While you were all busying yourselves indulging in the Raptors – Mavs game, I took one for the team and covered the Raptors 905 game which was happening simultaneously. Undoubtedly, the Mavs game – which I was keeping tabs on – must have been pure eye candy compared to this D-league game which saw little to no defense from both teams.
111-102 was the final score, and pretty well both teams had whatever they wanted offensively. It was disappointing to see the 905 get carved up so easily by the Sioux Falls Skyforce, who did a lot of damage from beyond the arc, hitting 12 threes. Granted, they also took 31 long bombs, but the majority of them weren’t contested very well. Much like the Raptors A squad, the 905 struggles defending the three, and pretty well every defensive set was a mess. Rotations were late, and because of this, the guards would over-commit to catch their man, getting blown-by easily.
Pretty well no 905 swing-man left this game unscathed from getting carved defensively. Everyone from Jay Harris and Shannon Scott, to Bruno Caboclo and Axel Toupane were blown-by constantly. Even Norman Powell, who is one of the team’s better defenders couldn’t keep his man in front of him.
The rare bright spot defensively was Ronald Roberts Jr, who had four blocked shots and a monstrous 17 rebounds. He also showcased his hops.
Unfortunately, Roberts also had an unnecessary goal-tend in overtime which gifted the Skyforce two points, and he does tend to struggle within defensive sets. Nevertheless, a very nice Biyombo-esque line from him tonight.
Presumably why anyone is reading this though, is to see how the Raptor prospects – Norman Powell and Bruno Caboclo – played. As noted above, their defense needs to improve, which also stems back to the defensive sets of the entire team. Offensively though, they both looked really good. Powell led the game in scoring with 26 points on 10/26 shooting. Missing 16 shots may seem a lot, but Powell’s usage on this team is high, as he’s the go-to-guy offensively and undoubtedly the best player on the team.
Caboclo hit some big shots. He has a tendency to prematurely end his dribble, but other than that he really looks like he’s an above-average talent in the D-league. Bruno hit two threes, and went 7/17 from the floor en route to 17 points. I just noticed a stat which may or may not be misleading – he was also a team worst -12 when on the floor. Surely this has to do with his defense to a large extent. There are times where his length masks his defensive deficiencies, as he can recover and alter shoots with his ridiculous reach, but this is an area he needs to dramatically improve on.
The good news is that the two main prospects tonight got some heavy burn, and they’re being utilized within the team’s offensive scheme consistently. Bruno had 38 minutes while Powell had 43.
Next up: @Canton on Saturday.
