The Toronto Raptors had a second consecutive day of practice at the BioSteel Centre on Wednesday, and as much as two days off to rest and regroup seems like a nice idea on paper ahead of the playoffs, it was pretty clear everyone was ready to cut the talking and get back to playing. Still, there were a few noteworthy things to come out of the session.
Terrence Ross is questionable for Game 3
Ross banged heads with DeMar DeRozan at the end of the first half of Game 2 and was held out of the remainder of the game for precautionary reasons. The shooting specialist reported a headache at the time, and he’s been going through the league’s concussion protocol since.
That protocol requires players to stay symptom-free through an escalating level of activity, even if they’re not officially diagnosed with a concussion, and it’s so far, so good with Ross.
“He’s doing fine,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “Going by NBA protocol, we have to wait and see…We’ll see how he feels, but there’s no sense of concussion from the neurologist.”
Ross is being called questionable for Thursday, and he’ll likely be a game-time decision. If he can’t go, and maybe even if he can, Norman Powell stands to play a significant role once again. While Ross hasn’t stood out yet in this series, his quickness on the defensive end, particularly in transition, and the gravitational pull he has on an opposing defense playing off the ball are important to what the Raptors’ second unit like to do.
Everybody loves CoJo
For whatever reason – probably because he’s been phenomenal through two games – everyone wanted to talk about Cory Joseph today. Hey, he’s earned it, and his play off the bench has been paramount in the series, as it was all season. Not only is Joseph a tough, heady defender and a quality passer, he’s made life a lot easier on Kyle Lowry.
“I think it’s a super-luxury. It’s been a luxury all year, to be honest,” Lowry said. “It’s given me the chance to rest, and play off the ball , and roam a little bit more…Having Cory’s been unbelievable, man.”
The Raptors have played the Pacers to a draw in 33 minutes with two point guards on the floor despite Lowry’s struggles shooting from the floor, and they rolled opponents by 12.7 points per-100 possessions with that look in the regular season.
Joseph’s also once of the team’s more experienced players despite being just 24. He entered the playoffs with 41 games of postseason experience thanks to his time in the San Antonio Spurs machine, and that’s been paying dividends in his new home.
“I think it’s so important to have that back-up point guard,” Casey said. “Having a guy like Cory, who’s had 41 playoff games under his belt…He’s been through the ringer a few times. It’s huge. Cory under pressure’s been great.”
There’s some great outside reading on Joseph today, too. Friend of the site Jared Dubin absolutely nailed this piece for Vice calling Joseph and Patrick Patterson the best sixth man in the NBA, and sworn enemy of the site Eric Koreen did OK with this Sportsnet piece about the Lowry-and-reserves unit.
More on Jonas adjustments
I wrote yesterday about how the Raptors are ready for the Pacers to adjust to the dominance of Jonas Valanciunas, and today I looked at some specific adjustments they might make. There was some more talk of that Wednesday, too, though Patterson echoed my own personal feeling at this point about how, you know, the game actually needs to happen before we know too much.
“They haven’t done it yet,” Patterson said when asked about the extra attention Valanciunas could get. “So, until they do that, then we can answer that.”
It remains encouraging that there’s even talk about how an opponent needs to adjust to Valanciunas and it speaks to his growth as an offensive player here in his fourth season.
“He’s gotten better in a lot of areas,” Casey said of Valanciunas’ ability to read situations, particularly double-teams. “Reading situations, reading what his outlets are is going to be really important if they decide to double-team.”
As Lowry pointed out, the Pacers are still going to come at himself and DeRozan first, and so it’s important for Valanciunas and other players to be stepping up in response to that extra attention on the stars. So far, so good.
Carroll still finding his way
DeMarre Carroll drew in to the starting lineup for Game 2, and there’s no indication that will change for Game 3. He hasn’t quite looked himself yet, which is understandable with just five games on his ledger since a three-month absence due to knee surgery. The important thing for the Raptors, at least right now, is that Carroll’s handling the workload fine, physically.
“Getting better. Getting better. I don’t know if he’s there 100 percent yet,” Casey said. “I think he’s getting there. I don’t know if he’s gonna get there throughout this series. We like where he is. We’re gonna continue to watch his minutes and make sure he’s responding well to playing, and he has. His body’s responded well to the minutes he’s been given.”
Even if Carroll struggles a bit, it’s worthwhile to keep playing him in order to help him shake the rust off. If you sit him or scale him back, then he’s going to remain cold or rusty until you play him again, and it’s a fair trade-off for the 20 minutes or so he’s on the floor in order to (hopefully) have him closer to full strength later in the series (or the next round). There could be times that arise when sitting Carroll makes more sense, but it’s not as if he’s been abjectly terrible, he just looks a step slow guarding George (who doesn’t right now?).
How the Raptors opt to deploy Carroll on Thursday will be interesting. You have to hope that two days off help.
