While Capital City Go-Go (3-2) were on the second day of a back-to-back on Sunday, it was the Raptors 905 (1-3) who looked tired.
The 905 lost their third straight game, 131-113 to the Go-Go at the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena – the third and final stop of their season-long five-game road trip.
The Mississauga squads defence, which had been solid to this point (they came into the game with a 106.6 defensive rating, good for 12th in the G League) looked disconnected and lacked hustle.
There were times where the 905 were slow to get back on defence in transition, including a play at the start of the second quarter where Charlie Brown Jr. didn’t make an effort to get back in semi-transition, allowing Erik Stevenson to make an open corner 3.
Later in the quarter, Evan Gilyard missed a rotation, failing to fill to the corner on a Justin Champagnie drive, leaving Ruben Nembhard Jr. open for another easy corner triple.
This game started off as a track meet, and when the two teams weren’t trading run-outs in transition, they were allowing blowbys for straight line drives to rim. The 905’s current leading scorer, Kennedy Chandler, was a major culprit here. However, Chandler did have two steals that he ran the other way for points, one of which contributed to an early 14-7 905 lead. This was fuelled by 10 points off five Go-Go turnovers and resulted in them calling a timeout.
The only things that kept the score low early were some blown lay-ups and the barren 3-point land, as the 905 and Capital City combined to go 1-of-15 from distance in the first quarter.
While his defence wasn’t always great, Gilyard broke out on the other end of the floor. The five-foot-ten guard didn’t just provide a spark off the bench, he was a white-hot flame. He got to the rim repeatedly and rained 3s, scoring in bunches. The Kansas City product’s ability to get downhill on drives was impressive and he displayed a soft touch making multiple silky floaters. Gilyard also hit three third-quarter triples, including a 27-foot pull up from above-the-break, punctuating a 16-2 905 run. His third 3-pointer of the quarter evened the score at 83, but the Go-Go responded with some shot-making of their own, making six of their next 10 3s.
Prior to this game, Gilyard had played a total of 16 minutes on the season, appearing in two of the 905’s three games. He finished with both a team-high and career-high 30 points, shooting 5-of-9 from distance and added five assists.
Michael Foster and Nembhard Jr. led the way for Capital City. Foster was everywhere in the first quarter, he hit the lone 3, rolled hard to the rim and scored at said rim, rebounded vigorously, and swatted an attempted lay-up by Kevin Obanor.
Nembhard Jr. – a six-foot-four guard – did it all. He made 2-of-3 triples, slashed into the lane and got to the line where he made all six of his free throws.
Both players finished with a double-double – 22 points and 12 rebounds for Foster and 23 points and 11 rebounds for Nembhard Jr., who also tallied eight assists. The Go-Go had seven players score in double digits.
Capital City also wore some sweet scrabble inspired jerseys for its “board game night”.
Check these bad boys out:
Old friends became foes
The Raptors 905 visited some familiar faces in Washington. Former 905ers (and Raptors) Champagnie and Mouhamadou Gueye both started for the Go-Go, while Kira Lewis Jr. sat out with a hamstring injury.
Champagnie drove into the paint effectively, although he didn’t always have much resistance. He finished with a 21-point 10-rebounded double-double – one of three Go-Go players to do so – and added five assists.
Gueye, on the other hand, had mixed results. He started the game 1-of-7 from the floor, but later feasted on Ulrich Chomche. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Chomche watch
Coming off his strongest performance of the year, Chomche got the opportunity to start at centre in place of recent departure Branden Carlson. Unfortunately, the 18-year old’s minutes were limited early in this game due to foul trouble. He committed two in the first two minutes of the game – a shooting foul on Nemhard and an offensive foul – and Dylan Disu came in to replace him as the nominal small-ball five. This same pattern reoccurred, with Chomche returning, quickly committing two more fouls, and being replaced by Disu.
The first ever player drafted out of the NBA Academy Africa, the youngest player taken in the 2024 NBA Draft, and the youngest player on an NBA roster period, Chomche continues to deserve our patience. His development will be a long process starting with baby steps, and those steps won’t always be forward.
On top of the foul trouble, Gueye got the best of Chomche down low. The former 905er easily out maneuvered him with good footwork on post ups, either beating him to the basket or drawing a foul.
Chomche finished with four points and four rebounds in his limited minutes.
Key stat
Rebounding has been a problem for the 905 so far this season, and that continued in this game. They lost the battle on the boards 59-37. This included giving up some momentum killing offensive rebounds that resulted in easy put-backs or kick outs for 3s for the Go-Go, instead of valuable transition opportunities.
The 905 came into the game ranked 24th in rebounding percentage (46.8) 27th in offensive rebounding percentage (28.8) and 25th in defensive rebounding percentage (63.7).
Up next
The 905 will inevitably get some reinforcements in the form of Jamal Shead, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamison Battle, DJ Carton, and probably even some of Ja’Kobe Walter. That is, when the Toronto Raptors regain some semblance of health.
This will greatly improve the 905’s roster, and should make for some exciting hoops as we get to watch some NBA-level talent work to develop their game.
The 905 will stick around in the U.S. capital to take on the Go-Go again on Tuesday.
The junior Raptors were unable to put an end to the College Park Sky Hawks recent dominance previously in Atlanta. But they have a chance to flip the script again and end their six-game losing streak against Capital City that dates back to January 2023.