Photo by Vince Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty Images
Class is in session for Raptor rookies Siakam and Poeltl | Toronto Sun
In fact, it’s already become a nightly ritual to see Siakam take off for the opposing basket beating all defenders down the floor and then have Kyle Lowry find him in behind the defence for what is normally an uncontested layup.
Casey has gone to Siakam and told him he expects one or two of those a night. Siakam’s response, as it always is when his coach asks him for something more, is ‘I can do that.’
“Speed is a great advantage to have,” Siakam said. “As a big man being able to run the floor I think a lot of big men don’t do that. The fact that I can do that on a consistent basis is great. I’m just trying to use all my advantages and be able to help my team win.”
Siakam was asked if he senses Lowry is looking for him a little more on the break now given the success the two have had in that area so far this year.
“I mean I would if I were him because it’s an easy assist,” Siakam said following a 10-point night in a loss to the Sacramento Kings. “He’s a great point guard and his vision is great and every time I run I expect the ball. That’s just how it is now. It encourages me to keep running and if we can get two or three baskets like that every game it would be cool.”
Raptors rookies learn valuable lessons in loss to Kings – Sportsnet.ca
“It’s not easy,” Poeltl said. “You’ve got to find the right balance between still playing your best defence and not wanting to foul out. Maybe sometimes you’ve just got to take the foul and sit on the bench.”
Poeltl did an awful lot of that on Sunday. His night began on a high, when he arrived in the Raptors locker room after getting his pre-game shots up and was informed he’d be starting his first-ever NBA game in Valanciunas’s absence.
But things quickly deteriorated from there as Poeltl was victimized by a number of precarious foul calls that forced him to ride the bench for large swaths of the game while Casey tried to prevent him from fouling out.
“What happened was exactly what we were afraid of,” Casey said. “Poeltl getting in foul trouble.”
The 21-year-old had two fouls less than five minutes into the game, which put him on the bench for the rest of the quarter and the first five minutes of the second. But less than a minute after he checked back in he was given a third on a particularly egregious call as he tried to defend Sacramento’s world-destroying forward DeMarcus Cousins, which sent Poeltl straight back to his seat before it had a chance to get cold.
Hillary and Lebron . They’ll beat trump but I don’t think they can beat the Raptors . pic.twitter.com/4J4BdJEP4t
— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) November 7, 2016
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DeRozan needs Raptors teammates to keep shooting | Toronto Star
“There’s a lot to learn from with the way they (the Kings) were guarding me and Kyle, what to expect in the screen-and-rolls, what the bigs are supposed to do, what to do on the weak side, small things like that,” DeRozan said. “It’s a great learning tool for us.”
The simple answer is for DeRozan to find the open teammates and have them knock down shots or get to the rim and make teams pay for double-teaming. It works every now and then but the Raptors are shooting so atrociously from three-point range that teams are willing to give up those shots.
Until the likes of Patrick Patterson (3-for-20 on the season from three-point range, a miserable 15 per cent) and DeMarre Carroll (7-for-26 for 27 per cent this season) get back to even mediocrity, Toronto will struggle.
“We’re getting some shots that are good looks and some shots that are kind of rushed but we’ve got to take the shots that are there and we’ve got to make them,” Lowry said.
Taking the shots will at least keep defences a bit more honest and perhaps give DeRozan a bit more room to operate. Even shots that may not seem wise are necessary.
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Raptors this week: Role-player struggles becoming a real problem – Sportsnet.ca
Patrick Patterson, DeMarre Carroll and Cory Joseph have all laboured mightily coming out of the gate. Through Toronto’s first six games, this trio has combined for a dismal 32.4 per cent from the field and an even shoddier 21.1 per cent from three-point range.
In Sunday’s game alone, these three shot a combined 4-for-21 from the field and 1-for-9 from distance, with Carroll and Patterson going 0-for-7 from range.
If the Raptors are to be successful going forward, they absolutely need more from these guys.
Terrence Ross, the other candidate in the rotating platoon of potential third options, has been his usual feast-or-famine self. It’s frustrating, but at the same time with this being his fifth season in the league everyone should know this is who he is by now.
To a similar point, Norman Powell could also perhaps fit into this platoon, but his role appears to be coach Dwane Casey’s perimeter defence safety net in crunch, as evidenced by the fact he was called upon to close the Raptors’ last three games assigned to the opposing team’s best wing scorer – a la Bradley Beal and Rudy Gay. Can Powell score more? Sure, but that isn’t what’s being asked of him, so it shouldn’t be expected. Instead, the onus to up their offensive production falls on Carroll, Patterson and Joseph’s shoulders.
We know they can play better, and more importantly, they know that as well.
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Home Court: Armstrong talks Carroll’s struggles & Jakob Poeltl – Video – TSN
TSN Basketball analyst Jack Armstrong was a guest on Home Court and discussed the early season struggles of DeMarre Carroll as well as the emergence of Jakob Poeltl.
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Power Ranking Poll Week 2: One or two things we know – Raptors HQ
Ahhhhh, Schuhmann’s jumping way, way ahead here, but he’s also not wrong. If there was a ranking of things to be concerned about vis-à-vis the Raptors, number one would probably be about the big man rotation, and number two would be the state of this team’s shooting right now. (And three would probably involve the playing time of Norman Powell.) Let’s just remind ourselves that we are but six games into the season.
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Bruno Caboclo assigned to the D-League 905 – RealGM
pretty sure he wil be recalled soon and assigned again. just doing this as a formality to get him reps with the d league squad.
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Pros and Cons: Should the Raptors trade for 76ers’ Noel? – Sportsnet.ca
CONS:
While his game has improved, Noel is still extremely limited offensively. He does not have a consistent jump shot, struggles to finish at the rim when contested and has a high turnover rate— last season he averaged 2.4 per game, which ranked third-worst amongst power forwards. On top of all that, he cannot seem to stay healthy for an entire season. Noel underwent minor knee surgery the start of the season and is not expected to be back for another 2-3 weeks. This is a possible red flag, given Noel has suffered knee injuries in the past and missed his entire rookie season recovering from a torn ACL that likely caused him to fall to 6th in the 2013 draft.
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