“I think I handled it perfectly, to be honest. Because the questions that were asked to me were how to fix our offence? It’s a bad game. How do we fix our defence? It’s a bad game. And about my injury, because overall it’s a bad game,” said Lowry, who spoke at length to reporters after practice Tuesday. At times, conversation drifted off to actual basketball or his injury status (“nothing major.”) But the topic kept coming back to his skirmish with media. He didn’t seem to mind. When one reporter prefaced her question on the subject with “I hate to beat a dead horse here, but . . . ” Lowry interjected. “Go ahead, I can have fun with this all day,” he said, laughing.
Asked if he’s frustrated at the lack of clutch playing time, Valanciunas gave a little shrug and insisted he isn’t. “I’m just doing my stuff. I’m not frustrated. Some nights I play the fourth quarter, some nights I don’t. It’s a different match-up every night,” said Valanciunas, who admits he’s not quick enough to keep up with smaller players. “A lot of teams go small on us, so coach is probably trying to match their small players. .When they go small they can shoot, so it’s hard for me to go out to the 3-point line and guard the shooter, so he’s just trying to match them, I guess,” Valanciunas added. Still, with Valanciunas still at a relatively young age, there’s still time for him to develop some speed and footwork. Casey is confident it will eventually come.
We know of course that Casey’s rotation, like that of any coach, consists of a variety of interconnected decisions. James Johnson’s unavailability due to a right hamstring injury impacted the coach’s options; so, perhaps, did that nagging finger injury to Kyle Lowry, who is playing with two fingers taped together. Casey was already using Greivis Vasquez in a two-guard set in part to give Lowry a little extra time off the ball after a month of carrying the team in DeMar DeRozan’s absence — no doubt the injury is also factoring in. It’s best to remember when criticizing any coach that he has more detailed knowledge of the health and even the mental well-being of his players than any critic in the media. Still, it seems apparent that barring something unknown to the public at large, it’s time to let the shackles off Valanciunas. It is true that the NBA has become less of a big man’s game, that it is the hybrid “big man” (think LeBron James) that is the calling card of successful NBA teams as much as it is the plundering, space-eating centre. But it is time for Casey to see if Valanciunas can force other teams to adapt to the Raptors, as opposed to what now seems to be a willingness to let the Raptors opponents determine who is on the court – or at least try to strike some kind of balance.
Casey explains decision to limit Valanciunas in crunch time | TSN
“If I had Tyson Chandler, he probably wouldn’t be in the game,” Casey added. “It’s no disrespect. It’s just the style of play. If JV is dominating offensively in that situation, we would probably keep him in. Our issues were that we needed energy, we needed speed. We needed something to get us going in our rotations. And that’s just not his attributes. It’s not one of his assets that he has. It’s nothing against him. It could be anybody. I think that’s something that’s been established. Unfortunately we’ve been in those situations a lot in the fourth quarter, where we needed some speed or have gone small, and Amir [Johnson] and Pat, and last night it was Tyler that gave us that defensive energy we needed.” For most of last season and the first half of this one, the Raptors have been a better defensive team with Valanciunas on the bench. Valanciunas is one of four Raptors (Landry Fields, Lucas Nogueira and Bruno Caboclo) and the only regular with a negative net rating, meaning the team is allowing more points than they are scoring with him on the floor. When Valanciunas sits, Toronto outscores opponents by 12.0 points per 100 possessions, the highest net rating on the team. Defensively, they have had far more success when pairing two of the smaller bigs together this season. Hansbrough and Patterson have a net rating of 14.2 in 452 minutes together, while the Johnson and Patterson tandem has bested the opposition by 11.1 points per 100 possessions in 267 minutes together. Valanciunas and Johnson, the team’s starting frontcourt and one of their most used pairings, have been outscored by 2.0 points per 100 possessions in 816 minutes. Valanciunas and Patterson are a minus-1.1 in 399 minutes.
Raptors’ Valanciunas OK with being on bench late in games | Toronto Sun
For whatever reason, the Raptors’ Lithuanian big man is a real lightning rod for second guessing by the fan base that sees a young man who can be unstoppable in the paint at times have decent runs through three quarters only to be left on the bench in crunch time in the fourth. Casey gets it. He would like nothing more than to be able to stick with his starting centre, but when the opposition goes small, the threat of getting lit up at your own end is just too great. “Unfortunately we have been in those situations a lot in the fourth quarter where we needed speed on the floor or they’re going small and Amir and Pat or Amir and Tyler give us that defensive energy we need. “(Jonas’) next evolution as a player is to be able to rotate out to the three-point line and do that. That will be his next step. Guard smaller players on the perimeter in a rotation if we have to do that,” Casey said.
The roller coaster’s fine if it ends in a win | Sportsnet.ca
Do you criticize the team that won for blowing a lead, or give them credit for finding ways to execute in spite of showing major dents in the armor? Or do you criticize the team that lost despite their glorious comeback attempt, because they never should have been in a position to be beaten so badly in the first place? “That happens,” said Bucks forward John Henson of Toronto’s fourth-quarter comeback last night. “We had to figure out a way to win, and we did.” Added Kidd: “Toronto made a couple of baskets but no one panicked on our side, we just kept playing.” Which is exactly what Toronto did on Friday and Saturday. Nobody panicked. The Raptors are good, not great. They’re still learning, and even if they become a truly elite team, there will be nights like these, games like Toronto’s last three. NBA basketball is an emotional roller coaster. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.
In our fourth episode, Koreen and MacKenzie talk about Toronto’s schedule from hell, DeMarcus Cousins and the All-Star Game, the Raptors vs. Bon Jovi and more.
A Look at the Raptors’ Salary Situation as the Trade Deadline Approaches | Raptors HQ
So that’s $15.75 million in cap room if the Raptors let everybody walk. Probably enough to chase a Paul Millsap level player, or make a max offer on a restricted free agent. But it means filling two to four roster spots with the Room Mid-Level Exception and minimum salaries, including backup centre and another wing player, depending on how ready you think Bebe or Bruno are. I’ve stuck with assuming the 20th pick as a worst case (financially), even though the Raptors are projected for the 26th pick right now. If the Raptors instead choose to keep Amir and Lou, for example, there’s pretty much no way they both sign for little enough that the Raptors have more than the Mid-Level Exception in cap room left over, so they might as well use the MLE in that case and stay over the cap. If the Raptors sign only one of them, it gets interesting – assuming the one signs for between 6-9 million, that leaves about 7-10 million in cap room left over. Not enough to chase a big name, but enough to outbid other teams on MLE guys.
Toronto Raptors: 3 things to look for in February | CBC Sports
General manager Masai Ujiri went all-in on his core group of players in the summer in an effort to maintain the chemistry that was developing with his roster. He also added James Johnson to provide some defence and Lou Williams for his instant offence. The question now is whether the Raptors want to disrupt their long-term plan to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them this season. It would be somewhat shocking to see the likes of Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross, and Patrick Patterson involved in any deals, but there will be other options if Ujiri wants to bring in more complementary players like he did in the summer. For example, Amir Johnson and Landry Fields are both in the final year of their contracts, which is something that would be attractive to teams looking to clear cap space. If the Raptors don’t believe they are going to bring Johnson back next season, then they may try to capitalize on his value leading up to the Feb. 19 deadline.
NBA Preview – Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors – Feb 04, 2015 | CBSSports.com
After five games in seven days, the Raptors are getting a brief break before facing one of their Atlantic Division rivals. Brooklyn (19-28) enters having let six straight opponents reach 100 points for the first time in three seasons. The Nets have allowed an average of 111.8 points over that span but snapped a four-game skid Monday with a 102-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Jarrett Jack hit the go-ahead shot with 1.3 seconds left to complete his team’s rally from a nine-point deficit in the final 1:35. “It’s gratifying, I think, to go through the bumps and the bruises and then to kind of get off the schneid in the fashion that we did against a really special team,” Jack said.
Raptors-Nets: Wednesday game preview | Toronto Star
The Nets are coming off a come-from-behind 102-100 victory over the L.A. Clippers. … Former Raptor Jarrett Jack has 33 assists and just five turnovers. … Nets advance scout Jim Sann is set to be released from hospital Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at practice, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Toronto Raptors: Looking at the Team’s Trading Block | Raptors Rapture
Landry Fields is more of a interesting asset. Fields is a solid defender with a high basketball I.Q., who simply can’t shoot anymore. Because of a few surgeries, his shot has disappeared and he has had to alter his game drastically. He is a well liked team player with a good eye for passing and getting into position offensively. He is also being payed $6.25 million, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season. Fields offers a great opportunity for a rebuilding team to shed some salary cap room.
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