1. ON THE GO O.G.
I distressed about O.G.’s offensive health in the preseason (#2). He struggled to get by guys in straight isolation. It’s proven true thus far; he’s at 0.73 points per possession on 1 iso a game (21st percentile).
I suggested pre-emptive manoeuvres, like dribble-hand-offs, off-ball screens, set plays, and the like, to get him going downhill. An adjustment I didn’t consider – and one that old slow-feet [me] also likes to use in game – is the single-motion rip-and-go.
It’s not all that complex. The rip-and-go is simply ripping the ball from one side of your body to the other (fundamentals demand hip-to-knee) and going. There are more minute details – where the ball goes, where your lead foot goes, how your hips align, where the defender’s positioned etc. – but that’s the basics.
What O.G. does, and what I absolutely adore, is use the momentum of a pass and the natural inertia of a defender in helpside to, essentially, rip-and-go before the pass hits him. Think of getting a receiver on a slant route where they’re already at high-speed and the ball leads them forward versus a curl where they’re at a standstill upon reception.
Allow me [O.G.] to demonstrate:
You see as Pascal penetrates how far over Dorian Finney-Smith helping. O.G. does too. As Pascal draws Finney-Smith, O.G. lowers like a prowler in the grass. He’s spring loading his attack. Hip pass woulda been better, but Pascal bounces it over to O.G., who rips deep into the open lane.
The next two are more classic rip-and-gos, but note how wide O.G.’s stance is and how low he gets readying to ignite his explosiveness.
Juxtapose that with an O.G. standing straight up letting his momentum congeal like schmaltz. Onyeka Okongwu easily closes out and forces the turnover.
Until O.G. gets more comfortable facing-up defenders, he should always be in his triple-threat position prior to the pass. [NOTE TO READER: All basketball players should be in a triple threat position prior to a pass, but it’s the NBA we’re talkin’ about here].
With the rip-and-go established, defenders will either slow their closeouts – boom, 3-pointer – or attempt to beat O.G. to the spot he wants to go. Ripening for a perfect counter.
Great wing pass by Gary! (Yay, Gary!). Recall in a previous clip, O.G. ripped past Dwight Powell. This clip is 2 minutes later and, basically, the exact same situation. This time, O.G. pump fakes the rip baseline, knowing Powell just saw this happen minutes before, and then crosses his lead foot around Powell’s left side. O.G. fails to find either Precious, Scottie, or Pascal on the play and bungles the hook shot(!?), but that’s for another analysis.
Lou talked about O.G.’s newfound paint achievements yesterday. Particularly, as a weakside attacker.
Anunoby isn’t yet creating from a standstill, but the Raptors don’t need that from him. They need him to be a second-side driver, attacking rotating defenses, and using his driving to extend advantages already created
O.G. Anunoby is driving his way to a new type of stardom – Louis Zatsman
Sneaky little adjustments like the single-motion rip-and-go allows O.G. to find ways to get where he wants to go without having to deal with the deficiencies – ballhandling, balance, etc – still plaguing him.
2. Otto Erotic Sophistication
Reliability is not something I, typically, associate with these Toronto Raptors.
That’s not, necessarily, a bad thing. Unpredictability is thrilling. Peaks and valleys. Those highs so good. Those lows so bad.
That is why Otto is such a welcome presence. He, unlike the other bench mates, so reassuringly certain. He’s a serene day after many a rocky waves at sea. A welcomed, dependable, calming presence of parental authority.
Otto was signed for his shooting, his court awareness, his defensive intelligence, his deferential passing and humble acceptance of limited minutes. That’s what happens when you’re a champion. Especially, after not living up to the hype for so many years. Otto found comfort in playing a limited, yet critical, role of reliability.
It’s very evident in the five games and 91 minutes he’s played so far. Otto hits the right shot at the right time (42% from three on 23 attempts). He’s a superb swing passer with a team that can be guilty of sticky hands.
He rebounds well. He’s active defensively (11 deflections and 8 steals) and turns the ball over seldom (1 of his 2 turnovers wasn’t his fault).
Otto won’t raise our ceiling all that high, but he’ll sure as hell keep our floor well above the bottom. Which is precisely what Toronto signed him for.
3. Jersey Jokes [on us]
It’s the end of times.
Companies are always squeezing us for every last penny we have. The NBA’s newest revenue model: spit team jerseys out like they’re Zara.
And I hate that. And I hate these.
It might be my cynicism. But it all feels disingenuous. Just one big money grab. Which is a piss off when they’re already grabbing our money: I just paid $18 for a fucking hot dog and $7 for a coke in Toronto last week after spending way too much on a nose-bleed ticket. League Pass is $190 a year for absolute shite service. So on and so forth. Oh ya, and I still have stupid NBA Top Shot NFT cards. I’m such a DUFUS.
Most importantly, maybe, if you’re gonna make jerseys like they’re Subway options at least give me something better than brown, nutrition-less iceberg lettuce and soggy tomatoes.
These jerseys are like the state of mainstream film: Sequels and Superheros. They’re either complete simulacrums (Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, New York) of something of the past or desperate attempts at something new, but drat, repetitive, or both.
They just seem so lazy and rushed.
The Charlotte jersey is the most blatant example of fuckkkk let’s just get something done:
Someone try to tell me what the thought process was behind Phoenix’s. Looks like someone screwing about in Microsoft Paint and then copy and pasting the logo smack in the middle.
New Orleans is supporting Ukraine?
Minnesota looks like someone typed “Denver Nuggets, but not; digital art” into the Dall-E AI art generator.
I am not sure if I should call the FBI, ’cause looking at Brooklyn and Miami’s jerseys, it might be children held hostage in a jersey manufacturing plant codifying calls for help.
Jokes aside, I do appreciate the effort and purpose behind these jerseys. Zach Lowe profiled the artist that came up with Golden State’s. Toronto’s has great inspiration too.
Allison Hueman, the Oakland-based artist responsible for the Warriors’ creation put it succinctly from her own perspective, “I’m scared, to be honest,” Hueman says. “I know how Warriors fans and sports fans are — their teams are precious. And so I’m touching something that’s sacred. There is part of me that’s like, ‘F—, yeah, I’m so excited.’ And there is another part that is nervous to see the reaction.” (Quote from From Zach Lowe’s article).
That’s precisely it. Jerseys are precious mementos. Snapshots of eras, of good and bad times, of fond memories, and of traumatic experiences. To mass produce an array of jerseys confuses us. How do we associate a time and place with so much variety? And how do we longingly smile thinking of a nostalgic moment or a glistening memory when all we see is something ugly as fuck.
The NBA is messing with something more precious than fashion. They’re messing with our love of the game. The more they flood it with product the more they leave me feeling disconnected and detached from something profoundly important to me and my history.
Colour me unimpressed.
4. From Where Will the Points Come? Segment One
I have a feeling this will become a repeating segment until Pascal returns; it is an inexhaustible question to consider. So, I present to you Segment One:
Gary Trent Jr. Pick and Rolls
Toronto runs the 2nd least number of pick and rolls in the league (14.3/game). No surprise. They only ran 16/game last year.
Freddy and Pascal run 10.5 between them. Gary runs a mere 2, but he’s 2nd on the team in efficiency at 0.96 points per possession.
Gary’s adept, generally, at finding the right angle and spot for his shot. Even with defenders draped upon him, like Grandma’s plastic couch coverings, he leans and fakes and prances about until there’s just enough space between him and his defender to squeak one by.
This, I argue, makes Gary a prime candidate for an increased role in the pick-and-roll. It’s not ideal, I know. But with a deadeye mid-range, he demands the attention of screen defenders. If they don’t challenge: jumper. If they do, he’s plenty options.
One is to drop to the roller as he does to Pascal below in the face of P.J. Tucker’s menacing hedge. (This could be Scottie or Boucher with Pascal sidelined).
The other option is to suck in the helpside to find the open kickout. That, to me, is where having Gary as the P+R handler is most beneficial. It means that two of the best volume three-point shooters in the league – and two great penetrators – await the pass.
In the latter clip, Gary takes the screen and steps a bit back from a dropping Nikola Vučević. If Vooch doesn’t drop Gary can easily lob to the rolling 7’1″ fireman’s ladder. Ayo Dosumnu sees Gary and over commits to the help. Had Ayo not helped, Gary’s got an easy mid-range – his most lethal shot (76th percentile for combo guards). Ayo does, Freddy’s wide open, Bang.
Round two for Vooch. This time he stays high with Gary and Caruso follows over the screen. Patrick Williams comes over to neutralize Koloko as the screener and DeMar sits on the weakside watching Baseline Barnes and O.G. in the corner. Ayo learned his lesson and is holding with Freddy. Gary stepback miss. Well played, Chicago. Though, O.G. shoulda got that pass.
Is this something the Raptors can spam? Maybe not. There’s a lot to be wanting in Gary’s passing and playmaking off the dribble (to be fair, he’s been a good second passer lately [and lol to this]).
But I would give it to Gary more. Get him more involved in the offence and, hopefully, find some easy shots for Freddy and O.G. behind the three.
5. Yuta-Wan Kenobi
Always makes me happy to see former Raptors succeed.
In the face of all of Brooklyn’s friggedness, Yuta’s had a lovely start. He’s shooting a ridiculous 76% effective field goal percentage (56% on 2 threes/game) and boasts a +3 net rating.
(Don’t get me started on Nick Nurse’s fickle treatment of Yuta’s minutes last year. That ship’s passed in the night. Not re-signing him over the summer was inevitable.)
So cheers to Yuta.
And Booooo to Bobby Marks’s pronunciation of Yuta’s name.
The ESPN national basketball pundit was on Zach Lowe’s podcast talking about the forlorn Nets. They mentioned Yuta as a lone, shining positive.
Marks goes on to say: “They had a lineup out there the other night in Chicago of Yuta Wat…Watanobi”!
A nice rich blend of Star Wars lore and poor Japanese pronunciation.
Who else, Bobby? Was Sith Curry playing too? Joedi Harris?
It’s funny. Also, a tad unforgivable seeing as Bobby definitely knows the league like the back of his shiny bald head.
Let’s put some respect, literally, to Yuta’s name!
