Cleveland 104 vs Toronto 116
Recap
· The Raptors are quite deep, with a very solid second unit and the Cavs just couldn’t roll the bodies in that the Raptors could. Especially given that the raptors almost always had the 2 best creators on the floor at any time, eventually they wore the Cavs down.
· The Raptors defended with aggression and didn’t allow Cleveland to ever get comfortable — the only player who looked like they got into a rhythm was Jordan Clarkson and that was for a brief period of time in the second half.
· Kyle and Kawhi were both very aggressive for the entire game
· The Raptors looked solid, with a higher ceiling than in the past, but in fairness they should beat this Cleveland team every time they play them.
Offensive Observations
Transition
Firstly, when Lowry is getting downhill in transition and getting deep in the paint good things happen for the raptors. Kyle is so much better in flow than he is in the half court and when the game gets stagnant. He pushed at every opportunity tonight which was very effective. Van Vleet did the same off the bench.
Sets and Actions
· In the first quarter the Raptors ran a few different variations of their Staggers series:
I like the idea of running this series a lot early on because it gets the ball moving and the different options out of it allow touches for their role guys. They also ran this seriously almost exclusively to start the second quarter with the bench unit — makes sense.
· In the second quarter, and a lot of the third, they made a conscious effort to really go after Sexton and Hill with Kawhi in the post. Knowing Cleveland would switch guard to guard, the Raptors kept running a token wing ball screen to get the switch and then let Kawhi go after the matchup in the post:
· In the fourth quarter the Raptors played in flow whenever they could, but when it slowed down the focus was mainly on the spread ball screen, where Kyle turned the corner incredibly well and took advantage of the Cavs guards who aren’t elite defenders.
Defensive Observations
· They played hard. Lots of mistakes but for this early in the year, they’ve got to be happy with how hard they defended.
· OG Anounby has the talent and physical tools to be a great defender, but he’s not yet. Kevin Love had his way with him in the post (until they brought the double team in the 3rd), and he made a ton of mistakes flying all over the defensive end. The good news is that when (if?) the game slows down, as it does when you get more experienced, he will become much more solid as a defender and has a very high upside.
· Apart from a couple plays early on where Love got Siakim to bite on his pump fakes, Siakam was excellent defensively. He showed his ability to cover a modern big like Love, while being able to switch onto all of the Cleveland guards.
· Kawhi and Danny Green know how to defend, and know how to cover screens (although Kawhi was a bit sloppy in this game)
· Serge Ibaka got the most out of his length and athleticism blocking shots at the rim — which is a trend the Raptors need to continue because he often leaves more to be desired on the defensive end (and on the offensive end, too)
· Jordan Clarkson’s eyes lit up when he saw Normal Powell covering him and went at him relentlessly in the third and fourth quarter. Not a good sign for Powell as his ability to defend is what’s likely going to define his career at this point. We’ll see how he responds.
Defending the Ball Screen
· The Raptors ball screen defense is concerning, and here’s why — JV, and Ibaka to a certain extent, want nothing to do with the perimeter and gravitate toward keeping themselves as close to the rim as possible. If your big is an elite rim defender, I’d be much more OK with this because you could invite the guard to get deep, but JV is not (Serge is better than JV at the rim, but i’m not sure he’s elite). The Raps got away with it tonight because 1) Cleveland isn’t very good and 2) the 4 other defenders were doing a great job of slowing the ball down with the bluff.
· Watch how far back JV sits on the ball screens:
·If the guards are going to try to bully and chase the guard over that screen, they are inevitably going to get wiped out by good screeners. The space the offensive guard has to play is just too much to be effective against good teams.
· I’m curious to see how they will defend ball screens when JV has to cover a shooter. Look at this example:
·If Tristan Thompson is a shooter, Cleveland could cause a closeout situation very easily by simply going to the pop guy and letting him make good decisions.
What would I do against Toronto?
1. Attack JV first in the ball screen, after him I would attack Ibaka and pull him away from the rim.
2. Slow them down in transition as much as possible– don’t let Lowry get easy looks in the flow of the game
3. Go small when they go big — I’m interested to see if JV can impose his will on a small ball 5 to a greater extent than a small ball 5 can throw a wrench in the Raptors defensive schemes.
What would I do if I were Toronto?
1. Go in transition — Lowry is still their engine, and he’s much better in the flow of the game than when it slows down.
2. Keep playing through Kawhi — he’s the only Raptor who has the skillset to be able to score at high level in grind-it-out playoff games. He is rusty, but needs to continue to be the focal point offensively.
3. Try out Siakam at the 5 in spurts. It might be too early, and it might screw up their depth a bit, but if you are thinking big picture, developing him into someone who can cover 5’s gives you a better chance to win at the end.
4. Mix up ball screen D with JV and Serge. If teams know they are waiting on all ball screens, they will relentless attack them. Keep offenses on their heels by continuously switching up the coverage (hard/ soft hedge, traps, switch)
Notes
· With the second unit, Fred Van Vleet is mainly coming off of ball screens, with pre-actions leading to it. He is the main creator of that group, and really makes them go.
· I’m very interested how the Raptors big man situation will play out, mainly because of how their bigs cover the ball screen, and will it hold up against the elite teams. Small Ball with Siakam at the 5 is enticing to me.
· Kyle Lowry has good instincts defensively and not a lot of discipline. He makes great reads which leads to timely steals and charges, but he also leaves his man and gives up advantage opportunities. I wonder if Kawhi and Green’s influence can make him a more disciplined defender.
·Pascal Siakam has a lot of the same qualities as a young Draymond Green — versatile defensively and can cover multiple positions, can push the ball in transition off a defensive rebound, very good vision as a passer, attacks downhill, etc. I’m very high on the way he plays the game!
