Well, in the end the Charlotte game had no impact on the playoff seeding as the Bulls win against Atlanta automatically relegated the Raptors to the fourth seed and a first round matchup against a stronger-than-most-Raptor-fans-realize, Washington Wizards. Yes, the Raptors won all their games against the Wizards this season and the Raptors’ defense was able to hold John Wall in check in all those games, but despite Randy Whitman’s presence on the bench, this Wizards team is dangerous. They have loads of playoff experience, including former Finals MVP, Paul Pierce, good size up front, some excellent shooting and one of the quickest and most explosive point guards in the league.
We’ve seen one team dominate another one during the regular season only to see the tables turned in the playoffs.
The Raptors will be favourites for the series, due to their home court advantage, but just three games separate the two teams and they matchup surprisingly well. Both teams are lead by mercurial All Star point guards who had previously disappointed, feature scoring shooting guards, big and burly foreign centres that rebound and score well around the basket and injury-prone, offensively limited, veteran power forwards. What Washington has that the Raptors don’t, though, is Paul Pierce.
With the end of the regular season and the playoffs starting Saturday, what this article is going to do is grade each Raptor players’ regular season and look at what they need to improve on in the series against Washington. For those who aren’t regular readers of mine, I eschew the letter grades in favour of a less arbitrary system.
KYLE LOWRY
Lowry started off the season well and got even better. In fact, at the beginning of January he was being mentioned as a dark horse MVP candidate as he had lead the Raptors to the best record in the East. There didn’t seem to be anything he couldn’t do; score, pass, rebound and defend. Then he came crashing down to earth. While his final numbers are fairly similar to last season, his play since New Year’s has been beyond disappointing and much of the Raptor’s struggles in the second half is directly related to Lowry’s drop off in play.
Grade: Needs Improvement
Lowry doesn’t need to score like he did in December for the Raptors to beat Washington, but he needs to shoot more consistently and play better defense. Lowry also needs to play smart against John Wall, instead of seeing him as a challenge. If Lowry makes this a personal duel, it could hurt the team over the course of a seven game series.
DEMAR DEROZAN
After making the All Star team last season, a lot was expected of DeRozan this year. There was even hope that he would finally acquire a consistent three point shot. Unfortunately, he started off the season shooting poorly and his three point shot was even worse. He did improve and shot a fairly respectable .364 from three after the All Star break. His defense is still a weak point and he shot a career low from the field, but he’s become a decent playmaker.
Grade: Meets Expectations
DeRozan is going to have to play more like he did after the All Star break and work harder on defense, against Washington. Bradley Beal has the potential to be a nightmare for the Raptors, with his outside shooting, and DeRozan’s penchant for over-helping on defense will play right into Washington’s hands.
JONAS VALANCIUNAS
More was probably expected of Valanciunas than any other Raptor this season. After working with Hakeem Olajuwon over the summer and gaining more muscle than anyone else on the team, this was supposed to be the year Jonas turned the corner. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Coach Casey limited his playing time, especially in the fourth quarter, leading to fewer minutes than last year. But it was not all Casey’s fault. Valanciunas became a more efficient scorer, but he also is a black hole who still struggles too much against double teams. In fact, his passing has actually gotten worse every season.
Valanciunas’ defense was also questionable at times, although a lot of it had to do with having to bail out the Raptor guards allowing penetration. He’s never going to be a great defender, but he’s still got a long way to go before he’s a good one.
Grade: Needs Improvement
Valanciunas needs to be a scoring presence down low against Gortat, but also make sure the ball doesn’t stop when it’s passed to him. Over the course of a seven game series, letting Valanciunas bring the offense to a grinding halt could be disastrous, and it’s not like Casey needs reason to sit Jonas.
AMIR JOHNSON
As someone who has consistently defended and cheered Amir, it wasn’t fun watching him physically decline this season. While he’s only 27 years old, his style of play looks like it’s finally starting to wear on him. He saw only a slight drop-off in his numbers, but where it was really noticeable was on defense. He seemed to be a step slower on defense, this season, and his defensive decline might be one of the biggest reasons we’ve seen the Raptors’ defense get so much worse.
On offense and on the boards, he’s as productive as ever, and in fact he’s become one of the best shooters in the league, from 5 feet in. And, interestingly, Amir actually shot .413 from three this season, going 19 for 46.
Grade: Approaching Expectations
Amir spent getting some well-needed time on the DL, over the last couple of weeks, and will have a few more days break before the playoffs start, which is key. What’s most important for Amir is to be healthy, because he’s the team’s best big man defender and they’ll need his help defense.
TERRENCE ROSS
Ross has been a disappointment this season. He saw his production and efficiency decline and never became the consistent defender most hoped he would be. He can still hit the three and has the tools to be a good defender when focused, but didn’t do it consistently enough this season.
Grade: Needs Improvement
Ross needs to do two things well against Washington. Play defense and hit the three. He’ll face a huge test playing a seven game series against Paul Pierce and if he’s not effective, he might be finding himself on the bench.
GREIVIS VASQUEZ
When all is said and done, Vasquez produced a season that was almost a carbon copy (young people might need to look up that term) of his play last year with the Raptors. His defense is poor, but he tries and might have one of the better floaters in the league. He was also the team’s best three point shooter after struggling in the first couple of months of the season.
Grade: Meets Expectations
Vasquez is never going to be a good defender, but if he can play like he has the second half of the season, that is what the Raptors will need him to do against Washington.
PATRICK PATTERSON
After inking a big deal for a bench player, over the summer, like seemingly every other Raptor, Patterson’s story is a tale of two seasons. He was on fire from three the first couple of months, but then saw a huge drop off at about the same time Lowry saw his. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.
Patterson is who he is. He’s never going to be a great player, but teams will always have need of a stretch four who can rebound and play some defense. And that’s what Patterson does. He spreads the floor better than Amir, but is simply not the defender Amir is.
Grade: Approaching Expectations
Patterson needs to be hitting the three for him to be effective against Washington and pull their big men out.
LOU WILLIAMS
Williams was the team’s third leading scorer and won several games almost single-handedly for the Raptors this year and hit more than a few key shots down the stretch in close games. Casey’s strategy of simply letting him isolate whenever he’s got the ball is frustrating to watch, but that’s Casey’s fault. What isn’t Casey’s fault, though, is that Lou thinks any shot is a good shot and you probably shouldn’t be shooting 5.4 shots from beyond the arc when you’re only shooting 34% from there (something Lowry also needs to learn).
Grade: Approaching Expectations
Gunners like Williams are generally far more valuable during the regular season than during the playoffs, where their feast or famine play becomes too much of a gamble, and their inability to help the team when not scoring generally relegates them to the bench. For Williams to be valuable, he needs to shoot well. Period.
JAMES JOHNSON
Johnson’s signing over the summer shocked many Raptor fans who never expected to see him back in a Toronto uniform, but he quickly became a fan favourite by playing gritty defense and doing all the little things a player like him needs to do. He can’t hit outside of ten feet and is not a scorer, but that’s something he seems to have finally figured out.
He did get into Casey’s doghouse, for some unknown reason, but his play has been fairly consistent. And when he plays he’s been one of the more effective Raptor players.
Grade: Exceeds Expectations
Johnson will probably be called on to play against Washington and defending Paul Pierce. Johnson has the ability to shut Pierce down, and if he can do it, the Raptors will have a good chance to win the series.
TYLER HANSBROUGH
Hansbrough actually had a very similar season, production-wise, as last year. He struggled a little more defensively, but so did the entire team. He isn’t asked to do a whole lot other than hustle, rebound and play defense. And that’s what he’s done.
Grade: Meets Expectations
Unless one of the Raptor bigs runs into foul trouble or gets injured, it’s unlikely Hansbrough will see a lot of minutes against Washington.
LANDRY FIELDS, CHUCK HAYES, GREG STIEMSMA, LUCAS NOGUIERA, BRUNO CABOCLO
None of these guys played enough to come to any conclusion about them and none will play against Washington unless it’s a blowout.
Grade: Incomplete
AROUND THE NBA
I can’t remember a last night of the regular season that had so many important games like last night. The final playoff spot in both the East and West were decided last night, with Brooklyn edging out the Pacers, and the Pelicans sending the Thunder and the league’s new leading scorer, Russell Westbrook, to an early vacation.
By the way, does anyone know the last time a scoring leader did not make the playoffs? I’ll give you a clue, it was a former Raptor.
By losing to the Pelicans, the Spurs dropped all the way to the 6th seed after sitting second just the day before. The best comment about that was on Twitter:
If you need any indication of the gap between the East & West in the NBA, please take note that the Spurs and Bucks have the same seed.
— Brett Edgerton (@EditorEdge) April 16, 2015
That’s not really all that bad, though. They end up facing the Clippers in the first round in what is sure to be the best first round series, and now won’t have to face the Warriors until the Conference Finals, if they make it that far.
