Why the Valanciunas-Ibaka pairing doesn’t work, in 5 screenshots – Locked On Raptors
When paired with a more spry power forward, Ibaka can hang near the rim where he is most effective. Had he been given the chance to play as a pure centre instead of being miscast as a four for the last three years, the drop-off in his block totals might not look quite so precipitous.
It’s especially damaging when Ibaka mans the four against teams that play wings as power forwards with no respite. Morris is a tough check for Ibaka. Kelly Oubre Jr. is an unfair one.
Admittedly, this is probably an unfair example considering this was a transition opportunity. But it does still express the point that with two should-be centres on the court, stretchy forwards are going to get loose for wide open treys. Siakam, Jakob Poeltl and OG Anunoby are all more sensible partners for Ibaka or Valanciunas in the front court; their speediness better allows for the offense-defense harmony it was assumed Ibaka and JV might find together.
Dwane Casey’s conundrum is that the fix isn’t as easy as never playing his two most expensive bigs together again. Much like a front court partnership, managing a rotation over the course of 82 games is about balance and compromise. Ibaka and Valanciunas make close to $40 million combined this year. Relegating one to reserve duty could whack one mole while another chemistry-threatening one pops up somewhere else. It would be lovely to see Ibaka play exclusively as a five — but there also happens to be two talented, young centres on the roster, both of whom have earned minutes with their play in the first month. Playing Jonas with second units injects an antithetical presence to lineups that typically feast on running and switching opponents into submission.
For now, Raptors fans should still expect to see Ibaka-Valanciunas minutes nightly. Those stretches may be toilsome. You may want to throw things at your TV. With no easy solutions, the best hope is that Casey will tactfully use the rest of his bigs to find front court symmetry in the minutes that matter most.
WOLSTAT: Raptors need Lowry on the court and producing | Toronto Sun
Last season, Casey described Lowry’s influence like this: “Kyle’s competitive spirit. He just ignites us,” the coach said after a victory sparked by Lowry. “He just gives us a fight, grit.”
Lowry has always been the lead-by-example type, encouraging his teammates to follow his lead in going all-out. Off the court, he hasn’t always said the right things, but he entered this year aiming to be a better leader.
“I think that’s one thing I want to really focus on is being a better leader,” Lowry said on media day. “I’m more of a show guy, you know I go out there and do it. And I think that’s one thing I have to do a better job of is communicating with everyone else. I may think something or see something one way and I need to communicate it better.
“I think that’s one thing I can help myself, I can help the team with.”
Lowry has done a good job of encouraging and praising the many youngsters who have become contributors and that support needs to continue.
Most importantly, though, he needs to get back to being the on-court force that has powered the Raptors to unprecedented heights over these past several seasons.
The offence badly needed to be modernized, but if doing so comes at the cost of neutralizing Lowry, the Raptors won’t be any further ahead.
Kyle Lowry struggling with Raptors’ new approach | Toronto Star
“I don’t know, man, honestly,” he said. “I think the way we’re moving the ball, the ball’s not in my hands as much. They want me to just try to get everyone involved and, for me, I’ve been used to having the ball in my hands . . . (If) I don’t have the ball I can’t read the defence as much as I usually could before.
“Last couple years, Coach would give me the game for the first five, six, seven minutes. I could feel out the game and get passes off and get everyone involved and now it’s like everyone has to be involved from the jump. For me, it’s getting off the ball, moving and cutting, and it just hasn’t been there for me yet.”
Raptors coach Dwane Casey understands he’s asking a lot of his two all-star guards. Lowry and DeRozan, more than anyone on the team, are being asked to sacrifice touches and stretches of dominance in search of a more fluid style. Nine games is a small sample size but Lowry’s field goal attempts are at a five-year low (11.2 per game) and he is only shooting 37.6 per cent from the field and 32.7 per cent from three-point range.
“I appreciate their patience,” Casey said. “They’re working with it, they’re trying, but it has taken them out of their comfort level where they’ve been productive. We’ve got to stick with it, we’re going to stick with it because in the long run — and I know it’s hard to see now (because) it’s not equating to wins — but in the long run it’s going to help them.”
With Lowry and, to a lesser degree, DeRozan still finding their way, the team’s starting unit has struggled. They were brutal in Sunday’s loss to Washington and as bad during a thrashing in Denver last week. They’ve had some good games but also too many bad ones and the search for consistency goes on.
Lowry still searching for rhythm in Raptors’ new system – Article – TSN
By design, Lowry is spending more time off the ball this season – an attempt to initiate a free-flowing offensive attack while also preserving the 31-year-old. He’s averaging 28.6 frontcourt touches per game, down from 70.3 last year, and his usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player when he’s on the floor) is lower than it has been since he was traded to the Raptors in 2012. They’re hoping it will pay off down the line, both for the player and the team, but it’s a tough ask. Lowry is trying to figure out how to put his stamp on games without having the ball in his hands nearly as much as he’s become used to.
It’s somewhat surprising that, of the two, DeRozan seems to be having an easier time making the transition, simply because his game was more conducive to the old style of play. However, Lowry blossomed into a star in that same environment. If DeRozan was a product of it, so is Lowry. Yes, he did come from Rick Adelman’s up-tempo system in Houston, but that was over five years ago and he wasn’t the player then that he is today.
“To he and DeMar’s defence, we’re doing things totally different,” Dwane Casey said. “We’re trying to. It’s not as much pick and roll with him in set plays. We’re coming down in flow, coming down in drags or whatever so in fairness, it’s different than what Kyle and DeMar are used to, that has hurt their rhythm.”
That the team as a whole has struggled to find a comfort level with it or even maintain it consistently early in the year is no surprise, especially given how tough the schedule has been. As Casey went on to point out, nine games is not a large enough sample size to determine whether a major philosophical shift like this one can work. There’s a learning curve, for the players and the coaches, and it will take some time to figure it out. Fortunately, they made these changes with the playoffs in mind, not November or December, and the East doesn’t appear to be running away from them – only the 8-2 Boston Celtics have really separated themselves to this point.
Raptors still learning new-look offensive strategy | Toronto Sun
“I always pass the ball but moreso, if I don’t have the ball I can’t read the defence as much as I usually could before (so he isn’t attacking defences with a head of steam as often).
“For me, it’s getting off the ball, moving and cutting and it just hasn’t been there for me yet.”
Another issue is that the increased movement and egalitarian style hasn’t resulted in enough made buckets.
It’s great to move the ball — and Toronto is averaging 31.3 three-point attempts a game, eighth in the league — but the issue is only 9.6 of those shots are going in, which ranks 23rd and nobody has shot it worse from beyond the arc than the Raptors’ 30.5%.
Which begs the question, how many long bombs are too many?
“Yeah, you can’t really live like that, by the three,” said Fred VanVleet after the loss to Washington on Sunday.
“It’s nice, and it’ll help, but at the end of the day you still got to get layups, you’ve got to get easy buckets, get paint points, and then once you collapse in the paint, you’ll get easier threes.
“It’s not about the number of threes, it’s about the quality. And then you’ve got to make ‘em, right? You could shoot 50 bad shots, they’re not going to go in. I think attacking the paint first will open up the outside.”
Checking in on Jerry Stackhouse ahead of G League season – Sportsnet.ca
Checking in on Jerry Stackhouse ahead of G League season
1-on-1 with Isiah Thomas: On Raptors’ Anunoby, NBA’s bright future – Sportsnet.ca
Falling to 23rd overall in the draft obviously had a lot to do with his injury. Does it surprise you that so many teams would be scared off by that given how advanced rehab, treatments, and the medical side of things have come over the years? I think of your Achilles injury— you’d probably have recovered from that and played longer if that happened today.
It clearly wouldn’t be as invasive of a surgery as it was back then. The way the game is today— and I say this sadly— everyone looks for the little guy who can stand out on the perimeter, shoot it, look all cute and stuff. I still believe to this day that when the big guys show up, and they start huffing and puffing and throwing their weight around…In this sport, if the big guys play big they’ll beat the little guy every time. And the only reason they can make the impact that they do is because the rules are catered to them now.
So when OG falls to number 23, it’s only because the mindset of most GMs these days is to find a guy who can stand outside and shoot the three and make people clap. One day soon I think the pendulum will swing back toward the middle and the big guys will be meaningful again.
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