Most people, and for good reason, have been hung up on Pascal Siakam’s injured right groin. He was carrying their halfcourt offense, playing an invaluable role on defense, and doing such a good job at both that many people started talking about him in the oh-so-alluring “top-10” context. Siakam is awesome, and any amount of time that he’s gone from the team is a tough pill to swallow.
“You just gotta go, and nobody’s feeling sorry for you. When you’re losing players you just gotta keep playing.”
Nick Nurse after the loss
Now, there’s a full team that remains with interesting players, star-bound rookies, excellent role players and they no doubt intend to win despite Siakam’s expected upcoming absence. In the back half of the game against the Mavericks, the Raptors found a style that suits them and nearly led to a comeback win.
“I think we just tightened some stuff up defensively, we got a couple calls.” Scottie Barnes said of the Raptors run of form towards the end of the game. “We got some offensive rebounds, where we were able to get energy. Just trying to push through that comeback.”
We’ve seen the Raptors do something to this effect before, of course. Last season they were a juggernaut on the offensive glass, and that aspect of their playstyle hasn’t really carried over this season. For small pockets of play, yes, but overall they haven’t pressed that inherent advantage. Down the stretch against the Mavericks, in lieu of Siakam’s finesse, they played smash mouth basketball. And that’s probably the key to winning games without Siakam in the lineup.
Offensively, the Raptors won’t have Siakam to put the defense in rotation, provide lanes for cutters, or be the release valve in the middle. They will, more than likely, seek to get the ball deep in the opposing defense – not by entry pass or dribble combo – by grabbing their own misses. Over the course of the game, the Raptors grabbed 44-percent of their own misses. During their fourth quarter run, that jumped up to 50-percent. The strategy still shakes out the same as last season, wherein they charted a course for success under the ethos of: more possessions is good, so let’s get as many as possible.
They will continue to play an extremely aggressive brand of defense that leans harder than ever on an ability to turn teams over and jumpstart transition. We don’t know who’s going to hit the starting lineup. Maybe it’s Boucher, maybe it’s Achiuwa, maybe it’s Porter Jr., but this team will gamble. Grab and go stuff will still loom large for many different players. They’ll be the Raptors.
“You don’t really have much choice, other than to keep playing, and you gotta believe you can still get it done, right?” Nurse said after the loss. “You lose a couple of your main creators and shot-takers and that stuff just shifts to other guys. It kind of did there for a stretch, I thought OG and Scottie and Gary kind of stepped up when Pascal went out.”
Additionally, everyone is getting bumped up a notch in the Raptors read and react offense. If Barnes used to be the screen in the wide pin, maybe he’s the guy coming off of it shoulder-to-shoulder with a now healthy Otto Porter Jr.? If Fred is healthy and all set to return for next game, maybe we see the Raptors lean a little bit more into his pick n’ roll, drive and kick offense for a stretch of games. If the pull-up jumper is going, they’ll more than likely do just fine – we saw it for a stretch last year.
The unknowns of this upcoming stretch lie firmly in the hands of Barnes and Anunoby, in my opinion. Barnes, who authored the Raptors near comeback, is by far the most tantalizing collection of offensive skills outside of Siakam; only he’s never truly operated as the main hub of an offense. When Siakam was out, VanVleet was carving out an All-Star season, when VanVleet was out Siakam was becoming one of the league’s best players.
How will Barnes fill this void? If the 4th quarter is any indication (and hopefully it is), he’ll continue to pressure smaller defenders and bash his way to the rim for buckets; he won’t make nearly as many shots from the mid-range or playmake the same way that Siakam does, but he’ll certainly playmake in ways that Siakam doesn’t. There will be a trade off and one that Barnes and the Raptors will lose in terms of output and efficiency, but legs will stretch and comfort will be found in new areas for the Raptors young star. A willingness to playmake before rotations and lead players with lobs will more than likely be the type of contrast we see. While the best version of the Raptors now and in the future is built firmly on the Siakam & Barnes partnership, the silver lining of all of this exists in how Scottie operates in this opportunity for extra creation possessions.
Somewhere in this, Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. fit in as well. Anunoby, who has maintained respectable scoring numbers by shooting the ball really well (over 40-percent from three) and springing himself into breakaways with steals (over 3 steals a game), still has a smaller usage-percentage than he’s had in the past two seasons. His creation attempts have been up and down to some degree, but his drives always end up in the paint which puts the defense in rotation as a result. The hardest thing to do is beat your man and rotate the defense, maybe Anunoby sorts out the easier stuff sooner rather than later.
The answer to winning in the future is the same as it was against the Mavericks (even as they came up short). Compete like hell, with length, and trust in some form of creation to show up from the young guys on the roster. Lean on what you know, and expect some questions to be answered with actions. That is imprecise, messy, and volatile, and that is unequivocally how the Raptors will plan on making the most of this Siakam-less stretch.
Have a blessed day.
