Breaking down how the Raptors’ offence is surviving without Kyle Lowry…so far – The Athletic
It hasn’t been pretty. There have been double-digit comebacks, ugly losses and long stretches of offensive stagnancy. It’s required heroics, well-timed stepping up and previously uncharacteristic defensive intensity. It’s just been a few weeks, and there’s a long road ahead.
But the Raptors have stayed afloat with Kyle Lowry on the shelf following surgery on his right wrist. The Raptors are 4-2 since the all-star break and 5-2 without Lowry on the season overall – he sat one game for rest against Brooklyn earlier in the year – and while their defence has improved thanks in large part to deadline acquisitions P.J. Tucker and Serge Ibaka, the success has also come because the offence hasn’t fallen off as much as anticipated.
It has certainly changed, though.
https://soundcloud.com/raptorsrepublic/601-talking-raptors-podcast-hang-in-there
Raptors hopeful they have ironed out kinks | GANTER | Raptors | Sports | Toronto
The Raptors never really got the great weather they were hoping for in Miami where it went from cloudy to blustery and back to cloudy and windy with the odd sunshine break, but they did get two practices, both of good length and both of the productive variety if one is to believe the early reviews.
“Came at a great time, we definitely needed it to tighten up a bunch of things defensively and offensively, try to get the camaraderie going, especially with the new guys and understand we have to be consistent these last 19 games,” DeMar DeRozan said before the team made its way to its charter flight taking them to New Orleans.
It’s probably a good sign that DeRozan comes out of Miami so positive given he is likely the one who can benefit most from the two days spent there.
Despite putting together four wins in games without Kyle Lowry in the fold against two losses, the signs were definitely pointing towards teams effectively taking DeRozan out of his game with no other source of offence around to scare them.
The Starting Five – Raptors Republic: ESPN TrueHoop Network Blog
Valanciunas carrying the bench offense is a strange idea because there isn’t really any evidence that it will work. It is true that Valanciunas performs well independently – when he plays without Lowry or DeRozan his usage goes up from approximately 20 to 24 and he maintains his efficiency – but the team as a whole tends to perform poorly when Valanciunas is playing without Lowry. Lowry remains the only person on the roster with the skillset to take advantage of what Valanciunas brings to the table. Lowry can use the screens set by the big men to turn the corner and get into the paint or to get space for a three pointer and will consistently make the right pass to a rolling Valanciunas or an open shooter if defense blitz him. DeMar DeRozan seems to be continuously improving his ability to use Valanciunas screens to get space for his own look but as we have seen over the last couple of months his ability to handle being trapped is still questionable. Cory Joseph still takes too long to initiate the offense and doesn’t really have the range or burst necessary to take advantage of screens the way Lowry does.
Axel Toupane rejoining Raptors 905 – Raptors Republic: ESPN TrueHoop Network Blog
The D-League’s Most Improved Player a year ago, a hungrier, more experienced Toupane continued to grow in 2016-17, earning a trip to the All-Star Game and rave reviews from scouts at the D-League Showcase in January. Likely the 905’s best player despite coming off the bench most of the time, Toupane has averaged 16.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals, providing elite defense at either wing position and occasionally on point guards or even power forwards.
Getting Toupane back is a major addition for the 905, who sit atop the D-League standings are in good shape ahead of a potential championship run. The organization views getting players to the NBA level as an even bigger victory than anything that could happen on the court, but they probably won’t be complaining about Toupane’s return, for however long it lasts. It’s surely disappointing for Toupane that he couldn’t stick once again, but at least he earned somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 over a few days to supplement his $26,000 D-League salary (and he made about $126,000 down the stretch with the Nuggets last year).
Gameday: Raptors @ Pelicans, March 8 – Raptors Republic: ESPN TrueHoop Network Blog
To help shed light on recent developments in The Big Easy, I’ve reached out to Mason Ginsberg of Bourbon Street Shots, who was kind enough to help out.
Alex: A sizable portion of Raptor fans were clamoring for a Cousins trade. Describe the moment the news broke, and then the one when you saw the peanuts the Pelicans had to give up for him.
Mason: Up until 30 minutes before the trade, I wasn’t buying any of it without the Pelicans giving up at least three first round picks. Once I saw both Stein and Woj tweeting about a deal being close, I started to believe, but was still skeptical because of the number of picks that I assumed would have to be involved. In my mind, they just didn’t have the assets to pull it off without a serious mortgaging of the future – unless, of course, the owner of the team with which you are trading is completely enamored by your decent but not great first round pick. Once the deal was first reported as completed for two first round picks, Buddy, and cap fillers, I was ecstatic. When we found out that the deal actually only contained one first rounder, and then that it was top-3 protected (!), I was in utter disbelief. Pretty crazy night, that’s for sure.
https://audioboom.com/posts/5683656-raptors-03-07-2017-what-is-going-on-in-2nd-quarters?t=0
Rowan Barrett Jr. among several Canadians with all-star potential – Sportsnet.ca
The 16-year-old from Mississauga was named Most Valuable Player at the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, a three-day event bringing together the top-ranked boy and girl prospects from outside the United States to work with NBA coaches, often before the eyes of NBA executives interested in getting baseline evaluations they can use to track prospects building towards their draft year.
“I had no idea who they were,” said Barrett, a 6-foot-7 wing who is the son of former national team star and current Canada Basketball senior men’s team general manager Rowan Barrett. “They look like regular people. But I tried to play the best I could.”
His best is pretty good. Barrett is in Grade 10 at Montverde Academy near Orlando, a well-regarded private school that has won three U.S. national high school championships in the past four years. He is already the top-ranked player in his age group on all the major recruiting websites. For the moment he’s expected to graduate in 2019, which would make him draft eligible in 2020, but it’s not uncommon for top prospects to accelerate a year which could make his draft year 2019.
Updating the Raptors’ Win Total Projections with 20 Games Left – Raptors HQ
That projects to a 5.8-4.2 record over the next ten games.
Is that projection optimistic? Pessimistic? What about the season projections above?
For those curious, we can also look at just the sample since the all star break, to gauge how the team has performed without Lowry. The team’s average performance in those six games (I’ll include the Bucks game here) is +4.1, not far below their +4.7 mark for the season. The recent stretch would actually prorate to 52 wins, so not far off the 53 wins for the full season data. The team is doing well to weather the storm so far.
Raptors Visit the New Look Pelicans: Preview, Start Time, and More – Raptors HQ
While the Pelicans have struggled as a team since Cousins joined, both he and Davis have been getting their numbers.
Cousins: 44.8%/29.6%/83.7%, 21.7 points, 14.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.8 blocks
Davis: 50.0%/30.1%/80.0%, 28.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 2.3 blocks
As you can see, Cousins has adjusted his game back inside, and his rebound numbers have spiked massively since his arrival in Louisiana. He was averaging just 10.7 rebounds per game with the Sacramento Kings this season, his lowest per game mark since 2012-13. His scoring has taken a bit of a hit as well, as he’s dipped significantly from the 27.8 points per game he was averaging prior; it’s worth noting that his field goal attempts are down from 20.3 to 16.0 per game.
So how will Toronto answer this? Their best lineups of late have featured Serge Ibaka at the centre position, which doesn’t seem like an ideal match-up against the size and versatility of the Pelicans front-court. The Raptors ability to win this game will lean heavily on their ability to stop or slow one, if not both of these behemoths.
