Quick Reaction: Raptors 132, Wizards 102

Great transition offence and energy from Siakam in the first half, it was good to see he was playing to his strengths in the mid-range and attacking the paint, rather than settling for jumpers. His high level of play continued into the second half as he poured it on the Wizards. Siakam plays his best when he doesn’t settle & force shots and just takes what the game gives him.

O.G.’s shot struggled early on, but he got it rolling soon after. Making it look easy with some tough finishes at the rim, constantly running the floor helping guys like Dennis and Scottie to find him easily on the fast break. If we continue to get his level of offence from O.G., the team will have one less thing to worry about.

Lazy paint defence early in the first by Jak, giving up some easy lobs as soon as someone penetrates the paint. Poeltl dealt with some early foul trouble and couldn’t get it going until late in the game.

He is him. Scottie continues to impress and show off why he is the team’s best player. Scottie was on fire in the first half draining three after three. He also showed off his point guard abilities helping to lead the offense and picking up some impressive assists. As the season progresses, I would like to see Scottie continue to lead the starters, especially against some of the tougher teams and see what results it can yield.

Gary provided the team with some good offence when we needed it, hopefully, this continues to be an upward trend and his offensive game becomes more and more consistent. One of my biggest nitpicks with his game tonight is when he chose to take the three instead of passing the ball when the team had a 3 on 1. We saw Dennis pass up a shot leading to an easy and one for O.G. and this could’ve been the same thing, it’s the little things that make all the difference.

Dennis came in off the bench in the first and his impact was immediately noticed, helping to spark an 8-0 run. He was penetrating finding the open man rather easy. He doesn’t have to worry too much about scoring himself, he can help create for the second unit. I love the idea of Dennis leading the bench unit, they have someone they can look to, to help keep them on track.

Boucher had a solid game! He hit the threes when needed and played decent defence. Boucher has to look to box out and crash the boards more, there is no reason why Jordan Poole should be out-husting him twice for the offensive boards.

Otto makes an appearance tonight, he had himself a solid game given the minutes played. Going 3 for 3 and providing some well-played passes for easy layups. Let’s hope we can see more minutes for him as he can provide some great minutes to this team off the bench.

I believe Jalen can be a solid piece on this team with some solid minutes helping him develop. His ability to move without the ball is impressive, leading to an easy backdoor cut or a transition lob.

Precious subbed into the third after Jakob was dealing with some foul trouble, and had some great defensive energy, good rotations, and on-ball defence. My biggest complaint with Precious is that he needs to get his offence going with whatever time he has on the court.

Garbage time. (Although he did have a nice cut and dunk to the basket)

Garbage time.

Garbage time.

Made a fantastic decision tonight bringing Dennis off the bench and starting Gary Trent, allowing Scottie to take on the role of leading the offence. Hopefully, this lineup will continue to prosper going forward.