Earlier this year I wrote about OG Anunoby’s in-between game; tweaks to his jump-shot, his handle and how he might play next to Kawhi Leonard and co. I went so far as to suggest that he could start to emulate progressions that Tobias Harris made in his game. That still seems like a viable future for Anunoby, simply for the reason that he possesses freakish length and athleticism, and by all accounts a great mindset and demanour. In what has been a turbulent season for the Raptors youngest piece, how can he make good on his potential this year, and what does that look like on this Raptors team?
The additions of Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard complicated Anunoby’s position this year, and relegated him to a bench role. With Pascal Siakam’s jump to psuedo-stardom this year, a void was left at his spot on the bench. Nick Nurse looked to Anunoby to fill his shoes on defense, asking him to hang with players who are consistently much bigger. A stark contrast from Anunoby’s rookie season where he was primed as a “wing-stopper” and marched out against players like Kevin Durant and James Harden throughout the season.
On offense, the change in role Anunoby has seen is equally as disruptive. Moving away from the cozy confines of weak-side attacking and spot-up shooting in the starting lineup, and into the cold tundra of shot creation on the new look bench.
“One thing you’ve got to love about most players, but OG especially is that they feel they can do more than they’re doing. When they don’t have a good game, they feel bad about it. They feel like they let the team down or let themselves down, to be honest with you, because they know they can play better and know they can do more. It’s what being a young guy is sometimes. You’ve got to pull your socks up, get back to work, take a few deep breaths and dig in. Get back to work and believe in yourself again.” – Nick Nurse
I watched Anunoby working specifically on his shot-making for a large part of my trip to Raptors practice. His face remained fairly expressionless as he put up jumpers, a bunch of shots went up from beyond-the-arc, most went in. True to form, when Anunoby was going through the motions of catch-and-shoot drills, he was stellar. No extra stimuli, just the shot. Then he moved closer to the basket; off-hand finishes high off the glass, simple enough. When the trainer introduced a gather dribble and finishing off the opposite foot, boom, 0-5. “F***”. Anunoby’s shoulders dropped and he shook his head, clearly frustrated.
It makes sense that Anunoby would be frustrated – in the drill, and this season – he was the darling of the Raptors fandom last year, capable of doing no wrong; the ‘Net-rating God’ of the NBA, and Kawhi Leonard’s heir-apparent long before Leonard even joined the team. The big question mark (his long distance shooting) of his game translated to the NBA, and he overcame his health (torn ACL) in an incredibly short time frame. He dealt with severe personal loss early on in the year, and is likely still dealing with the ramifications of that. How could this change of role effect his game like this? Like Nurse said, he feels like he can do more, and when you’ve already proven your pedigree in your rookie year, the Sophomore slump is demoralizing.
There’s a clear plan for Anunoby from here on out, though. When I asked Nurse what the ideal version of Anunoby’s game looked like in the playoffs, he suggested a return to an earlier form:
“As we get down to it, I’m gonna try to get him to play maybe a little bit more of a role for this team, get back to defence, which he can do, shoot the open 3, get on the glass, get to the rim. Those are some things we know he can do. He needs to do those at a super high level for us as a role.”
One of the first things that can happen for Anunoby is to get him out of the paint on defense. Not that he can’t track players into there, or that he’s a bad help-side defender; he’s superb on ball. Anunoby remains one of the league’s very best iso defenders, and that’s reflected in how often iso-stars challenge him in those play-types. Anunoby has a ways to go when navigating the pick n’ roll and team defense overall, but 1-on-1 he’s a blanket. He’s guarded Ben Simmons, the shifty Caris Levert, LeBron James, and Jayson Tatum for a combined 70 possessions, of those possessions, 5 shots were attempted. These players hate the idea of breaking him down 1-on-1, and he’s an incredible defensive piece to unleash in the playoffs. The statistics will never tell the whole story, but we’ve seen him line-up opposite enough stars to know they reveal something meaningful.
Oh yeah leave him at the perimeter, because he might be the most dangerous player to ever guard the point-to-wing pass, as he’s stolen about 800 this year:
As alluded to above, Anunoby has been put in the position of trying to fill the void Siakam left behind, when Anunoby would benefit greatly by playing next to him. When Anunoby is playing next to Norman Powell and Fred VanVleet as the main creators on offense, it hamstrings one of his best talents. Anunoby terrorized defenses last year with his ability to lurk along the baseline, collect passes on back-door cuts and throw down effortless dunks. With VanVleet’s height, a lot of the passing lanes that presented themselves to players like Siakam, or DeMar DeRozan have gone to the wayside, and Norman Powell just isn’t in any mood to pass when he’s headed downhill. When Anunoby receives a pass from Siakam he’s finishing at over 70-percent inside the arc. Create a role where Anunoby’s decisions are fairly straightforward and he’ll provide the rest:
Last but not least, once you get him back in that role, trust him with it. He hasn’t forgotten how to play. Just like the shots he was putting up at practice, the introduction of new stimuli is a bit vexing, but that doesn’t mean that the existing framework of his talent is up for questioning. If you allow Anunoby to play the role of cutter, spot-up shooter, and elite defender he will respond in spades. We’re not so far removed from plays like this:
When the rotations shrink and Anunoby is in a position to always play next to one of Lowry, Leonard or Siakam, we’ll see the rising star we all know is there. He’s going to hit enough triples that defenses can’t leave him, he’s going to dunk everything at the rim, and he’s going to suffocate opposing wing players for extended periods of time.
“We’ll get back to work this summer and figure out where we can get better.” – Nick Nurse on Anunoby
From watching Anunoby struggle in games and practice when he has to pick up something new, it’s clear that a summer of repetitions is all he needs. Watching Anunoby last year, we know that once he’s trained his body to do something, he becomes elite at it. There’s a long career ahead of him, with progressions that are linear, and those that are not, but there’s an obvious need on this Raptors team for things that we know he’s capable of providing. It’s been a trying year for Anunoby, but there’s no question that a return to form is coming.
