There are things that you have to be able to guarantee for your fans if you usher them into a rebuild and want to retain their viewership. The #1 thing you have to provide? Talented youngsters who everyone can conceivably dream on and attach future stardom onto. With all the injuries to this Raptors squad, you might think they wouldn’t be able to deliver, but that isn’t true, and that’s all because of Gradey Dick.
With a lot of shots available, Dick has taken the opportunity thrust upon him and exploded onto the scene repeatedly. Much has been said about his resiliency as a shot maker (and shot taker) — bouncing around screens, running almost more than anyone in the NBA, creating exhaustion in those who watch him — but he has proven he has the “score over half of his teams points in a half” type of resiliency and gumption.
The Raptors, who were consistently turned away from the basket by Brook Lopez (who loomed larger than life) and shot a collective 10-30 from the floor for 21 points if you remove Dick’s contributions. Coming into this game, Dick has been one of the best players in the NBA at attacking closeouts, but I’m not sure anyone was expecting him to get downhill so often and with so much vigor that he would repeatedly run roughshod into the towering Lopez for 14 free throw attempts in a half (and surely some bruises in the morning).
He also ran Giannis Antetokounmpo sideline to sideline off a simple handoff, pumped, pivoted, and found Jakob Poeltl for an easy dump down bucket. Dick took Andre Jackson Jr. for a ride that included two big throw ahead dribbles, one slick hang dribble, and his patented fall away baseline jumper. He pulled up with reckless abandon from 29 feet off of a Davion Mitchell handoff. The Raptors young star popped off to the tune of 22 first half points, and did so while being a top priority for the Bucks defense. Really impressive stuff.
“It’s cup night, so there’s a lot more on the line.” Dick said at halftime. “I think we all move, we all cut, we don’t let it get stagnant and it forces them to react to us. That helps open up gaps and shots.”
Wise words from the Raptors movement czar.
Of course the first bucket of the second half would be a Dick 3-pointer after relocating, and kicked off a torrid run of play that saw the Raptors erase an 11-point deficit in less than 2-and-a-half minutes of play. Five points from Dick, a step-back triple from RJ Barrett, and 6 seconds of full court pressure from Mitchell netted a steal and a cross court feed to Ochai Agbaji for a corner triple. Of course the Bucks had a run in them to respond, and it was largely built off of the overwhelming excellence of Antetokounmpo, but that’s basketball! Basketball!!
Interested in more of how Dick made things happen on offense? Well, he delivered the assist for the highlight of Bruno Fernando’s career. An empty-side pick n’ roll where the Bucks overextended their two-man screen coverage, letting Dick slide the pocket pass between them and Fernando detonated on Antetokounmpo for a highlight dunk. He also hit a tween-step-back pull-up triple against a close contest.
As fun as it was to watch Dick perform his outstanding feats on the basketball court, the Raptors rolled out a lineup of Fernando-Chris Boucher-Jamal Shead-Jamison Battle- Jonathan Mogbo to start the fourth quarter. In other words, they looked at the 14-point deficit heading into the 4th quarter and said “let’s make sure this sticks”. Players who have been pretty good lately like Barrett, Agbaji, and Poeltl? Didn’t bring a lick tonight. After the Raptors broke off that 11-0 run to tie things up early in the second half, they allowed a 34-15 run over the next 12 minutes (roughly) of play. The highlight of the game as it dwindled down, though? Dick strutting down the lane and tucking in a high-rising floater over the outstretched arms of Lopez, and stamping his new career high – even if it came amidst a series of rimmed out layups and absurdly difficult 3-point attempts that tanked his efficiency a little bit.
The Raptors had a bit of a run in them, but they couldn’t run past the lengthy stiff arm that Antetokounmpo was holding them back with. It was scrappy to finish, and while that has been a good look quite often for the Raptors, it wasn’t to finish this game. It’s not as if the Raptors were considered heavy favorites, or medium favorites, or slight favorites, or perhaps even considered at all as a threat to win the NBA Cup, but they didn’t start out very strong. Still injured, still moving forward. Now 2-10.
We move.
Have a blessed day.
