It’s over! It’s over! …it’s…over…
Phew.
And, really, it was never as bad as it looked. ALARMISTS!
The thumping by New Orleans and Brooklyn weren’t so great, I admit.
But the losses in Orlando are understandable in retrospect. They’re 7-1 in their last 8 – beating Boston twice and the Clippers once. We ran into a hot team at the wrong time.
Then, consider the losses. Lost by 4 to Orlando, 1 to Sacramento, 3 to Brooklyn, and 3 to Philly. The latter three could have easily gone Toronto’s way. Particularly, when you think that they really couldn’t have gone worse.
If I’m being optimistic, you can too.
Let’s roll.
1. Pascal is Our Guy
The jubilation! The joy! The celebration! The relief! PASCALLLLLL!
I just finished the New York Knicks game. I feel…I don’t know even know what I feel.
Ecstasy.
Pascal deserves this so much. His hard work. His drive. His skill. His leadership. We love him. They love him.
And while I’m hot to trot. Anyone daring to proclaim “Blow it up!” can choke on all 52 of his career-high points.
No, better yet. They can gulp the 90 points he scored in the last two games – no water. No, even better, better, feast on that and then swallow a whole side of 13 assists too.
Pascal’s a superstar. King Raptor. A nascent ruler; his realm certain to expand.
Yet, up until these last two games against Philly and New York, we watched possession after possession, Toronto veer away from Pascal.
The lack of usage isn’t atypical. I noted (#2) as much last week: his season average usage (29%) was much too low in comparison to his peers. Against Philly and NYK, it finally jumped to 35.4% and we saw the inflicting damage rise proportionally. Against Philly, 38 points and 6 assists on 48% shooting. Against NYK, 52 points and 7 assists on 68%(!) shooting.
This is the way forward. Pascal is our way forward.
All things must start and end with Pascal. Ride or die. Based on what we’ve seen – now and pre-Dallas groin pull – it’s the way to go. As he scores and picks apart defenders, helpside gravitates towards him. Then the passing begins. And as that devastates – hopefully, the wide open threes fall – help defenders cheat, hesitate and get confused. At the crux of this defensive uncertainty (as we see when Toronto doubles Luka Dončić or Joel “shut down” Embiid”), Toronto’s array of subsidiary scorers step forward and execute.
That’s not how it has gone thus far. Freddy and, often, Scottie have tried to force the issue – with varied success. I get why. Pascal will, inevitably, grow stale as defences adjust. Cross that bridge when they get there. Until then, a great deficit in Pascal usage persists. Once exhausted, then we look to other plans of attacks.
Pascal’s the key to turning this whole shabang around.
Let’s riddddeeee.
2. Freddy Double V D
I am worried about Freddy.
He’s no longer playing the pestering, relentless on-ball defence we’re used to.
Quite the opposite. Little resistance to attacks. In fact, more like Olé to stampeding bulls than No Way to intrepid ballhandlers. I don’t say this lightly, in mockery, or as criticism. Just observation. Fearful observation.
More and more this is becoming the norm. Led feet, high hips. Toronto’s defence on the pick and roll has stunk lately; Freddy’s challenges with the ballhandler contributes to that – though, he’s not alone in that responsibility. Even if you argued he’s been fine; fine. But he’s not been the rabid mongoose we’re used to.
I think it’s why, of late, we’re seeing Freddy on Klay Thompson instead of Jordan Poole and DeAnthony Melton instead of James Harden Though, he was assigned Kyrie Irving and Jalen Brunson – smaller, but still spry guards. So, maybe I’m wrong.
Regardless, my spidey sense tingles. Something’s not right.
3. The NBA’s Greatest Challenge + Worst Challenge
The Coach’s Challenge, like any new rule or regulation in any social group, is not perfect. For every solution, a new conundrum rears its head.
For instance, once a challenge is initiated, no more exist. Thus, Coaches must consider various criteria – OTHER THAN THE CALL BEING WRONG – to decide if it’s worth challenging: like whether it’s too early in the game to be impactful or if the “overturning” has enough of a positive benefit, or, more importantly, should it be saved for a potential game-saving moment.
There is, of course, a good reason for the limitation. Should a coach have multiple challenges, games would be an endless barrage of requests and players swirling their fingers in the air like they’re priming to lasso fleeing animals.
(The answer to this, IMO, is to give a team one additional challenge if they are initially successful, but that’s neither here nor there.)
Anyway, as it stands, there is a long list of criteria for when a Coach’s Challenge is best used.
- Does it prevent a foul from being attributed to an impactful player?
- Does it prevent an impactful player from getting into foul trouble?
- Does it prevent points from being scored?
- Is it in a clutch moment of the game?
- Do you trust what the player involved in the play is telling you?
- Is your franchise player begging and pleading you to review it regardless of all the other surrounding criteria?
If the answer is yes to all of these then challenging is a no-brainer. It gets a bit trickier from there.
On Monday, Philly and Toronto were in a tight one. In overtime, a kick out to Tobias Harris for three ended with a tumbling Scottie rolling into Tobias’ landing space. “And One”. After a review, however, it turned out PJ smoked Scottie with an illegal screen causing the fall into Harris. No bucket. No Scottie foul. PJ foul.
Toronto lost anyway. But THAT was the most impactful Coach’s Challenge to date.
The score was 104-101 PHI. If that’s a no-call, it’s 107-101 and game’s over. Instead, game remained contestable.
Contrast that with Nick Nurse, merely days later, making one of the worst challenges possible.
With 6:32 left in the 2nd quarter, the score 43-35 TOR, Jalen Brunson charges into the heart of the Raptors defence.
Juancho slides in late to help, Brunson torpedos into Juancho’s left shoulder. Tweet. Foul. Without hesitation, Nick challenges.
Now, at first glance, it looks like Brunson leads with his elbow and catches Juancho. He kind of does, but not in any veritably defendable way. Challenge unsuccessful.
An absolute waste of a challenge. Upon second and third review, there was nothing to overturn. It was a basic blocking foul.
Consider the other surrounding factors, and it’s even more egregious for Nurse to have used the Challenge:
- Juancho is Toronto’s 5th, somewhat nominal, starter.
- Juancho was not in foul trouble.
- It was not an And-One, at best they prevent two free throws.
- It’s the second quarter with the Raptors up 8.
- I would trust whatever Juancho insisted. Not sure he did.
- Juancho looks like he got the worst of it, but no sudden emphatic finger swirls
The contrast of the two Challenges attests to the absurdity of the rule itself. Logic and truth being the lesser important factors when contemplating whether to initiate a Challenge or not.
Most of the time, it is what it is. Coaches will challenge for a myriad of other factors I haven’t even considered like momentum shifting or making a statement. I recall a game earlier this year where the Refs just made a brutal call minutes into the game. Nurse challenged it to send a clear message. YOU’RE WRONG. THAT WAS SOFT. DON’T BE WRONG AND SOFT AGAIN.
Ahhhh gamesmanship.
4. More Malachi Flynnutes
Hell. Fucking. Yes.
Malachi Flynn has been through about as much as one can in the first three years of an NBA career. Outspoken, overbearing father. Injuries. Inconsistency. Cold streaks. A system not built for his success. Glimpses of success snuffed out by long periods on the bench. Confidence issues. The list goes on.
The end was nigh, perhaps, for Flynn’s Toronto stint. Nurse had given him limited chances with little results. But that’s the NBA for you. Opportunities germinate in the least expected most unbeknownst circumstances.
Horrid shooting and injuries to Toronto’s “best” shooters paved the way. Not only did it give Malachi the chance to strut his stuff, it forced Nurse to play him even if things got rough for a second or two or three.
We’ve seen it before. Briefly. Last year, Flynn was starting to groove as a lead guard. Then a hammy went. Now, with the Raptors desperate, Flynn’s finally been able to emerge and sustain himself.
In his last four games, he’s average 27.6 minutes, 10.5 points and 2 assists and 41% shooting from three. He hasn’t been spectacular, but the 2 threes a game has been a much needed relief in the Raptors’ spacing misery.
You could see the frustration as he missed shot after shot. Wide open threes and pull-ups off of pick and rolls. All misses. He’d clap his hands and get back on defence and do his darndest. (And darndest he has done, Flynn works very hard on defence. He’s engaged and determined and scrappy and that’s all you can ask. He also throws himself at the defensive boards, which I frickin’ love [see below].)
Poor dude, every missed shot felt like x more pounds of weight falling on his shoulders.
Then, they started falling and you could see the exultation and visceral relief of anxiety leaving his body.
The shooting is what Flynn is there for. But he’s not a spot-up shooter. He’s a scorer with a great shot. The amalgam of good outside shooting unlocks what Flynn most prefers to do. Like ripping and going into a pull-up.
Or puncturing a scrambling defence.
This is how Flynn will remain on the floor and build his game. Not going out there as a floor commander or as an on-ball scorer forcing up shots in hopes that they’ll eventually fall (they would), but as a tertiary option. First, be a spot-up shooter on the weakside. Then, follow the permutations of options that follow.
That’s what Toronto needs and if you want to play, fill the need.
No time too soon either.
5. Matty D-efence
We’re lucky to have Matty D. He seems like a basic middle-aged white dude. He probably is. But it could be worse.
We could have a crotchety old guy who doesn’t take the time to discern between the only two white guys on a team (I watched that happen repeatedly in one game and it was hilarious) or fail to learn the pronunciations of difficult last names or, cue Leo Rautins, complain about where the League has gone from back in my day.
No, Matty D is current and hip, as best as he can, and, most importantly, staunchly loyal. To the Raptors. To Toronto. To the fans.
A few weeks back, Matty complained about the Raptors having to play way more of those back-to-back games against the same opponent then other teams. Brooklyn and the Lakers came to mind.
He’s also ranted about the divisional rivalries and how Toronto has already played Brooklyn all 4 times this year before playing New York even once. Makes no sense. Especially, when Brooklyn and Toronto, towards the end of the year, could be jockeying for similar positions in the East. Lost opportunity for drama.
Anyway, Matty’s latest rant is on behalf of us fans.
Matty D: “I think there’s a way…you can start with this (I have a deeper theory but…). When teams travel once east and one time west, maybe make sure [admonishing tone] that they’re not on a back-to-back. Right, so that a player that is coming here for the first time actually…
Jack: “So, you’re saying it adds to the chances of that guy playing.”
Matty D: “Correct.”
Jack and Matty go on to complain about back-to-backs and how arduous it is for teams that are on the road – the travel, the disruption, the exhaustion. All of it.
They then debate whether it’s possible to get rid of back-to-backs. But Matty D sticks on the fact that players are not always out there (no fault of their own) and that fans are paying big dollars to not get premium content.
How can an organization want to add more games (mid-season tournament), Matty queries, when already the number of games prohibit quality content – at the expense of the fans.
Jack: “Point taken.”
BRAVO, Gentleman, BRAVO.
These two have a platform that is public and private facing. They could easily keep their mouths shut and never criticize the NBA, their quasi-employer. Instead, they go right at Adam Silver, challenging the current scheduling flaws and questioning their future plans without addressing current issues.
They’re not explicitly saying all of this is a blatant money grab with little concern for players or fans. But they basically are. And I love that.
Let it be known to all those with platforms. Be the fierce advocates that you see in Matty D and Jack for those unable to defend themselves. It’s the true power of celebrity and one that should be wielded fiercely.
Side Note: I want to dig into Matty D’s “Deeper Theory” 👀
TID BITS
GARYS GLASSES
These are like Matrix meets 3-D glasses for the first Avatar.
Soooo funny. Especially, while he’s prancing around splashing Pascal with water bottles. And look at that glee too. Even better with frumpy frump in the background!
Love it.
