Toronto’s Return to Relevance Has Healed the Vince Carter Wounds – VICE Sports
For Carter, there’s been no change in how he feels, only in how he’s been received.
“Nothing changes. I still love being here, whether it’s 10, 12 years ago, or today. I still love being here,” he said after the game. “There’s nothing like it. I was telling the young guys when you come in, there’s nothing like it. I’ve been on two different sides of [it]—there’s nothing like it. But it’s still a place that’s near and dear to me.
“It’s a great feeling being here, nothing has changed. It’s just, at that time, I felt it was unfortunate people didn’t know that and didn’t understand that. Here now, it’s just a great feeling. Nothing has changed for me.”
Since Carter landed in Memphis a few seasons ago, the mood for these games has shifted. Any residual boos have felt either playful or misplaced, and the franchise has taken steps to prime their supporters for an eventual welcoming of Carter back into the Raptors family.
This summer, they flirted with bringing Carter back as a player. Sacramento’s offer of $8 million was something a tax-strapped Raptors team couldn’t match, and more importantly to Carter, neither are the 14 minutes per-game the still-hungry, still effective 40-year-old gets to play. He’s unsure if he’ll play another season as the league’s elder statesmen, a decision that changes by the day. What’s clear to him, and to anyone who’s been following along the last few years, is that his career is ending in Toronto, some way or another.
“It’ll happen, for sure. Somehow, whether it’s one day or something, it’ll happen,” Carter said. “It’s supposed to happen, I think. I can say that now. I’ve had a lot of people say it’s supposed to happen, so now I guess I have to believe.”
Had he said this five years ago, it would have seemed ludicrous. At that point, the Raptors still hadn’t gained a footing in the post-Vinsanity NBA, and Carter stuck out as emblematic of all the problems that plagued the franchise for nearly two decades. Around that time, the Raptors stumbled into some unexpected success, flipped all that negativity about being the league’s unwanted northern outpost into a bold and galvanizing marketing strategy, and saw DeRozan and Kyle Lowry reach heights Carter teams never touched, like winning a seven-game series, a trip to the conference finals, or what will be a fifth consecutive playoff appearance.
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On another Vince Carter return (and maybe the last) – Raptors HQ
Also, the Raptors are good (and fun). It’s easy to move on from a bad relationship when your new one is even better. Toronto may feel differently about Carter if they perpetually wallowed as, say, the Minnesota Timberwolves have in the post-Garnett era. Instead, they had the happy accident of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan becoming one of the best backcourts in the NBA, and have enjoyed continuity and organizational smarts from Masai Ujiri.
For me, having Carter join that core, even for a short stretch, would be more meaningful than a 1-day contract at the end. Vince has admitted he doesn’t want to join a championship contender and not play, but wouldn’t there be a spot for his skill set with the Raptors?
It would be a nice bow on what’s been a surprisingly enjoyable season, so far, for the Raptors. Toronto will undoubtedly honour Vince Carter when his career is finished, but getting use out of him would make it even more sweet.
The Toronto Raptors are the NBA’s least-discussed contender – The Washington Post
Fueled by a seemingly tireless motor this season, the Raptors rank third in transition points per possession (1.19) and have scored the sixth-most points of any team on the break.
Lowry and DeRozan finally have help, too.
It’s been five years since Lowry averaged this few minutes, shot attempts, points and usage, yet he’s posting the second-highest true-shooting percentage of his career. DeRozan is averaging the second-fewest minutes of his career and his shot attempts are down, yet he’s posting a career-high true-shooting percentage (57) and assist rate (23.9 percent) and is within sniffing distance of a career-high player efficiency rating. The bench has also picked up the slack: Toronto’s second unit is scoring 38.3 points per contest (12th most); last season it scored just 31.8 (fifth fewest).
Houston, Golden State and Cleveland are deft at pouncing on second-units, waiting for opponents to substitute in bench players only to pick them apart with ease. Having a bench unit capable of treading water is critical in these elite-level matchups. If the season ended Monday, this would be Toronto’s best second unit in franchise history, as defined by net rating. The Raptors don’t need to worry about watching the scoreboard implode when DeRozan and Lowry are substituted out, because there are capable replacements ready for action.
Defensively, the Raptors, brimming with length on the wings, have moved up the league rankings in deflections (15.6 per game, second most), loose balls recovered (7.1 per game, eighth) and contested shots (61.6 per game, 11th). Casey’s defensive acumen is taking hold along the perimeter; only three teams allow fewer three-pointers per 100 possessions than Toronto (25.9). Last season, the Raptors ceded the 10th-most.
It’s no secret that Houston, Golden State and Cleveland represent three of the top three-point shooting teams of all time. Indeed, the three lead the entire league in three-pointers made per contest. Only eight teams more efficiently defend the three-point line, according to data provided by Synergy Sports. Diluting the effectiveness of the most potent aspect of an opponent’s offense is paramount in these matchups. And Toronto — finally — evokes fear along the perimeter.
Kyle Lowry is an underrated star leading an underrated team – Nylon Calculus
Through all of Toronto’s success, Lowry has been the catalyst. Though DeMar DeRozan is a more skilled scorer and has greatly improved his all-around game, earning him more praise among some fans, the Raptors have historically performed worse with him on the court. The Raptors have been an average of 8 points per 100 possessions better with Lowry on the court in 2016 and 2017, although it’s been closer to even so far in 2018 as the Toronto bench has stepped up. RPM isn’t the best stat to use this early in the season, since it’s very noisy, but Lowry is quietly in the top 10 among all players again — third among point guards — and his mark of 4.66 is right around where it’s been the past five seasons. If you put a lot of stock into RPM, Lowry has been a no-brainer top-15 player in the NBA in terms of impact:
Outside of RPM, Lowry’s box-score stats have dipped slightly this year. He’s playing more off the ball and shouldering less of a load on offense, leading to a scoring average of just 16.2 points per game. Kyrie Irving has had somewhat of a breakout year in Boston and is probably a safe bet to pencil in as the starting point guard for the East in the All-Star Game (unless Biebs steps it up), but Lowry still belongs within the ranks of the top Eastern Conference point guards.
Beyond being the best player on one of the top teams in the conference he leads the group in RPM and is behind only Irving in BPM. What he lacks in scoring volume he makes up for in efficiency and rebounding.
Advisory council officially a success for Lowry, others | Toronto Star
Lowry said he came away from the meeting with a new appreciation for how officials see the game thanks to the conversations he had with McCutchen, who ended a 25-year on-court career last week to become the NBA’s head of referee training and development.
While it takes one of the league’s best officials away from in-game duty, Lowry thinks refereeing will be better off because of McCutchen’s teaching abilities.
“I got to communicate with him very well, my respect level for him got even higher,” Lowry said. “I’ve always had respect for him but to be able to be with him and talk to him, not in a hostile environment, was even better.
“I think the thing about Monty is his communication is awesome. The way he explains things is big, he was able to verbalize the things he sees in action on the court to off the court and that’s a big thing. I think the young officials can learn a lot from that.”
The relationship between players and officials during games has always been contentious and argumentative and hit a nadir earlier this month when referee Courtney Kirkland was taken out of the officiating rotation for a week after a physical confrontation with Golden State’s Shaun Livingston. But the work the advisory council has done — mostly getting players away from the intensity of a game to discuss each other’s viewpoints more rationally — has made a difference.
“I think the communication has been a little bit better, I think the hostility with the referees has been a little bit better,” Lowry said. “We just talked and opened the door for all types of things to be changed.”
The Raptors Advent Calendar – Days 8 through 1 – Locked On Raptors
With one faulty eighth-overall draft pick, former Raptors GM Rob Babcock altered the trajectory of the franchise — nay, the NBA — forever.
Rafael Araujo sucked so much ass. Of the 30 players selected in the first round in 2004, Hoffa ranks dead last in career Win Shares with a mark of -0.4. As a person who spent his entire career taking shots from inside — he didn’t attempt a single three — he made just 40.5 percent of his 385 career attempts. A centre by trade, Araujo blocked a grand total of 16 shots in three NBA seasons, 14 of which came in his two years with Toronto. He blocked as many shots in 111 games with Toronto as Alexis Ajinca did in 24. Greying Luis Scola blocked 27 in 76 games in 2015/16.
Seriously, what the hell was Babcock thinking.
Selecting Araujo sent a ripple effect throughout the NBA that is still being felt today. Here’s what absolutely would have happened if Babcock had done the non-idiotic thing and picked Andre Iguodala eighth instead of letting him slip to Philadelphia with the next pick.
Iguodala would have been the glue that kept the Carter-era Raptors together. Pairing Iggy with Carter, with a young Chris Bosh already, in tow would have set the Raptors up with the league’s most tantalizing young core. Carter never feels compelled to stop dunking, the Nets trade never happens and I never grow a healthy hatred of Alonzo Mourning for saying no to Toronto.
More from Valanciunas, extra rest: 5 things on the Raptors’ holiday wish list | Toronto Sun
This one is a given the way the Raptors are operating and the only thing that can derail it are injuries or the team’s young second unit forgetting what has made them successful.
The likes of OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam and Norm Powell have to continue to put in the work they have and begin each day knowing only maintaining their level of play to date will get them the continued experience they need to improve on that level of play.
Anunoby gets a special mention here because he’s going through it for the first time, the only true rookie in the group, and doing it alongside a veteran starting five.
Complacency in him or any of the young Raptors is a dangerous thing and must be avoided at all costs.
Four reasons why the Toronto Raptors are legitimate contenders in the East | GiveMeSport
While it would obviously be optimal if they performed like they do at home at all other times, this type of clear home-court advantage could prove to be extremely beneficial in the playoffs. The Warriors, for example, absolutely dominated at home over the last few seasons and proved to be extremely comfortable in the postseason as a result.
The Toronto fans have an ability to create a lot of noise and make things uncomfortable for opposing teams, as we have seen in recent playoff series.
The Raptors will likely be overshadowed by the Celtics and Cavaliers in the East, but it would be foolish to ignore them or dismiss them from the conversation at this time of the year.
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