Here’s an important reminder: Raptors 905 are not only a D-League team, they’re an expansion team, too.
That much was exceedingly evident on Sunday as the 905 played in their first official exhibition game. A few days after nearly blowing a 27-point lead against the Windsor Express of your rec league, the 905 were run off the Hershey Centre floor by an actual D-League opponent in the Erie Bayhawks. The final was 102-83 but it was uglier than the numbers suggest, particularly early.
Things started out inauspiciously, with tip-off being delayed by a technical issue. Once sorted out, the on-court product wasn’t any more game-ready. Erie pushed the pace a great deal out of the gate, securing open looks early in the shot clock. The 905, meanwhile, were turning the ball over on what seemed like every possession, with a starting five that likely stands as the team’s regular season bench unit (Ashton Smith, Shaquille Keith, Melvin Johnson, Kourtney Roberson, and Keanau Post) struggling to get anything going.
A 21-4 deficit was enough for head coach Jesse Murmuys to go to his bench, but the presumed starters (Shannon Scott, Scott Suggs, Axel Toupane, Michael Kyser, and Sim Bhullar) didn’t fare much better. The hole grew to an obscene 45-12 by the end of the first quarter and stood at 73-30 at the half. At one point, Erie was shooting 17-of-24 and hammering the Raptors on the glass, all while sealing off the paint and forcing the 905 into wild drives that couldn’t find seams. There wasn’t an official live box score available, but some time late in the first half I had counted 20 turnovers in my game notes (I stopped counting at that point).
To their credit, the 905 fought into the second half and showed marked improvement at both ends of the floor. The willing passing from the first half began to manifest itself with functional ball movement, and the 905 found some open looks from long range. A more organized defense was also able to force a few turnovers, putting this team’s potential as a transition juggernaut on display. Murmuys and general manager Dan Tolzman built this roster to play a pace-and-space style predicated heavily on defensive versatility, ball movement, and athleticism, and the second half gave a much better preview of what that may look like when the team finds its footing.
The team decidedly did not have their footing Sunday, and the 72-29 second-half edge was probably in some part due to Erie taking their foot off the gas some. Still, holding Erie to 29 second-half points speaks volumes about the effort level late in a blowout, and several individuals looked more comfortable out of the break.
It’s worth keeping in mind what this team is right now, too. Wins are better than losses, though not the ultimate goal of a D-League team, and the 905 are an expansion squad. Only one player (Suggs) on the training camp roster came from what’s proven to be a mostly useless (in the short term) expansion draft. Ronald Roberts, expected to be a major piece of the frontcourt rotation, isn’t in camp with the team. The 905 exist in large part to facilitate the development of Bruno Caboclo, who can’t be assigned during the preseason. This roster is disadvantaged, and they’ve only been together in an official capacity since Monday. Factor in that Erie is a quality team with several potential high-end D-Leaguers (Canadians Melvin Ejim and Myck Kabongo among them, plus Keith Appling, Jordan Sibert, and NCAA scoring standout Tyler Harvey), and a spirited effort with some positive signs was probably a best-case scenario.
Among those positive signs:
- Bhullar is going to block shots. Whether his overall presence is a net positive remains to be seen, but simply standing near the restricted area makes him a defensive weapon. That’s less so the case when asked to step outside of, say, 10 feet and help contest on jump shots, but it’s unlikely he’s asked to do that much.
- Johnson is fast. Like, really fast. He should fit well with what the team wants to do with the transition game.
- Toupane will probably be your favorite non-Bruno 905er. He’s a great athlete, he has range to the 3-point line, and he has a highly pun-able name. What’s not to love? He was probably the team’s best player Sunday.
- Suggs should be a lot of fun, too. He was a bit turnover-happy Sunday and appeared to suffer an arm injury in the fourth quarter, but it’s easy to picture him as the team’s microwave man off the bench.
- Jay Harris looked solid. It was pretty clear why Tolzman was so pumped to get him in the second round.
The 905 are back at it tomorrow night, and it will be interesting to see how they look with a real game under their belts. The defense was way out of sorts early and the starting group looked like they had never played together before. Neither of those things should hold true on a back-to-back, and even Murmuys playing around with groupings and rotations – not to mention trying to determine which 11 of these 16 guys will make the team (the non-NBA roster limit is 12 and Roberts is expected to take up a spot) – shouldn’t stand to make Monday quite as unsightly as Sunday.
So, yeah, the first-half score was laughable, the final score wasn’t all that close, either, and they looked like an expansion team. None of that is any big deal at all in an exhibition opener, and they took positive steps in the second half. Progress already!
You can find out more about the Raptors 905 roster, how it was constructed, and who else you can expect to see with the team during the regular season here. We also have a more general D-League primer here. The 905 will play their first regular season game on Nov. 14, with their home opener following on Nov. 19. And yes, it’s possible Cabcolo is a member of the team at that point.
