To enhance the readership/writer dynamic and to take advantage of my being in Calgary to cover the team for training camp – I’m answering questions everyday!
Ask any pressing questions you might have and I’ll answer them!
Some of the questions will require more reporting/digging on my end, but some I can answer right now. Onto a few of yesterday’s questions:
What sort of actions do you think Scottie and Ingram can run on offence? Can it be similar to pascal and Scottie – Peacekeee
This is something I’ve thought about since the moment Ingram got traded to the Raptors and I’ll answer in my own way, but I did ask Scottie about this, and here’s his thoughts on it:
“Those two, they’re both really good scorers. They score in different ways, though.” Barnes said after practice. “But, for sure, any chance to get both of us in a screen and roll, we can do so many different things with the ball in our hands. You know he scores the ball really well. I playmake out of it. He’s showing a lot of flashes on how he can playmake really well. So, any chance that, that can happen, coach is motivating us to get into those actions. He wants us to sniff those out any way possible.”
What made the Siakam/Barnes actions successful was the fact that Siakam was typically, extremely successful scoring against whoever switched off of Barnes. There’s no doubt in my mind that Ingram will be able to do something similar, but also, I think Barnes has made strides in his game since then, and he’ll be well equipped to score against who is switching off of Ingram – especially since teams try and play small, strong defenders on Ingram from time to time to coax more mid-range shooting out of him and to stop him from driving. Barnes, despite being a worse driver overall than Ingram, is a pretty good bully driver (extended back down style drive) and is generally quite good at bullying smaller, strong players.
Siakam and Barnes also had a lot of great synergy as off-ball screeners together because they both have giant catch radiuses and are both very strong finishing at the rim. So, if there was ever any miscommunication by the defense, entry passes for layups were available a decent amount of the time. I don’t think it will be quite as good with Ingram and Barnes, but they should still get those types of looks.
What is the team vibe around having Ingram? Does it look like he’ll be the 1A offense and the rest will get the crumbs? – Ds
I am extremely prepared for Ingram to be the 1A on offense. Both from an expectation and hopeful standpoint. Do I think it’ll be crumbs for the rest? No, I’m sure it’ll be more than that.
The great appeal of Ingram is that he provides a certain floor offensively while he’s in the game. The Raptors clearly feel they don’t have enough on-ball creation on the roster and Ingram is supposed to come in and put things in a better place from both a hierarchical and points per possession point of view. The Raptors are going to try and play in transition very often and stay out of the halfcourt. When they’re in the halfcourt, they have their safety blanket in Ingram.
There will still be room for other guys to try things out. Frankly, until they improve their efficiency, Barnes & Barrett have no business taking 17 shots a game. A couple of Poeltl’s play finishing shots should probably fall into Barnes’ hands, a handful Barnes & Barrett’s creation reps will go to Ingram. It will all shake out, and while I think Ingram will be guaranteed a healthy chunk of the offense, he should be.
There’s still going to be enough room for players who are hitting shots and improving to vault into more important roles. If the Raptors roster improves fast enough on offense to start wondering about Ingram’s usage being too high? That would be an incredible development, and would also make me want to look closer at how Ingram impacts those around him.
Honestly, I don’t expect to see much cutting from Ingram. However, I do expect to see shorter touch times, a higher three point rate, and his familiarly great playmaking to help out others.
How bout a straight easy question, given you’ve now been to a few of these camps. Who looks like they’re coming into camp better than previous years or better than maybe people may have thought? – Robin
Will answer this one at the end of camp.
Any general notes about how Gradey looked, especially with Darko talking about how important defence was in his vision for the team and Gradey not exactly being the greatest in that aspect in his last 2 years? – Gradey Dick Fan
Enjoy today’s interview with Gradey. He’s looked good. Darko had kind words about his defense yesterday:
“Offensively, we’re really focusing with him to play a simple offensive game.” Coach Darko said at practice. “When he has open shots and even slightly contested shots, just to be ready to shoot the ball and to play with a lot of aggressiveness. His physical shape and adding strength is definitely helping with that.”
I’m working on answering some more of the questions, but I am once again happy to answer/hunt for anything you guys ask. So, ask away!
Also, watch the vlog:
Have a blessed day.
