Raptors Roundup: Magic Barneson, Mamu mania, and optimizing the offense

Welcome to Raptors Roundup! A weekly recap of everything going on in the world of the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors have not been an excellent offensive team all season, they have been easily bogged down in the halfcourt and typically have deferred to Ingram to bail them out. This past week the Raptors scored 139+ points twice, and in both those games Ingram didn’t play. Earlier this week, Joe Wolfond wrote an incredible piece about how Ingram and Rajakovic’s conflicting offensive identities have contributed to a sometimes dysfunctional offense:

This team’s offensive identity under Darko Rajakovic had been built on pace, ball movement, cutting, and continuity, whereas Ingram was bringing with him a long history of high-viscosity hoops. 

Despite making some subtle adjustments to facilitate better flow this season, that’s still largely who Ingram is as a player. His default setting is languid. Sometimes when the ball finds him, it sticks, and watching him gradually nudge those possessions along can be like watching someone try to coax honey out of an upturned jar. 

• Joe Wolfond

The piece came at an opportune time, as the offense has undoubtedly looked more fluid in the games that Ingram missed this week (Utah and Orlando). I’ve seen some people take this extremely small sample size of two games and parade it as undeniable evidence that Scottie Barnes should have always been playing point guard. Now I won’t say these people are wrong, but it’s not so cut and dry. Utah is an awful basketball team trying to lose basketball games, Orlando had one of the worst games I’ve ever seen, I mean they legitimately gave up the largest unanswered run in the NBA over the last 30 years. So before we start formulating trades for Ingram and slot Barnes in as PG1, we need to take a step back.

The way this past week went is certainly evidence that putting the ball in Barnes’ hands more is needed, but we have to remember why the Raptors traded for Ingram to begin with. The half court scoring on this team was putrid for years, and Ingram provided a solution, albeit a flawed one. As Joe concluded in his piece, there’s a need for Ingram, and if he can be deployed alongside this fast, fluid offense that the Raptors displayed, then the ceiling of this offense is much higher.

I’ve harped on this before, but this season has been a success regardless of how you feel about the team. All of these late-season games, running the offense through Barnes, playing without Ingram, or Quickley, or Barrett, or Poeltl, is all important data points. And really that’s what this season was all about, collecting as much data as possible to inform the next iteration of this team, both for the coaching staff and the front office.

Game Recaps

Raptors flex their muscles on Jazz in blowout victory | Final: 143-127

Jamison Battle had one of his better games in recent months, recording 17 points with 4 made threes. He did what he usually does, spot up for threes, and wait for Toronto’s creators to find him behind the arc, and hit the occasional layup after cutting to the basket. Good on him for not letting his minutes tonight go to waste.

Barnes also had a dominant game, which is to be expected. His mid-range touch looked phenomenal, his playmaking was crisp, hitting cutters while at a standstill for easy rim looks. Utah would try to have the low man stop Barnes from rolling to the rim, or try to have his matchup keep him from getting deep paint positioning, but it was all ineffective. Barnes was too strong and forceful for Utah to contain, and he just had his way whenever he decided. 

All in all this game was nothing special for Toronto, they handled their business against a team much worse than them, which is something that they should easily be able to do. It’s still good to add a win to the win column nonetheless, and with the eastern conference being as tight as it is, every win counts.

• Mikai Bruce

Top Performers:

1. RJ Barrett – 27 PTS, 2 REB, 6 AST, 10-15 FG, 4-5 3FG, 3-7 FT +18 +/-
2. Scottie Barnes – 20 PTS, 7 REB, 10 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 8-10 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-3 FT +16 +/-
3. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 23 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 5 STL, 1 BLK, 9-14 FG, 3-6 3FG, 2-4 FT +25 +/-

Raptors stifled by Clippers defense in blowout loss | Final: 94-119

The Toronto Raptors traveled to Intuit Dome to face off against the Los Angeles Clippers on the road, and they were simply outclassed. The Clippers are not a formidable defensive team on paper, sitting at 18th in the league in overall defense, but their game plan last night was executed well, and it really had Toronto struggling to get consistent looks. The Clippers collapsing in the paint and clogging in the mid-range area combined with Toronto not being able to convert on the majority of their three-point looks led to Toronto never being in this game. They were down big early, and the Clippers continued to pour it on for the rest of the night.

Toronto is known to struggle on the offensive end, and the Clippers used their lack of shooting to their detriment. LA left Brook Lopez in drop coverage, and they had the next man help on any Toronto drive, whether it was in isolation or pick n’ roll and this was how they were able to clog the lane and mid-range area. The Clippers did not fear what Toronto’s shooters would do if given the space to shoot, and felt comfortable with late closeouts if it meant they could help on each drive. 

• Mikai Bruce

Top Performers:

1. Brandon Ingram – 18 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 8-18 FG, 2-3 3FG, -15 +/-
2. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 13 PTS, 7 REB, 5-7 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-1 FT -8 +/-
3. Scottie Barnes – 9 PTS, 8 REB, 12 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 4-11 FG, 1-2 3FG, 0-1 FT -7 +/-

 Scottie Barnes drives Raptors past Pelicans with masterful control | Final: 119-106

Against the Pelicans, the Raptors were very efficient while out and running. In the first half the Raptors half court offense was tremendously middling. Less than mediocre, honestly. 91 points per 100 possessions. In transition? 155 points per 100 possessions. They were assaulting the rim, making nearly everything at 15/20. The box score featured 7 different players sitting between 6 and 11 points at halftime. The mix of stout defense and open court ball sharing meant that Collin Murray-Boyles was outscoring Zion Williamson after 24 minutes of play time, but he did have to leave the game with back spasms. Tidy work from the Raptors.

…

It was a very comfortable close to the game for the Raptors. They poured it on, and without asking much of themselves. Well timed passes. Well timed cuts. Intentional, smart play. They were where they needed to be at the end. With a bit over 2 minutes to play Coach Darko called a timeout with a 20-point lead and emptied the bench. Victory cigars all around. More games like this en route to the end of the season, and hopefully to avoiding the play-in tournament.

• Samson Folk

Top Performers:

1. Scottie Barnes – 23 PTS, 6 REB, 12 AST, 2 STL, 3 BLK, 10-14 FG, 3-3 FT, +16 +/-
2. Jakob Poeltl – 18 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 9-11 FG, +15 +/-
3. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 18 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 7-14 FG, 3-5 3FG, 1-2 FT, +9 +/-

Raptors hand keys to Scottie Barnes again in record setting obliteration of Magic | 139-87

Without Brandon Ingram out for the game, the first stint was distinctly “Barnes Ball.” with Barnes providing 6 points (off two separate pull up triples) and 3 assists. A very limited offensive run for the team at 14 team points across 14 possessions and almost 7 minutes, yes, but a widening of the sample size that Rajakovic referred to prior to the game. What came after, with a transitional lineup that didn’t feature the Raptors all-star, and then Barnes’ eventual return to the lineup, was a helter-skelter 24-0 run for the Raptors. Fuelled by turnovers, some Sandro Mamukelashvili, and two straight Barnes dunks in transition, the Raptors launched themselves into a huge lead at 38-20. Over 5 minutes of scoreless basketball for the Magic. They had 12 first quarter turnovers.

“It’s tricky because they do such a great job of it.” Coach Jamahl Mosley told me before the game of the Raptors forcing turnovers. “They don’t give you one set way of doing it. One time you can bring the ball up the floor, and you think you’re by yourself and suddenly Scottie’s flying from the baseline to trap the ball. The next time down you’re in the post, you think you’re alone and all of a sudden RJ’s coming to double the ball out of nowhere. There’s not really a full structure to how they do it. They read off each other, they play off each other very well, and they fly around and cover for each other. So, we just needed to make sure we went through as many scenarios as we could before the game. But also, helping our guys understand at any moment, it’s live, so we have to be prepared to be outlets for each other.”

• Samson Folk

Top Performers:

1. Scottie Barnes – 23 PTS, 5 REB, 15 AST, 3 STL, 9-14 FG, 2-2 3FG, 3-5 FT, +30 +/-
2. RJ Barrett – 24 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 8-14 FG, 0-4 3FG, 8-8 FT, +22 +/-
3. Sandro Mamukelashvili – 19 PTS, 4 REB, 3 STL, 8-13 FG, 2-4 3FG, 1-1 FT, +47 +/-

Quick Reaction Roundup

Take a peek at this week’s Quick Reaction grades throughout the week.

Raptor of the week: Scottie Barnes

Point Scottie was in full effect this past week given the absence of Immanuel Quickley, and boy did he excel in that role. In every single game this week Barnes had 10+ assists and further than the raw numbers, the quality of shots he generated were off the charts. The offense had a lot more zip with Barnes leading the way.

Over the week Barnes put up averages of 18.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 12.3 assists, and 3.3 stocks while shooting 63.3% from the field, 66.7% from three, and 75% from the free throw line.

One of the statistics that strongly correlates with Barnes leading the offensive charge is that there was six Raptors who averaged double-digit scoring this week. All of Barrett (20.3), Barnes (18.8), Mamukelashvili (18.3), Ingram (15.5), Walter (13.8) and Poeltl (13.0) eclipsed the mark while Murray-Boyles fell just short at 9.3 points per game. It backs up the eye-test from the big wins in Orlando and Utah, with Barnes in charge, the offense features everyone more heavily, it’s less predictable and when everyone is involved it makes defending the Raptors much harder. After a post All-Star slump Barnes is rounding back into form just in time for the playoffs.

Also, I wanted to give an honourable mention to Mamukelashvili, who has been absolutely amazing this past week. His defense has been off the charts, he seems to have gained a sixth sense for jumping passing lanes and he’s provided dynamic offense playing additional minutes alongside Poeltl.

Current Raptor of the Week standings:

1. Scottie Barnes – 6 times
2. Brandon Ingram – 4 times
3. Immanuel Quickley – 2 times
4. Ja’Kobe Walter – 2 times
5. Collin Murray-Boyles – 2 times
6. RJ Barrett – 1 time
7. Jakob Poeltl – 1 time

Top pieces of the week

Looking Ahead

Tuesday, March 31st – Pistons @ Raptors | 8:00pm ET on Sportsnet

Wednesday, April 1st – Kings @ Raptors | 8:00pm ET on TSN

Friday, April 3rd – Raptors @ Grizzlies | 8:00pm ET on Sportsnet

Sunday, April 5th – Raptors @ Celtics | 3:30pm ET on Sportsnet

Record Prediction: 3-1 – The Pistons are beatable without Cade Cunningham, if you lose to the Kings you may as well drop out of the playoff race out of shame, Grizzlies should be a win and then I just still don’t see a way to beat Boston honestly. They have too many threats that the Raptors have proven unable to stop even before Jayson Tatum returned.

That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Raptors Roundup, thank you for reading! Have a wonderful week!

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