10 things from Raptors-Cavaliers (Oct. 17) – The Defeated
Dominant: Any concerns about Kyle Lowry’s willingness to compete were greatly exaggerated. He was the best player on the floor, and showed a renewed willingness to slash to the basket that was missing at times last season. If this version of Lowry shows up consistently then the Raptors should top 60 wins.
Final Score: Raptors beat Cavaliers, 116-104, in home opener – Raptors HQ
It wasn’t a test for the Raptors, not really. Even with the familiar C-A-V-S block letters on the opposing jerseys, this obviously is not the same Cleveland team. Still, as a symbol, as a changing of the guard, as a burning effigy even, the Raptors’ opening night 116-104 victory over the LeBron-less Cavaliers was satisfying. It wasn’t always pretty, but it did indeed feel like the start of something brand new.
If there was a test to be taken by the Raptors on Wednesday night, it was administered by the team itself. This is a new squad in Toronto, made up, yes, of many of the same components save a couple of significant ones — a new head coach with some potentially fresh ideas in Nick Nurse, and, of course, Kawhi Leonard as the central star. If nothing else, tonight’s win suggested some things the Raptors will be able to do well, and other things that, uh, need work.
First, the positives. Kawhi Leonard comes (almost) as advertised. He’s clearly not in peak form yet; he finished a mere 9-of-22, got to the line only six times, hit but one three, didn’t always know where he was going with the ball. And yet: Kawhi did have 12 rebounds, his arms swinging shut like an alligator’s jaw more than once on an errant carom; there were also those times when he decided to shut one foe down, and then another, in their quest for the rim. There was also something else, an ineffable confidence Leonard brought to the floor. When the ball ended up in his hands, it was as if the Raptors could — relax is the wrong word — let’s say, they could feel safe. That’s the superstar effect.
Not to be outdone, Kyle Lowry sought to remind us all that he provides his own specific effect. Lowry got downhill a few times to the rim, and bombed away from three with abandon. When the game was going the Raptors’ way it was often because he was on the floor. Lowry’s 27 points (on 10-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three) were a game-high. That he also dished eight assists while guiding, urging, cajoling his team is just about the perfect picture of what Lowry brings to the Raptors.
The post can still be more of an adventure. Before the game, Nick Nurse was talking about how his relationships with players have to change as he goes from assistant coach to head coach. There just isn’t as much one-on-one time for skills work. Well, Valanciunas is one of the Raptors who Nurse spent the most time with as an assistant, going to Lithuania a few times.
“Probably about four years ago when I first went (to Lithuania), I went over there and really started working on some up-the-court, ball-handling and firing the ball around a little bit more because I wanted to see what his skill level was like,” Nurse said. “It’s been a little while, but we’re giving him a little organization on where those cuts are coming from and he’s finding them. Willing passer, that’s the good thing. He’s a willing passer.”
“I think his passing has improved a lot,” Kyle Lowry added. “When he first got in the league he was really dominant (trying to score over) his left shoulder. He was just looking to score. He’s gotten to be more comfortable facilitating. Last year, putting the ball in his hands more up top, and him knowing that he doesn’t have to try to score every time he touches it, it’ll get back to him, and him having the comfort and the confidence to make plays, I think that’s why he’s been a better passer and even more willing of a passer.”
Nurse, with the direction of Dwane Casey, was at the head of last year’s offensive change. Whereas in previous years the Raptors would give Valanciunas a few sympathy opportunities in the post before going with their perimeter-oriented offence, the centre became used to touching the ball on the outside. That will only continue this year.
With Leonard now in Toronto, it is clear the Raptors want to use the post-up a bit more. In the Raptors’ prettiest possession of the game, the Raptors actually had two players handle the ball in the post — Leonard and Valanciunas.
“Obviously when you have a mismatch, you’ve got to try to use it as that mismatch to try to get an easy bucket at the baskets or draw a double-team and get a kick-out three,” Raptors guard Danny Green said. “You’ve got to make teams pick your poison.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPzU6r6WzvI
After a hard-fought first quarter that featured 11 lead changes, the Cavs ended the period trailing by a respectable three points.
Only they couldn’t sustain that level of play the rest of the night, watching helplessly as the Raptors shredded their shoddy defense. Toronto finished the night shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from 3-point range.
Perhaps the worst sign for the Cavaliers came at halftime.
They played incredibly hard, fought for second-chance opportunities and aggressively attacked the Toronto defense, earning 15 more free throw attempts and coming away with twice as many second-chance points. And yet, they trailed by 13 after the supposedly-improved defense gave up 60 points.
On this night, it didn’t matter how much effort they gave. Nor did it matter how many surges the Cavs made in the second half, cutting the lead to single figures on four occasions. The Cavs fought and had five players reach double figures, getting something resembling the balance they want on offense this season.
They just didn’t have enough. The talent gap was too vast.
Kyle Lowry buried them with an avalanche of 3-pointers. He tallied 27 points on 10-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range to go with eight assists.
Kawhi Leonard, in his first game with the Raptors, looked like an MVP candidate once again, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Danny Green, who arrived in the blockbuster deal with Leonard for fan favorite DeMar DeRozan, appeared an ideal fit on the perimeter. He also reached double figures with 11 points.
“We just didn’t play our brand of basketball,” Kevin Love said. “But looking at it in a positive way, just getting that first one out of the way and there were some good things like us getting back in the game in the third quarter, but just couldn’t get over the hump and just didn’t feel like us.
Raptors’ Nick Nurse’s long journey leads to 1st NBA head coaching win – Sportsnet.ca
Evidently, nerves were a standard of Nurse’s first gameday as head coach. It was long, anxious. And he’d anticipated it. Figuring the night prior to his debut would be a sleepless one, Nurse woke up pre-dawn Tuesday to get a work out in at 5:30 a.m., trying to pre-emptively drain himself so that when his head hit the pillow that night he’d have an easy passage into sleep.
It worked — sort of. When Nurse lay down Tuesday night, a bit earlier than he usually does, he did so with the intention of visualizing some plays in his head before he drifted off.
“I’m not sure I made it through one — I fell asleep pretty quickly,” he says. “I’ve been dreaming about plays for a long time. That’s been my job here for five years — to try to get us buckets. So, I was going to run through a few in my head. But I didn’t get to them.”
A busy Wednesday morning schedule featuring a team shootaround and multiple meetings were useful in passing the time. An early-afternoon nap helped, too. But the hours before tip-off couldn’t go quickly enough. Nurse arrived at Scotiabank Arena around 4:30 p.m., and by the time he held his pre-game session with the media about an hour later, he was already in the well-tailored suit he’d wear on the Raptors bench that night. Most coaches stay in sweats until the last possible moment.
First impressions, right? And Nurse’s has been a long time coming. After a couple years on Miller’s staff at Northern Iowa, his first experience running a team came quickly when he was named the head coach at tiny Grand View College. Only 23, he was the youngest college basketball coach in the country. And he had no idea what he was doing.
“I think I jumped the gun a little bit on head coaching,” he says. “I remember getting that job and going, ‘Oh my god, they gave me the job.’ I called Eldon up and I called my high school coach and they were sending me books and tapes. You think you’re ready but you really aren’t at that age.”
The season of Kawhi Leonard begins with a win and should only get better | The Star [subscription]
Unless something goes wrong, Leonard will play the best basketball in a Raptors uniform that anyone ever has. Before Kawhi did it in 2016, the last non-centre to win defensive player of the year and score at least 20 points per game in the same season was Michael Jordan in 1987.
And he has one year left on his contract and a love for his hometown of Los Angeles, so for one year or more the Raptors have the best player in the gym on just about any night in the East now. In Cleveland, LeBron was always the atom bomb; last year’s sweep was marked by his turnaround virtuosity in Game 2, his running buzzer-beater in Game 3, his ability to control anything or everything.
“Our team lost the best player in the world, so that’s pretty tough,” said Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue.
Now the Raptors have their version of that guy, for a year. Leonard, for his part, is matter-of-fact about how good he is. Asked about adjustment the day before the debut, he said, “It’s a lot of details that come into the game rather than just coming out and shooting the ball. I can do that with my skill level, just come out and shoot every possession. I try to win games and I’m trying to be adaptive to the offence, figure out where guys want to shoot the ball, where I’m going to get my shots off at so we can keep rolling.”
He was asked after the game, how close are you to the player you were? And he said, “I can only see what’s in front of me right now and there’s nothing I’m looking back, saying I want to get back to that level. It’s about right now and what I need to do to be the best player for the Raptors, and that’s what my focus is.”
It will be a year-long date, with a fork in the road at the end. Green, who was with Leonard in San Antonio, knows him best among his teammates.
“He’s an ultimate competitor,” says Green. “He wants to be great, bottom line. It’s not about money, city; he wants to win games and be great. And obviously there may be places that he wants to do it in, close to home, you never know.
“But if he can get that here or wherever, he’s going to be there or stay there. Where he feels he can play his best basketball, and have fun, I think that’s what it’s about.”
They bumbled a bit to start, but it was OK. They’re still getting to know one another. He can be better, and so can they. Welcome to the season of Kawhi. It won’t be boring.
Raptors’ talent, depth on display during home opener win over Cavaliers | Toronto Sun
ABOUT THE STARTERS
The starting-lineup question remained a just that right up to near game time as Nurse took a page out of Dwane Casey’s book and kept it to himself.
The reveal really doesn’t mean much as Nurse has made it clear the identity of the starters from game to game will be fluid.
Starting in Game 1 were the expected Lowry and Leonard. Danny Green was also in there along with Pascal Siakam at power forward and Jonas Valanciunas at centre.
Valanciunas wasn’t that much of a surprise with Tristan Thompson always expected to start for Cleveland and a matchup that fits the Raps centre.
Siakam with the starters was a bit of a surprise, not because he wasn’t an option but just because he’s meant so much to that second unit that the feeling was he might stay there.
There’s no question the Raptors struggled to contain Love in last year’s four-game Cleveland playoff sweep. Serge Ibaka had plenty of opportunities to show he was up to the task in that series, and didn’t, so him not starting wasn’t a surprise. The one man we thought would start who didn’t was OG Anunoby but having missed the bulk of the pre-season attending to a family matter might explain that one.
AND THE ROTATION
As promised Nurse didn’t stick with his starters for very long. Part of it were two quick fouls for Siakam who came out for Anunoby, but Nurse wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to try different combinations.
Well before the first quarter was over, he had already used 10 different Raptors in the game, including Norm Powell, who had five points in six minutes and looked much more like the aggressive and attacking player that was on display two seasons ago.
Leonard and Lowry impress in season opener – Video – TSN
Kawhi Leonard played in his first meaningful game since January 13th. Jack Armstrong and Matt Devlin take a closer look at his games and how Kyle Lowry responded in his first game without DeMar DeRozan.
Raptors, Kawhi Leonard open season with promising performance – Sportsnet.ca
That’s why this season feels different than any other in Raptors history, even among the bountiful half-decade (and counting).
The Raptors have the shiniest toy, the biggest dog.
Even with a nearly a full year of rust, Leonard could make smaller wings disappear on post-ups, could create comfortable looks at any point in the clock and knock down his share of jumpers.
His defensive reputation precedes him. Open layups get missed when he’s in pursuit; passes don’t get attempted. He and OG Anunoby double-teamed poor Kevin Love midway through the first quarter and Cleveland’s remaining marquee player basically handed the ball away, leading to an Anunoby fast-break dunk.
Leonard is fully healthy, but allows that his game is a long way from the MVP-level it was in 2016-17 when he finished third in the voting and many educated opinions feel he should have won it.
“I can only see what’s in front of me right now,” he said. “It’s nothing [where] I’m looking back saying, ‘I want to get back to that level.’ It’s about right now and what I need to do to be the best player for the Raptors and that’s what my focus is.”
Wednesday was Game 1 and perhaps the most important statistic is that Leonard looked comfortable playing a game-high 37 minutes. What he will bring to the table this season can’t be bought on a shelf. The NBA is built around superstars, and the Raptors have one.
“The game’s evolving to where everyone’s touching the ball and there’s a little more flow,” said Cavaliers veteran marksman Kyle Korver who is learning how to operate without James this season. “But at the end of the day the superstars, everybody wants them to have the ball, and you’ve got guys now who average triple-doubles, and who put up these incredible numbers, because they have space to operate and they’re just incredibly talented … role players need superstars and superstars need good role players. It’s what makes the game go ’round.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzxVv4Qzcr0
Raptors talk switches to closing time on opening night | The Star [subscription]
The journey of discovery — the players will be trying to adapt to each other’s skills at full game speed — will continue for weeks, even months.
“We’ve got to approach it as a marathon … (Wednesday) is kind of our first step of that journey,” VanVleet said after Wednesday’s morning shootaround. “Good or bad or indifferent, take it in stride and keep building for the year.”
That’s especially true for Leonard, who made his Toronto debut on Wednesday after sitting out the lone home pre-season game.
“The challenge is coming in to a new coaching standpoint and direction,” the former San Antonio forward said. “It’s not the same offence that I’m used to. It’s a different coach, different style of play. I’m used to playing the same way for six years so that’s the challenge for me, just learning the new plays.”
Nurse knows that long-term success is going to determine whether this is a good or bad year for the Raptors, a team that won 59 regular season games in 2017-18 before a second-round playoff flameout.
“I just think there’s a little bit more of a blank paper here because our team has changed,” the coach said. “I think our team is more versatile and I hope that plays itself out on the floor. I want to see lots of groups play well. I want to see great chemistry. I want to see given extra effort, pulling for your teammates, those are the kinds of things we’re shooting for and we’re going for because that’s what we need.”
Kawhi Leonard, Still a Spur at Heart | GQ
What makes Leonard’s fresh start in Toronto so fascinating is that we’ve never seen a Spur of this caliber, one so central to that mythos and so steeped in that franchise culture, go elsewhere. Will he spread the gospel? Or will he be forced to compromise? Do the Raptors end up more like the Spurs—a scary prospect for an already very good team—or does Leonard further open up his game and maybe, in the process, expand his consciousness? The reality of the situation is likely to be some combination of the two. But while over the summer this dynamic might have been read as conflict or tension, after The Laugh we know that Leonard is on top of it and ready to, for the first time in his career, really own his situation. Instead of relying on his franchise to furnish meaning that aligns with his view of the world, he’s got to take control, define himself and find new ways to get into his peculiar form of rhythm that is no rhythm at all. And there’s every reason to believe that Leonard can pull this off without getting frustrated or confused because, after all, he’s still a Spur at heart, and Spurs don’t do frustration or confusion.
It’s unfortunate that, at least for the foreseeable future, DeMar DeRozan—whose breakup with a franchise and city he loved is a feel-bad story if there ever was one—will play in Leonard’s shadow. He’s a top-flight NBA player, maybe even a legit franchise player. He’s got a temperament and work ethic that make him a great fit for San Antonio. But he’s not Kawhi Leonard. Leonard isn’t just better. Like Duncan before him, he anchored the Spurs by so thoroughly embodying their philosophy. Leonard looked to the Spurs for direction; in a host of indirect ways, he was a leader who assumed the same role with his teammates.
Odds are that DeRozan will fit in just fine and become a model Spur. That’s very different from Leonard, who created that template for others and set an example for all other Spurs to follow. If there’s any lingering sadness around this trade, it’s in our knowing that, even if DeRozan gets a fair shake, he may forever come up lacking. And while no one will ever hold this against him, with him in Leonard’s the league will be that much less stable and the world will, for the time being, never quite make sense.
Potential rotating Raptors starters a mark of identity, not indecision – The Athletic [subscription]
If the Raptors are to get where they’re going and to become who they want to become, they’re going to have to get a little uncomfortable. That means new pieces, new routines and new approaches. With six incumbent starters for five slots and a small handful of other capable would-be starters, there aren’t enough starting slots to keep everyone happy, anyway. Nurse will rotate them around by matchup, game flow, fatigue and feel; he might change them at halftime, or pull the plug quickly on a group. This is the prerogative of the coach chosen to help the Raptors be great differently.
This is not to say there was not value in consistency and continuity. Especially in the building stages of an organization and a core and a culture, role certainty and predictability are important. Knowing what’s expected and when, within something new and unsure, holds value, and the Raptors rolled in regular season after regular season in part by holding an edge in familiarity and ethereal oneness. That it eroded in the playoffs with similar consistency speaks to both the fleeting nature of an intangible competitive advantage and to why the Raptors are trying to grow beyond their comfort zone now. Taking the next leap after building a sound and sustainable foundation requires building upon it, not maintaining the status quo.
Obviously that started with the roster and a major trade, with the acquisition of likely the best player to put on a Raptors uniform. Nurse’s hiring was viewed by some as not a drastic enough change given he was on Dwane Casey’s staff for five years, as if no one has ever had boss with whom they had different ideas but still did the work asked of them. When he landed the job, Nurse’s preparation and basketball IQ were lauded. And for a first-zoomed NBA head coach who was not given the type of contract that screams long-term stability, he’s doing well to deliver early on his reputation as a willing experimenter.
This extends well beyond starting lineup decisions, which are meaningful but less so than minute distributions and closing lineups. Starters set the tone and it is better to start well than poorly, but from a rotation perspective it mostly serves to set matchups and a base state for substitutions to rotate around. The dogma about the best players starting should have mostly dissipated for good teams now, the Houston Rockets listing Carmelo Anthony officially as “Sixth Man” on their starting lineup finally putting to rest the last true holdout of that mentality.
This Is the Toronto Raptors’ Best Chance to Make the NBA Finals – VICE Sports
Take those 2016-17 playoff Spurs for example. The Popovich factor is undeniable, but LaMarcus Aldridge was transitioning from unhappy camper to ‘OK, let’s try and make this work,’ every Ginobili moment felt like it may have been the last, and Jonathan Simmons played out of his skin. Yet, there they were, having convincingly handled both the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets and having lost Parker to injury, holding a 20-point lead at halftime in Oracle Arena against the Golden State Warriors. We’ll never know what could have been courtesy of that Zaza Pachulia closeout, but you figure, at worst, they go on to win that game and probably take at least one on their home floor.
If that was the hypothetical ceiling of those Spurs—an extended series against a 73-win team that added Durant—it’s hard not to view these Raptors envisioning much less. The main factor stepping in that way would be Leonard looking more like a top ten player than what he was that season. Such are the margins.
Kyle Lowry is a very capable Robin, Jonas Valanciunas has evolved to remain not just relevant but someone who can make an impact, and Serge Ibaka will look to bounce back with what’s expected to be more minutes at center, the position he’s likely best suited for in a land of athletic guards and wings. Green is the constant. Then, there is the Bench Mob, a unit whose youth stands to improve individually and thereby enhance the whole that was far greater than the sum of its parts a season ago.
No talk of the Raptors’ limits is complete without OG Anunoby, the under-the-radar rookie who fell to 23rd overall in the 2017 draft and has already shown signs on offense in both summer league and preseason that he’s more capable off the dribble and can give the team more than the 37.1 percent three-point shooting and occasional cuts to the basket he provided last season. His defense is already a tremendous asset and only stands to improve alongside the current crop of wings.
The biggest wild card of all is Nurse. He has plenty of experience as the lead man on the coaching staff at both the G League and British Basketball League level, and the reviews from those opportunities have been glowing.
Three things that make Kawhi Leonard elite – Video – TSN
Leo Rautins has said before that Kawhi Leonard plays the game the right way. But what does that mean exactly? Rautins highlights three things to watch for that help illustrate Leonard’s elite status.
Toronto is starting to figure out what they want out of their team now that their former All-Star DeMar DeRozan is playing for the San Antonio Spurs.
Leading the team with point guard Kyle Lowry and do-it-all Kawhi Leonard seems like an exciting playoff run in the Eastern Conference, but what could tip the scales against the Celtics and 76ers would be the addition of Jimmy Butler.
This move would potentially make sense for both the Wolves and Raptors, getting a cheap/young big man with Pascal Siakam and getting a more long term power forward in Serge Ibaka sounds like a good deal for a disgruntled Jimmy Butler and an expensive Gorgui Dieng.
Especially if teams like the Houston Rockets are now reported to only be offering deals like Eric Gordon and a late first round pick.
Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden are going to have to look in the mirror and decide what they want out of a Butler deal, there first game back as a unit is tonight and I’m not too sure how they’ll look starting Butler who hasn’t played a preseason game or even more than two practices.
Trading JB to the Eastern Conference is also a really good idea, it’ll already be hard enough to make the playoffs this season in the West if Butler was traded to a team like Houston or even the LA Clippers.
With Taj Gibson and Siakam coming off the bench for Minnesota, possibly even Norman Powell if he could be included in this deal, you’d have a much more well rounded roster (offensively) with Ibaka next to KAT – it’s a done deal if this is offered. Not to mention the second round pick in 2019, although I’m not sure how Toronto would feel about moving that pick as they just moved a first for Kawhi.
The next trade idea will feature the Milwaukee Bucks, which makes the ‘Greek Freak’ inside of me tingle.
Remember this guy? Meet the original face of the Toronto Raptors | CBC News
In fact, one of the executives from the team took his information and a few weeks later called him out of the blue.
“He had asked if I wanted to take a few pictures for the Toronto Raptors,” said Guria, who’s now 41 and works as a nurse in Tampa, Fla.
In fact, Raptors management wanted Guria to be one of the first to wear the National Basketball Association expansion team’s new uniform and pose for promotional pictures. According to Guria, it was at that photo shoot that he met another young Canadian basketball player who was just about to embark on an impressive pro career.
“Steve Nash was also there,” Guria said. “I think he was getting ready to enter the NBA draft so it was known that they weren’t going to use any of his images.”
Guria was never paid for the photo shoot, which lasted a few hours, but the Raptors did give him a parting gift, which he was happy to accept as payment.
“They gave me a pair of basketball shoes,” he said.
Not long after his day with the Raptors, Guria moved to Boston to go to college. He had all but forgotten about the photo shoot, when his phone started ringing.
“Friends and family called me up and said, ‘You know, this picture is on subways, on TTC, you know, on buildings,'” he said.
Guria was suddenly the face of Toronto’s brand new basketball team.
“For those few months, it was the team’s marketing campaign,” said Dave Haggith, who worked in communications for the Raptors at the time. Haggith is now the senior director of communications for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the company that now owns both the Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“The Raptors were really a logo and a season tickets sales brochure. We didn’t have players yet at that time,” Haggith said.
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