12-1 🙂
What Raptors lack in star power they make up for in two-way depth – The Athletic [subscription]
That is why the development of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby determines this ceiling. We have already talked about Siakam — if the Raptors, now 12-1, are good enough that they shame the league’s coaches into giving them a third All-Star, Siakam has the best shot. He set a career high with 23 points against the Knicks, and his star should continue to rise with the Raptors.
Anunoby’s start has been more complicated. Because of a personal issue, Anunoby missed part of a training camp and a handful of pre-season and regular-season games, and his offence looked shaky to begin the year. Leonard is proof that you should not judge a player’s offensive ceiling based on his rookie year, but Anunoby was basically a stand-still shooter and a sly cutter last year.
His defensive potential is not really potential at this point. The way he can stand up drivers with his combination of footwork and physicality calls Leonard to mind. It is an easy comparison to make, but the Raptors really do not lose much when the two swap spots, save for the referees’ favour.
However, Anunoby did not show much ability off the dribble last year, understandable given that he was coming off knee surgery. With a few games under his belt in the second year, he still does not look quick by any means, but his pure strength and agility are something to behold. Arguably the shot that was most promising Saturday was one that the analytics community would hate: He caught the ball in the corner behind the arc, took a few hard dribbles in and drained a mid-range jumper. It is not the shot selection that is promising, but that ability to create a shot all on his lonesome.
Anunoby had 16 points onside and did not miss from inside the arc.
“I think I said it about a week ago; I said he was next to be coming,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s had a rough start with training camp, et cetera. Missing some games. He’s coming.
“I think he can score (at) the rim a little more, and I think he can score from the post a little more. … It’s important to be able to score against the switching, like Serge going inside again smaller guys, OG, Pascal, so we can maybe alleviate some of that. If they want to do that, we’ve got to be able to hurt them.”
Hot Stove: Leonard is the real deal – Sportsnet
Rob Wong, Vivek Jacob, and Brent Gunning discussed the Toronto Raptors’ 11-1 start on the Sportsnet Hot Stove and how Kawhi Leonard is already in the mix as the best player to ever put on a Raptors’ jersey.
Anunoby still a man of few words, but his actions are speaking loudly | Toronto Sun
Coach Nurse saw the work Anunoby put in this past off-season and was really excited to see what he would do at full health with the surgically repaired knee no longer an issue.
Nurse sees a different OG this season.
“I think it’s two primary things,” Nurse said. “One is the health. He is just moving better. He’s got more bounce, more speed, more side to side, everything. And two he had an unbelievable summer. Him feeling better early summer enabled him to have a great work ethic and put in some long hours, and feel good for an extended period of time leading into training camp. I’m glad he is starting to show some of what I saw was coming in the summer.”
Nurse thinks on this for a long while before answering but he even sees OG being a little more open than he was a year ago in terms of showing some of his true self.
“Ummm, a little bit more,” Nurse said. “I find him an interesting and intriguing person. He is one of those guys who will send me random out-of-the-blue texts, and this is like the middle of the summer: ‘Hey coach, how do I get on the floor in the fourth quarter?’ or something like that. I’ll say you need to defend and make shots. He’ll be like ‘I do that already.’
“So that’s funny right? But there are other topics as well,” Nurse said. “But he’s playing great and you guys know he’s a worker and a thinker of the game and a good dude so we’re happy to see his success right now.”
Playing with the second unit, for now at least, Anunoby has slid right in with a group that includes Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright, Miles and Jonas Valanciunas.
If there is a player comparison within the locker room for Anunoby the closest would be Kawhi Leonard. The combination of strength, athleticism and a defensive mindset with an ability to hit the outside shot are integral to both players but while Leonard is more the finished product, Anunoby is just getting started.
“Who would be better to model for OG than Kawhi?, Nurse asks. “For OG to be a young guy and say ‘Hey man, this guy can do that. I might not be able to do that just yet, but what if I can?’ And then talk to him about his work ethic and what he did to improve his shooting. What did he do to improve his ball skills. How does he think the game? How does he watch film and all those things. If I was OG, I would like to play like Kawhi. I think I’m a ways away from that but I think OG is maybe a little closer than any of us here right now.”
Raptors Blog: Anunoby joining Siakam in development department | Toronto Sun
Pascal Siakam on Anunoby: “I like the way he’s being aggressive and not hesitating, just playing his game,” Siakam said. “He’s really talented and he’ll just continue to get better every game. We want him to be aggressive and shoot the ball.” 3 The consensus from Raptors players was Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia just makes the division and the conference tougher. “Great player coming to a team that was already good, guys like Joel and Ben Simmons, so definitely a tough matchup,” Siakam said. For the most part though, from Kyle Lowry only wanting to make a joke about it other than Butler’s impact, and on down, the Raptors focus is on themselves.
Patience paying off for Toronto Raptors’ OG Anunoby | The Star [subscription]
Good health helps, Anunoby said, who is no longer feeling the effects of a torn ACL suffered in January 2017. Without that worry, he is “trying more” when it comes to being forceful. He is also more comfortable with his rookie season behind him. With that, the team is running more plays for him this season.
As for those closing minutes, Anunoby has logged 81 fourth-quarter minutes in the 10 games he has played, behind only Fred VanVleet in that category for the Raptors. That is only 106 fewer fourth-quarter minutes than he logged all of last season.
Nurse has been saying for more than a week that Anunoby coming into his own was only a matter of time, pointing to his strong performances in summer league as proof that he had made strides on the court heading into his sophomore season.
Anunoby is proving his coach right so far, but Nurse still sees areas where he can improve.
“I think he can score off the rim a little more and I think he can score from the post a little more and the reason that’s important is that, with all the switching going on, if he’s getting involved and stuff and they’re switching a smaller guy into a more same size guy, maybe even, somebody bigger, whatever, he can go inside and we can throw it to him in there and he can use his athleticism and his body to bounce people and put it in the basket,” Nurse said.
Nurse cringes at the sound of the word “second unit.” He wants make this Raptors team more fluid. But the supporting cast of Anunoby, VanVleet, Jonas Valanciunas, Wright and C.J. Miles is once against drawing eyes to the so-called Bench Mob.
“I think there are a couple of pieces falling into place … Fred is a big key in that second unit having him back and JV has been really good there too,” Nurse said. “It has been interesting to see. For the time being that group is playing well together. We’ll see how long that ‘time being’ lasts.”
One thing the coach would like to see more of from that group is sharing the ball, using a collective offence to produce their points rather than relying on individual play. He watched the lineup do just that against the Knicks and liked what he saw, but it will take time and planning to perfect.
In Episode 414 of Locked on Raptors, Sean Woodley chats with Jake Madison (Locked on Pelicans) ahead of Monday night’s Raptors/Pelicans match=up. They start by selling listeners from the opposing fan base on why the Raptors and Pelicans are worthy second-favourite teams for people to adopt. They then tee up the big match-up questions for Monday’ game in Toronto.
Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse an early Coach of the Year contender – Hoops Habit
Remember when tension was supposed to rule the day following the chemistry-shattering trade of DeMar DeRozan? Tell that to an 11-1 team that couldn’t play any better basketball if they tried.
With the help of upper management, Nurse has done a stellar job of getting Leonard to buy into times of playing and times of rest without alienating his star, the opposite of how things ended for Leonard with the San Antonio Spurs.
The challenges are only going to increase as the season goes on. Just this week, Toronto received word that key cog Norman Powell would miss the next four-to-six weeks, giving the team another hole to fill.
The rest of the Eastern Conference is going to catch up as well. The Milwaukee Bucks — with their own Coach of the Year candidate — are nipping at Toronto’s heels. The Boston Celtics are beginning to coalesce as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward get back into their groove.
But right now, everything Nick Nurse touches turns to gold.
Is Kawhi Leonard or Giannis Antetokounmpo the best player in the Eastern Conference? | NBA.com
Leonard averaged more points per 36 minutes in 2016-17 than Antetokounmpo did in 2017-18, but Antetokounmpo makes up for it by putting up more rebounds and assists, and posting a better True Shooting Percentage.
Because he was more well-rounded and efficient, let’s say Antetokounmpo has the slight edge for now.
The next step is to look at who has had more clutch moments. According to Basketball-Reference, Leonard is 6-for-15 on game-tying or game-winning shots in the final 10 seconds of a game in his career. Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, is 4-for-10.
Since there’s no difference in shooting percentage, Leonard gets the slight edge for hitting two more clutch shots.
That leaves us with no other option than to compare their career accomplishments.
Is it totally fair? Maybe not. Leonard had the luxury of learning from an all-time coach for seven seasons and Antetokounmpo is on his fourth coach in six seasons. Had Antetokounmpo been drafted by the Spurs, maybe he’d have a similar résumé as Leonard did at age 24.
Even so, we can only work with what we have, and that means the player with more postseason experience and a Finals MVP trophy takes this home.
Stern pleased to see Raptors thriving, still regrets Grizzlies’ failure | The Province
“It has not worn off, it has been exploded off,” Stern said in phone interview with The Canadian Press from his New York office this week. “Toronto has the most wonderful array of sports assets and a cosmopolitan community and a great building.
“It’s a pleasure to see that it is a destination city that players want to go to.”
Ujiri interjected to answer a question directed at Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green — acquired in the blockbuster DeMar DeRozan trade with the San Antonio Spurs — at the Raptors’ season-opening press conference, frustrated that the narrative of Toronto being among the league’s least-desirable outposts still lingers.
“That’s old and we should move past that,” Ujiri said in September. “Believe in this city, believe in yourselves.”
He then repeated those sentiments to a couple dozen reporters.
“We have to move on,” he added. “To continue to hear about people not wanting to come here is actually irritating after a while. It is. Come on. Let’s be real. People like it here.”
Stern oversaw the NBA’s expansion to Canada during his tenure, with both the Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies joining the league ahead of the 1995-96 campaign.
But while the Raptors have flourished after some early struggles, the Grizzlies only lasted six seasons before moving to Memphis in 2001.
“I consider (Toronto) a great success,” Stern said. “Just as I consider Vancouver to be one of our failures.”
Tipoff: Raptors vs. Pelicans | Toronto Sun
Serge Ibaka vs. Anthony Davis
Ibaka is only the first line of defence against Davis but like any top-5 talent in the NBA, defending him is going to take more than just the first guy. Jonas Valanciunas will also get some time on David who plays over 37 minutes a game. Davis averages a team best 24.6 points and 12.1 rebounds per game but Ibaka has been solid making fellow bigs earn their points and boards all season while scoring 17.2 a night himself (a career best) and chipping in with 7.9 boards a night which isn’t far off his career high.
Monday game preview: Toronto Raptors vs. New Orleans Pelicans | The Star [subscription]
Pelicans point guard Elfred Payton and forward Nikola Mirotic both missed Saturday night’s game win over the Phoenix Suns with ankle sprains … The Raptors have one of the worst defensive rebounding rates in the league at 75.1, which has led to an average of 14.3 second-chance points. New Orleans’ 79.5 defensive rebound rate is good for fifth in the NBA, and leads to a third-best 11.1 second-chance points … Another battle to watch out for will be the one between Kyle Lowry and Jrue Holiday, who sat at No. 1 and No. 2 on the league’s list of assist leaders with 11 and 8.8 per game, respectively, heading into play Sunday.
