Raptors 110, Pistons 100 – Box :: Reaction
Ha, that turned out to be a lot of fun. The Pistons hung on for a full half, which if you’re a Pistons fan, needs to be celebrated with a parade. I’m not sure it’s worth your time reading or my time writing why that was the case. Venturing a guess based on casual observation, I’d say it had more to do with the Raptors lack of urgency to start the game. They let the Piston big men get into too much of a rhythm by getting points in the paint, either by hitting the glass, receiving simple lobs thrown by Jennings, or walking to the rim on down-the-middle screen ‘n rolls. . Jennings was also finding his path to the rim unobstructed as he wasn’t being hedged, and when he got into the paint, Jonas Valanciunas and Amir Johnson were found retreating rather than stepping up to close out the lane. And so it was that the Pistons enjoyed short-lived success.
Down five to start the fourth, the Raptors had to be quite pleased given how poor their defensive effort and technique had been. Things normalized a bit the second quarter as the Raptors bench outscored the Pistons’ 20-16, which is a familiar theme. After Tyler Hansbrough was being destroyed, Chuck Hayes was introduced to slow down Greg Monroe and essentially made it his life’s mission to not let Monroe get into the paint on both ends, while getting some on offense. The Pistons’ points in the paint were reduced, the Raptors got defensive stops, and for some reason they didn’t have to deal with Brandon Jennings because Stan Van Gundy benched him for the entire second. It was odd.
[aside header=”Obligatory Bench Comparison”]
The Raptors bench outscored the Pistons 59-41. Williams, Johnson, and Vasquez had 15, 12, and 11, respectively. The bench shot 22-41 (54%).
[/aside]
The story of the second quarter was Landry Fields’ injury. He took a nasty fall, had blood oozing and left the game not to return. He was given stitches and passed a concussion test, so hopefully he’s OK. He did execute a sweet cut right before he got hurt, and I found the play to be a good indicator of how easy it is for the Pistons defense to lose a man. On an unrelated note, I thought starting Fields was a move born out of habit more than tactics. I mean, what three is he out there to stop? Kyle Singler? This might’ve been a chance for Greivis Vasquez to come in and attack the Pistons with two ball-handlers. But, meh.
I thought it was great that Chuck Hayes got interviewed at halftime, it’s an honest interview, somewhat self-deprecating, and really fun to watch. I think we should interview him instead of the assistant coach at halftime every game. No offense to the very handsome Tom Sterner.
[aside header=”Surprising Stat”]
The Raptors are 5tg worst in the league in DRB%, but their gang-rebounding style is paying off. Against the Pistons’ (15th ranked) big frontline they were -2 at 47-49.
[/aside]
The third quarter is when the Raptors came to the realization that the Pistons are a bottom-third defensive unit, and that their bigs can’t cover in transition. The Raptors picked them apart for six fast-break points, and Jonas Valanciunas happened to have his best two-way quarter of the season. He was 4-5 FG, 11 points, 5 rebounds, and a block on a driving Brandon Jennings which was culminated in a Mutumboesque finger-wag. Granted, Munroe and Drummond aren’t ace defenders, but they’re still big bodies that can bother you (as we saw in the first quarter), so it was nice to see Valanciunas have a strong showing against formidable opposition.
What was notable about Valanciunas’ performance was that he didn’t get his offense through isolation post-ups or face-ups, which are getting a little cringeworthy to watch. Instead, he was involved in two-man action with Greivis Vasquez, which requires a helluva lot less decision-making, and comes natural to him. This was in sharp contrast to how he started the game, where the Raptors went to him four times in the block with him converting only once. I think the formula of how to deal with Valanciunas is clear: reduce his decision-making, play to his ‘roll’ strengths, and let him loose on the boards expecting that he’ll pick up dumb fouls, much like Amir Johnson did in years 1-4.
My view is that before he gets educated in the nuances, he needs to be let loose and free. Think of it using an analogy: before you become an adult and hold down a steady job, you need to go through your teen years and do dumb stuff. Things like stealing a mickey from a liquor store, sneaking into the movies by having a friend pop open the back door, use a fake ID at a strip club, pour 50 ml of Visine in your eye before a family dinner, create a mix tape for a girl who thinks you’re a creep, you get where I’m going. Sometimes I feel Valanciunas is being asked (by fans, not so much Casey) to be this refined scorer who the Raptors can construct their offense against, when he’s simply not ready. And I realize I might very well be contradicting what I’ve written earlier, but everybody has a right to change their mind based on new information. Based on today’s comments by Masai Ujiri regarding Valanciunas and Terrence Ross, I sense that he feels the same.
[aside header=”Raps Fans in Detroit”]
“I’ve seen it before,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It happened in Miami when I was coaching there and the Knicks fans would come in and take over our building.”
– Stan Van Gundy
[/aside]
So we enter the fourth quarter with the Raptors now cozily ahead by 11, before Casey deploys another version of the all-bench unit with James Johnson, Greivis Vasquez, Chuck Hayes, Lou Williams, and Patrick Patterson (wonderful style on the three). What happens? They extend the lead to 20 as the Pistons are now reduced to jacking up jumpers which, if you were a Pistons fan, would make you pull your unlicensed gun out and shoot a kitten. You could see the gulf between the two teams here, because if the Raptors were in the position the Pistons were in, the response would’ve been far more organized and assertive, rather than stepping back and taking the easy way out.
The run also featured James Johnson dunking on Andre Drummond quite emphatically. On the next possession, Drummond took a cheap shot and should’ve been ejected. James Johnson kept his cool, walked away, and came out looking like Bruce Lee. “That was nasty, but that’s basketball,” he said afterwards. “I don’t expect anything less from anybody that’s trying to win. Frustration sets in when you want to win – no hard feelings.” All this while the travelling support is chanting “Let’s go Raptors”. No wonder Drummond got irritated, it was frustration born out of embarrassment.
[aside]
"That was nasty, right? I cocked that joint back and banged on him" – JJ, tha god (via @WolstatSun)
— Raptors Republic (@raptorsrepublic) December 20, 2014
[/aside]
The rest of the game was a mere formality, which should also be the case against the Knicks on Sunday where the Raptors should make it 8-3 without DeMar DeRozan.
I haven’t touched on individual players much, so you can read more about that in the Quick Reaction. I find that after more than a decade of writing post-game reports, I prefer to take a more skeletal view of the game rather than zoom in on the details. However, I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t mention Kyle Lowry, who was the puppet-master in the show.
A poor shooting night of 5-14 FG still yielded 15/7/5, and two steals. His setup of Valanciunas on his big dunk was sublime, and you just get the sense that he’s one step ahead of the game, and able to anticipate just what the team needs when they need it. Yes, he does take some questionable shots, but when they go in they feel like daggers, and when they don’t, it feels like an inconsequential wasted possession. Perhaps I’m wearing rose-colored glasses right now, or perhaps Lowry has just found a perfect balance of how to conduct this orchestra.
