Last week’s D-League Showcase in Santa Cruz, Calif., went much the way the entire inaugural season has for the expansion Raptors 905: They played well for the most part, had some strong individual performances, showed encouraging signs of progress, but came away with two tight losses.
The 905 emerge from the five-day scouting mega-event with a 5-16 record, the worst in the D-League. They finished the mini-tournament 14th out of 19 teams despite the 0-2 mark because of the tiebreaker, net rating, which speaks to how close they played a pair of opponents with a combined 28-11 record. Their net rating for the season is -5.6 points per-100 possessions, 18th in the league, but that mark has been improving despite a hellacious schedule of late. In other words, the win column may not be showing their progress, which is kind of the unfair mantra for the entire D-League experiment.
“It’s been everything we’ve asked for and more,” general manager Dan Tolzman, who also acts as the Toronto Raptors’ director of player personnel, told Raptors Republic of the D-League setup before the Showcase. “Granted, our wins and losses aren’t showing much. But at the same time, we’ve led in a lot of our losses by double-digits. Clearly, this team is good enough.”
That’s been a popular refrain of late, largely because it’s true. Even without the benefit of players on assignment from the Raptors, the 905 hung with Sioux Falls, the league’s best team and one with multiple NBA-caliber players, for the fourth time in a three-week span. While earlier meetings saw the 905 turn in a good quarter or a good half, Thursday saw them play a more complete 48 minutes, going toe-to-toe for most of the game. The team is still “learning to win,” what with their oldest player standing at 26 years of age and few others owning the experience necessary to help get them over the hump yet, but they’re taking their lumps and slowly building because of them.
“For us to be able to hang with the top teams down to the wire, obviously, is encouraging,” head coach Jesse Mermuys told Raptors Republic on Sunday. “We would like to win those games. But we haven’t been able to reach that point in our development yet as a team.”
That silver lining probably doesn’t mean a great deal after each subsequent loss. They’re disappointing and frustrating, and it’s clear that it can sometimes take a toll on the players and staff alike. An occasional win, like the tight finish against Delaware a few weeks back, would probably stand as a nice bit of positive reinforcement to help continue to drive messages home. In the interim, it’s necessary to zoom out and recognize that the team is better now than three weeks ago, and better then that at the start of an expansion season preceded by an abbreviated training camp that was missing key players. The 905 are getting better as they try to catch up, they’re just not getting wins.
“I was at the gym and watched most of the games,” Mermuys said. “Putting it in context with everybody, I thought we played pretty well for those two games. We’re improving. It’s definitely getting better, and we’re getting closer. There’s a lot of good stuff happening for us on both sides of the basketball.”
[aside header=”More Showcase coverage”]
Raptors 905 lose another despite big games from Roberts, Toupane
Axel Toupane setting the mold for Raptors 905 defenders
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Sisyphean Raptors 905 suffer best loss to Sioux Falls yet
Ronald Roberts is ready for his showcase
Raptors 905 looking to recharge with mid-season D-League Showcase
D-League Showcase Preview: Talking Raptors 905 with Upside Motor
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That was obvious over a 48-minute slugfest with Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, with the 905 going punch-for-punch with one of the league’s most frenetic and talented squads. Things slipped away late as a few untimely turnovers – a persistent issue for the 905 – gave easy points to a team you just can’t give easy points to. Mermuys expected some jitters and maybe even some of those mistakes from an inexperienced club on a major stage, and to the team’s credit, they hardly looked sophomoric in losing the two games.
At the individual level, the 905 actually showcased quite well. Ronald Roberts earned Second-Team All-Showcase honors and his career path remains unfairly asymptotic to the NBA, at lest for now. Axel Toupane turned in perhaps his best offensive performance of the season to complement his strong defensive resume. Scott Suggs looked every bit the poised, in-control bench scorer and lights-out shooter that some NBA team may find itself in need of down the stretch. The showcase wasn’t a wasted endeavor by any means.
“I thought when it comes to individual success, I thought guys really did well in that department,” Mermuys said. “Showing what they can do and impressing NBA people and knocking at the door, or if they were already interested, they probably gave another nudge and push for them to make a decision.”
And who knows how things would have played out had the Raptors sent a player or two down. The Skyforce and Vipers both had the benefit of NBA talent, and the 905 were working in a new player in NBA veteran Greg Smith (new acquisition DeAndre Daniels was with the team, too, but isn’t quite game-ready yet). They’ll have another chance to finally topple Sioux Falls on Tuesday, once again without the benefit of loaned NBA talent, a game that could provide a major boost if the team can finally get over on the Skyforce. (And yes, that minor positive comes with a huge negative – imagine the Raptors facing the Golden State Warriors three more times after their two earlier near-misses.) The time seems nigh for the incremental improvements, the games that are played closer and closer and more and more completely, to begin manifesting in more tangible results, and the team could really use such a turn.
Even if that doesn’t happen, though, the 905 are on the right track. Raptors head coach Dwane Casey recently commended the job Mermuys has done in getting and keeping the NBA talent game-ready for when called upon despite the trials of losing a lot of games, strange word choice aside. “It’s a hard thing to do, to keep your competitive juices and also keep your teaching juices,” Casey said last week. “I think it’s been a tremendous asset for us.”
That’s where it becomes difficult to get too low about the 905’s record. They’re an inexperienced expansion team that’s capably handled five different NBA talents being assigned, recalled, and reassigned ad nauseam as the D-Leaguers try to find their own footing and chemistry. Moving back to no assignees is a whole new challenge, and what’s left of the roster has responded well. All the while, their individual players have been able to stand out while playing within the team context. Tolzman was open that the organization had only flexibly laid out their assignment plans as far as the Raptors’ trip to London this week, and between that and potential call-ups, how the next few weeks look for the 905 will be anyone’s guess in terms of roster construction.
In terms of effort, execution, and maybe even wins, the 905 should continue to look better.
(Photo courtesy IG: Raptors905)
