We eliminated you from the playoffs in 2017 and 2019 on our way to our championship but keep talkin your sh!t
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 16, 2022
As we expected before the season, it is the other end where things are getting concerning. Trent is a pretty good player. However, if a team’s offence disintegrates because the fourth or fifth starter is out — Trent has missed the past three games with an ankle injury — something is fundamentally unbalanced with the offence. Watching VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby try to create without another reliable shooter on the floor has been difficult. You can forgive them all for the odd contested shot outside of the paint. After all, that is better than driving into a packed paint with no meaningful kick-out option.
The Raptors came into Saturday’s game with the fifth-worst half-court offence in the league, per Synergy Sports. The frequency with which they get out in transition has helped their attack stay in the top 10 all season, but they are falling in that area. For all the length the Raptors have, in their starting lineup and off the bench, they lack secondary creation and lack 3-point shooting. They have three good high-volume shooters: VanVleet (40.9 percent on 9.5 attempts per game), Trent Jr. (36.8 on 7.3) and Anunoby (36.6 on 7.3). When one of them is out, the world closes in, and the weak side starts to live up to its name in one way too many. The Raptors have no other shooter hitting more than the league average of 34.9 percent from deep. Over the 10 quarters from the start of the game against Phoenix through the first half against the Bucks, Raptors aside from VanVleet and Anunoby shot 3-for-34 from 3. In the second half, in which Nurse used just six players, they went 6-for-10. Siakam has been excellent over the last little while, with his 30-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist performance against Milwaukee a high-water mark. It is a little unfair to ask him to be a prolific shooter, too, but his 3-pointer is a huge swing factor for the Raptors when they are getting little from others.
“I think some of the guys off the bench had some wide-open 3s, and they didn’t hit any of them,” Nurse said Friday of the play of the Raptors’ non-stars. “We just can’t have those kinds of nights. They don’t have to make them all, but they’ve got to make one out of three or something to keep things moving. It was one of those oh-fer nights.”
A lot of that is on how the front office has built the team and managed the roster. In particular, the sign-and-trade that got Kyle Lowry to Miami has not helped on that front. Achiuwa is a fine prospect, but the team has allowed Goran Dragic to stay away on personal leave. When the Raptors were giving minutes to raw second-round pick Dalano Banton, that made some sense. He has been buried on the bench lately as backup playmaking duties have been split between Siakam and Scottie Barnes, putting an even heavier onus on the core players. VanVleet, Anunoby, Siakam and Barnes are first, eighth, 10th and 15th in minutes played per game in the league. Other than the Raptors, only the Lakers have even three players in the top 20. The key Raptors aren’t as high in total minutes, thanks to their three postponed games and the chunks of time Siakam and Anunoby missed, but the dependency has maintained as the season has gone on.
Perhaps there is a small move to improve the rotation balance, if not the roster balance. Trent’s return to the lineup will be key. Boucher is too valuable right now to give away for a one-dimensional shooter, and you can say the same about Achiuwa’s promise. Still, it would be a shame to not give this core a little more sensible shape, so long as it doesn’t nullify the experiment.
Raptors hitting stride as they reach halfway point of season – TSN.ca
These Raptors are not close to contending at that level, not as currently constructed, not yet anyway. However, they are ahead of schedule from a developmental standpoint. Their pre-season over/under for wins was a modest 36.5, yet they’re on pace for 43. How they’ve gotten here is a bit of a surprise, though.
Primarily made up of long and versatile forwards, this roster was designed to test the limits of position-less basketball. Whether it turned out to be a worthwhile experiment or not, the assumption was that they’d excel defensively but struggle to put points on the board. Strangely, for most of the season’s first half, they’ve been above average offensively, where they’re currently ranked 12th in the league, and below average on defence, where they rank 17th.
Those initial assumptions weren’t entirely misplaced. They don’t have much shooting depth behind VanVleet (who’s having a historic season from beyond the arc), Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. When their jumpers aren’t falling, or without the injured Trent recently, scoring has been an issue. In the four games Trent has missed with a sore ankle, the Raptors are averaging 97.5 points. Excluding VanVleet and Anunoby, they’re shooting 12-for-56 (21 per cent) from three-point range over that stretch.
While they’re prone to lapses and miscues on the defensive end, they’ve also shown flashes of brilliance. When they’re locked in and suffocating opponents with all of their length and the ability to switch across positions on the perimeter, it’s not hard to see why they are so enamoured with this group’s upside.
Unfortunately, consistency has been hard to come by on either end of the floor. Such is life with a young team. Outside of Goran Dragic, who played five games before being excused from the team in November, the Raptors don’t have a single player over the age of 29. The inexperience has shown, on some nights more than others.
Complicating matters further is the fact that Nurse has only had his full rotation available once this season, and the team’s young core of VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby and Barnes has only played nine games together. Anunoby went down with a hip injury shortly after Siakam made his season debut, then COVID knocked them all out of the lineup just as he was getting set to make his return, and Barnes has been dealing with nagging knee soreness ever since. Building chemistry or stringing together any kind of momentum hasn’t been easy.
It’s been maddening at times. Consider this past week as a prime example. After turning some heads with their recent six-game winning streak and a hard-fought loss to the first-place Phoenix Suns, the Raptors were embarrassed in Detroit on Friday, suffering their fifth straight defeat to their former head coach Dwane Casey and his lowly Pistons, who came into that game with a record of 9-31. So, naturally, with the team in Milwaukee the following night and facing Giannis Antetokounmpo and the reigning champion Bucks without three of their starters, the improbable happened.
On the backs of VanVleet, Anunoby and Siakam – who led the way with 30 points and recorded his second career triple-double – they pulled off an unlikely 103-96 victory. In the span of 26 hours, we got the full 2021-22 Raptors experience: their worst loss of the season, followed immediately by their most impressive win.
“It’s such a long season, there’s bound to be ups and downs,” Nurse said afterwards. “I just think these guys are fighters and they love the challenge. They love the challenge and they really fought hard.”
Both Kyle Lowry and Raptors fans call her mom | The Star
“She’s not ‘Kyle’s mom’, she’s Marie Holloway. She’s a distinct personality.” Adan adds.
“It was really quite magical what she did,” says Suzanne Parr, a Raptors fan who has been interacting with Holloway online since the team was led by Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. “She opened a door and allowed fans — although she wanted to keep their world private— she let us feel we were still part of her and her family, and (her son’s) Raptors team.”
The chatter goes beyond basketball. When her online family is hurting, Holloway is there to check in and provide comfort.
“It was a year after (my mother) had passed, I posted something about missing my mom. And all of a sudden she just reached out, extended her sympathies and said my mom was always going to be with me, and she’s probably looking down on me and proud of me. And I just thought, ‘Wow,’” Juli Aryeetey says. “From her tweets, it’s what you see is what you get. She’s a warm, genuine, caring person.”
As someone who has experienced the disparaging things people say about athletes, positivity is important to Holloway. When she tweets during games, even after tough losses, she’s encouraging. She’s also funny. There’s usually only one thing that results in Holloway really veering from staying sunny.
“My Twitter is always positive and light, except,” she cooly emphasizes, “when it comes to the refs.”
“My Twitter is always positive and light, except,” Marie Holloway cooly emphasizes. “when it comes to the refs.”
In the same way that Holloway’s call-it-like-it-is approach endeared her to fans, her overarching support of the entire roster was also something that stood out. She dubbed Lowry’s eventual successor, the unflappable Fred VanVleet, “baby bear” — she has always called Lowry “bear” — and congratulated him publicly on his recent triple-double. She refers to DeRozan, now having a career year with the Chicago Bulls, as her other son.
While her two sons have moved on to new teams, Holloway’s support of the Raptors is as strong as ever. She wore Raptors gear when they faced the Sixers in Philadelphia in November. Asked if she feels like American fans are getting a sense of the Raptors effect, she gently corrects, “I like to call it the Kyle Lowry effect. Because all of these guys were his rookies. And nine years is a long time. He had a lot of rookies and almost all of them are doing really, really well. I know he takes great pride in that.”
Lowry won’t be in the lineup when the Raptors and Heat meet in Miami on Monday night, but barring unforeseen circumstances he should face Toronto for the first time Jan. 29 in Miami. “I think that one is gonna pretty much be more about, ‘I’m still big brother. I’m making sure you understand it. You still can’t beat me,’” she says, chuckling again.
The Kyle Lowry-Raptors on-court reunion will have to wait | The Star
The Heat might also be without centre Bam Adebayo, who was expected to play his first game after missing six weeks after hand surgery. He is now listed as questionable.
The chance to see Lowry and say hello was the most intriguing part of the game for the Raptors. Whether any were able to visit with him Sunday when both squads had a day off in South Florida is unknown, but it was catching up that was at the top of the Raptors’ agenda.
“I think it’s going to be fun, just seeing him,” Pascal Siakam said. “I don’t know what his mindset’s going to be but for us it’s just coming in, seeing a familiar face, enjoying the game.”
And treating the game with the respect all games deserve.
“It’s Miami,” Siakam said, “go out there and have fun and try to get a win.”
Toronto fans have come to learn recently that every game takes on its own personality regardless of which stars are or aren’t in uniform.
Missing two starters at home Tuesday, the Raptors pushed the Phoenix Suns, who went into the game with the second-best record in the league, to the final seconds before losing. They came up with a flat performance while losing in Detroit on Friday before rebounding for an impressive road victory over Milwaukee on Saturday.
If that doesn’t underscore the mercurial nature of the NBA right now, nothing does. And for Raptors coach Nick Nurse, the percentages are fine with him.
“I’d like to say that it’s two really well played games out of three, like really well played games,” Nurse said Saturday.
But it also provides proof that the Raptors aren’t quite there yet in their search for consistency.
Toronto Raptors will have to wait on that Kyle Lowry reunion | Toronto Sun
Regardless of who else does or doesn’t play none will trump the loss of Lowry from this matchup.
This was going to be the first time the likes of Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, and Chris Boucher faced the man who had a hand in bringing along all of their careers to varying degrees.
The questions about the matchup were already being asked Saturday following the Raptors win over Milwaukee.
Of course none of that matters in the immediate future now. Without Lowry the special nature of this game is all but lost. Lowry, the most impactful Raptor in team history, was the attraction. Without him this is just another game.
But this is just the first opportunity of four this season that the Raptors will have the chance to take on Lowry. As a matter of fact, in a quirk in the schedule, the Raptors and Heat will see each other three times in the next nine games that the Raptors play. Toronto is back in Miami on he 29th and then host the Heat three days later in a game that was moved up to Feb. 1 to fit in all the games the NBA re-scheduled following COVID postponements.
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Unfortunately for Lowry and the Raptors fanbase that remains as staunchly behind the point guard as if he still played for the team, it’s looking very likely that the ban on fans in the stands in Toronto will not be lifted by that Feb. 1 date meaning Lowry’s first return to Toronto will come in an almost empty Scotiabank Arena.His only other opportunity to get the ovation he has earned from this fanbase in this his first year in a different uniform will come April 3, the fifth last game of the schedule for Toronto.
The hope is that by then both Lowry is able to play and the welcome from an appreciative fan base is able to happen.
