2016-17 Raptors Season Preview Panel, Part Two – Raptors Republic
TERRENCE ROSS. ARE YOU IN OR ALL THE WAY IN?
Blake Murphy: If the preseason isn’t for talking yourself into players you have no business talking yourself into, what is it for? I’m buying in to the point that I think Ross will be able to show that Masai Ujiri was smart to lock him up on what amounts to a below-market deal. Ross was quietly a part of the team’s killer bench lineup last year (as loathe as some are to admit that), and he’s established himself as a top-20 shooter on a large volume of threes, an important consideration for a team without a ton of bombers. If Ross can continue to show improved aggression and decision-making off the bounce, he could really open up that second unit offense. And if he gets to the line more than once a week? Look out. (OK, he probably still isn’t going to push himself to Sixth Man of the Year contention, but there’s room for optimism here. Seriously!)
Tactical Observations from Preseason: Reintroduction of the Motion Offense – Raptors Republic
It should be a shock to no one that the Raptors are attempting to tone down the levels of predictability that their offense faces. This motion offence, however basic relative to other teams, allows for impromptu decision making with reads and reactions based on what the defense is willing to give. If continued through the entire season (unlike last year), it should provide a more well balanced attack that doesn’t allow for bogging down quite as easily as the Raptors tend to do come playoff time.
Nogueira unlikely for opener, putting pressure on Valanciunas & Poeltl – Raptors Republic
However it shakes out, there’s a lot of pressure on Siakam and Poeltl out of the gate now. It’s been a while since the Raptors had to task a rookie with a prominent role immediately, but one of the last player’s to be leaned on from Day One can share some advice for the freshmen.
“Just play hard,” DeMar DeRozan said. “You can try to give all of the advice you can, but it’s different when you get out there and feel that intensity. You really can’t duplicate that in a conversation. Stay calm, don’t overthink it, go out there and play and do what you’ve been doing all summer, all training camp and all preseason and go do what your job is to do. It’s OK to mess up. Don’t overthink it and go out there and try to be perfect, because that’s when you’ll go out there and look more crazy.”
As far as trial-by-fires go, Drummond and the Pistons present a pretty tough test for the youngsters, as well as for Valanciunas. The Raptors got a good look at Detroit nearly a week ago in the preseason, and even without Aron Baynes, they proved a good litmus at that point. Toronto emerged victorious, but Valanciunas struggled from the floor and on defense and Poeltl didn’t play until garbage time.
“They want to physically beat you up,” Casey said. “So if you’re not coming in mentally prepared to go against that then they’re going to have the advantage that night. So that’s going to have to be our whole mindset going into tomorrow night, is physically being ready for a battle. If not it’s going to be a long night.
“For Jakob and JV and Lucas, if he’s healthy, it’s going to be huge.”
Burning questions facing Raptors this season | Toronto Sun
o they finally make a big trade for an upgrade?
Masai Ujiri has tinkered, but he has never brought in a star. At some point, this group will need to be upgraded with a standout forward. The pieces are there to make a move. It would likely have to be eventual free agent Patrick Patterson or Valanciunas, Norm Powell, Ross or Joseph and more to reel in a big fish. The money isn’t there to make a big free-agent haul, so either Ujiri makes a splashy deal, or he prays that Siakam is ready for prime time quickly.
DeMar DeRozan – I am Toronto – Video – TSN
Despite enjoying the most successful year of his career, Toronto Raptors’ star DeMar DeRozan has his sights set even higher this season as he hopes to bring a title to the city he loves.
Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan have a bond that’s ‘beyond friendship’ – The Globe and Mail
On meeting up at the gym for late-night workouts:
That’s always been our routine. We’re just looking for peace of mind really. We [don’t] want to work with [anyone] else in the gym. We get the most out, mentally and physically, at those times. Those late nights vary, but for the most part, we just want to get the work in. We work for this so we understand, “Look don’t be surprised once the results show.” It’s not once in a blue moon for us – we do it consistently throughout the year.
Raptors Season Preview Show: Players to watch – Video – TSN
Rod Black, Leo Rautins, Jack Armstrong and Sam Mitchell go over this year’s lineup and discuss which players on the Raptors’ roster they’ll be keeping a close eye on this season.
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Template for playoff success begins in regular season for Raptors | Toronto Star
They return the basic core of last year’s team — the injured Jared Sullinger is the nominal Bismack Biyombo alternative — and that continuity has to count for something.
Four of Wednesday night’s five starters started Game 1 last year. Backups Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross, Patrick Patterson and Norm Powell remain.
It is a huge benefit, one that they will need to exploit as the season goes on.
“It’s always kind of been our advantage the last couple of years, the camaraderie, the knowing one another, the coaching staff,” DeRozan said. “Not too much changes and we kind of lean on that a lot . . . hopefully it’ll pull through for us now, especially with the injuries we have, a couple guys down.”
The down guys are Sullinger and Lucas Nogueira and that represents a huge dent in Toronto’s front-court. But during this ascension through the East — more wins each of the last four seasons than the one previous — coach Dwane Casey has dealt with injuries and his message has never wavered.
This year, despite the success of 2015-16, is no different.
“We have to be the hardest-working team . . . we have to do it collectively as a group and we’ve got to have the same mentality,” he said. “I know you guys get tired of hearing me say the same thing, but it’s about consistency. That’s not going to change.”
The reward for that consistency is playoff success and that’s now become an expectation with this franchise. The players are no longer hopeful of leaving their mark on the league; they have done it, and expect to do it again. And it all begins with behaving appropriately during a regular season they know is a prelude.
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For Dwane Casey, consistency and hard work are key for Raptors – The Globe and Mail
With the Raptors set to start the 2016-17 NBA year Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre against the Detroit Pistons, Casey says win totals are not necessarily the hallmark of a successful regular season.
“Being consistent, I think, more than anything else,” he said Tuesday after putting his team through one more practice in preparation for the tipoff. “I know you guys get tired of hearing me say the same thing, but it’s about consistency. It’s not going to change.
“And as far as our identity, how we have to win in this league … we’ve got to be the hardest-working team because you’re not going to out-talent the rest of the league.”
To be sure, it will be a difficult proposition for Toronto to match the highs of last season, one in which the team rolled to its third consecutive Atlantic Division title in the Eastern Conference.
The 2016-17 Raptors HQ Season Preview Roundtable: Part 1 – Raptors HQ
Jonas Valanciunas. DeMar is a good pick here too, but Jonas has to finally show that he can be the third best player on a contending team over a full season. This isn’t a ‘in the first ten games thing’. This is about sustained production. This Raptors team is more in flux than we like to admit — a decision soon needs to be made on whether to retain Kyle Lowry for the tail-end of his prime, or to rebuild around DeRozan and a younger core.
If JV is ready to play the way he did during last years playoffs for a full season, then I think you re-sign Lowry without hesitating. I mean, I think you probably do that anyway, but if Jonas takes a step back, or looks out of shape and out of sorts, as he did in the pre-season (fire that man’s barber, immediately), the entire Raptors future becomes murky. This is year five for Jonas. It’s either time for him to show more than flashes, or for us to realize that maybe he’s not quite what we hoped for. I’m certainly hoping it’s the former.
Expectations for the Raptors this year? – Video – TSN
Sam Mitchell returns to the NBA on TSN panel, as they discuss what the Raptors need to accomplish this year is they want to continue to build on their postseason success.
Raptors Season Preview Show: Can Toronto win 56 games again? – Video – TSN
Will the Raptors match last season’s win total? Can anyone stop the Cavaliers or Warriors this season? Rod Black, Leo Rautins, Jack Armstrong and Sam Mitchell share their predictions for the upcoming NBA season.
Raptors’ Powell: ‘You’ll know when I’ve made it’ – Sportsnet.ca
Powell often cites DeRozan’s path as one he’d like to follow. He admires the way the two-time all-star steadily improved year after year, gradually becoming the franchise player he is today. He knows he’s on his way to establishing himself as a great player, but he means it when he says he hasn’t accomplished anything yet—rare humility for someone excelling at his rate.
An example of how Powell is different from most promising young players: he declined an elaborate photo shoot for this story, conscious it could make him come off as somebody who thinks he’s already “made it.”
“Because I haven’t,” he says. “All the talk and hype about being a breakout player—yeah, I know I can be. But right now I’m just focused on doing whatever the team needs and continuing to develop into the player I see myself being. It’ll take a process to get there, and it’s important for me not to miss a step along the way—not to get ahead of myself. You’ll know when I’ve made it.”
A Reason To Watch For All 30 NBA Teams – RealGM Analysis
Toronto – The Raptors play for each other more than any other team in the league. Their chemistry is incredible. They feed off one of the best home crowds in the entire league. Kyle Lowry is a warrior and won’t back down from anyone. Jonas Valanciunas continues to improve. Jared Sullinger being out hurts them, but that will give their young bigs a push to play right away.
Raptors Season Preview Show: Is DeRozan the greatest Raptor of all-time? – Video – TSN
The TSN Raptors panel explain how DeMar DeRozan’s game has improved over the years and why he will go down as the greatest Toronto Raptor of all-time.
Raptors expecting big things from Jonas Valanciunas | Toronto Sun
As he enters his fifth season, it still isn’t entirely clear what the Raptors have in the big man. He has been a dominant force at times (see his fine work against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs and then his three games prior to injury against Miami, where he averaged 18.3 points and 12.6 rebounds on 65% shooting, with six steals and five blocks as primary evidence), a liability on defence and hesitant shooter at others.
With Bismack Biyombo gone to Orlando, Valanciunas becomes an even more integral part of this group. Not only will his minutes increase, his defensive responsibilities will as well. It was a tough summer for the Lithuanian who had to recover from his injury and then excel for his country at the Olympics. Instead, Valanciunas probably turned in the worst FIBA tournament of his life, struggling through foul trouble, a shooting slump and perhaps a coach who didn’t appreciate what he brought to the table.
Valanciunas doesn’t want to talk about that stuff, but admitted Tuesday that his pre-season was not a tour de force. Valanciunas still rebounded at a tremendous rate, but most of his other stats and advanced metrics were his worst in the exhibition tilts since his rookie year.
“Pre-season is kind of different because you are trying out different guys, different rotations,” Valanciunas told Postmedia.
“There was a stretch where I was really happy with myself and there was a stretch where I thought I had to correct certain areas. That’s why you have the pre-season, to see where we are and correct mentally and physically. I feel ready to go, so no complaints.”
Free Association: Are the Raptors better or worse this season? – Sportsnet.ca
In this Eastern Conference preview, the guys go through the over/under numbers for every team and figure out who the eight playoff teams might be.
First they break down the what the injury to Jared Sullener means for Patrick Patterson and Pascal Siakam.
They also offer their picks for “NBA League Pass” to keep an eye on and argue over the addition of Al Horford to the Boston Celtics .
Pistons at Raptors: Wednesday season opener preview | Toronto Star
With Jared Sullinger out, Raptors coach Dwane Casey is mulling starting forwards, likely Patrick Patterson or rookie Pascal Siakam. . . . The Pistons are without starting point guard Reggie Jackson, who’ll be out for weeks with a sore knee. . . . Detroit plucked veteran Beno Udrih off the waiver wire to serve as the backup to starting point guard Ish Smith. . . . The Raptors hold out scant hope that Lucas Nogueira will be able to play after suffering an ankle injury Friday, but Terrence Ross (knee) is set to go.
The Northern Beat – Video – TSN
In anticipation of the Toronto Raptors season opener on Wednesday on TSN, Toronto beatbox artist KRNFX has crafted a Raptors inspired track – ‘The Northern Beat’.
Did I miss something? Send me any Raptors-related article/video to rapsfan@raptorsrepubli.com
