Scott Hastie makes his debut on Raptors Republic as Toronto downs Boston thanks to a clutch three from Lou Williams.
Amir Johnson, PF 20 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +1As the line suggests, a non-descript night from Amir. Had some good passes from the post that could have been assists, but the jumpers didn’t fall. Of all the Raptors, Johnson was the only one with solid pick and roll defence tonight. | |||||||||
Terrence Ross, SF 30 MIN | 6-14 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 12 PTS | -7Yeah, this scoreline isn’t pretty and it’s actually a friendly representation of his game. Questionable pull-up jumpers in the halfcourt were all too common. Granted, he had to play in some weird line-ups because DeMar didn’t play but it’s becoming clear that Ross should not be relied on to handle the ball. I’ll be surprised if a Raptors video co-ordinator isn’t cutting tape right now of Ross dribbling into traps on the baseline. | |||||||||
Bruno Caboclo, SF 13 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | +9His one steal was a strictly because of wingspan. Bruno’s man back cut on him, and Bruno threw his arms up without really knowing where the ball was going and ended up with it. Seeing him in the starting line-up graphic was the highlight of his night. According to Wolstat, Caboclo dribbled into a corner and the bench asked “Where’s he going?” | |||||||||
Jonas Valanciunas, C 18 MIN | 3-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -2The squad was feeding him post-ups in the third and JV made mostly good decisions. His passing out of the post was crisp, and outside of one bad attempt, the kid looks like he could be a decent post-up option. Didn’t see much outlet passing from rebounds, but if the Raptors want to push the ball, they’ll need Jonas to improve that aspect of his game. | |||||||||
Kyle Lowry, PG 9 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 7 PTS | +8Limited minutes but showed intensity. Excited to see him play real minutes in a couple weeks. | |||||||||
Tyler Hansbrough, PF 18 MIN | 1-3 FG | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | +6“How did Hansbrough score so many points in college?” is a question asked at least five times a game. No Psycho-3s though. | |||||||||
Patrick Patterson, PF 28 MIN | 3-7 FG | 5-6 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 12 PTS | +2Nothing seemed to be drawn up for Patterson tonight. Maybe that’s by design or just by chance, but Patterson’s shots came on transition looks. He was also hampered by weird line-ups and was forced to play in situations we won’t often see in the regular season. | |||||||||
Jordan Hamilton, SF 21 MIN | 6-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 16 PTS | +8If Hamilton can consistently provide that kind of performance, he is the 15th man. His cuts were smart, his defence is fine and he made good decisions with limited touches. Hamilton seemed to spear a Celtic at one point, which probably endeared him to many Raptor faithful. Ujiri and Casey have a tough decision at the 15 spot. | |||||||||
Chuck Hayes, C 6 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | 0Hayes scored tonight! He was Chuck Hayes! We know what we have in him. | |||||||||
Greg Stiemsma, C 6 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 0 PTS | -1Poor defence in the pick and roll. His foot speed just isn’t there to play against Olynyk or a popping Brandon Bass. A forgettable night for the guy trying to earn the contract. | |||||||||
Will Cherry, PG 7 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | -9Didn’t have much of an impact on the floor. He needs some extended run in-game for the team to evaluate his ability. | |||||||||
Greivis Vasquez, PG 28 MIN | 3-14 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 6 TO | 9 PTS | +1Bad night from Vasquez, continuing his troubling preseason. Bad passes, poor shot selection and ill-advised drives. Marcus Smart gave him hell, but Vasquez needs to be better with the ball as the back-up point guard. Hopefully this rough stretch is just getting the rust off. | |||||||||
Louis Williams, SG 21 MIN | 4-11 FG | 6-7 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 15 PTS | +5Basketball Twitter is falling in love with Lou again, and that was before that pull-up three. He has bounce, he can get to the net and draw contact. Some bad pull-ups, but in a game lacking offensive weapons for the Raptors, we should look past that. It is nice to have a player coming off the bench that could just destroy young defenders. | |||||||||
Landry Fields, SG 15 MIN | 1-1 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 2 PTS | -6Landry’s brain in another player’s body would be a dream come true. The guy got a basket tonight off a nice floater, but you can’t watch him play without wondering what could have been if that nerve injury didn’t happen. | |||||||||
Dwane Casey Maybe it’s preseason, but Casey let two quarters end without calling a timeout to make a play out of the final possession. He also drew up a Lou Williams pull-up three at the end of the game. Casey wasn’t thrilled with the performance, but the Celtics played their starters a ton. |
Three Things We Saw
- Marcus Smart is damn good on the ball. Vasquez was baited into a dumb turnover where Smart reached out and just took the ball away. He had a number of poke aways while also irritating opposing point guards. Not thrilled to play against him for the next few years.
- We didn’t see a lot of the court because of the low camera angle. Get us to the regular season, please.
- All the GIFs here – Lowry’s drive, Ross’s dunk, Hansbrough’s rebound, Hamilton’s Js, Landry’s pass, Lou’s three, Jonas’s screen