Improved defensive effort has Raptors breathing a lot easier | Toronto Sun
Casey was convinced Joseph was guilty earlier in the season of worrying too much about keeping DeRozan scoring at a high volume and not focussing enough on his own offence.
“Cory’s just got to play,” Casey said. “He’s just got to play basketball. He doesn’t have to worry about getting DeMar the ball, play basketball. Take what the game gives him, if it gives him a drive to the basket, take it; if it gives him a jump shot, take it.”
Joseph has always been a defence-first guy and the questions about his defence seemed to bother him far more than any talk about his offence.
“I have been a little more active the last couple of games,” he said of his individual defence. “But my on-the-ball defence I have been happy with. Just rotations, I think we are all working on that as a team.”
There is more emphasis than ever on rotating to the next cover this season without the shot-blocking, rim-protecting presence of Bismack Biyombo waiting back there to clean things up.
“One hundred per cent,” Joseph said, “because Bismack used to challenge everything at the rim so it was a little easier on the rotations. Now you got to be there a little earlier because you know you don’t have Biz to protect the rim like you had before. Lucas (Nogueira) and Jonas (Valanciunas) over the last couple of games they started to do a better job too.”
DeMarre Carroll is trying to spread the swag – Raptors Republic
It’s not just for show. Carroll cares deeply about fashion and lists it among one of the avenues he hopes to pursue after basketball, along with coaching and real estate. Carroll’s so serious about it that he’s begun exploring options for his own clothing line, something that’s already advanced to the stages of trying to get manufacturers lined up and looking into potential retail partnerships. (He already has fanwear up on his website, but his line is aimed to be dressier casual wear, “like what you got on but very nice.”)
“You try to do something different, man. You try to hit all aspects and things that you like to do,” he says. “And this is the best time to do it when you’re at the peak of your career, and you’re in the NBA, and you can be seen on so many levels. You try to hit all the aspects, things you want to do. You just try to play around with it and see which one captures your heart the most.”
As for what to expect from the clothing line, Carroll isn’t divulging specifics or patterns, but his teammates are curious.
“I’m curious to see what’s it going to look like,” says Patrick Patterson, who some see as the primary competitor for Carroll’s claim as the best-dressed player on the team (Patterson will only say “it’s between me and him, hands down,” noting that it’s easier for Carroll to dress as a more normal-sized person). “I’ll definitely wear it if he gives it to me for free, ’cause I’m not paying for it. I’ll definitely rock his stuff. ”
An American Thanksgiving Checkpoint: Featuring DMC, Terry Ross and Bruno Mars – Raptors Republic
It’s still a work in progress, but at least the Raps are somewhat realizing how Jonas Valanciunas can dominate a specific matchup. Better yet: Consistently utilizing him in those situations. That’s a step in the right direction considering even when the advantage was present in year’s past, consistency wasn’t their strong suit. Next up: Force the issue in matchups that are less appealing — even if it’s seemingly detrimental to the outcome of an individual game. Just like how there is a long-term bright side to the Raps going up against some of the league’s elite in such a short amount of time, how’s JV officially going to take the next step without challenging him to do so?
NBA faces game-changing call | Toronto Star
That’s probably the bigger issue, and one that hits at the heart of the Raptors-Kings controversy. The rules say referees must look at a clock malfunction at the end of the game, but what about other times when a tenth of a second here or there might matter? For instance, if the replay centre put its micro-timing device on the moment DeMarcus Cousins got possession of a missed Kyle Lowry free throw and called time out, would it have added a tenth of a second or two that would have made Ross’s shot legal? What about the 24-second shot-clock violation immediately preceding Ross’s shot? If they were able to back up time earlier in the final minutes, would it have mattered?
They can’t look at everything — that would be mind-numbing and lead to Rivers’s 16-hour games, which nobody wants. — but when is human error, or human reaction, better than intensive video replay scrutiny? That’s perhaps the bigger question.
“So, it’s a tough one for sure and I don’t know where the line is at, I really don’t,” Rivers said.
Leaving room for human nature in officiating may not make the game perfect, but perfection is hard to attain; no one can tell anyone connected with the Raptors that it was a perfect, by-the-rules ending to the Sacramento game.
Part of sports, a large part, is human failing — missed shots, missed plays, missed calls. It’s impossible to legislate that out. The subjective nature of when to chase it is a question that needs examining.
“I’m not sure how they chose between malfunction and human error,” Ujiri said of the Kings game. “I’m not sure how they concluded that.”
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Dial 905: Bruno plays big, VanVleet stays steady, and more – Raptors HQ
VanVleet Disappoints
After Fred VanVleet dominated his first D-League game, his second did not go as planned. VanVleet played in 22 minutes and only put up one point. VanVleet did not look like the same player from the first game who controlled the offence and dominated the court. That said, VanVleet did still have some effect on the game with eight assists and three steals.Uthoff Bounce Back Game
Jarrod Uthoff’s professional debut was not a success but his second game was huge for the team. Uthoff came off the bench and put up 14 points, three rebounds and four assists in 17 minutes of action. For the most part, Uthoff looked more settled in the team’s offense, and it showed.
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Bringing Up Bebe Week 5: On Road Trips and Babies – Raptors HQ
Happy
But all of that is burying the lede — Lucas Nogueira had his baby daughter this week! In case you missed it, that’s why he sat out the game in Denver. (Not due to injury, which, admit it, was the first thing you thought had happened.)I won’t pretend to have additional information about this right now, as the team’s been on the road for the past week. Suffice to say, I assume Nogueira is somewhere right now just beaming with pride.
I don’t need to make the case here for why babies, particularly when, you know, they belong to you, would make a person happy. The fact that Bebe now has a baby of his own offers up some kind of perfect poetry though. Godspeed and good luck in fatherhood, Lucas.
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Game Preview: Raptors @ Bucks | Toronto Raptors
Joseph getting back to basics
In addition to the Raptors getting an offensive boost from Carroll against the Rockets, Cory Joseph also showed up with a big game. Joseph led the bench in scoring with 17 points on Wednesday, making 6-of-11 field goals, including all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. After watching Joseph lead the second unit a season ago, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey felt his reserve point guard had been thinking too much to start this year.
“Cory’s just got to play. He’s just got to play basketball,” Casey said. “Take what the game gives him. If it gives him a drive to the basket, take it. If it gives him a jump shot, take it.”
Joseph said that he and Casey had spoken prior to the game on Wednesday. The conversation sinking in when he hit the floor later that night.
“He didn’t want me to defer as much,” Joseph said. “Be aggressive and don’t think. The first however many games, maybe [I was] thinking a little bit too much.”
Joseph’s 17 points were a season-high. Like Carroll, scoring is always a welcomed bonus, but whether shots are falling or not, it is his effort on the defensive end of the floor that is needed whenever he checks into the game.
“We had a deep discussion pre-game [in Houston] and we talked about getting back to the type of basketball that we needed to play, the principles that we needed to play [with],” Carroll said after Wednesday’s victory. “I think that cleared a lot of people’s minds.”
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Toronto Raptors at Milwaukee Bucks: Friday preview | Toronto Star
KEY MATCHUP
DeRozan vs. Antetokounmpo
The rail-thin, multi-faceted Bucks guard is a long seven-footer who often acts as the team’s primary ball-handler. DeRozan and, likely, DeMarre Carroll as well will have to worry about stopping him in transition.
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