Raps kick off season in fine fashion | Toronto Sun
“We’re not saying we’re going to come out and have a 60-win season. We just want to be better going into the playoffs, playing at a high level and turning it up going into the playoffs. I feel like that’s success. When you try to put numbers on wins, that’s hard in this league. You see some of the greatest teams, like San Antonio, they might win a championship one year and be out in the first round the next year. So you’ve just got to understand that it’s a hard league and we’ve got to try to get better day by day.”
The first day was a success, with some of the best offensive play in years.
“We weren’t trying to force anything. Just play your role and be active,” Carroll said.
“Take what comes to you.”
And they did, even though Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph, two catalysts, having off-nights. But again, nobody is getting carried away.
“The grind begins, it’s one game,” Casey said afterward.
“It’s Game 2. Last year was last year … It’s a totally different animal.”
DeRozan leads Raptors past Pistons in season opener | Toronto Star
Most pleasing to Casey will be Toronto’s effort. While there were lulls, as there are every game, they held Detroit to just 40 per cent shooting and limited their effectiveness from three-point range, the Pistons going only 4-for-22 from beyond the arc.
Toss in the offensive production of DeRozan and Valanciunas and it was more than enough to make up for some other scuffling nights.
“I thought the efficiency of DeMar and Jonas kind of evened out everything,” Casey said. “I thought Cory (Joseph) had a tough night getting off the ball, getting off the dribble, getting his shoulders around (Detroit’s Beno) Udrih, and Kyle (Lowry) had a tough night shooting the basketball.
“When we can win like that with our two main hubs struggling a little bit, we’ll take it.”
Court Squeaks: Raps’ supporting cast deserves some credit – Video – TSN
DeMar DeRozan might of stolen the headlines with his 40-point performance but Matthew Scianitti and Josh Lewenberg explain why Jonas Valanciunas and Pascal Siakam shouldn’t be forgotten about.
DeMar DeRozan sinks 40 points in Raptors home-opening win over Pistons | Toronto Sun
On a night he came within two points of better his career best of 42 points, DeMar DeRozan’s head coach wanted to point out his defence.
That’s not news to anyone who has spent any time around Dwane Casey, but it speaks to Casey’s confidence in his starting shooting guards offensive game that he would even mention his defence on a night he went off for 40.
It turns out DeRozan asked to be switched onto Tobias Harris when the Pistons forward got it going a little in the third quarter and promptly shut him down.
“We switched TRoss off (Harris) and put DeMar on him and that was a good stretch defensively for him,” Casey said. “He told on himself. I told him this summer, he told on himself with the U.S. team. ‘Why can you go play for Mike Krzyzewski and play defence and you come here and we have to hide you?’ Casey wanted to know.
“I tell you what – when he makes a muscle he can get out and guard and defend. That’s the growth of DeMar DeRozan. Him saying ‘let me guard that guy’ and take on that challenge.”
Game Rap: Raptors 109, Pistons 91 | Toronto Raptors
Any doubt that DeMar DeRozan was ready for the regular season was wiped away on Wednesday night. Toronto’s All-Star dropped a 40-point performance on the Pistons, just two shy of his career-high. DeRozan played 35 minutes, shooting 17-for-27 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. He added four rebounds an assist and a steal and the Raptors were a +21 when he was on the floor. DeRozan started the game hot, making four of his first five shots, but really got rolling in the third where he scored 21 of Toronto’s 28 points in the quarter.
you can’t just elbow a guy in the face, jv!! pic.twitter.com/NxvgAr6J71
— James Herbert (@outsidethenba) October 26, 2016
Grading the Detroit Pistons’ 109-91 loss against the Toronto Raptors | Piston Powered
The Detroit Pistons lost their star center Andre Drummond three minutes into the game to foul trouble and they never quite recovered. Despite a second quarter surge, the Pistons trailed by 12 at halftime after the Toronto Raptors finished the half on a 9-0 run. DeMar DeRozan made everything in the 3rd quarter, and the Pistons lost 109-91 on a night where no one outside of Marcus Morris was especially good.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMDFc8jARGW/
DeMar DeRozan took over in the third quarter. According to the Raptors commentators, DeRozan may not have been ok with a media outlet calling him the 46th best player in the league. So he went for a measly 21-points in the third quarter, just four off from the entire Pistons team in the same quarter. DeRozan had 40 points after three quarters and the Raptors lead increased to 15.
Unfortunately, the Pistons could not close the gap despite hanging around 10, losing 109-91.
It was the 11th straight game the Raptors scored over 100 points against the Pistons.
Detroit had three players in double figures scoring, but none in double figures in rebounds. Tobias Harris finished 8-for-13 from the field for 22 points to lead the Pistons in scoring. Marcus Morris had 17 on 7-for-17 shooting and led the Pistons in rebounds with nine.
DeRozan and Valanciunas lead the way as Raptors down Pistons 109-91 – Raptors HQ
For the rest of the Raptors, it was a lot of business as usual. DeMarre Carroll did a host of little things while hitting a couple of 3s, and grabbing seven rebounds. Cory Joseph chipped in six points and two assists — and one offensive rebound while sitting down. The pre-season explosion by Terrence Ross is apparently going to extend into the regular season, too. Ross played sharp D, made a couple of buckets (including a running hook shot) and even contributed three assists. The Raptors’ other rookie, Jakob Poeltl was also able to make a small impact. The big Austrian got his first NBA bucket and kept up his activity on the boards with two on the offensive end. (Still, five fouls while dealing with the Pistons’ bigs; welcome to the league young man.) That Wizards disaster feels like it happened a million years ago.
Obviously, I’ve left out Kyle Lowry here, who had a quiet night by his standards. Lowry shot a mere 3-for-13 from the field for 10 points, but added eight assists and five rebounds and did his usual batch of smart Lowry things. His game strategy as DeRozan started to get hot was simple: “Give him the ball.”
On that note, let’s go back to DeRozan, because holy shit. Smooth jumpers, inside and outside of the post play, drives to the rim — DeRozan would not be denied. I know he doesn’t have a 3-point shot, but good luck trying to contain the rest of his game. For his young teammate Siakam it was hard to describe. “It’s one thing to watch somebody on TV and see what he does every single night,” said Pascal. “Actually being there and seeing how effortless it was, it was amazing. It was just like poetry.”
Raptors look ready to take on lofty expectations – Sportsnet.ca
The Raptors’ best bet is to forget last year ever happened, or at least be clear that past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns. Sure LeBron James may have paid tribute to the Raptors and the ACC crowd in the moments after his Cavaliers crushed Toronto in Game 6, but James remains the Goliath all the Eastern Conference’s Davids are still trying to knock over with their sling shots.
“We haven’t achieved anything,” was Lowry’s take before the game. “We wasn’t there [in Cleveland] holding [championship] rings. That’s the ultimate achievement. For us it’s about never being satisfied … it’s not about what we did, it’s what we can do.”
Said DeMarre Carroll: “We made it to the Eastern Conference final. We haven’t done nothing. I feel like we’re trying to get to where Cleveland’s at. They’re the NBA champions and that’s where we’re trying to get. We had a great season and we had a great run in the playoffs, but we haven’t done nothing yet. You should want more if you’re a true competitor and a true basketball player.”
After a first game that couldn’t realistically have gone much better, Casey stuck to the script: “We got one down, 81 to go. It’s good [but] the grind begins. It’s one game and we haven’t done anything. There are a lot of areas we have to get better … we have to get those kinks out. Moving the ball, not turning the ball over, spacing, attacking the weak side. All those things we have to do a much better job of.”
Do you sense a theme here?
Raptors rookie Siakam nice fit in debut | Toronto Star
The decision to start Siakam over the veteran Patrick Patterson was made to make sure Patterson remained in his usual role.
“Keep Pat in his position, that way Pat doesn’t have to play huge minutes and if Pascal wet the bed or whatever, we can go ahead and get Pat in there,” Casey said.
The most important thing was Siakam gave no ground.
“That was our major concern with Siakam, just the physicality of the game,” Casey said. “I thought he met that. I thought his speed and activity helped us and if he can do that (then Valanciunas) can be physical and be smart without fouling which he did.”
The internet reacts to DeRozan, JV’s incredible game, Raptors’ opening night win | BarDown
After a historical 2015-16 season in which the Toronto Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, the Raptors officially embarked on their quest to capture the NBA title Wednesday night as they opened up their season at home against the Pistons.
While most of the players from last season returned for the Raptors, including DeMar DeRozan who signed a max-deal in the summer, there were some new faces in the lineup, and although fans had high expectations heading into the season, anything can happen.
That being said, the Raptors picked up right where they left off by demolishing the Pistons thanks to 40-point game from DeRozan and a 32-point game from Jonas Valanciunas that got the internet super excited.
get used to seeing this all over the #6ix this year. pic.twitter.com/BtqSTSIEfd
— Demar Grant (@DemarJGrant) October 26, 2016
“Sky is the limit for us” – DeMarre Carroll on T&S – Sportsnet.ca
Tim sits down to talk with DeMarre Carroll & Jonas Valanciunas to discuss how they can both take the next step this season and help the Raptors championship aspirations.
