Apologies for the two-week delay of Five Things.
Two computers kaput in one week! Talk about injury luck.
But I’m back. We’re back. Winning is back. Everyone’s back. Except Otto Porter Jr.. He’s not going to be back (swift recovery, OPJ!).
A long one this week, so we’re down to Four Things!
Let’s roll.
*All data is prior to Thursday night’s game against Charlotte
1. The Bench Identity Crisis
Ye Gods! The bench.
What an absolute welcomed turn of events.
None too soon either.
Much has already been made of the minutes played by the Raptors core thus far into the mediocre season. Pascal (1st), Freddy (4th), and O.G. (5th) average the most minutes in the League. With less wins than one would hope to show for it.
In fact, if you align minutes played with wins and losses, you’ll see that more minutes played by the core starters has no direct correlation to winning.
There are many factors contributing to the difference in minutes distribution – including blowouts in either direction – inhibiting any deeper analysis. Still, we can at least assume that simply playing the core 5 more than anyone else in the NBA is not, alone, a successful recipe.
It’s not basic algebra of more bench minutes = more winning either. Raptor replacements have been putrid. There’s no significant gain in minutes played by the bench in wins (other than for Thaddeus Young +5 minutes and Christian Koloko +2 minutes).
Up until three games ago, it seemed like the bench was all but zombie brains. Confidence a feint whisper of an idea. Against Indiana, New York, and Milwaukee, the Raptors bench contributed a collective total of 7, 15, and 7 points respectively. Their inefficacy entirely the reason for the Raptors losses.
After that 3-game mess, it seemed – at least emotionally so – the only answer was to shut this experiment down or swiftly trade a core player for multiple impactful players before this whole season goes nuclear.
That was six days ago.
Much of the Raptors bench woes, in my humble opinion, have been exacerbated by a compounding effect of injuries and Nick Nurse’s distrust of the majority of his players.
Many have, rightfully so, argued that the Raptors’ failures this year are a result of poor roster construction. Management has reaped what it sowed, as the argument goes, by not acquiring a “real” center, a “real” shooter, or a “real” backup point guard. I am not entirely in agreement, but I accept the thesis.
Agree or disagree, the margin for failure is much thinner with their approach. With Otto and Precious being integral to Toronto’s depth – and the executives’ novel “vision” of this team – their injuries revealed Toronto’s vulnerabilities harshly. Spike that with Nick’s refusal to A. rely upon a consistent rotation and B. (inherently tied to A) trust most of his players and you have an undeveloped, unconfident, undependable depth chart.
Recently, Zach Lowe and Adam Mares of DNVR Sports were discussing Nikola Jokić’s absurd on/off differential and how the Nuggets’ bench craters with him off the floor. Mares highlighted Denver’s lack of bench identity as a fundamental problem.
In response to Zach wondering about that, Mares responded saying,
“You need an identity and this is the biggest thing, to me, with Denver’s second unit. The second unit has consisted of any number of 8-9 guys. Stagger Jamal, stagger, Porter…I think Denver needs to commit an identity there…You need to find a lineup that works for [Hyland]. And, I actually think that that second unit needs to have a lot of hustle, defence around Bones and spread the court. Against Memphis…it worked…at least for one game…Commit to an identity and commit to a group…”
Zach concurs,
“I like it. Identity is the key word. They need something to hang their hat on. Think back to some of the great bench units. Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrel. Didn’t work in the playoffs, but did enough to keep the Clippers afloat.”
The same goes for Toronto. Nurse was experimental to start. In-game and out. An endless number of rotations – only starters; no starters; different staggering of starters; different point guards playing different quarters (#2); different centres; DNPs for guys one night who games prior played 20 minutes plus – all of which never really stuck. Hell, I even offered several (#4) of my own suggestions.
Experimentation isn’t bad. Especially, early. Nor is plugging and playing guys based on matchups. It’s gotten to a point, though, where the inconsistency is so profound and the distrust – getting yanked or not getting additional minutes the next quarter or next game – so fraught, players are challenged to find confidence and a collective coherence.
I get the struggles. Pulling a guy or striking his minutes is sometimes necessary or can send a probative message, but overdo it and you prevent guys from working through mistakes, learning from them, and, over time, finding rhythm. Short-term costs for long-term gains.
(This, by the way, is a good example of “identity”).
I’m not suggesting there is some great bench rotation yet to be unearthed – though Precious + Boucher as the Bash Brothers (as I like to call them) is a start – but I do think, whatever the combination, they need extended runs to achieve confidence and comfort levels with themselves and their teammates.
2. The Bench Resurrection?
*Of course, as soon as I write this, Nurse messes with the rotations last night. The starters were hot, so he ran with them late in the 1st Q. The following point still stands.
In the last three games – versus Portland and Charlotte twice – the bench has played wondrously. To which, I say, is a result of what I just ranted about.
Precious’ return (he looks to have his legs back) and Toronto’s general health helps, of course, but Nurse implementing a regimented rotation more vital.
Here’s how it went:
Against both Portland and Charlotte (first game), at 6:12 and 5:56 of the 1st quarters, respectively, Juancho Hernangomez and Christian Koloko entered the game for Barnes and Gary. Then, at 2:04 of the Portland game, Scottie came in for O.G., and at 2:17 of the Hornets game, Scottie and Flynn came in for O.G. and Freddy. Pascal remained in both.
The wrinkle of inserting Juancho and Koloko early allowed Toronto to rest both Scottie and Gary without A. using Toronto’s “best” bench players (Boucher and Precious); B. forgoing positional balance; in fact, Juancho and Koloko added more balance; and, C. giving up scoring and defensive strength.
Come the start of the 2nd quarter of both games, Gary returned leading a unit of Precious, Koloko, Flynn, and Boucher. We’ve rarely seen a single starter lead a group of benchers and it go well. Some of what makes this grouping sustainable is the return of Precious who may give you an offensive punch, but at the very least is a stalwart on defence.
In the three and a half minutes they played together against Portland in the 2q, the unit was +6 in point differential; against, the Hornets in 4 minutes, +1.
A somewhat similar substitution pattern was run in the 2nd half of both games with Barnes/O.G. (O.G. was in early foul trouble against Charlotte) and Gary subbing off early in the 3rd – Flynn came in a bit earlier for Freddy against Charlotte as well – for Koloko and Juancho.
Come the 4th, it was once again Gary + Flynn + Precious + Koloko/Thad (Koloko was in foul trouble against Portland) + Boucher. In total of those two games, that lineup played the 2nd most minutes of any other and finished a team best +15 (the Thad lineup was a -5, but ignore that 🙂 ).
There have been sets of games where Nurse has run with a certain set of bench units, but I don’t recall such regimentation in terms of timing and personnel.
Additionally, when things got rocky the unit was allowed to persevere – also unique for NN™. Against the Hornets, the first two possessions with Gary and Co. were ghastly. Precious dribbled the ball up in transition, passes to no one, drives into a triple team, and flings one of the uglier field goal attempts you’ll see in an NBA game.
That was then followed by one of Chris Boucher’s patented one-and-done, early shot clock, contested three-point catapults.
Timeout.
Those two plays would test even Phil Jackson’s patience on an acid trip. But testament to quick-trigger Nick, he didn’t sit anyone. Instead, he, likely, gave them a stern talking to. MOVE THE BALL. FIND YOUR GUARDS. Or, at least that’s what I woulda said with a few more expletives.
And off they went.
The Raptors ran a play(!) ending with Flynn driving off a Koloko screen, kicking to Precious, Precious attacking the weakside rotation – exactly, where and what Precious should be doing – and missing, but cleaned up by Koloko.
The next two offensive possessions also have Flynn and Koloko in pick and rolls, and also end with Precious getting weak side kicks, this time, he BANG BANGs both three-point shots.
Nurse’s patience prevailed.
We have to contain our excitement some. What I failed to mention was that Portland and Charlotte’s benches are the 30th and 24th worst scoring benches in the league (Toronto is up to 25th).
It’s progress though. And it’s identity. And it’s a consistent identity that is so encouraging.
Flynn runs point as distributor (see below). Gary is your scorer. And Precious, Boucher, and Koloko muck it all up. Moments of execution bolstered by utter chaos.
We’ve all wanted a new bench mob. And we might just have it.
3. Flynnspansion
Speaking of patience, and consistency, and growth, and identity, Malachi Flynn, folks!
Incremental growth is all we ask for. And while Flynn is having a horrid shooting slump (no judgement; everyone seems to have gone through one) his passing has blossomed – perhaps out of necessity(?).
Since returning to the rotation, in the last 14 games, Malachi’s assist percentage has risen by 2%, but his assist to turnover ratio has jumped from 2 to 5 and usage dropped by almost 6%.
It validates what we’re seeing. When attacking and finding space, Flynn is fully focussed on finding open guys. In these past 14 games, Flynn’s per 36 minutes field goal attempts are 4 shots less.
What I have always loved about Flynn’s game, when he’s not haltered by lack of confidence or Nurse’s glaring disgust, is his flow. Flynn attacks and moves in very direct and instinctive ways. His troubles arise in traffic or when forcing pull-ups. Instead, of late, he’s doing one of two things: making immediate passes or keeping his dribble alive and recycling.
Pretty good example. Flynn flies by Brandon Clarke, but is ever so slightly out of control. A floater is not really in the question. Desmond Bane’s help is well-timed, but leaves Khem Birch wide open.
This too. Nothing reveals itself to Flynn, so he continues his way through the Paint, Steve Nashing to the baseline and finding Boucher. Earlier times, he might have pulled in front of Montrezl Harrel or flipped a left scoop.
Text book. Malachi fills Freddy’s vacancy. Single move, single dribble, deep penetration, draw the helpside, and drop-off pass.
Drawing the helpside: Flynn’s newest unlocked power in his quest to become an NBA player. Toronto looks to have collectively made passing an emphasis of late, generally, but it’s all the more important for Flynn who plays with guys unable to create for themselves.
Fittingly, Steve Clifford, the Hornets’ coach spoke, recently, about the importance of having a plethora of players who can draw help defenders.
Flynn had another 3 assists and 0 turnovers last night. Two were seamless dishes following a deep protrusion of the D.
You can see in both how Flynn’s not really even looking to score; he’s just waiting to pull the pass trigger. As offensive permutations go, more shots should open as help defenders
tay home anticipating his passing. With this newfound bench unit, both will tip the scales of its success.
It must be confusing for Malachi. A whirly whirl of minutes and roles and responsibilities. Spark plug. Spot-up shooter. Now, playmaker?
His acceptance and excellence in the role is an indication of comfort, growth, confidence, a “slowing” of the game, and vision. All of what you want to see from a young guard still trying to make his way in the NBA.
4. Love + Anger + Basketball
I think a lot of us are curious to see our favourited celebrities when all the cameras aren’t on them. It’s a bit of a Schrödinger’s cat situation, though. As soon as you, a fan, talk to them. Boom. They’re on their best form.
Can’t blame them. Media and hundreds of thousands of fans are waiting to give their 2 cents on anything that can at all be interpreted as something.
Thus, it’s exciting when we see, what looks to me, as unfiltered human interactions among NBA players. That, and, when you get to see the differing ways in which people behave.
I’m not saying what people do and don’t do is indicative of them in their entirety. But when you do see those raw intimate moments, you know, ya know?
For example. Watch this and tell me what stands out?
Those two kids are Thaddeus Young’s boys. Their mom is filming – I think unbeknownst to most. The boys often await the team to handout props at the end of games. Most guys high five them and move on. All good. No harm.
Others do more.
First, it’s Juancho. He walks right over out of the marching line to land a few playful punches. Then, in what I can envision is what all lovely Spaniards do to intimately connect with everyone they meet, he shake/holds their hands to capture their attention and speaks to them. Sharing a true moment with them. And he does so to each, individually (anyone with an older sibling can relate to how important this is). It looks so soft and tender. I don’t think Juancho played in this game. He might of been frustrated or discouraged. It didn’t keep him from going out of his way to connect.
Then you get Brook Lopez who gets called upon by the eldest. Brook, an absolute gentleman, greets them like a genial host and takes the time to ensure a momentary, but genuine, interaction.
Then comes O.G. OOOOOO.GGGGG. Would you expect anything different from Big Bro O.G.?
Guy just played a hundred minutes in 5 quarters. Lost a heartbreaker. Probably showed his emotion a grand total of 3 times in the game. And despite all that comes up to the two kids and goes absolute older brother on both of them. He grabs the youngest’s arms kindly and then facewashes and lovingly stiff arms the eldest. It’s sooo O.G. Makes my heart swell.
Finally, it’s Papa Thad arriving and giving Mama a playful slap of the phone. The end.
Papa Thad’s not done.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the confrontation with him and Scottie.
I won’t speculate. That stuff happens. Whatever.
Listen to Thad’s post-game though.
Papa. Brother. Sons. You name it.
Thad and his family enrich this team.
