. We needed them,” Lowry said. “And a guy like Bis, he doesn’t really worry about scoring …”
Toronto Raptors: 3 Ways To Survive Jonas Valanciunas’ Injury | Hoops Habit
Overall, it’s unfortunate that Jonas Valanciunas could end up missing six weeks with a fractured left hand. After inking a big money deal, this injury is the last thing the Raptors wanted from their star of the future. But for Jonas and his agency, they will feel slightly relieved that the injury came after the signing and not before the contract negotiations. The Raptors could very well contend for a top four in the East and overcome their first-round playoff exit hurdle. The defense is much improved, and the offense seems to have a better flow than the isolation-heavy one from last season. There is still room for improvement, and consistency is still an issue for this team.
Toronto Raptors: The implications from the West-coast swing | Raptors Cage
Now, the key to winning on the road is composure. Momentum can change in the blink of an eye due to the home team’s home-court advantage and their ability to feed off of the energy from their home fans. As demonstrated in all three road losses, the Raptors had a hard time of holding onto a lead late in the game (which is the opposite of earlier in the season when the Raptors got off to bad starts, but good finishes). Why is composure important? Because of the what happened to the Raptors in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs. Not only did the Raptors lose the series, but they got swept, which demonstrates a significant lack of will and determination to succeed. Now sure, last year’s playoffs were a little imbalanced with some teams being unfairly seeded and others should not have been in the playoffs in the first place. However, with the new seeding system, composure becomes all the more important for every playoff-bound NBA team. The most clutch players in the league are those with the most composure. These guys have ice-cold water in their veins and they always seem to come up in big moments. While I doubt the Wizards would have beat the Raptors without Paul Pierce, it does not take a single player to lift a team in the playoffs, but rather the play of the team as a whole. Each and every player on the roster needs to have the confidence, desire and commitment to success. Playing on the road in the opposite conference for a significant amount of time is a good way to test whether or not a team has these attributes, but winning these games show that a team is at that level.
Kelly: Drake’s dedication to the Raptors may be conditional | The Globe and Mail
Then Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Tim Leiweke needed someone to take the heat off while they tore the basketball team apart and rebuilt it. Toronto’s No. 1 citizen had been trying to get on board with the Raptors for a while. He’d been ignored by all the suits before Leiweke. Now he was offered a central role as consultant and youth-culture wise man. He was told he could lead a planned rebrand. But instead of tanking, the Raptors got good. Even they were surprised. As a result, Drake’s one-man marketing smokescreen slipped off the radar. By the time he got around to presenting his vision for the new Raptors – the main change being the colour palette – he was ignored. That happened a year ago. Since then, Drake’s been an absentee cheerleader. He doesn’t talk about the team as much. He doesn’t come to games as much. He’s checked out. On Wednesday, he returned for the third annual Drake Night, acting as though nothing had changed.
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