In the latest weekly pod, Andrew and I discussed Cory Joseph’s play this preseason, and we both found ourselves amazed at how meticulously the former Spur executed his backup point guard duties. Joseph’s game feels particularly refreshing because it stands in stark contrast to what came before him, so when he does a simple thing like not take a horrible shot, there’s a case to be made for confetti raining down from the ACC rafters.
I had sat down to watch the opening preseason game and when he first negotiated a high screen and came out on the other side with the offensive player still in front of him, my brain couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing. It was crazy, here was a Raptors backup point guard that had the quickness and strength to deal with a screen by not being completely cleaned out by it. He could anticipate what was about to happen, and then prevent the worst thing possible from happening.
While a single tear of joy was rolling down my cheek, Joseph performed another miracle. When an offensive player attempted a straight line drive, Joseph managed to use his feet to go backwards and body the offensive player into pulling back out. At first I thought that ecstasy pill I had popped in 1997 was finally kicking in, but then I realized I still had full function of my arms and legs, and came to the sudden realization that Joseph had successfully prevented a drive. I immediately went back and skimmed through every single Raptors game since 2008 and confirmed that this was the first time ever that a Raptors backup point guard had done this.
What had started out as a casual evening of watching preseason basketball had turned into a scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, where I couldn’t figure out if I was hallucinating or watching something real. At this point my daughter came up to me and asked if she could watch Curious George on the TV. Needless to say this was a request which would not be fulfilled, not when I was this high on the drug of Cory Joseph. I played the Dad card and asked her if she had finished her homework, knowing full well she hadn’t. Situation taken care of.
As the second quarter rolled in, Joseph did something that bordered on the metaphysical: with the shot clock winding down and under 5 left, he resisted the urge to heave up a fadeaway three, and instead faked going left and then right on a screen, before going left and setting up a teammate as the clock expired. This. This was something. A rapid flurry of Dwight Buycks, Nando De Colo, D.J. Augustin, and Julyan Stone memories flew through my mind and I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, my wife was standing beside me with with a wet towel soaked over my forehead. I asked her what happened and she said that my body had gone into shock. Luckily, she had paused the game so I resumed my adventure.
For his next feat, Joseph may as well have walked on water. After being trapped on the high screen, Joseph didn’t pick up his dribble! He instead found space with a hard low crossover and passed it back out for an actual set to be run which resulted in a score. Not panicking and remaining calm under pressure, and recognizing the options available to you while knowing what you have to do to utilize those options was breathtaking. A fleeting Greivis Vasquez moment flashed before my eyes. It was the one where he threw a cross-court diagonal pass while being pressured by two defenders, which was subsequently picked off for a breakaway dunk. I was now foaming at the mouth.
The next day I had fully recovered and had a chance to reflect on what we had in Cory Joseph, and the resounding answer that came back was: something steady. His early numbers of 10.8 points and 2.5 assists in 21 minutes reflect just that. The Raptors haven’t had a reliable reserve point guard which wasn’t a complete sieve on defense since…? I can’t even recall, so forgive me when I over-appreciate some of the simple, basic things that Cory Joseph is bringing to the table. The Raptors just need someone to fulfill the basic requirements of a backup point guard, no more, no less.
He’s already surpassed Greivis Vasquez and Jose Calderon by simply not being the worst defender ever, and offensively he’s very disciplined. You feel comfortable with him, even when he looks like he’s over-dribbling because you just know that he has an end product in mind. There’s a sense of comfort in knowing that he’s not going to make a high-risk play which leads to a turnover, or worse, take a bad shot that leads to a long rebound and the team scrambling in transition. He’s average to above-average in most aspects of his game, so you know that if needed, he can make a passing play, score at the rim, or make a jumper. Defensively, he’s got strength and can’t be easily posted up, he’s going to play enough defense to make it hard for opposing point guards, and most of all, he’s got sufficient lateral quickness where you don’t need to send help. Simple things, but when you introduce them to a position which has historically been the Raptors defense’s Achilles’ heel, it makes a huge difference.
Most of all, you trust him to do the right thing at the right time.
