Player Breakdown is a series that will focus on one Raptor from each of the seeding games and entire playoff run.
Fred VanVleet has been through it against Miami.
To be fair, most teams do against the physical, beat-down style the Heat present. There was the time he got popped by Bam Adebayo in the final game of the 2017-18 regular season as the Toronto Raptors chased 60 wins and the end-result was a loss and VanVleet suffering a shoulder injury that saw him miss most of the first round and left him hobbled against Cleveland in the second round.
There was the game earlier this year when Miami dared a shorthanded Toronto team to beat them with the jump shot and VanVleet failed to oblige with a 3-for-16 night that included 1-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. In 10 career games against the Heat, the undrafted guard out of Wichita State has shot 28 percent from deep.
To say VanVleet was due would be an understatement. Being a steely competitor and a career 39.2 percent 3-point shooter should bode well for success against the Heat. Never one to doubt himself, in fact much the opposite, VanVleet delivered in a big way during Monday’s afternoon’s 107-103 win with a career-high 36 points, six deflections including one that was effectively a game-winner, five rebounds and four assists while shooting 7-for-12 from 3-point range and a perfect 13-for-13 at the free-throw line.
“I just try to take what the defence gives me,” VanVleet said after the game. “I’ve done it before, I’ve had big games before, so it’s not the craziest thing in the world for me. I’ve got extreme confidence. So, just taking what the defence gives me, I thought there were some spots for me there in the third where we were up big and they made their run and I was able to make a couple plays.
“Just finding the touch, and my teammates did a good job of screening and finding me in good spots. Obviously, I got loose for a couple buckets but just trying to do anything possible to help us win.”
VanVleet had all the facets of his game come through for this game, but scoring a career-high leaves no place else to start.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF SCREENING ACTION
VanVleet actually started the game cold, missing his first three 3-point attempts and Kendrick Nunn being able to heavily contest two of those shots. He was able to quickly find a rhythm through some good screens from his larger teammates, as well as some bad decisions from Nunn to go under those screens. You can almost hear VanVleet say, “Thank you!” as he pulls up for each of the first two shots in the video below:
In the second half, Miami tried to throw more size on VanVleet in the form of Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala, Tyler Herro or even switching the big onto him. In Play 3 at the 20 second mark, Butler fights over the screen and is able to contest VanVleet’s shot to the point the Raptor guard thinks there’s too much contact and a foul should be called. I’d like to see Marc Gasol hold that screen for just a split second longer to help free VanVleet a bit more before rolling to the basket. In Play 4, Ibaka ensures Butler’s life is made very difficult by holding that screen just a little bit longer before rolling, and Kelly Olynyk does his teammate no favours by playing VanVleet too deep. On the next play, the Heat decide to switch but Olynyk is once again too far away and a fully en fuego VanVleet at this point calmly drains the three.
It’s also important to recognize why Olynyk ends up being too far away on that final play. Before VanVleet caught fire against the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors in last year’s NBA Finals, Philadelphia and Orlando caused issues for VanVleet with their size and length. Whether he was on or off-ball, teammates screening for him to get open wasn’t doing quite enough as he was generally pulling or catching and shooting near the three-point line and giving opponents less distance to cover in terms of getting back to him and his size compounded the problem. It’s something VanVleet wanted to address in the off-season, and so he worked to expand his range and force defenders to get out further and create that extra bit of distance to get his shot off.
So now, when Olynyk — with his size — is at a generally decent spot right at the 3-point line, it’s just not good enough against VanVleet because of the confidence he has to pull up from well behind it.
13 FREE-THROW ATTEMPTS!!
The last time VanVleet attempted double-digits in free-throws was Jan. 20 against the Atlanta Hawks when he got to the line 14 times, with seven of those attempts coming in the final minute as Toronto looked to ice the game. That was also the only time he had done so in his young career entering the Heat game.
There is a fair bit to critique about VanVleet’s game at the rim as a whole since he’s in the 17th percentile among combo guards shooting 51 percent at the basket, per Cleaning the Glass, but those issues crop up more often than not when looking to manufacture offence in the halfcourt. In transition or semi transition, VanVleet’s ability to push the pace has improved and the video below shows how he was able to take advantage of the Heat defence when they weren’t set to rack up some easy points.
In the first two possessions, VanVleet is able to get the rebound himself and run into open space. He knows he has to act quickly before bigs can get in position to contest his shot, and as you’ll see in the first two clips, will generally head towards the opposite lane of the big — in this case Adebayo. The third clip beginning at about the 20 second mark is courtesy an small outlet pass from Pascal Siakam, and again with no big in sight, swoops toward the rim for the pretty finish.
Toronto is one of the best transition teams in the league, leading the NBA in frequency at 21.7 percent and third in efficiency at 1.16 points per transition possession. VanVleet produces 1.11 points per transition possession himself, good for fourth on the team behind OG Anunoby (1.29), Norman Powell (1.22), and Siakam (1.19).
The final three clips of the video show VanVleet going up against a set defence, once breaking down Kelly Olynyk from the top of the arc, then getting trapped but tricking Olynyk again with a slight hesitation towards the end of the third quarter, then seemingly going at a rookie and hoping for the best. The six free-throw attempts that came via these fouls, to me, can be looked at as the more non-repeatable type.
VANVLEET’S SECONDARY DEFENCE IS ALL-WORLD
VanVleet has been doing it all season but the heightened attention over the return of the NBA and the quality of opponent seems to have further highlighted just how valuable VanVleet is to one of, if not the best, defence in the league.
Each of the Raptors’ starting five’s individual defensive prowess gets overlooked because of what they do collectively, but zooming in on each player can truly highlight why this team should have more individuals in contention for the All-Defensive teams.
Anunoby has done an astounding job as the primary defender against LeBron James and Bam Adebayo, respectively, but the work VanVleet has done as the secondary line of resistance hovering right around the free-throw line to dissuade drives to the rim can’t be ignored.
In the first two plays below, VanVleet stepping into the lane forces Butler to hop to the right, making for a longer, slightly more difficult pass to throw the first time around — which also buys Gasol just a bit more time to get out and contest — and the second occasion forces Butler into an earlier, awkward gather step that takes away the possibility of a balanced finish and forces the pass. He does this in the fourth play as well, and while it’s easier to notice Gasol contesting the Butler attempt around the 45 second mark, it is again VanVleet’s presence that forces an earlier gather and tougher finish. Butler is literally picking up his dribble just inside the 3-point line which significantly reduces the time he has to make a good decision. The respect VanVleet has earned as one of the league leader’s in deflections is real.
And so we go to the decisive final play, where VanVleet’s incredible defensive awareness and understanding of Miami’s tendencies allows him to create his sixth and final deflection. He was kind enough to share exactly what was going through his mind on that play, and it highlights the preparedness he comes to work with each and every game.
“I just think we were switching everything and just kind of being prepared for a slip-out,” VanVleet said. “I saw Jimmy coming back, you know he likes to base-cut there, so just try to be another body at the rim and then I saw Dragic make the cut, so just tried to beat him to the spot and I was able to get my hand on it.”
VanVleet’s ability to be in the head of the primary ball handler while also maintaining awareness of his own man is special. His initial work along with the primary defender is what allows his teammates to follow through with their responsibilities and the Raptors to consistently look like they are on a string on the defensive side of the ball. And while it’s hard to think it of someone who’s barely six-feet tall, his intimidation factor in helping create turnovers that spark Toronto’s running game is a constant deterrent to opponents’ primary actions.
The Raptors, despite a couple of valuable exits in the off-season, have maintained terrific continuity from their championship team, and any credit to the rhythm and chemistry they have shown in these first two seeding games is due to a collection of high IQ, high impact players that are willing to do all the little things it takes to be difference makers when it counts.
