Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Morning Coffee – Thu, Nov 17

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Raptors unshakable in face of NBA’s toughest back-to-back – Sportsnet.ca

The game could have essentially been over at half but the Raptors, bless them, kept pushing, with Lowry and DeRozan logging big minutes in the third quarter, taking turns driving into the heart of the Warriors defence and earning some of the fouls that hadn’t gone their way in the opening half.

“Once we got in the second half, we got focused in, locked in. We started switching some things properly. Talking, communicating,” Casey said. “We kind of got back in the game.”

And while Golden State kept doing Golden State things—scoring quickly, scoring often, and making it look a lot easier to create open-look threes than it certainly is—the Raptors reached deep down and found something. DeRozan scored 19 points in the quarter, getting to the free throw line 11 times and never missing. Rookie forward Pascal Siakam played the entire 12 minutes, providing inspired defence, keeping Curry as contained as possible when he switched on to him, and throwing down an energizing dunk off a deft feed from Lucas Nogueira late in the frame. Suddenly, we had a fight.

“It would’ve been easy to just quit and be like, ‘It’s done,’ with the lead that they had,” Siakam said. “But it shows the type of guys that we have. We just go out and compete until the last second.”

Back-to-back tests take toll on Raptors | Toronto Star

“I thought we got into an ‘outscore them’ mode, and tit-for-tat,” Casey said. “We got away from our defensive focus. Same thing (Tuesday) night. We got screwed up on some switches and mental mistakes that cost us, and once a team like that gets on a roll it’s difficult to get it stopped.”

Kyle Lowry added 24 for the Raptors, who have lost consecutive games for the first time this season and embark on a five-game road trip that starts Friday in Denver.

There was a level of predictability to the game. The Raptors started strongly but couldn’t sustain the effort, the grind of the difficult games on consecutive nights causing just enough breakdowns for just long enough that they couldn’t steal the upset.

That small amount of mental slippage — and enough awesomeness from the Warriors — turned the game from something promising to something quite one-sided in the final seven minutes of the second quarter.

After battling early, the Raptors faded a bit while Golden State didn’t miss a beat — a 23-6 run gave the Warriors a 13-point halftime lead. Curry had 10 of the 23 Golden State points in that end-of-the-half flourish as he and Durant punished the Raptors.

 

Raptors outshone by Warriors on Drake Night, lose 127-121 – Raptors HQ

The truth of it is, this Golden State team always has an answer. Before the game, coach Dwane Casey mentioned that there is no room for error against teams like the Warriors (and by extension, the Cavaliers). They play sharp and pounce on mistakes. That they too made some gaffs is perhaps a tad surprising, but the Raptors were not able to pounce on enough of them to make a difference. And really, when the Warriors really really need to make something happen they still have Curry, who put up a casual 35 points on 10-of-19 shooting with three 3s, 12 free throws and at least one acrobatic lay-up. I’m sure Drake appreciated the effort.

I’m left only with a couple small positives (and a question) to hang onto here. First, a small shoutout to rookie Pascal Siakam. In almost 30 minutes tonight, Siakam had 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting, to go with nine rebounds and a steal. On defense he was one of the few Raptors with the speed and length to switch on to almost any foe. “I thought he competed,” said Casey. “I thought he brought us energy. And again, we knew these two games were going to be tough, difficult, but I thought the youthfulness, and his youthful enthusiasm, his bouncing around, kept us going, got us bouncing.”

Second, Patrick Patterson hit a three pointer. I’ll just leave that there.

Lights-out Warriors harness star power: Arthur | Toronto Star

At some point in basketball you ask: Is this fair? Like, when you’re picking teams, and the other guys have the killer point guard and the bloodless shooting guard and the snarling barking do-everything genius, and then they add the human knife blade who can score against anybody on Earth and you’re like, come on.

The Toronto Raptors lost 127-121 to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, after playing a rollicking affair in Cleveland the evening before, which probably built character. The Cavaliers have the best player in the world, and were therefore the ones who finally cracked last year’s 73-win Warriors team, which responded by adding Kevin Durant to the ol’ squad. Across the NBA some executives thought, now is the time to tank. Or it would be, if the salary cap hadn’t just exploded. Some things ain’t fair.

“Offensive I think we’re OK, but we’re nowhere near where we’re going to be,” said forward Draymond Green, who stuffed the boxscore. “And that’s exciting. I think we’re averaging (a league-leading) 30 assists, and I’m not shooting very well, Klay (Thompson) isn’t shooting very well . . . so offence, I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of what we’re going to be. And defensively, we have to improve.”

Green then spent some time making fun of Drake’s boots, on Drake night. He liked Drake’s shirt that featured ESPN analyst Doris Burke, though. So there was that.

 

Curry delivers against the Raptors again – Video – TSN

As Jack Armstrong and Matt Devlin explain, Steph Curry feels right at home in Toronto and delivered for the Warriors again against the Raptors Wednesday night.

HQ Overtime Post-Game Show: Let’s discuss moral victories – Raptors HQ

Though they hung around valiantly until the very end, the Raptors just couldn’t hang with the Warriors on Wednesday. They’ll look ahead to a nice five-game road trip, while we’ll look back at this 127-121 loss. Joining me to discuss tonight’s game — including DeMar DeRozan, the Warriors’ defense, and the disappearing Jonas Valanciunas

 

Game Rap: Raptors 121, Warriors 127 | Toronto Raptors

UNDERRATED RAPTORS PLAYER OF THE GAME

Rookie Pascal Siakam continues to find ways to impress the Raptors coaching staff when he’s on the floor. Siakam earned 30 minutes of playing time against the Warriors, scoring 10 points on 5-for-10 shooting, to go with nine rebounds and a steal. When Siakam was in the game, the Raptors were a +6.

Warriors defeat Raptors, 127-121: The active pursuit of cruise control – Golden State Of Mind

After a just-hang-in-there first quarter, the Warriors — quite possibly in response to Drake’s yakkity-yak, if Steph’s expressive and well-located long-ball celebrations were any indication — found some juice and went on a quick tear. They pushed it up to 19 midway through the 3rd quarter, mostly behind customary takeovers by Steph and KD, buttressed by a trademark Draymond Green defensive performance that I would describe as a “loud smothering”.

And, yes, while the Raptors finished the game with 121 points, the Warriors’ defense showed what they’re capable of when they decide to, you know, try: quick and smart hands, length and ranginess all over the place, and the ability to collect immediate dividends on the break.

But, while they never gave up the lead after the 5-minute mark of the 2nd, they still didn’t quite coast, as the Raptors fought back from a 19-point deficit to within 5 points midway through the 3rd quarter. The Warriors answered with another little nitro burst before kinda sputtering across the finish line, needing to close it out at the charity stripe.

This is still the same Warriors team from last year that just hates to lose. The difference this year is that they don’t really need to _win_ — not until playoff time. It seems their goal this year is to find a way to do win without really trying.

 

Warriors Taste Victory in Toronto | Golden State Warriors

In the win, Golden State collected 30-or-more assists and shot better than 50.0 percent from the field for the fifth consecutive game, becoming the first NBA team to accomplish the feat since the Chicago Bulls in 1990. With the victory, the Warriors improve to 9-2 on the season and 1-0 on their current four-game road trip, which will continue on Friday against the Celtics in Boston

Draymond Green reinforces value in Warriors’ win over Raptors – San Francisco Chronicle

It hardly mattered that DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 58 points on “Drake Night.” Golden State had assists on 33 of its 44 field goals. It shot 50.6 percent from the field and 26-for-28 from the foul line.

“It was amazing,” Green said of the second quarter. “It was our best quarter of the year, something we can build on.”

Playing the rough end of a back-to-back set, Toronto showed few signs of fatigue early. It ratcheted up the tempo, feasted in transition and seized a 32-22 lead with less than four minutes left in the first quarter.

Three nights after surrendering 56 points in the paint to the Suns, the Warriors again were trying to keep up with their opponent. Green provided the defensive tenacity Golden State was sorely missing.

Toward the end of Golden State’s game-changing run in the second quarter, DeRozan spun through traffic and launched a layup. Green cleanly swatted the attempt, grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball off DeRozan while falling out of bounds.

This brief sequence encapsulated the intelligence and ruggedness that make Green so valuable. On a team stocked with transcendent scorers, he has a knack for making the right play. Green leads the Warriors in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Though his scoring and shooting percentage are down from last season, he remains the driving force behind Golden State’s success.

 

Warriors roll to impressive win over Raptors on road – Blue Man Hoop

For the Warriors, it was all about showing out on “Drake Night” in Toronto. Kevin Durant put in 30 points of his own and Stephen Curry finished with 35. Curry hit some big shots late that sealed the win for his team.

Overall, this is a great win for the Warriors to get on the road. It’s against an elite Eastern Conference team and one that gave Golden State fits at times last season. They have a chance to really grow as a unit with this long road trip and starting off with a bang was exactly what they needed here collectively for everyone involved.

 

 

 

Considering how well things went despite the entropy in the team’s freshman campaign, expectations have extended higher for their second time through the league. Building a team still isn’t easy – several returning rights players opted to head overseas, the draft remains a “wild card,” in Tolzmans’ estimation, and head coach Jerry Stackhouse took over for Jesse Mermuys, who took a promotion ts the second chair next to Luke Walton’s with the Los Angeles Lakers – but there’s a much more focused path this time around.

There’s also just a lot of talent, as far as D-League rosters go, which goes an awful long way in insulating a team against eventual call-ups. Jarrod Uthoff was considered among the top undrafted players and joins the team as an Affiliate Player, as does Yanick Moreira, who projects to be one of the better interior defenders on the junior circuit. Brady Heslip, who once threatened to obliterate the D-League 3-point record before heading overseas midseason, was acquired in the offseason and will look to build on a strong Raptors camp where he showed improved point guard skills. E.J. Singler, one of few returners along with reigning Slam Dunk Champion John Jordan, nearly parlayed a strong close to last year’s 905 season into a spot on the NBA roster, and his leadership and familiarity – not to mention the near-Heslip-like shooting – will play a big role on and off the court.

Having that level of talent is a luxury, and it also has the effect of speeding things up for everyone else on the team.

“The returners help. The camp guys help,” says David Gale, one of Stackhouse’s primary assistants and a hold-over from last year’s staff. “We’re definitely more prepared at this point this year than we were last year, because we’ve got guys who know the system.”

There’s also Axel Toupane, who’s back after a tour of duty with the Denver Nuggets and who few in the organization expect to be around too long. The goal, after all, and one the team succeeded with last year, is to get players to the NBA. Until the new CBA comes into effect and NBA teams have more claims to D-Leaguers, the 905 will measure themselves first by how well they position players to make the jump to the next level, which is the entire point of the D-League.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5AX2HBqAw/

Jerry Stackhouse learning to delegate with Raptors905 | Toronto Star

“It’s kind of like my dad always said, ‘You want to do it right, do it yourself,’ ” he said. “It’s good, and I’ve gotten better at that.”

It hasn’t been easy and there may be moments in the coming season when Stackhouse has to go against his basic, do-it-all instincts. His past involvement has been running high-profile AAU programs, where he was in charge of everything from scheduling to washing uniforms, he said.

It’s going to be a hard past to shake.

“If you delegate too much then you’re lazy; if you don’t delegate you’re a micro-manager,” he said. “You’ve got to figure out the happy balance in that, but I’ve never really been accused of being lazy, so I don’t worry about that one too much, but it’s trusting.

“I’m conscious of it. I’m conscious of letting these guys have an identity within the team, ask questions. My whole theme is: we discuss, we debate and then we commit.”

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5LKeBghkS/

DeRozan’s hot start shouldn’t be possible in modern NBA – Sportsnet.ca

Four players are currently averaging at least 30 points per game: DeMar DeRozan, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and James Harden. Including those four, only 19 players have averaged 30 in the three-point era (since 1979-80). And of those 19, only 10 have averaged at least 30 points while attempting less than two threes a game. DeRozan and Davis are the first players to accomplish that feat since Michael Jordan did it in 1991-92.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5SClggxPS/

Is This The End For DeMarre Carroll? – Raptors HQ

Even when healthy and playing, Carroll has looked slow, and Norman Powell has emerged as a more reliable option to close games, with his ability to guard multiple positions and as a three-point threat on the other end of the floor. On Saturday, Carroll sat out against the Knicks on the second half of a back-to-back. He sat out again last night against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. The Raptors say there’s a plan to manage his minutes going forward. The Raptors have enough depth to overcome the loss of Carroll, or the absence of a productive one, but he was a crucial piece of Ujiri’s puzzle to assembling a contender. Not having Carroll at full strength strips away a piece of that.

So, are there reasons to think putting Carroll on a rest plan will help nurture him back to something closer to the player which resembled his ‘15 Hawks version? I’m not sure, and that uncertainty is a little concerning. With two years left on the deal, if Carroll can’t be a starter on this team, a power forward in small lineups, the team’s top perimeter defender, there’s plenty of trickle down effects that while the team can use the rest of the roster to hide during the regular season, will come into play once the playoffs begin (I would like to acknowledge how great it is to already be thinking about potential playoff impact of things in November).

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5FVmehWJR/

TrueHoop Presents Are the Toronto Raptors finally Canada’s team NBA – ESPN

The groundswell that began two years ago is, right here tonight, being realized across the country. A basketball love bomb was detonated in Toronto, and the fallout reached the outskirts: Google trends show the word “Raptors” being searched in Alberta four times as much in the 2016 playoff run as in 2014.

Outside the arena, you can bear witness to the argument for staying the course, a crowd of beady-eyed Bradens, all the way from Banff and Red Deer to Edmonton, champing at the bit to catch DeRozan, Lowry and the crew that vaulted Toronto’s playoff run. DeRozan, nit-picked as he might be, is paramount to the night’s success. He is, after all, the name on the back of Braden’s jersey.

Inside, coach Dwane Casey reflects wistfully on the first pro team he watched live, the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels, and remarks, “You will touch a young life, just by him coming to the game.”

Progress is always double-edged. Moving forward requires letting go of the past, being unsentimental about big moments and memories. Watching sports, paradoxically, and especially cheering for a particular team, is built on relishing collective nostalgia. Acting like you’ve been there, on some level, defeats the purpose.

In the third year of this experiment, nobody would be acting anymore. If Toronto stagnates, will the crowd still be as satisfied? Would they flock in from all over the province? It’s unlikely. But the ability to feel dissatisfied, too, is progress. And when the Raptors’ fortunes eventually flip, fans will be able to reflect back on a highlight reel of players who actually wanted to perform in front of them.

An inferiority complex is eroding, little by little, as a national identity emerges. You can catch it, uninterrupted by any hecklers, at your local Boston Pizza.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5Frd8gQCZ/

Contender or Pretender: A Look at Five Red Hot NBA Teams – BBALLBREAKDOWN

The Raptors are constructed in similar way to the Hornets with outstanding wing depth, a star point guard, and not enough front court depth to compete with the Cavaliers or any of the front line teams in the West. Jonas Valanciunas is a top shelf center but he’s just one player. Bismack Biyombo might not have put this team over the top had he stayed, but Toronto will definitely miss his combination of rim protection and putting pressure on the rim.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM5CrJyAnP0/

Q&A with Raptors rook Poeltl, coach Casey – Amico Hoops

Q: You’ve got a couple of starts under your belt, and Pascal Siakam has started in every game. That’s two rookies with crucial roles so early in their careers. What does that say to you about Dwane Casey’s trust in you already to give you that kind of platform?

Poeltl: It’s unique, and it’s great for us to be out there and get the chance to learn. Obviously, we had some injury problems—like, that played into it—but it’s great for him to be like, ‘Okay you know, I’ll give these young guys a chance. Let’s see what they’ve got.’ I think that shows a lot about him.

Did I miss anything? Send me any Raptors-related article/video to rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com