After big tilts against the West’s top seed and a Miami team that held a 2-0 record against them, it would have been understandable if the competitive juices as a collective weren’t flowing to the same extent for the Toronto Raptors against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.
But if there has been one thing to look forward to in a game against the Magic since the acquisition of Marc Gasol, it is the matchup with Nikola Vucevic. Once again, it did not disappoint Raps fans.
Vucevic scored five of his 12 points when the game was already decided in the fourth quarter. In 52 minutes that the pair have shared on the court this season, Vucevic has scored 17 points on 6-of-28 (21.4%) shooting from the field and is a minus-18. Add that to last year’s playoff matchup and Vucevic is now down to 19-of-71 (26.8%) shooting and a minus-78 in 167 minutes on the court with Gasol.
Gasol was his usual modest self post-game in crediting the team’s defensive schemes in helping slow down Vucevic, but just as OG Anunoby was at the forefront of what the Raptors did against LeBron James and the Lakers Saturday night and Bam Adebayo and the Heat Monday night, Gasol was very much the big reason Vucevic struggled yet again in the face of the Spaniard.
Through three games that Gasol has played in the bubble, the team has a defensive rating of 78.0 and a net rating of plus-24.0 in 72 minutes. Their assist percentage is notably up, as is their rebound rate. The starting lineup has been absolutely stellar. In the 72 minutes that Gasol has sat, the team has compiled a defensive rating of 113.5 and a net rating of minus-7.2.
As far as the crazy variance in the non-Gasol minutes are concerned, a part of this is small sample size and the bench not having found their way in the first two games. There was progress made against the Magic in that regard and one would expect the trend to continue as players get adjusted to their slightly more muted roles with a fully healthy roster. On the season, the Raptors have a defensive rating of 98.7 with Gasol on court and 106.5 with him off. They’re obviously better defensively with Gasol, but the disparity shouldn’t be to the degree we’ve seen thus far in the bubble.
Let’s dig into some video.
GASOL GIVES VUCEVIC NO ROOM TO BREATHE
Prevention is better than cure, and much of Gasol’s work begins with playing airtight defence and never allowing Vucevic a moment to relax.It’s evidenced in the first two plays below where Gasol applies excellent ball pressure on the catch and in the third play he’s willing to get even a little more feisty to ensure Vucevic knows he’s not even going to get an inch against Gasol. Marc is one of the kindest souls out there, but as he’s said, it’s not to be confused with weakness.
I find the final two clips of this video interesting because Vucevic does make a bit of an adjustment in recognizing that Gasol is looking to take away his airspace on the catch and looks to attack right away and get him on his heels a little bit, but Gasol is able to stick with it and contest the shot both times. He gets called for the foul on the second occasion, but you can see he was clearly unimpressed with the call:
gasol’s reaction LMAO pic.twitter.com/V4Treo2qXG
— William Lou (@william_lou) August 6, 2020
“I think its great,” Norman Powell said of the benefit of playing alongside an elite centre like Gasol. “I think Marc does a great job of using his body, being big and leading the defence, of being back, talking in coverages, making sure we are getting the rotations and stuff down. He’s a big body down there. It’s really hard for guys to score over and finish over him.”
If you want to see just how much pride Gasol takes in his defence, look at the disappointment in his face when Vucevic gets away from him and is able to attack Pascal Siakam for his first bucket. It’s like a goalie losing a cleansheet in the final minute.
GOOD INDIVIDUAL MARC OFFENCE
You’re probably looking at the very first play and wondering, “How is an airball good offence?!”
Over the course of the first couple games we have seen the value OG Anunoby can add offensively with his improved handle and have been reminded of what the likes of Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Siakam bring to the table. Gasol is a very good 3-point shooter, period. Not just a good shooter for his size, not just a good shooter this season. He has shot close to 37 percent from deep since adding the shot to his repertoire in the 2016-17 season and has shot 41.4 percent in 65 games specifically as a Raptor. He can be unselfish to a fault because of his ability to slice through a defence with his passing, but if he is a shooting threat in the minds of centres he matches up against, it only serves to add another layer to Toronto’s offence.
If you look at the three 3-pointers he attempts in the game that are all at the start of the video, there’s no real difference in the degree to which Vucevic is able to contest the shot, so the airball early on probably has more to do with finding a rhythm than anything else. As a Raptor, Gasol has averaged about three 3-point attempts per game but I’d like to see that number at least go up to five. There is so much he does in terms of keeping the Raptors offence in a flow and so you don’t want to lose the advantages he brings in that regard, but there are enough occasions where the play does die out and you can look back and see that he clearly had the best shot available.
The other plays are all going toward the basket and highlight that value. Plays 4 (0:30 second-mark) and 5 show him taking matters into his own hands as the initial action fades while plays 6 (0:48) and 7 show his ability get the job done in the short roll. That spinning hook shot is a thing of beauty while the turnaround fadeaway after backing down Vucevic is certainly a makeable shot for Gasol and so it’s encouraging to see him take it.
WHERE MARC COULD BE BETTER
In the first play, credit must first go to Lowry for showcasing his immense screen setting chops by freeing up Gasol. The Spaniard simply can’t be missing those. In the second play, Vucevic shows off his strength in holding off Gasol but the Raptors centre should still be doing better to maintain possession. More reps leading up to the playoffs should help clean this up.
The final play is a turnover by Siakam — one of seven on the night — when he gets double-teamed after initially posting up Aaron Gordon. What can Gasol do better here? He gives no angle whatsoever for Siakam to make a clean pass. As soon as Siakam makes his move to the left, Gasol should be shading to the right to create an angle for Siakam to get the ball out. By staying more vertical, Vucevic is able to get in the passing lane and ignite a Magic fastbreak.
BONUS: SKINNY MARC HUSTLE
These are two plays that highlight the benefits of improving his fitness. In the second play, Gasol is able to get to the ground in a hurry with a dive for a loose ball and sends Toronto on their way for a transition opportunity. Great play, let’s focus on the first.
In the first, you see Gasol ahead of Vucevic as the Raptors head down the court and you even see him quickly look back to see how far behind Vucevic is. I imagine this is what was going through Gasol’s head as he realizes he’s got a lead to work with:
He quickly recognizes that, with a little extra effort, Aaron Gordon will be forced to pick him up and Vucevic will be resigned to hanging on the perimeter. Gasol is too big, too strong for Gordon and the Magic forward tries to cheat and make a steal because he recognizes that and the result is a dunk, another benefit of improving his fitness.
For much of his career, like Lowry, Gasol has proven he can be an elite difference maker in the margins of the game. There is plenty of evidence to suggest, again like Lowry, that he certainly has the skills to impact the game right in the thick of it.
The Raptors look to be steadily peaking at the right time, and after a bit of a slow start on the offensive end — individually — for Big Spain, the Vucevic matchup may have been just what the doctor ordered to get him going for the biggest games coming in a week’s time.
