Photo credit: MattAzevedo.com
Raptors 905 continued training camp with the first of two exhibition games on Saturday, visiting the London Lighning of the Canadian NBL in a Champion vs. Champion showcase. A showcase with almost none of the players from the 905 championship team, sure, but a champions duel nonetheless.
Unfortunately…I don’t have much to share with you. I couldn’t make it to London for the game and both sides opted not to stream or broadcast it, so we’re left in the dark. That’s fine on occasion, but with only two preseason games to judge off of and one of them now blacked out, 905 fans will largely be left in the dark as to the battle between nine players for the final five roster spots. At the very least, I had some notes passed along and managed a copy of the box score.
https://twitter.com/Raptors905MR/status/924420417191927808
*Nice to see Aaron Best off to a good start. He drew the starting nod along with four players secure in their roles (Davion Berry, Lorenzo Brown, Kennedy Meeks, and Edy Tavares), which should be a good sign for his chances of cracking the roster. The 905 gave up Shannon Scott, a solid G-League level guard, to obtain him on draft day, and he, Negus Webster-Chan, and potentially Kaza Keane, Richard Amardi, and Liam McMorrow could lend some extra Canadian flavor to the roster.
https://twitter.com/Raptors905MR/status/924429740412465153
*Reigning NBL MVP Royce White had just seven points and two rebounds at the half, and Edy Tavares apparently looked quite good defensively throughout.
https://twitter.com/Raptors905MR/status/924440018894012416
*The highlight in the third was White postering Tavares, getting some revenge in their first-half battle. I’m told it was quite an impressive dunk. Lorenzo Brown helping lead the offense comes as little surprise, nor does head coach Jerry Stackhouse getting a ton of offense from a pair of gifted interior scorers in Tavares and Kennedy Meeks.
RAPTORS 905 lose 99-0 to London Lightning.
*The Lightning went on an 11-5 run to start the fourth and kept pushing, with the 905 down 91-83 with 4:30 to play. Stackhouse rode mostly with the guys trying out down the stretch run, and the Lightning extended the lead to 13 at the two-minute mark. They closed the gap a bit at the very end, but it was too little and too late at that point.
*It’s worth keeping in mind here that the 905 have been together less than a week, that Stackhouse has just two games to find out a lot about nine players competing for roster spots, and that the Lightning returned a fair chunk of their championship roster (albeit with a new coaching staff). Still, I’m sure the Lightning – White in particular – are geeked up to take a game off of the G-League champs.
*White finished with a 14-6-10 line. He only shot 4-of-16, but those assists were almost as many as the 905 had as a team (14).
*It was a rough shooting night for Amardi and a tough night hanging on to the ball for Keane. That might be a case of guys on the bubble trying to do too much, or just uncharacteristic nights. It’s hard to say without footage. Keane is better than his line suggests, so here’s hoping he gets another opportunity Monday. Amardi at least did a nice job on the glass.
*The 905 shot 39.4 percent. They were 37.9 percent (11-of-29) on threes and got to the line plenty (33), but that’s a tough mark inside the arc. They held London to 41 percent, and the Lightning likewise shot well from outside (13-of-31) and got to the line frequently (32).
*Andre Washington was assessed two technical fouls. Gotta make an impression! Amardi received one, too, and the Lightning were hit with a pair.
*Here’s a box score I typed up for you!
Other notes
- The 905 have their final exhibition game Monday at Hershey Centre. Hopefully that one’s broadcast, because actually going to the game isn’t possible for your boy with the Raptors playing at 9. I’m really sorry I don’t have more for you from this one.
- Media Day was postponed last week and is still yet to be rescheduled. I’m guessing Tuesday. The 905 have to trim the roster from 16 to 12 by Thursday.
- Kyle Wiltjer and Negus Webster-Chan were inactive for this one. Wiltjer sat out strictly to get a look at more players, while Webster-Chan is dealing with some knee soreness.
- Malcolm Miller was also inactive and went this week to seek clearance for full-contact 5-on-5. He had ankle surgery in July and had progressed to half-court activity while in training camp with the Toronto Raptors. He’s on a two-way deal and looms as a potential 3-and-D contributor at the forward spots later in the year, as well as one of the 905’s most versatile plug-and-play pieces.
- @NavMatharoo passed along that the stadium was about half full, with a lot of Raptors fans in attendance.
— Nav Matharoo (@NavMatharoo) October 29, 2017
- As a reminder, here’s the camp roster:
