Norman Powell making instant impact with Raptors | Toronto Sun
Powell admits he doesn’t know what his role will be day-to-day, finding out only when he shows up for shoot-around and the plan for that night is laid out.
And the smile on his face as he explains this speaks volumes as to just how thrilled he is to even be in the running for starting minutes at this young juncture in his career.
“It’s been feeling good getting that trust from the coaches and being in the starting lineup with Kyle and DeMar,” Powell said following a film session and some free time to get up some shots on Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s game with Atlanta. “I just go out there and do my role, bring energy, do the little things and find my way in the offence.”
Not knowing if he’s going to be starting, or even playing, until shoot-around the day of a game really hasn’t affected Powell.
“Not really because whether I’m a starter or coming off the bench, it’s the same thing,” he said. “Being a defensive player and bringing the energy. I think when I am in the starting lineup, the only real difference is finding my way in the offence because the plays are run for Kyle, DeMar and (Jonas Valanciunas).
Jason Thompson finding his groove with Raptors | Toronto Star
After a hard three-point shooting workout on Wednesday, he was asked: Where did all this come from?
“I think it’s something I had,” Thompson said. “I played eight (seasons) with 11 different coaches, including coach (Raptors coach Dwane) Casey. There are times where you can bring something to a team but if the system or the scheme doesn’t (allow for) it sometimes it can’t work.
“It’s been tough, but I had it. Sometimes I just wasn’t able to use it.”
“I think the word is — you come to Toronto you’re allowed to shoot threes,” Casey joked. “He’s been working on it.
“I tell guys, ‘If you work on a shot, you make it in practice, I see you working on them, you can shoot them in a game. Don’t come out in the game and experiment when I don’t see you working on it in practice.’
“I think that’s his evolution, like Luis (Scola) did, like Sam Perkins did in Seattle, guys emerge (from their labels) as another thing.”
Raptors’ young centres complimenting each other well | TSN
Valanciunas couldn’t defend, or at least well enough, particularly in the Raptors’ pick-and-roll coverages. It kept him off the floor late in games and appeared to be holding back his development. Biyombo couldn’t catch or finish around the rim. More often than not it was like playing four-on-five offensively. As a result, he fell out of favour in Charlotte, allowing Masai Ujiri to snatch him up at a discounted price over the summer.
In Toronto they’ve formed a lethal one-two punch, each of them enjoying career years and giving coach Dwane Casey a couple of high-quality options at the position.
“It’s a great luxury,” Casey told TSN.ca over the weekend. “We’re very fortunate. Both of them can give you different things.”
“I think it’s huge for us as a team to have two quality players at the same position,” echoed veteran forward Luis Scola. “That guarantees you that somebody is [always] going to be on the court that is good enough for what we want. I think they’re different in their own way, they have their own set of skills and [it] gives us a chance to mix things up in the same game.”
Eastern Conference Playoff Standings Update: Toronto holds strong to the second spot | Raptors HQ
It’s definitely not an easy proposition to chart the Raptors’ ideal path to the Conference Finals. Do we want to avoid our previous demons (Washington, Chicago, Charlotte) in the first round? Do we want to avoid a potential bad matchup (Indiana)? Do we want to avoid the team we just got blown out against (Detroit)? If the Raptors do manage to navigate the first round waters successfully, which team do we want to avoid then? Boston’s long been a metrics darling, and the Miami Heat have been on a tear of late, and Chris Bosh still hasn’t been ruled out for the whole season yet.
Needless to say, these are all exciting possibilities to consider, and I think for once we can say, the Raptors are not appreciably worse than any of these teams.
Bruno Caboclo is the fastest player in the NBA. (Statistically) | RealGM
Bruno’s average speed on offense is 5.41 miles per hour or 8.7 kilometers per hour which is the highest in the league.
The second fastest player on offense is Patty Mills at 5.29 miles per hour or 8.5 kilometers per hour.
Bruno’s average speed on defense is 6.67 miles per hour or 10.7 kilometers per hour which is the highest in the league..
The second fastest player on defense is Thanasis Antetokounmpo at 5.07 miles per hour or 8.1 kilometers per hour.
What does this mean? Absolutely nothing, really…
Still, Bruno is the GOAT.
Bless and thankful! #wethenorth #Biznation
A photo posted by Bismack Biyombo (@bismackbiyombo) on
Raptors-Atlanta Hawks: Thursday game preview | Toronto Star
Key matchup:Luis Scola vs. Paul Millsap.
Even with a day’s rest — Scola sat out Tuesday’s win over Brooklyn but is expected to return to the lineup — Millsap will be a problem for the veteran, and for the Raptors as a whole. He leads the Hawks in scoring (17.5 points), rebounds, (8.7 per game) and steals (1.8 per game). If the Raptors’ frontcourt pays too much attention to Millsap, it allows their other all-star, centre Al Horford, to do what he does, with his numbers just slightly below Millsap’s.
NBA Preview – Atlanta Hawks at Toronto Raptors – Mar 10, 2016 | CBSSports.com
“This is the Jeff I’m used to seeing and hopefully he keeps that going because when he plays at that level, we’re a very tough team to beat,” center Al Horford said.
Lowry also has been hot from outside, hitting 11 of his last 20 3-point attempts, and is averaging 28.6 points in his past six games.
Teague was outscored 31-11 by Lowry in the first meeting Dec. 2, as the Raptors (42-20) won 96-86 on the road. Teague missed 11 of 16 shots, although he had 10 assists.
While Teague is one of the NBA’s top guards in drives per game with 11.0, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan leads in that category with 11.8 while averaging a league-best 8.8 points off drives.
Did I miss anything? Send me any Raptors-related article/video: rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
