Williams cannot tell you exactly how he suckers defenders into fouling him so far away from the rim so often. He does not use pump fakes very often. He is not a physical force. His three-point shooting was actually a percentage point below the league average, so it is not as if opponents should be rushing out to run him off of the arc, sometimes hitting him in the process. It is nothing short of NBA art. “When you make shots, teams have to guard you honest,” Williams said. “I think that’s shown with a guy like a James Harden or a Jamal Crawford and other guys that get fouled so much on shooting attempts. If you make shots, teams have to guard you honest, and you start using that to your advantage when guys want to reach in, want to be physical.” It has been a dream year for Williams. He came to Toronto with some people wondering whether he could still be a productive NBA player, and will end it as something of a folk hero. In the interim, Drake recorded a song inspired by him, and Williams’ teammates fell in love with him. For his calmness and endless ease, Williams earned the title of “coolest dude in the world” from DeMar DeRozan.
Raptors’ Lou Williams named NBA sixth man of year | Toronto Sun
When a big shot needs to be made, Williams has often stepped up, oblivious to the stage and no fear of missing. But he does take some questionable heaves, like he did in Saturday afternoon’s Game 1. Mind you, he’s not alone. Toronto’s primary scorers in Williams, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan went a combined 12-of-46 from the field with half of Williams’ shot taken from beyond the arc. It’s bounce-back night for the Raptors in Game 2 and while an award is nice and in this case well-deserved, it means nothing come tip time. “I’m just excited about Lou, a guy who comes back from his injury, worked hard, dedicated himself to getting his body right, nobody kind of knew what he was going to bring to the table once he was signed, whether it was damaged goods or whatever,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s proved to everybody that he’s the old Lou Williams.” Williams, 28, appeared in 80 of Toronto’s 82 regular-season games, posting a career-best scoring average of 15.5 points.
Williams hopes to remain Raptors’ sixth man | TSN
“[Staying in Toronto] would be ideal for me,” he said. “Just the culture that they’re building here, just the identity that this team and this town has, I really want to be a part of it. I look forward to it. I don’t want to say hopefully we get something done, I’m really positive that we will get something done. I don’t see why not, at this point. So I just look forward to the future here.” Of course, a lot could change between now and July, when NBA free agency officially opens. It takes two to tango – the Raptors would have to be willing to pay up in order to keep Williams from moving south and with the salary cap set to skyrocket the following summer, the market figures to be an unpredictable one. For now, Williams is content with where he’s at, mostly because he remembers how hard it’s been to get to this point. He’s found a home with the Raptors and they’ve welcomed him with open arms, right from the start.
Raptors guard Lou Williams wins sixth man of the year award | Toronto Star
They will perhaps be surprised, then, to learn how his high school coach used him, the skills they exploited when the 28-year-old Williams was a South Gwinnett, Ga., teenager. “We started every game with a dunk play just to intimidate the other team,” Roger Fleetwood, who coached Williams in high school, said Monday after a ceremony honouring the Toronto guard. “Oak Hill (a prestigious U.S. prep school program); we’re playing (NBA stars) Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson and we started with a dunk play against them for him.” That Williams has come this far from that point, from having re-made his game to a more grounded style after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament more than two years ago, made Tuesday’s honour all the more special.
Why Lou Williams Was the Right Choice for NBA Sixth Man of the Year | numberFire
In the last 10 years, only two players put forth higher PER outputs: James Harden in 2012 (21.1) and Manu Ginobili in 2008 (24.3). His nERD was higher than either of the previous two winners, though not quite on par as some other names on the list. Either way, Williams is, by the numbers, the best Sixth Man of the Year since Harden. Lou Will can finally rest easy now that he has received the proper accolade that coincides with the melodic Drake track “6 Man” in which the Canadian born rapper boasts of Williams’ scoring prowess for his hometown Raptors. Drake is an official ambassador of the Raptors, so his message may be a little biased, but apparently the voters of the award agree with him. And, according to the numbers, they got it right.
“There are some games where we need his physical ability,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said on Monday, “and then there are some games where we don’t.” “Matchups. I’m here for matchup problems,” Johnson added. “I’m here for the long season, when Kyle [Lowry] got hurt or DeMar [DeRozan] got hurt. Those were when I had opportunities to play a lot. I’m the fill-in. And I’m OK with that.”
Playing time for Raptors’ James Johnson a mystery | Sportsnet.ca
Among Raptors regulars Johnson had the second best defensive rating (101.9) and the fifth-best offensive rating (108.9) for the third-best net rating this season. He had the second-best true shooting percentage on the team and is the best rebounder among the wings. And Johnson has ears too. He didn’t play Saturday but got a trail of goosebumps along his ornate arms when the crowd started calling his name. “I did [hear them]. I did. I did,” he said Monday. “I love our fans. It gave me a warm spot in my heart. I got the chills a little bit. At the same time, I don’t want that to affect guys on our bench or guys that are playing in the game, distracting them from what they’re doing out there. It’s nice of them to do that. I really appreciate it. But, cheer for the Raptors.”
James Johnson will play key role in playoff series for Raptors | Toronto Star
There will come a time when James Johnson will likely play for the Raptors in their NBA first-round playoff series, but it will be because coach Dwane Casey knows it gives his team a strategic advantage and not because people are clamouring for the little-used forward to get on the court. “It’s a strategic decision,” Casey said Tuesday. Johnson has become something of a cause célèbre with the Raptors these days; fans see a powerful forward who doesn’t play an awful lot and wonder why. Coaches see someone with significant flaws in his game — over-helping on defence, freelancing and creating spacing issues on offence — and want to pick their spots to use him.
Raptors see investment in Terrence Ross paying off | Toronto Sun
A year ago in the playoffs, the Raptors justified starting him every game because it was best for his long-term development. He eventually started to look somewhat comfortable in Game 4 and through the final three, but there were moments there where many had to be wondering why exactly the Raptors were content to devote so many minutes, despite few results. The answer comes a year later in that Ross is now a much more complete player capable of playing in the biggest of moments. Sure there was that huge hiccup midway through the season, but through a little tough love, Casey now has a guy he can trust defensively. His offence, which has been sporadic, is a bonus. “The bench is a great motivator sometimes,” Casey said. “You don’t want to wear that out but I think he had a chance to sit back and watch and see what he needed to do and he’s done it.”
NBA Playoffs: Wizards vs Raptors, Game 2 Preview | K8O Nation SportsZone
If the Raptors want to win their first playoff series since 2001, they’re not going to be able to do it without an all-star Kyle Lowry playing at an elite level. Lowry’s 7pts, 6/20 shooting, and 6 fouls are abysmal number for a player of his calibre, especially in the playoffs. I understand that he is recently back from injury so he is still not 100%, but I believe Lowry can give a whole lot more right now. And I’m not just talking about putting points on the board either. Lowry was out of sorts on the defensive end as much as he was on the offensive end. He was taking unusual risks and dangerous gambles that cost the team a couple of times (fouling out of the game is an example of how bad it was). Lowry needs to get back to basics in this series. He needs to work harder on both ends of the floor and get more flow going in the offence. His shot has been struggling as of late so it would be a good time to get his other teammates involved to get them going. Lowry also needs to put pressure on John Wall on both ends. Make Wall work on the defensive end, attack him off the dribble and maybe try and draw a couple of early fouls. And on the defensive end, Lowry should pick up Wall as soon as possible to prevent any opportunity of Wall getting to the basket. If Kyle Lowry can get back to what got him to being a first time all-star, the Raptors chances of winning game 2 will significantly increase.
Kyle Lowry: Playoff Jitters or Trying Too Hard? | Baller Mind Frame
The thing is, Lowry isn’t outmatched. It’s not a question of effort either. He’s one of the most determined athletes in the game. However, just like Teddy Geiger, sometimes, he just tries too hard. He wants to be the best. He wants to lead Toronto out of the first round so badly that his desires sometimes overflow into bad decision-making on the court. It’s a better problem to have then no effort at all but if the Raptors have any chance at winning this series, they’ll need Lowry at his best. He’s their emotional leader and he sets the tone on both ends of the court.
The one game that was at an acceptable time – and I was stuck with watching people taking contested midrange jumpers. Furthermore, Toronto shot 6-of-29 on three pointers – and just like the Spurs most of them were not highly contested. The problems for both San Antonio and Toronto is that, of course, even one night of bad shooting can be fatal. But at least it is better than being hopelessly matched (Hello, Brooklyn!).
Raptors vs. Wizards Preview: Game 2 | Toronto Raptors
Kyle Lowry is due for a bounce-back game after fouling out in a 2-for-10 shooting performance in Game 1. Lowry wasn’t the only Raptors player to have a rough outing in their playoff opener. DeMar DeRozan, Lou Williams and Terrence Ross all struggled from the floor, but teammates are confident their shots will fall on Tuesday.
Kelly: What will fix the Raptors? Less talk, more action | The Globe and Mail
After blowing Game 1, the Raptors provided a bad news/good news scenario: We were terrible; we probably couldn’t be that terrible again if we tried. It’s hard to find the narrative wedge into that one. Guard Lou Williams threw them a story-arc lifeline. Early Monday afternoon, Williams won the NBA’s sixth-man award. He becomes only the third Raptor in history to take an individual season-end accolade (Damon Stoudamire and Vince Carter were both rookies of the year). As usual, Drake saw this coming. He wrote a song about Williams – 6 Man – that gets perilously close to giving away too much. Go read the lyrics – which, were they reprinted in a family newspaper, would look a redacted CIA kill order. We all wish Drake would name-check us in verse. Now we wish he’d do it in a song called Winning Lotto 6/49.
Some beauty pics from Dwane Casey’s high school days | Bardown
During Saturday’s Toronto Raptors pre-game show before their big opening match up against the Washington Wizards, you’ll get a chance to see a glimpse of Raptors coach Dwane Casey’s early life. In a one on one interview with Marci Ien from CTV’s Canada AM, Dwane gets a chance to look back on his days at Union County High School with some amazing pictures. The traditionally even-keeled with the media coach of the Raptors has some pretty great reactions in this teaser of Saturday’s full interview.
An Open Letter to the NBA Draft Class | The Players Tribune
The thing I can’t preach enough is patience. I’ll tell you right now that you’re not going to get as much playing time as you think you should. If you’re drafted high and you don’t get that playing time, you tend to get mad at the world. You may work hard for a period of time, but it won’t last. You’ll lose that focus and ultimately that mindset that made you successful enough to make it to the NBA. You might think you’re too good to be sitting on anybody’s bench, but try to get that ego in check. Otherwise, you’ll stop showing effort in practice, which will lead to even less playing time. Then, when you actually are put in game situations, you won’t feel prepared because you haven’t been practicing at the highest level. Finally, when your first contract is up and you haven’t proven anything, no other team is going to want you. This is the cycle so many young guys fall into. And while all this might seem daunting, some of the biggest challenges you face might very well occur off the court.
Paul Pierce buys into what coach Randy Wittman is selling | Comcast SportsNet Washington
“For the most part we listened to the game plan,” said Pierce, laughing because he has maintained during stretches of losing that it’s their lack of discipline, not concepts or game planning, that had been the Wizards’ issue. “We stuck with it. The trust was there. That’s one thing when I looked at the game again (Saturday) night the trust was there. A lot of times when they had players driving to the hole the next man helped. He didn’t care about who he was guarding. He had trust the next man was going to help him. That’s something that was inconsistent for us all year long. The trust was there. It was beautiful to watch.
A Wizards Fan’s Rant / Manifesto about the perception of the 4/5 matchup | Bullets Forever
No, we’re probably not going to win a title, and I’m not suggesting we hide our head in the sands and ignore the faults with this team, but we just completed the most successful season in 30+ years. And our best players are still young. We can be excited about what we have now and still admit that we have room to grow. It’s a matter or emphasis and pride at this moment in time. We have one of the most exciting players with the ball in his hands I’ve ever watched leading the team. A player who, by the way, has no quit in him. A player who willingly reps D.C., despite a horrible NBA history and “Wizards” as a team name. He is not lying down or complaining that we aren’t playing enough “pace and space.” That’s for AFTER the season. Right now, he’s pounding his chest and going to war. We just held the third best offensive team in the league to under 90 points in the playoffs on their home court. Yes, they missed shots, but our defense did its part also.
Greivis Vasquez finds his vibe in Toronto | Washington Times
In Toronto, Vasquez has resumed the role he’s had much of his career. He’s a backup point guard with size, some shooting and a herky-jerky game that should last over his career since it is predicated more on craftiness than leaping or speed. This season, his first full one in Toronto, was similar to his previous four in the league. Vasquez averaged 9.5 points in 2014-15; he averages 9.2 for his career. His field-goal percentage was down slightly, his 3-point percentage up slightly. He played just more than 24 minutes per game and made 29 starts. When starting point guard Kyle Lowry fouled out at the end of Game 1, Vasquez returned to the game. His pull-up 3-pointer with 25 seconds to play tied the game and served as the cap to an unlikely Toronto comeback after the Raptors trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter. The shot dropped, the sellout crowd boomed and Vasquez, with his freshly faded hair that included etched-out lines, shook his shoulders like he heard Elvis for the first time. Asked about his rhythm and reaction by a reporter he recognized, Vasquez smiled. “You know,” Vasquez said. “You’re from Maryland. That shimmy comes from college. But more than that, I wanted to win the game. As you guys know, I’m not afraid to take any big shot.”
Raptors vs. Wizards Preview: Game 2 | Toronto Raptors
Kyle Lowry is due for a bounce-back game after fouling out in a 2-for-10 shooting performance in Game 1. Lowry wasn’t the only Raptors player to have a rough outing in their playoff opener. DeMar DeRozan, Lou Williams and Terrence Ross all struggled from the floor, but teammates are confident their shots will fall on Tuesday.
Raptors need to respond in Game 2 « NBA.com | Hang Time Blog with Sekou Smith
In an ugly Game 1, the difference was Washington’s 19 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points. Four of the former and five of the latter came in overtime. The Raptors ranked 25th in defensive rebounding percentage in the regular season, and their issues in that regard obviously carried over into the playoffs. In some cases, the Raptors just got beat up underneath the basket. See Drew Gooden vs. Patrick Patterson on this fourth-quarter tip-in. But other Washington offensive rebounds were a result of the Raptors’ defense on the perimeter. By sending two to the ball on pick-and-rolls involving Wall and Beal, Toronto got caught in rotations and out of position when it was time to secure a rebound. So in regard to the glass, it will first be interesting to see whether or not the Raptors are hedging hard on pick-and-rolls.
Will the Wizards speed up their late game offense? There was plenty of things not to like about how the Wizards fell apart in the closing minutes of regulation in Game 1. The Wizards won’t be able to fix all the issues that popped up in the closing minutes, but there is one simple fix they can make that will give them a better shot at generating some points late in the game: Stop burning up so much of the shot clock before initiating the action. In a final possession situation, burning up the clock is fine, but you shouldn’t employ that strategy for the final three minutes. Every shot the Wizards attempted in the final three minutes of regulation came with less than 8 seconds left on the shot clock. Worse yet, on the last three possessions of the fourth quarter (where they went scoreless), they didn’t even get the ball inside the three point line until there was less than six seconds left on the shot clock.
Raptors vs Wizards: Game 2 – shake it off | Raptors Rapture
3 KEYS TO VICTORY Trust in Jonas Valanciunas. He’s got to get the ball in the low block. Yes, he struggled to finish in Game 1, but that’s over. Start Amir Johnson. While giving Tyler Hansbrough the chance to build on his recent fine play wasn’t a bad idea, Amir showed how valuable he can be at both ends of the floor. If Paul Pierce starts to heat up, make the adjustment. Whether that means a few minutes of James Johnson or going into a zone D to give Pierce no room, do something.
NBA Preview – Washington Wizards at Toronto Raptors – Apr 21, 2015 | CBSSports.com
”You’ve just got to embrace it,” said Pierce, who blocked Kyle Lowry’s last-second shot in Game 7 to help Brooklyn knock off the Raptors in the first round last season. ”It’s not that I’m a bad guy. That’s just the role you portray to media on the court, on the road. Everybody is booing you, no one likes you. I embrace it. It fuels me, truthfully.” Pierce saw minutes at power forward in Game 1, and that may have thrown off the Raptors. Pierce found his shot from the outside in transition and hit 7 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. ”It’s a unique situation having a guy like him,” coach Randy Wittman said. ”If I don’t take advantage of having a guy who’s going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer and pick his brain, then I’m not doing a very good job.” Washington lost 15 of its last 19 road games, but it has won six of seven away from home in the playoffs over the last two years. The Wizards won all three at Chicago in last year’s first round.
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