Samson Folk & Louis Zatzman discuss the latest in the Raptors realm.
From Louis’ piece:
“Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the Raptors’ loss, death, massacre was that they spent an entire first quarter going punch for punch. Winning on the scorecard. They absorbed an explosion from Jalen Brunson, spat out some blood, said, ‘is that the best you’ve got?’ and delivered an uppercut via Brandon Ingram. Oh, you’ve got a nuclear bomb? We’ve got one of those too.
Toronto’s offence requires remarkable focus and intent. Cuts are precisely timed, angled, paced. And there are many of them. Screens have to come at just the right moment. Players have to push pace, always, even after opposing makes. For a quarter, that was all there. Barnes pushed after a make, received a screen from Ochai Agbaji, and then threw a no-look rocket to Agbaji as he slipped the screen. And-1. Ingram hit his pull-ups as well as drove for layups. Barnes and Jakob Poeltl battled for offensive rebounds, while Ingram cleaned the defensive glass with ferocity. Ja’Kobe Walter came in off the bench to throw liquid fire through the rim. Jamal Shead blasted past his defender for a laydown pass.
Then Barnes and the bench entered the game to start the second. This is usually when the Raptors build their lead. They are the best one-starter team in the NBA.
Instead, the Knicks plaster them.
First the Raptors miss some open shots, then stops creating them. They let go of the rope. They stop defending, then stop rebounding. Then Brunson comes back into the game and piles on. Poeltl forgets how to play basketball in addition to his bad back, and Barnes stops playing downhill and starts throwing wayward jumpers at the rim. The intentionality goes as the team starts sending two cutters through the same window, or none at all, or multiple screeners to the same side of the ball. Toronto’s offence requires Swiss-watch precision, and instead the Raptors give it Kmart chucklefuckery.”
Have a blessed day.
