Gasol back; not a moment too soon | Lowry to be inducted into Villanova HOF | Nylon Calculus has interesting take on Lowry/Vanvleet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm6RhaRZ9cE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa6XiCdJ8io
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vofHOq48HXk
As part of #NovaMBB100, we will be retiring the jerseys of two #NovaMBB legends – @RyArch15 (2/12 vs. Marquette) and @Klow7 (2/26 vs. St. John’s).
Join us #NovaNation in congratulating these two Wildcats on a well deserved honor!
Details: https://t.co/U1a5B1r4gN pic.twitter.com/KBSn25uPik
— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) January 14, 2020
“We gotta leave a better planet for our kids,” says Gasol, the day before he was to return from injury in Oklahoma City after missing 12 games with a hamstring injury. “And I would say we gotta leave better kids for our planet as well. We gotta educate the kids. You’ve got to do your job as a citizen, but the same time, you have to also give the tools to the society to learn and create their habits so it’s a seamless transition to become a better society.”
That’s a lesson in how Gasol approaches basketball, too. Before the hamstring injury, Gasol had played some of the strangest basketball of his career, or at least, the most deliberate. He still found cutters with next-level passes, still rebounded, still defended with his enormous body and bigger basketball brain. He is such a unique, valuable player.
But he didn’t shoot. Gasol attempted 8.2 field goals per 36 minutes in his first 27 games, the lowest number of his career, and a little more than half the rate in his final two seasons in Memphis. His free-throw rate is a career low, too. His usage number, which combines field-goal and free-throw attempts plus turnovers, was the lowest of his 13-year career, too.
Gasol was missing a lot too — shooting .376 on two-pointers, a career low, and .364 overall — which just might be because he played 103 NBA games last season on the way to a championship. And then celebrated as if he had won five, as he put it. And then spent the summer playing centre for the Spanish national team, in China. At age 34.
Gasol has always had to be encouraged to shoot, because he is a born helper. He won’t say that this year’s style came because he was tired, because as he puts it, his brain isn’t wired to even consider excuses so much as it is to solve the problem.
“It’s just my nature,” says Gasol, who is averaging 6.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 28.2 minutes per game, with the second-best raw plus-minus on the team behind Pascal Siakam. “That’s how I was taught my whole life. Like when you get a bad wheel, you got a sprained ankle, whatever you have, go find a way. Give your maximum or your highest percentage possible, for the best of the team. So that’s the way I was always raised as far as basketball goes. And everything in life, but for sure basketball.”
That’s a trick. He’s a good shooter, but he’s a better passer. His basketball brain is exceptional — Gasol may be a ponderous seven-footer, but as Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin puts it, “You heard knowledge is power, but knowledge is also quickness.” And this year, with heavy legs and teammates who needed the ball — Siakam’s boom, Kyle Lowry’s offensive re-engagement, Fred VanVleet’s expansion — sometimes it was like Gasol forgot there was a basket.
Marc Gasol to return Wednesday but could come off the bench – TSN.ca
Without Gasol, who missed 12 games due to hamstring strain, Serge Ibaka has blossomed as the team’s starting centre, arguably playing the best basketball of his 11-year career. Over that stretch, the 30-year-old averaged 18.1 points and 10.3 rebounds on 54 per cent shooting and 44 per cent from three-point range. He’s recorded double-doubles in a personal-best eight straight contests.
The two centres platooned in the starting lineup for a few weeks after Gasol was acquired from Memphis at the trade deadline last February. Gasol eventually ran away with the job, starting 66 straight games – including the playoffs – before getting hurt last month. Admittedly, coming off the bench was an adjustment for Ibaka – who had been a starter for most of his career – but he bought in and embraced the new role for the betterment of the team.
It wouldn’t be a permanent solution, but alternating those roles and having Gasol back up Ibaka for the time being could make sense in the short term. Not only does it help Nurse monitor Gasol’s minutes until he’s back to full speed – which he’s said he’d like to do with each of the injured players – but it rewards Ibaka for his strong play while also riding the hot hand at the position.
Keeping the first unit fluid is something Nurse hopes to do more of once his team gets healthier. As he likes to point out, you never know what lineup a matchup will call for in the playoffs, and they want to be ready for anything. That’s the precedent he set last season, when he used 22 different starting lineups, so tinkering with the rotation again isn’t likely to ruffle feathers like it might in other organizations.
“I think Coach Nurse has done a phenomenal job setting the tone for our team and we’re a very unselfish team,” said assistant Adrian Griffin. “These guys make sacrifices for each other. We have a luxury of having two awesome bigs. It’ll be up to Coach Nurse to decide who he rolls out there, but we’re confident with whoever, whichever one starts.”
As good as Ibaka has been this past month, the Raptors have certainly missed Gasol and what he brings. The great thing about that one-two punch is that they’re very different, yet highly effective big men.
Raptors expect Gasol to bring vital veteran know-how on both ends of court – Sportsnet.ca
Barring the unforeseen, the Raptors will reintroduce that luxury Wednesday in Oklahoma City, as Gasol has cleared the final hurdle in his rehabilitation after suffering the non-contact injury on December 18. His minutes will likely be somewhat limited in the early going, as the Raptors give him some runway to regain his sea legs amidst the controlled chaos of an NBA floor. Which is where another Raptors luxury, fellow centre Serge Ibaka who’s averaging 16.2 points and 10 rebounds over his last 18 games, comes into play.
“Serge has been playing unbelievable the whole time with all the injuries — he’s been great,” Siakam said. “Having those two guys coming in and out is a nightmare for the other team.”
Gasol says he brought in additional support staff — “People from Spain; Spanish people,” he said when asked to elaborate — to help him rehabilitate “around the clock” and get over the injury quicker. His days involved multiple on-court workouts, strengthening sessions, and plenty of time on a trainer’s table. He doesn’t care to remember the particulars.
“It’s not a lot of fun because you don’t get to put the ball through the basket a lot. You don’t get to compete as you want to,” he said. “It wasn’t pleasant.”
The hardest part was feeling like himself again after about a week, but knowing he wasn’t close to where he needed to be. With an injury like Gasol’s, the day-to-day discomfort alleviates fairly quickly. But the weakness in the muscle still exists, waiting to be re-aggravated as soon as you extend yourself just a little too far.
“It’s a little frustrating because it feels good most of the time,” Gasol said. “You start jogging, it doesn’t feel bad — your body’s like, ‘OK, I’m ready to play.’ And, obviously, you’re not because as soon as you take a long stride, you can re-injure it. Hamstrings can be a little tricky.”
Gasol to return for Raptors against Thunder | Toronto Sun
In Gasol’s absence, his Spanish national team colleague, Serge Ibaka, has arguably been playing the best basketball of his career. Including the Pistons game in which Gasol only played eight minutes before exiting, Ibaka averaged 18.6 points, 10.5 rebounds and 54% shooting from the field (including 42.1% from three-point range).
Will the Raptors continue to let Ibaka roll, or will Gasol reclaim his starting spot? Or, will Gasol come off the bench for now as he is eased back into the mix, with the plan to become the starting centre again down the line? Gasol had also been playing by far his best hoops of the campaign when he came up lame while running back on defence in MoTown.
Head coach Nick Nurse took a day off from speaking to the media, giving lead assistant Adrian Griffin a chance to handle the daily duties. Not surprisingly, Griffin wasn’t about to say much about the lineup decisions to come.
“I think coach Nurse has done a phenomenal job just just setting the tone for our team and we’re very unselfish team,” Griffin said. “These guys make sacrifices for each other. And … we have a luxury of having two awesome bigs and it’ll be up to coach Nurse to decide who he rolls out there. But we’re confident with whichever one starts.”
Ibaka has talked openly in the past about the sacrifices he made in order to win an elusive title last year. Despite his tremendous recent play, it seems unlikely that he would complain about another role change. A potential caveat being both Ibaka and Gasol will become unrestricted free agents this summer, so their numbers matter where dollars and cents are concerned.
But the far more pressing concern is how everyone gets back in form and used to playing with each other again.
Nylon Calculus: More fun with NBA passing charts – Nylon Calculus
We notice a similar contrast between the Raptors’ primary ball handlers. Like Rondo, Lowry initiates a lot of his teammates’ 3-point attempts with passes from outside the arc (although he has passed to the corners more often than Rondo). VanVleet, in contrast, is distributing the ball a lot like James. Of the 227 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers that VanVleet has initiated, he passed 85 (37 percent) of them from the paint.
In addition to the pass sonar, there has been other evidence of VanVleet’s elite, LeBron-like ball distribution this year. James, of course, has had the ball in his hands more than almost any other player in the league – posting an individual time of possession of 7.6 minutes per game; but VanVleet is really not that far behind him, with 6.3 minutes of ball possession each night (15th-most in the NBA). Moreover, VanVleet is attacking off the dribble – racking up 16.3 drives per game; more, even, than James (13.7). It’s surprising but true!
These new passing charts could reveal surprises like this for other players too. And the information these charts provide could help teams game plan for individual opponents, allowing them to prepare defensive strategies designed to obstruct a passer’s most effective passing lanes and thereby limit their opponents’ opportunities to create wide-open 3-point attempts.
You’d mentioned after the championship and again earlier that you think Lowry is the greatest Raptor of all time. Why is he the top Raptor for you?
Well, you get credit for championships in basketball, man. It’s different than an accumulation in points. I think most people would argue statistically that DeMar DeRozan’s right in that conversation. Vince Carter’s not terribly far off. But when you win a championship and you’re a focal point of that championship, and your face is present throughout the entire series with big moments, and you overcome, you know, he had a bit of a reputation for not performing in larger games. I think that he not only crushed that and got rid of that reputation, I think he has a reputation for being clutch. I think he has a reputation for answering the call and doing big things. For him to overcome that potential lifetime reputation, at least connected to your career, is a wonderful achievement in and of itself. We got to benefit from that here in Toronto. I think he’s always gonna be connected to the Raptors, which is a wonderful thing, a la Joe Carter.
Uncut Gems: Discovering the signature moves of the Toronto Raptors’ depth players – Raptors HQ
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – Missing the Lay-Up, Getting the Tip-In
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson can be simultaneously the most frustrating and the most likeable Raptor on a given night. His offensive limitations are maddening, but hustle on defense and the glass make it impossible to stay angry with him. RHJ’s signature move encapsulates this sentiment.
Hollis-Jefferson has a keen sense of spacing and where to be offensively, and often puts himself in spots to get some easy buckets. The thing is, there is no such thing as an easy bucket for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. His jumpshot is among the less smooth of NBA players, and inspires little confidence. His layups, a shot that typically look easy and natural, are anything but for RHJ. He jumps, cocking his arm back like a shot putter, and launches the ball at the glass with nonexistent touch.
Often enough, the ball bounces out. Between his positioning, hustle, and second jump ability, Hollis-Jefferson is consistently able to get a hand on the ball for a tip-in. It’s not always pretty, but two points is two points. This process is the basketball equivalent of me needing a second try to get off the couch. It’s ugly to watch, but if I’m standing up by the end, then all is well.
It’s shocking how frequently this occurs for Hollis-Jefferson, thus making it his signature move.
Please just enjoy the Toronto Raptors’ charming all-bench lineups – Raptors HQ
Not at fault for the loss to the Spurs was the charming, energetic, utterly offensively inept all-bench lineup of Terence Davis, Patrick McCaw, Matt Thomas, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Chris Boucher (or Oshae Brissett, depending on which half you’re talking about). You don’t need to worry about defensive connection when it’s the only thing keeping a lineup on the floor.
While that version of the bench lineup featuring Boucher was actually never used before Sunday, desperation has seen Nurse toy with some zero-offense reserve groups a few times over the last week or so. The Spurs game is just where they shone — or perhaps more fittingly, “got noticed” — the most.
It seems folks don’t particularly vibe with this vein of lineup choices by Nurse, despite it offering up so many tasty morsels of low-stakes glee.
In its debut six minutes of action spanning the late first and early second quarters, the bizarro bench did exactly what you want a lineup with exactly zero primary creators to do — defend like maniacs and buy some time for the horses to rest. Over that stretch, the Raptors broke even at 8-8, shooting just 2-of-10 from the floor, but also holding the Spurs to 2-of-9; they’d finish the game with a sublime efficiency slash line of 61.5 / 57.1 / +4.4 per 100 possessions, which is just about the coolest stat line a lineup can hope to achieve.
With Boucher forced into a shameful retirement by DeRozan’s dunk, Brissett got the call to join the other four oddball bench dudes to close the third quarter. While that group was a little less successful in stemming the tide, it still only got outscored 6-3 over three minutes to close the third, a section of the game that saw the Raptors’ lead dwindle from 16 down to 13. They bear little to no responsibility for the end result.
The nine or so minutes the Raptors played without Lowry or Siakam or even a different starter on the floor didn’t actively help the Raptors win, nor did they bring on the loss. They were just minutes, wherein a few fun things took place. And that should be celebrated. What other set of non-preseason conditions is ever going to lead to Matt Thomas tossing bullet entry passes to a cutting Brissett, or an emboldened Boucher taking over as the number-one option?
Raptors earn NBA’s first-ever Team of the Year Award | The Star
The Raptors were recognized for their achievements across team business, including ticketing, partnerships, marketing, digital media, business analytics and innovation.
The honour was one of several NBA Team Sales & Marketing Awards announced at the league’s annual sales and marketing meeting in Miami. All 30 teams were invited to submit a nomination in each category for awards recognizing leaders and innovators across key areas, with a committee of league and team executives choosing the winners.
The league noted Toronto was near the top of the league for ticket renewals, total tickets sold and season tickets sold. The Raptors were also recognized for their “innovative approach to partnerships” including Drake’s OVO.
The NBA also recognized organizations for team business performance in 12 categories across ticket sales and member retention, partnerships, fan experience and digital innovation. Twenty-two teams received awards for team business performance with the Raptors earning the most awards with six.
Lowry was instrumental in the Wildcats winning 52 games and embarking on two deep NCAA Tournament runs in his two seasons at Villanova. (2005 NCAA Sweet 16 and the 2006 NCAA Elite Eight)
He averaged 11.0 points, 3.7 assists shooting 44.4% from three in his Sophmore year, which turned out to be his final season at Nova.
His Nova resume includes being named 2005 Philadelphia Big Five Rookie of the Year, Big East All-Freshman team (2005) and an All-Big East nod in 2005-06.
Since then he’s gone on to be named a five-time NBA All-Star, All-NBA honours in 2015-16 and was the heart and soul of the Toronto Raptors championship run in 2019.
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