The new defensive schemes of the Toronto Raptors and head coach Dwane Casey appear to agree with center Jonas Valanciunas.
That’s important news, because Valanciunas’ play on the defensive end of the floor was one of the impetuses for tweaking Casey’s formerly hyper-aggressive system. Last season, the Raptors would switch heavily on screens on the perimeter, asking Valanciunas to hedge out on guards in the pick-and-roll, cover a ton of ground, and generally task him with far too much reactionary play.
Valanciunas wasn’t abhorrent defensively in 2014-15, but he was a far cry from where that team, devoid of strong individual defenders, needed him to be. The Raptors gave up 105.6 points per-100 possessions (PPC) with their starting center on the floor, worse than their equally mediocre 104.0 mark without him, and it resulted in Valanciunas being glued to the bench in the fourth quarter of close games. Of the 184 minutes the Raptors played with the score within five points in the game’s final five minutes, Valanciunas played just 63 of them, during which the Raptors were outscored by 59 points (they outscored opponents by 35 in the other 121 minutes).
It was a major problem, and the biggest concern about the four-year, $64-million contract extension the Raptors gave Valanciunas this summer, one that should look good in the new NBA economy come next summer but one that carries some risk. Valanciunas is an established post scorer and defensive rebounder, but for the contract to become the bargain the team hopes it can be, the Lithuanian needs to improve as a dive-man and, far more importantly, as a defender.
Even before the extension was signed, general Masai Ujiri spoke openly about making Casey’s system more conservative in order to better utilize Valanciunas, who has yet to average more than 28.2 minutes in his career.
“I think our defensive mentality will change,” Ujiri said at summer league. “Schemes will change a little bit, that protects him a little bit. I think it will enable him to even play more in the fourth quarter.”
Casey has been quick to point out that nothing he’s now asking of his players is that extreme or terribly unfamiliar, even though long-time Raptors like DeMar DeRozan may lack reps in icing (or “blueing”) the pick-and-roll.
Icing the pick-and-roll is one of the primary changes that were on display in the preseason. As a very quick explanation, icing the side pick-and-roll involves the ball-handler’s defender angling his body to prevent the ball-handler from getting to the middle of the floor off of a screen. In the meantime, the screener’s man can drop back some, as there’s far less of a need to hedge on the ball-handler. The intent is to force the ball to the sideline and to the baseline on these plays, where the ball-handler then has less space – the boundaries of the court act as defenders – and ideally fewer passing lanes.
The logic makes sense, and John Schuhmann of NBA.com found that offenses score worst in the pick-and-roll when iced. The Raptors, however, allowed the highest percentage of pick-and-rolls to go to the middle of the floor in the entire NBA last season, and it wasn’t particularly close.
Casey’s scheme from a year ago actually encouraged ball-handlers to the middle of the floor, which stretched Valanciunas too thin with responsibilities. He’d need to hedge on a guard, make it back to his man, and also provide protection at the rim, and his decision making and footwork weren’t strong enough to do all of that capably. Valanciunas still graded out as an above-average rim protector – he saved the ninth-most adjusted points per-36 minutes, according to Nylon Calculus – but it left him susceptible to easy dump-offs when helping and left him out of position, unable to contest shots at the rim, too often.
Here’s an example of what the Raptors asked Valanciunas to do last season:
Ujiri spoke specifically about asking Valanciunas to hedge less and stay closer to the rim, which suggested this specific schematic change could be coming. The Raptors switched less aggressively on the perimeter in the preseason, instead asking a now-superior group of defenders to stay tighter to their men and fight through screens. Valanciunas is dropping back in pick-and-roll coverage, and it’s allowed him to better guard the rim and serve as baseline help on side pick-and-rolls.
All of the necessary caveats about the preseason apply, but it was an encouraging seven games. The Raptors gave up 92.8 PPC when Valanciunas was on the floor, a mark far better than any team can sustain for a long stretch. He even worked well when paired with Luis Scola, the team’s new starting power forward, though that pairing is cause for defensive concern even in a perfect system.
The final score of Wednesday’s opener shouldn’t confuse matters – the Raptors were stout defensively. The Pacers scored 99 points, yes, but the game was surprisingly played at a frenetic pace despite both teams finishing bottom-10 in preseason pace. The game had an estimated 106.5 possessions, meaning the Raptors surrendered just 94.6 PPC, a terrific mark that improved to 86.3 with Valanciunas on the floor. They held the Pacers to 26 field goal attempts in the restricted area, a very low percentage of attempts, and Valanciunas generally looked comfortable executing the team’s game plan.
Here are a few examples of how Valanciunas handled the pick-and-roll on Wednesday:
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This is probably a strategy the Raptors would have employed against Motna Ellis last season anyway, given his proclivity for hoisting mid-range jumpers, but they’re good examples of where Valanciunas will be on pick-and-rolls this season. And Hill is someone the Raptors would have normally hedged out on a little harder than this.
These weren’t side pick-and-rolls, mind you (the Pacers didn’t run a ton of those Wednesday). The following clip wasn’t, either, but it’s an encouraging bit of rim protection:
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There are going to be bumps in the road, due to the learning curve or Valanciunas’ oft-slow reaction times. The Pacers burned the Raptors with a baseline inbounds play where Valanciunas “dropped back” into no space, leaving Paul George open and uncontested. He was also the victim of a dump-off when focusing only on the ball-handler, though that was a bad defensive possession for more than just Valanciunas.
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I wish I had more GIFs of side pick-and-rolls to show how Valanciunas’ role changes in those scenarios, particularly when his man isn’t the screener, so that will be something I look for in Friday’s game.
For now, what’s clear is that Valanciunas is hedging far less, and he seemed quite comfortable with his revised role. He also played almost the entirety of the game’s final six minutes thanks to foul trouble for Bismack Biyombo, and he acquitted himself well, hopefully earning trust for future end-game scenarios. Not only was Valanciunas’ performance low on defensive miscues, but he hammered the defensive glass for 14 of his 15 rebounds, an area of strength for him that should only improve now that he’s tethered more tightly to the basket.
The changes in system also allow other Raptors to be a bit more secure defending their own checks, knowing they can funnel their man toward the rim if they begin to get beat.
“That’s something he’s drastically improved – blocking shots, jumping with a big, a guard, no matter who it is, protecting the rim,” Patrick Patterson said of Valanciunas following the game. “Knowing that I have those guys protecting the rim if my guy happens to go by me, I know that JV or Bismack is going to be out there at the rim, challenging the shot. I can just come back in and try to grab a rebound….It makes our job easier on the perimeter.”
Of course, most people probably want to talk about Valanciunas’ offense on Wednesday. It was terrific – he shot 8-of-11, his pump-fake was working, his post-up game was strong, and he knocked down a 12-footer. None of this is new, though, and most people, I think, are confident in Valanciunas scoring an efficient 15 points most nights. It’s great that he did it, but his next steps come as a dive-man and defender. The defense looked good, as discussed, but Valanciunas is still figuring out the intricacies of being a good screener.
There was some good and some bad Wednesday. First, the negative: There are two examples here of Valanciunas receiving passes after the screen, and he turns an advantage back into a neutral situation thanks to his hesitation. You can almost see the gears grinding as he figures out his next move.
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The positive: Valanciunas convincingly changed the direction of his pick on a screen for Cory Joseph late in the fourth. This is something new to Valanaciunas’ arsenal, as he’s been guilty in the past of telegraphing not only the direction of his pick, but what he’s going to do immediately after. Keeping the defender from Joseph’s hip gave the guard a lane, and Valanciunas smartly followed and wound up tipping in the offensive rebound.
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It was a good night for Valanciunas and an encouraging start to a pivotal year in his development. There are still wrinkles to iron out, but it’s tough to ask for a better opener than this from the 23-year-old.
