OG epectations | Terrence Davis looking good | VanVleet’s time to shine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHnsxMYnsQQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYGcNmnsEBI
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How to project Anunoby was one of the more difficult questions heading into the season. His sophomore season was filled with tragedy, injury and emergency illness. His Raptors teammates talked about how good his game looked heading into the season, sure, but far more often they talked about how good it was just to have him back in the fold and feeling healthy. Serge Ibaka speaks with Anunoby frequently and tried to remind him he’s still a part of the whole and the group still trusts him. Nick Nurse mentioned Anunoby playing with a smile multiple times in camp. The Raptors love Anunoby, and a return to health and happiness has come foremost as he reintegrates.
They also need Anunoby. There are two large holes to fill in the starting lineup, offering opportunity at each end of the floor. They need internal growth to help make up for those losses. There was no other recourse, anyway. Everyone still around or added at the fringes has to work to expand the individual parts such that the whole can remain the same. Anunoby’s individual growth will be paramount to the Raptors maintaining their status as a contender in the Eastern Conference.
Much of that opportunity will come on the defensive end. A pair of All-Defence calibre defenders are gone, and the one who remains – Pascal Siakam – will be tasked with a dramatic leap in offensive responsibility. There is an opening for someone to become the Raptors’ top individual defender and Anunoby looked ready to reprise that role. It’s one he played in 2017-18, helping ease the burden on DeMar DeRozan and helping lift a starting five that was, by perception and reputation, not supposed to defend well. With DeRozan and an Ibaka-Jonas Valanciunas pairing that “didn’t work” (it worked more than fine), the Raptors primary starting unit allowed just 105.1 points per 100 possessions and the team finished fifth in defensive rating overall. Anunoby was at times inconsistent, as rookies tend to be. At his highs, he looked like the multi-position lockdown defender the Raptors were lucky to have fall to them at No. 23 in the draft.
He looked like that again Tuesday. A one-night sample is small. Still, Anunoby had the best defensive rating on the team (100 points per 100 possessions), and he oscillated between tough assignments. With the Pelicans starting three guards, he was forced to guard on the perimeter. He can do that. It might not be the absolute best application of his defensive skill set, but he uses his long arms well to deny space, moves his feet quickly and has excellent recovery instincts if he gets beat initially.
Anunoby looked so good in those situations, in fact, that he drew the Jrue Holiday assignment on the Pelicans’ final regulation possession in a tied game. What resulted was an incredible display of individual defence, with only a brief assist from a good Marc Gasol hedge.
Raptors’ Terence Davis Jr. has simply worked his way into the team’s rotation | The Star
Davis is not without flaws, but his coach likes the player’s foundation. “He’ll learn but there’s a lot of tools there,” Nurse said. “I think the biggest thing is he competes. He’ll fly around and go get balls and rebound and make plays and guard people and that’s a great starting point.”
If there is anyone who knows what it took for Davis to get to this point, it is teammate Fred VanVleet, who went undrafted in 2016.
“He’s got to bump his head and make mistakes and air balls and blow assignments and turn over the ball,” VanVleet said. “He’s got to do that like we all did. But try to speed up the learning curve so he can get on the floor, and then you know that experience will be the best teacher that he’ll ever have.”
The difference between the speed and physicality of pre-season and regular season were both jumps for Davis, who also noticed that guys in the league were set down in the defensive stances and quick with their lateral moments from the moment the first regular-season game got underway.
Playing off the ball, where he worked throughout college, comes more naturally, but Davis is developing as a point guard as well.
“It’s coming along pretty good,” he said. “I’m learning a lot, day by day. I’m excited to play both (guard positions) because I love to learn. There’s always room to grow. I’m definitely learning a lot.”
For all the differences between the rookie and the veteran players, Davis can see at least one common thread — dedication. It is it what got him to the league, what got the Raptors their rings and what Davis hopes will help get him some bling of his own one day.
Eighth Man Title Holder
Terence Davis
Trust Meter: 10 out of 10 — An undrafted rookie is the Raptors’ eighth man now and it’s working.
Happenings: Davis had a strong preseason, capped off by a 10-2-2 outing against the Nets last Friday. Then he got a 15-minute turn off the bench in the Raptors’ home opener, no small feat. That he managed to show a bit of what he can do (5-5-2 with one slick pass on the movie) is a testament to his ability as it stands right now.
Raptors opt for eight-man rotation with Nurse unsure of new additions – Sportsnet.ca
It would appear those habits aren’t there yet, though, as the only player apparently impressing Nurse, outside of what looks like Toronto’s core seven players (Lowry, Siakam, VanVleet, Marc Gasol, OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka and Norman Powell), is Davis.
An undrafted rookie out of Ole Miss, Davis impressed in training camp and the pre-season and played 15 minutes Tuesday, scoring five points and collecting five rebounds.
“He can trust me on the defensive end to bring some energy,” said Davis of what he’s done to gain Nurse’s confidence. “That’s something I think I’ve done and I’m just gonna continue to do that.”
So maybe it is an energy thing, then?
Over the past six seasons, one of the hallmarks of the Raptors has been their overall depth. This is a team that’s managed to absorb injuries (and one very noticeable load-management program) through the overall quality of its players going about 10-men deep.
After the first game of the season, it isn’t readily apparent the Raptors have that yet.
“We’ll keep adding guys,” said VanVleet of the short rotation. “It’s going to take some time for them to earn coach’s trust. We’ll see how it goes.”
Fred VanVleet talks relationship with Raptors fan base, future with team – Sportsnet.ca
Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors joined Tim and Sid to talk about championship rings, the Raptors opener and much more.
Fred VanVleet isn’t about to miss his shot with the Raptors | The Star
VanVleet won’t average 34, of course. And as Siakam notes, VanVleet does all the little things when he doesn’t score. But VanVleet says he was always able to score, but never embraced being anything but a pass-first point guard, before now.
“It’s really just a mental game, just going in there and being fearless,” VanVleet says. “It’s not always going to be pretty, and it’s not always going to look like 34 points. Pretty sure I’ll have some shitty games this year; it’s unavoidable.
“But being fearless in my attack of that, and just being able to, whatever I do, make sure I have my full arsenal of tools. And if it doesn’t work, you know, lace them up the next game and try again.”
So he is at peace now. But … he literally trademarked the phrase, Bet On Yourself. He isn’t big and he isn’t fast in a league full of every manner of eye-popping athlete. His defining attribute is his self-assuredness. Wasn’t he always?
“It’s different, though,” VanVleet says. “I’ve always been at peace, and I’ve always been calm and collected and, you know, centred. But peace with life on the line, basketball life, playing for your contract, playing for a role, playing for minutes, playing for something … that’s one thing. Versus, you’ve done it. You’ve won. You’re validated. Now just go play and have fun and let everything come to you. It’s a little bit different.
“It’s a mental thing. And that’s what I’m saying; if you’re at peace in those moments and you just go back to what you know, what you feel, you can shoot it with your eyes closed sometimes … like you’re shooting in a gym by yourself. So, on the flip side of that is — I’m not gonna say a name, but a great shooter — you get in that moment and you might flinch a hair. Now you miss. That’s all it takes.”
In other words, it’s one thing to project confidence; it’s another to feel it all the way to your core. Nurse acknowledged Thursday it might be hard to start anybody but VanVleet at shooting guard; the organization already knows that VanVleet will cost big money in the denuded free agency market next summer, but they can sign him and preserve a max slot for the gold rush of 2021. He’s the kind of guy you want in your organization for 15 years, if you can manage it.
VanVleet quickly makes strong case for starting backcourt gig next to Lowry – Video – TSN
When training camp began almost a month ago, Fred VanVleet was in an open competition with Norman Powell for the starting backcourt gig next to Kyle Lowry. It even sounded like it could be a platoon early in the season, depending on matchups. One game in and VanVleet has already made a strong case for why that job should be his. Josh Lewenberg has more.
Toronto Raptors: Impact of Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam extensions – Hoops Habit
The impact of Siakam’s signing from a bookkeeping standpoint is reasonable for Toronto’s front office. With a max contract doled out to Siakam, the likelihood of the Raptors being free agency players in the summer of 2020 dwindles. Most of the coming summer’s free agency class is underwhelming, though, so that ultimately shouldn’t be a big deal.
Meanwhile, it keeps Toronto’s books in line with participating in 2021’s free agency, when superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo could be the big prize. In fact, they may have saved themselves from paying the “super max” by getting the deal done before the year, as Siakam’s performance in 2019-20 could’ve triggered the need for a larger deal.
Additionally, the deal doesn’t include any options for either side. So when the extension kicks in for the 2020-21 season, it guarantees Siakam will still be around through the 2023-24 season, likely covering the forward’s prime years.
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