To understand the 105-90 loss Raptors 905 suffered at the hands of the Canton Charge on Saturday, it’s instructive to appreciate the setting. The 905 didn’t play well, to be sure, but even if they had, this had the potential to be a loss of circumstance.
The Toronto Raptors opted not to assign any players – not even Bruno Caboclo – for this one, instead opting to keep a full contingent for a Christmas Day practice and their own Saturday game in Milwaukee. The Raptors entered the game banged up and unsure of the status of several key players, and declining to assign players is their prerogative, and an understandable one from time to time. The 905 were also without Sim Bhullar, who doesn’t travel with the team as he stays at home to work on a long-term conditioning program. Factor in that the team waived Nick Wiggins on Saturday and had center Walter Pitchford retire unexpectedly, and the team was down to nine players for the game.
And that wouldn’t have been an excuse for freshness, not with three days off preceding the game. But the 905 have given 27.7 percent of their minutes and 32 percent of their field-goal attempts to NBA players this season, and the absence of those key pieces – chiefly Caboclo, Delon Wright, and Norman Powell – was palpable against Canton. The Charge have several intriguing players in Quinn Cook, D.J. Stephens, Sir’Dominic Pointer, Nike Minnerath, Jon Horford, Jorge Gutierrez, and C.J. Wilcox. They’re about as loaded as a 5-10 team can be, the 905 about as thinned out as expected from a 5-11 expansion squad.
The game couldn’t possibly have started worse, with the 905 falling down 19-0 and committing eight turnovers before they hit a basket. They played more or less evenly from there, but when you dig that deep a hole, the opponent can kind of kick back and play conservatively.
The defense found it’s footing some, keeping Canton off the line and closing out well on shooters, but the Charge also shot a frigid 6-of-31 from outside despite pretty sound ball movement. The offense, meanwhile, started hitting actual shots but committed 24 turnovers that led to 36 points the other way. This has been a consistent and frustrating talking point for the team the entire year, with the recklessness on offense putting way too much pressure on what’s otherwise been a good defense. Transition defense is much more difficult than half-court defense, and the 905 force themselves to play the tougher one much too often.
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That’s something they’ll continue to work on and, hopefully, improve with over time. They’ve shown long flashes of being a good defensive team when they can clean things up on offense, and reinforcements should help in both regards, should they come.
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The 905 still had Scott Suggs and Ronald Roberts, two upper-tier D-Leaguers. The former has no problem trying to put an offense on his back – Suggs scored 14 points with five turnovers – but the latter feasts on flow-of-the-offense and garbage looks. Roberts had his customary double-double with 13-and-11 but had perhaps his worst game in weeks, which speaks more to how dominant he’s been than any sort of awfulness Saturday. He’s still a beast on the glass and a terrific leaper, though he had some competition from Stephens for best dunker on the floor.
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And there’s probably a benefit to the odd game like this one, as several role players got to see expanded run that should prove beneficial later in the season, both if they’re called on and to improve their play in their regular roles.
Ashton Smith, in particular, got to show what he could do running the offense some. The local product fought his way onto the team from open tryouts by proving himself a defensive specialist, but he was able to show he has something to offer on offense with the expanded run, scoring 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting with five assists, albeit with three turnovers.
Jay Harris looked less effective, and he and Melvin Johnson remain in a weird back-and-forth for bench minutes when the entire backcourt is around. Harris shot 1-of-5 and committed four turnovers while Johnson shot 4-of-8 for 11 points with two miscues, but Harris also out-assisted Johnson 6-0. The team was high on Harris in the D-League draft but he needs to improve his shot selection and decision making if he wants to be the team’s primary microwave man over Johnson, who head coach Jesse Mermuys could tether to Suggs or Shannon Scott to ensure ball movement remains in tact.
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Scott, by the way, continues to impress since Wright was recalled, scoring 15 points with nine rebounds and five assists.
Of all the shifting roles, it may have been Axel Toupane who struggled most despite a strong stat line. The defensive shape-shifter shot 4-of-12 and made four turnovers, playing to a minus-25 in his 33 minutes despite a 16-9-3 final line. Defensively, he helped lock down Wilcox, no easy task, and that’s his primary function. For a game, though, it looked like he’s more comfortable offensively as the leader of the second unit rather than the fourth option with the starters. That’s where he’ll return once the Raptors opt to assign someone, which could come as soon as Wednesday’s game.
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Then 905 have a few days off before then to regroup and try to figure out what they can do about the turnovers, because most of their issues flow from there. They’ve been able to make incremental improvements in almost every other area, and so Mermuys would likely preach positivity, as is his modus operandi. And he should – the 905 played poorly Saturday, but it was a shell of this 905 team.
Not to make excuses for them, but nights like these happen in the D-League, especially for young teams, and the 905 have been having fewer of them as the season’s gone on. Probably best to turn the page quickly.
