Despite piling up wins, Raptors defence falling apart | Toronto Sun
Toronto was tired of getting annihilated inside, so took steps to change that, altering the defensive schemes slightly. The tinkering has paid off. A team that gave up 43.7 points in the paint per game in 2014-15, 23rd in the NBA, now surrenders only 39.7 a night, the league’s third-best mark.
But you can’t stop everything, so prioritizing guarding the inside has opened up the floor for opposing three-point shooters, who have feasted. As the NBA increasingly becomes dominated by outside shooters, unless the Raptors adjust again, the team could be in major trouble.
Opponents shoot 37.6% on three-point attempts against the Raptors, only the 17-46 Phoenix Suns allow worse. It has been a season-long issue, but particularly troubling lately.
“We are so used to trying to protect the paint, keep the ball out of the paint and not let teams get easy shots, sometimes we lose focus and (the understanding) that we have to get out to the three-point line as well,” DeMar DeRozan explained after Sunday’s frustrating loss against Houston. The Rockets nailed 13 threes, shooting 43.3% from beyond the arc in that one as the Raptors blew an 18-point lead.
There may be some red flags in the Raptors’ season | Toronto Star
Three-point defence
The Raptors have allowed 535 three-pointers this season, sticking them in the middle of the pack (16th in the league) defensively, but it’s their opponents’ percentage from deep that’s troubling.
Teams have made 37.6 per cent of their three-point attempts against Toronto this season, the third-highest total in the league. Only Washington and Phoenix are worse. The Rockets shot 13-for-30 from three-point range Sunday, Portland hit 11-of-27 on Friday night and Cleveland went 12-for-24 on Feb. 27.
“We have to figure out a way to lock in and get better at containing the three point ball,” Kyle Lowry said Sunday. “For us (the loss to Houston is) one game. We stay positive, we still have an impressive home record right now.”
Status: Red flag
Steel Pan lessons from my pops.
A video posted by Cory Joseph (@coryjoseph) on
Raptors showing tendency to turn potential blowouts into nail-biters | Sportsnet.ca
Outside of the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs, close games are the norm in the NBA. The Raptors average margin of victory is 4.5 per game, which is sixth best in the league.
But what does seem to be missing for Toronto are games where they do — even occasionally — put teams away decisively. There was a three-game stretch in the Raptors’ team-record 12-game home winning streak where they had a double-digit lead heading into the fourth quarter and extended their advantage. But far more common are games like the past two against Utah last Wednesday when Toronto was up 11 heading into the fourth and won by 10 or against Portland Friday when they were up by 13 heading into the fourth and won by two.
Against Houston they couldn’t keep their opponent’s momentum at bay long enough.
“That’s been our Achilles heel all year, I’ve said that millions of times,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “Luckily we’ve won some of these games, but I’ve said it’s going to come back to bite us. We’ve got to maintain the same intensity when we get leads, the same quality of possessions. And not say, okay, I can take this shot or not make this pass. But you learn from it.”
Raptors’ defensive concerns beginning to resurface | TSN
Up until recently a change in culture, identity and supporting personnel had reinvigorated Toronto’s three most important players, the only three holdovers in this year’s starting lineup. Lowry, the NBA’s leader in steals, is having one of the best defensive seasons of his career while DeRozan has shown signs of growth on the perimeter and Valanciunas is evolving as a rim protector.
From day one, the presence of off-season additions Bismack Biyombo, Cory Joseph and DeMarre Carroll – all plus-defenders at three different positions – has made a big difference. Not only have they helped fix Toronto’s broken defence, but their effort and commitment to the craft has been contagious.
“When I played against Kyle I thought he wasn’t a good defender and I always tell him that and we joke about that,” Biyombo told reporters after practice last week. “But when I had a chance to play with him starting in training camp I was surprised.”
Raptors Power Ranking Poll Week 19: It is sometimes hard not to panic | Raptors HQ
The fact is, we are all nervous about the Raptors. Even as they scale past 40 wins, and move towards a probable 50 win season for the first time in franchise history. This team, this franchise from Toronto, still hasn’t won a playoff series since 2001. They’ve been beaten, even as a higher seed, twice in the last two years. And the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference, looking every day more and more like a growing mass of orcs preparing to lay siege, induces fear. To gaze into that abyss and see a healthy Chicago Bulls team, or a Paul George-led Pacers, or even those maniacs in Charlotte, is to see that fear made flesh. The panic is there.
Non-shooters can still have value in modern NBA | TFB
So what if you’re a guy who shoots almost 63 percent from within three feet at the rim, and you’re an 84 percent free throw shooter who gets to the line 8.6 times a night? DeMar DeRozan is currently second in the league in two-point attempts, but holds a true shooting percentage of 54.9, which is roughly a percent over league average. So while he’s no Stephen Curry, DeRozan has been able to shed the notion of non-three-point shooters being generally inefficient.
Furthermore, DeRozan is efficient despite a huge area of concern in his shooting, which is the mid-range jumper from between 16 feet and the three-point line. 23.7 percent of his shots come from that area, and his 35 percent accuracy is as poor as it sounds. This happens due to the high volume of free throw attempts, seeing as DeRozan’s conversion rate is equally high and it frankly saves the day for him.
Yet, DeRozan’s technique is widely criticized, and his lack of a long-range jumper is oft-mentioned. But his way of bailing out his efficiency is the same as a long-range shooter who has no in-between game, and somehow the long-range shooter doesn’t receive any flak.
Five thoughts on Powell, the Lakers and more | TSN
NORMAN POWELL (Raptors): You can tell a lot about a guy by his body language. When I look at Powell right now I see a young man who has belief and conviction about what he’s doing on the floor. He’s showing no hesitancy on offence and great effort on defence. Powell’s recent play is a great advertisement for the merits of having a D-League franchise. D-League games, practices and the overall development experience sharpen the focus and mould the fundamentals to prepare a guy to be ready when the bright lights shine. I’ve been impressed by what I’m seeing from him in limited minutes.
The Toronto Raptors just took ‘National Cereal Day’ to another level | FOX Sports
It’s impossible not to like anyone on their team, starting with their two best players: Kyle Lowry is a pugnacious Pilates instructor who can score 30 points in his sleep, and DeMar DeRozan has unexpectedly lifted his game to a different level and is one of the more efficient go-to scorers in the entire NBA.
How could they be even more lovable? By celebrating National Cereal Day with everyone’s favorite backup center: Bismack Biyombo.
Hornets thriving, could be tough playoff opponent for Raptors | Toronto Star
The concern for Toronto Raptors fans if Charlotte is the first-round playoff opponent is that the Hornets do one thing well that Toronto has a hard time defending. The Hornets are third in the league in three-point field goal attempts per game – getting up 29.3 on average each night – and they are in the top 10 in three-pointers made, as well. The Raptors have struggled defending long-range shooting; they are in the bottom five in the NBA in opponents’ three-point percentage.
“That’s what they do,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said after the Hornets made 13 threes in a win over the Pacers on Friday. “That’s what they excel at . . . They move the basketball well and they space and they shoot a ton of threes.”
Charlotte also takes care of the ball extraordinarily well, committing just 13.1 turnovers per game, second in the league. That can be a huge part of playoff success.
Evaluating Possible 1st-Round Playoff Matchups for Raptors | TFB
Jimmy Butler leads the way, as he’s averaged 23.6 points on just 12.8 shots per game over the past two years against Toronto, per ESPN. This includes a 40-point outburst in the second half of a win over Toronto earlier this year. Toronto simply has no answer for Butler’s burst and strength, especially if DeMarre Carroll isn’t 100 percent by the time the playoffs arrive. Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol have scored well against Toronto as well, with Rose averaging 23 points on 17.3 shots over the past two years and Gasol averaging 18.4 points on 14 shots.
And there’s the issue of the three-point shot as well. Toronto’s biggest weakness on defense is three-point shooting, as the team allows the third-worst three-point percentage in the league, per NBA.com. Chicago has some role players who can knock down threes off primary action, and is fourth in the league in three-point percentage.
Offensively, Toronto can score against Chicago, but might have trouble getting to the line. Chicago is fifth-best in opponent free throws made per game in the league, and Toronto scores the second-highest percentage of its points off free throws. That means Toronto relies heavily on getting to the line, and teams haven’t been able to do that against Chicago. Put this all together, and it makes Chicago a team Toronto will want to avoid.
Kyle Lowry’s Maturation and Transformation Have Ignited the Raptors | The Hoop Doctors
Although Lowry is a Top 15 player in the NBA now and the leader of one of the league’s top five to eight teams, it’s almost impossible to believe he struggled to find a home early in his NBA career after being drafted 24th by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2006 NBA Draft.
Toronto Raptors should willingly pay the fines and stand up against bad officiating | Vancouver Sun
There is little doubt that certain officials carry grudges against certain teams. Remember when Joey Crawford was suspended for acting unilaterally and handing out technicals to the San Antonio Spurs and, specifically, Tim Duncan a few years ago? This was one of the very few instances when the league stepped in to reprimand one of its officials and only when it became blatantly apparent. Crawford tee’d up Duncan while the future hall-of-famer was on the bench not even talking to the officials.
This brings me to Jason Philips—one of those officials, along with Michael Smith, who should not be allowed anywhere near a Toronto Raptor game. Each time Phillips officiates a Raptor game the officials bend toward the opposition. The Raptor players, coaches, in fact everyone associated with the organization, knows that a Phillips game means tough sledding—that they are going to have to fight through bad officiating to win the game.
But the game against the Houston Rockets may have been their Tim Duncan moment when it comes to Phillips. With eight minutes remaining in a tight game Phillips whistled Raptors coach Dwane Casey for a technical—the reason; Casey had stepped onto the court.
“He (Phillips) said I was on the court to call a play,” said Casey after the game. “I was not talking to the official whatsoever. I’ve never seen that called in all my years. He said I was warned, but there was no warning.”
Casey also said, “I’ve seen coaches go all the way to almost half court to call a timeout. So this was totally new to me.”
As well Casey said, “If you’re going to call it you have to call it both ways. The other coach was on the court throughout the game.”
Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors: Tuesday game preview | Toronto Star
Key matchup:Thaddeus Young vs. Luis Scola.
Scola’s 21 points on Sunday marked his most productive offensive game since he scored 18 against Boston in a Jan. 20 win. The Raptors don’t expect that out of him every night, but it never hurts when he’s contributing and shooting almost 70 per cent from the floor. He’ll have to do it against Young, who was a hot topic at the trade deadline. Averaging 15 points and 9.1 rebounds, Young has a career-best 25 double-doubles this year.
Brooklyn Nets at Raptors: Preview & 3 keys to victory | Raptors Rapture
There’s not a lot to talk about with this team. The Nets have two quality starters, centre Brook Lopez and sort-of power forward Thaddeus Young. Lopez is an increasingly rare beast in the modern NBA, a high-scoring centre. His jump-shooting range extends almost to the 3-point line, or he can put the ball on the floor and bull his way to the hoop. He isn’t the rebounder the Nets need, but he’s respectable on the glass. Young is going to waste in Brooklyn. He’s a consistent scorer with an array of moves near the basket, and a decent pull-up jumper. He crashes the boards well enough for someone undersized for his position.
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