Raptors 905 Defeat Windy City Bulls In Another Blow Out Win

Final Score | Raptors 905 104 – Windy City Bulls 89 | Box Score

Two Ways: David Johnson (905)

On Assignment: Isaac Bonga (905)

Inactive: Justin Champagnie (905), Reggie Perry (905), Andrew Harrison (Bulls), Perrion Callandret (Bulls), Malcolm Hill (Bulls), Tyler Cook (Bulls)

It’s very hard to beat the same team twice in a row, and even harder to completely blow them out of the water in back to back games. Basketball players, by nature, are ultra competitive. It is almost guaranteed that the opposing team, embarrassed after being utterly destroyed, will come back stronger and play harder with a chip the size of a boulder on their collective shoulder, ready to prove that they are not the result of their last game. The winning team, especially a team as young as the 905, may come out the next game still riding the high of the blow-out, with an ego bigger than their point differential. Easy mistakes or diverting from the plan may seem like not a big deal since the result the night prior was so promising. The complacency of the winners could very well meet the mercilessness of the losers, turning the tables and flipping the game on its head.

Fortunately for the 905 they have a coach who has drilled the pillars of professionalism and accountability into their young minds. There was never going to be a single second that Patrick Mutombo would allow his team to sleepwalk their way through the game, or attempt to win on pure talent alone. From the beginning tip the 905 were locked in. Starting at center, Justin Smith won the tip, sending it to Ashton Hagans for a dribble hand-off to Kevon Harris who set Isaac Bonga up for a 3. The shot didn’t fall, but the play was executed perfectly, and on the next possession Harris knew to drive baseline, collapsing the Windy City defence onto him while he kicked the ball out to Bonga for a wide open 3, starting the game 3-0. This was pretty much the story for the remainder of the game. The Windy City Bulls would run primarily the same action; an inbounds pass high to the logo, a drive around a screen and a kick-out to the three-point line, drive back in, kick out again, and miss. By the end of the first quarter the 905 had figured this out, often intercepting the pass either off of the inbounds or on the second kick-out, and would steal it before the Bulls had a chance to miss. The result often ended in some beautiful dunks for the 905, including one by Ashton Hagans and one by Breein Tyree. The 905 were so locked in that I think if I had been open off of the steal, I would have been able to have a monster dunk as well, and I”m 5’5, out of shape, and as athletic as a cactus.

The Good:

Romaro Gill: Romaro Gill has had quite the week. First waived by the 905 as the rosters needed to be trimmed from their COVID protocol expansion, then called the morning of the game to be added back to the roster as a replacement player. Gill had his first, and rightfully deserved post-game press conference after totalling 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 nasty blocks. He confessed to media that although he was scheduled to leave Monday, he had not started packing yet. “I hate packing, I’ve moved so much that I just hate packing.” Gill admitted, having moved 5 times since age 19 when he first picked up a basketball. Gill is the kind of player who is always watching, always learning, and always adding to his game. At 7’2 he isn’t the most agile player on the floor, but has begun to use his size to assert his dominance, and his length to smack shots into another dimension. If he continues to play the way he did against the Bulls, Gill won’t have to worry about moving for a very long time, unless it’s to a penthouse downtown,

Everybody Eats: 31 points for the Raptors 905 came from the bench. Of the 5 starters, only Ashton Hagans finished with single digit scoring, and he had 7 assists.