Well that was fun…until it wasn’t…until it was again!
I missed this. I missed the excitement of the start of the game. I missed living and dying with each shot. I missed screaming at poor decisions being made, grieving potential injuries, celebrating return from injury, the constant expectation of a stomach punch, and everything else that makes up a Toronto Raptors game. Saddest of all, I even missed Jack Armstrong shilling himself out for MGD and the many other sponsors who help to pay his salary.
The NBA is back, and the Raptors have kicked off their season with a come from behind victory over the Indiana Pacers. So how did we get here?
Last night had some very encouraging moments, some questionable moments, and some simply terrible moments. It was a Raptors’ basketball game through and through, but I like to think that it was overall a positive indication of things to come.
And with everything that happened, there is no better place to start than with DeMarre Carroll. Simply put, the man was a monster and watching him in a Raptors jersey made me feel things that I didn’t know I could feel.
The defence that Carroll displayed on Paul George was something I have dreamed to see from someone in a Raptors jersey for many years…a dream that brought tears to my eyes as I never expected for it to actually be real. In total, Carroll helped to hold George to just 4-17 shooting, while also chipping in 14 points and 8 rebounds in his 41 minutes of action. Fantastic performance in his debut, but even more so when you factor in the evident pain he displayed after his early hard fall.
It was midway through the first quarter where Carroll hit the deck hard after driving the lane. He was in immediate pain and was taken to the locker room with a trainer gingerly supporting his arm/wrist. Any time a competitor like Carroll displays such demonstrative pain, the mind automatically goes to the worst case scenarios. Thankfully, DeMarre returned earl in the second quarter.
Cory Joseph was much the same as Carroll. The effort on the defensive end is full-out at all times. He challenged every shot, was not often fooled on pump-fakes, smoothly slid laterally to hedge his man away from the basket, and generally made the opponent work for every inch of space.
Toronto started a line-up of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Luis Scola, and Jonas Valanciunas. The majority of the starting line-up has been written in stone since the moment Carroll agreed to terms with the Raptors, but the one question mark was who would be the starting Power Forward.
Patrick Patterson spoke regularly during the summer about his desire to start and his belief that the position was his to lose. I guess he lost it for the time being.
The Raptors struggled (to put it kindly) early in the game, and allowed the Pacers to lead 30-20 after the first quarter. 30-20 makes it sounds much closer than it actually was, and the Pacers clearly outplayed Toronto for the majority of the opening quarter. Toronto looked sluggish, and out of sync with one another, which caused each player to try and do too much to turn the tables in their favour.
Things quickly got worse the moment that Carroll left for the locker room. Terrence Ross entered the game and promptly committed three fouls in three minutes of action. He was quickly sent back to the bench where he stayed until late in the third quarter. Upon returning later in the game, Ross completed a four point play, and drove the lane twice. On one of these occasions he his Biyombo with a perfect pocket pass for an easy bucket. Big hit or miss night for Ross…which is far too common.
Toronto committed 6 turnovers in the opening quarter, and got sucked into a track meet with by a very quick opponent who wants to get into the open floor.
Turnovers would remain a problem for the rest of the game, and were the main reason that Indiana was able to keep the game competitive. Toronto did not take good enough care of the ball, and ended the game having turned the ball over 21 times.
But back to Scola. Despite getting the starting nod, Scola never quite looked like the right fit along with the starters. It seems like an awkward fit within the starting unit, despite showing some of the veteran tools that he was recruiting to add to the team: he fought hard for boards (finished with 8), set some solid screens, competed well enough on defence, and showed some crafty footwork.
(On a side note: I’m already sick of how often we will hear about Scola’s “veteran savvy”, despite the fact that I used it in my previous paragraph. We are going to hear it constantly this year, because it’s very true. It’s still annoying though).
For all the good things he did though, Scola didn’t look like he had a good rhythm in place. This can take time to establish, and it is just the first game of the season, but he was a starter more by default due to Patterson’s atrocious preseason performance.
His biggest contribution came roughly five minutes into the third quarter. Scola showed great hustle to save a ball that was going out of bounds (off of a DeMar airballed three) in order to earn an extra possession. The recovered ball was quickly swung to Kyle Lowry who buried a much needed three ball, but it all started with some added effort from Scola.
Biyombo also needs to be celebrated in this space, as his stats do not do justice to the impact he had on the game. He finished with just 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 6 fouls, but he changed the game in his 16 minutes. His athleticism was on display, he disrupted several Pacer forays into the paint, and was constantly moving.
His hands are as bad as advertised though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who struggles catching a pass as much as Biyombo does. It’s amazing to think of the impact he has despite this clear weakness. He dropped several passes, bobbled a few rebounds, missed a couple of point blank shots, and took a brutal jump shot.
Perhaps the Raptors should petition the league to allow Bismack to wear mittens during each game, as a reminder to his teammates that he isn’t able to catch a ball. This can work much the same way as a red practice jersey in football: neon green pair of mittens so that no one sends the ball in his general direction.
And despite saying that, I loved everything else about Biyombo last night, especially a flexing after a tough put back bucket.
Lowry was a genius and truly was KLOE for much of the night. He provided what is expected of him, and outside of his 6 turnovers (a problem that plagued almost everyone on the roster) there isn’t much to say against what Svelte Kyle provided. He more than handled his match-up with George “Sisqo” Hill.
Patterson took and hit a few three pointers, and looked to be relatively back to who he was last season. The shattered confidence that seemed to emanate from him during the preseason was gone, and he looked like the stretch four that Toronto needs. He is still not an ideal fit next to Jonas on the defensive end, but the new defensive system could mitigate some of the issues that they faced together last season.
I have no words left to write about DeMar. He hit some big shots, took some terrible ones, and his decision making was questionable throughout the evening. The big pluses were his free throws (16 attempts) and passing, as he tired Lowry for the team lead in assists at 6.
But the MVP of the night was clearly Jonas Valanciunas. When everyone else was struggling, Jonas carried the Raptors with efficient post scoring and won the rebounding battle. Jonas finished 8-11, for 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 1 block. He found soft spots in the defence, dominated an undersized frontcourt, and finished the game with key fourth quarter minutes.
Toronto finished the game with a line-up for Joseph, Lowry, DeRozan, Carroll, and Valanciunas. I guess $64M does buy some fourth quarter burn.
Game 1 of 82+ games is in the books…and man I missed it all.
