Pascal Siakam has made the fantastical seem ordinary. So few players are capable of doing what he does on an NBA floor, and even better: the incredible feats that Siakam accomplishes on the court are deeply intertwined with winning basketball. The problem? The Raptors continue to lose games where he’s unbelievably good.
What does unbelievably good look like for Siakam? He operated as the Raptors central hub for everything good that went on, on the floor. His usage-percentage last night was 36-percent, and he stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 36 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. The assists in particular, could’ve sky-rocketed had the Raptors been able to hit a respectable number of their three-point looks, but as has been the case lately – they didn’t.
The rhythm of the offense was so off-kilter and out of sorts that Siakam himself put up 9 threes (only hitting 2) in an attempt to keep the Orlando defense from packing the paint further than they already had been. Simply put, the Raptors can’t survive when Siakam is the best 3-point shooter in their starting lineup. Not only is it untenable, it is nonsensical for players like O.G. Anunoby and Fred VanVleet — proven shooters, the both of them – with over 1300 and 2200 3-point attempts under their belts in their careers, to be in this sort of a funk.
“We got a couple guys that aren’t ready to go on the defensive end, on the road. We’ve talked to ’em about it. We tell ’em.” Coach Nurse said of the Raptors poor starts to games. “Most teams are different at home than they are on the road. We talked to them the other night about how well they played against the Clippers. We talked to them about how they have a lot more speed, and energy, and pace. And they’re gonna try and play in the open floor a lot more and stuff, but we just weren’t ready to match it. And that’s disappointing. It’s something we’re gonna have to look at and dissect here pretty closely. We need to do something different on the road.”
Not only was Siakam asked to fill an unfamiliar role as a spot-up shooter, but he was still asked to initiate the majority of the offense and run his usual gauntlet on defense. That gauntlet of course includes problem solving constantly with his rotations, for all the missed rotations that the Raptors hemorrhaged; weak-side rotations to stop drives, and meaningful point of attack defense on the opposing teams offensive star for the night, Franz Wagner. Until the last 15-16 minutes of the game, Siakam was living a very lonely defensive life.
“I mean, I don’t know. The game speaks for itself. When we were on them and doing what we do best we got stops.” Siakam said after the loss. “When we didn’t do that, you know, they scored and they had what they wanted. So, I think that’s just the difference in the game right there.”
We can all remain in awe at what Siakam does, but our field of vision will eventually start to drift to what isn’t being done around him. When he was gone? Anunoby and VanVleet helped guide the Raptors to a respectable record against a soft schedule. Since Siakam’s return, VanVleet is averaging 13 points per game while shooting 31-percent from the field and 23-percent from three. We’ve also seen the shot diet, and it’s easy to argue he’s had easier looks since Siakam came back. It’s the worst regular season stretch of his career since becoming a rotation player. For Anunoby? I think he’s been quite good since Siakam’s return, but in this game with all of the Orlando length creeping in lanes and bothering live dribbles, he struggled. On top of that, his less than stellar run from downtown continues, as he’s only shooting 28-percent from 3 over his last 15 games.
When it came to playing against the length and activity of the Magic as well, the Raptors didn’t meet the moment. When the Raptors are fully commanding their essence, their style, they might miss shots, but they’re gonna get after it on the offensive glass. Right now, the only semblance of identity they have is tied to Siakam’s stardom that they are being dragged along with, lifelessly.
With another matchup awaiting them on Sunday, they have to carry over the defense from the end of the game. Truthfully, if they do, if they beat the Magic handily with fun performances sprinkled around the roster it still doesn’t wash this one away yet. This is a team that’s leaving too much on the board right now, and they have to prove their quality over a meaningful run of basketball. Win, loss, loss, win, loss, win, loss – and the effort and quality is as polarizing as these outcomes.
This team has to find the shreds of consistency that exist within them, and they have to meet Siakam’s moment as a star. He’s so good that you can win games if the supporting cast simply compels the other team. They don’t even have to be good, necessarily.
Have a blessed day.
