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Keeping Pace Would Be a Huge Step Forward for the Raptors | VICE Sports
It’s at this time that it’s instructive to remember that development is not linear. Just because the Raptors have continued to take steps in a somewhat patterned fashion over the last few seasons doesn’t mean they’ll continue to march forward, knocking off new goal after new goal, reaching new height after new height. In all likelihood, the Raptors are set to stagnate in 2016-17, a plateau that history (and regression, and the loss of Bismack Biyombo coupled with the injury to Sullinger) suggests could include a few less regular-season wins.
It’s also paramount to remember that the reality facing the Raptors this year still puts them in a terrific position, now and for the long run. For the Raptors, a franchise that has never once seemed like it had a meaningful grasp on competitiveness, and an organization that has spent the entire lifetime of its primary demographic struggling to find sustainable footing, running in place for a year would mark an enormous step forward.
The Raptors are expected to be very good. They’re expected to make the playoffs. In the past three years, they’ve vanquished countless demons that have haunted the halls of the Air Canada Centre.
They can’t win a playoff series. Done, twice, even with the team largely at its worst. A superstar will never stay. Lowry re-upped on his rise, DeRozan signed a sub-max contract shortly after midnight on July 1, and there’s optimism Lowry will choose to do the same once again this summer. There’s no stability. Ujiri extended head coach Dwane Casey, got an extension himself, then promoted the front office core. Meanwhile, the Raptors grade out well for meaningful continuity despite balancing win-now mode with what projects to be the third-youngest opening-night roster in the NBA.
Home Court: 3 on 3 – The good & the bad – Video – TSN
Home Court host Meghan McPeak & co-hosts Duane Watson & Josh Lewenberg discuss which Raptors are catching their eye for good – and bad reasons – early in the season.
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Raptors’ Joseph ready to take his shots | Toronto Sun
Joseph is never going to fling up five three-point attempts a game, but even trying a couple should make the savvy guard a more dangerous player.
“If I’m hitting that shot, it opens up a lot of things for me and my teammates,” Joseph said. “The whole offensive scheme changes. (Defences) got to adapt.”
Joseph would work on his outside shot with then assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse (who now helms Raptors 905 in Mississauga) with daily shooting contests. That helped and Joseph kept on working from there. Dwane Casey says he’ll need to keep at it for his entire career in order to maximize his skills.
But right now, Joseph feels great and there are no surprises, after so much was thrown at him a year ago.
“It’s been an on-going process, last year I was working on it too in the midst of getting adjusted to the team (and to being home), getting more comfortable and stuff,” he said. “This summer I kind of knew where my shots are going to come from, how to get them. I feel like last year at times I was hesitating to shoot. Whenever I see an opening now, I’m just going to let it go.”
That’s what Joseph had claimed, but so far, he hasn’t followed through.
It is time to let them fly to see if all of that hard work paid off.
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Home Court: Assessing Valanciunas – Video – TSN
Home Court host Meghan McPeak & co-hosts Duane Watson & Josh Lewenberg are joined by TSN Basketball Analyst Jack Armstrong to discuss Jonas Valanciunas’ expanding role and what the adjustments he need to make to have more of an offensive impact.
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Raptors chill during Lowry cold spell | Toronto Star
“I had six (turnovers) myself, and a couple of offensive fouls, couple of bad passes, but it’s early in the season, two games in,” he said. “I wouldn’t take too much (from it).
“Everybody is just feeling themselves and getting right — myself, (Jonas Valanciunas), DeMar (DeRozan), the young fellas (rookies Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam). Everyone is kind of working themselves in.”
While the loss to Cleveland was disappointing and the Raptors did have a great shot to force overtime, on a Patrick Patterson missed three with about six seconds left, the overriding sense after the game is that things are going to be fine. There are minor issues to clear up, but that’s what the early part of the season is for, to get into rhythm.
“Overall, we fought,” DeRozan said. “We missed a lot of easy shots. We’re still trying to find our rhythm offensively.
“Kyle missed a lot of easy shots that he will make. I missed a lot of shots, especially down the stretch, that I felt were clean and I should have made. (Valanciunas) had a put-back he should have made. You can’t be too disappointed, (but) it sucks to lose.”
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The Center of the Raptors Universe – BBALLBREAKDOWN
Heading into the 2016-2017 season, Andy Greer is gone, but the Raptors will have learned enough to carry over the ICE scheme that aided the team’s and Valanciunas’ success last season. Bismack Biyombo is out of the picture, so there is no standout backup center. A four-year, $64 million extension signed last off-season has just kicked in. Masai Ujiri and Dwane Casey have clearly put their big man back at the forefront now.
A forefront that, ultimately, will define where the Raptors go from here. Build off what he accomplished in the playoffs before the injury, and Toronto will have much more than just a dynamic duo. In a league that has become dominated by the concept of ‘The Big Three,’ he has the skill set to take them closer. A failure to live up to the hype would mean Toronto’s best year with this core would already be behind them, and perhaps push Masai to move on and make a big splash.
LeBron James initiated a tectonic shift in the league’s playing style to displace Valanciunas from his tracks, and it seems fitting that he stands as the biggest obstacle to Toronto and their big man now. Lowry, DeRozan, and some Biz were good enough for two games last year, but this will be the year to find out if Valanciunas can provide more.
Five years ago or now, Toronto’s ceiling was always destined to be determined by the man in the middle.
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