Raptors putting the ‘D’ back in defence | Toronto Sun
DeMar DeRozan is a guy who makes his name scoring. Defence is important but it’s not how he makes his money. But DeRozan wants to win as badly as anybody in that Raptors’ locker room and he’s convinced that the defensive changes the team has made will get him closer to that goal. He also happens to think Casey’s tweaked defence, which has taken returning Raptors such as himself some getting used to, is the area of greatest progress since camp began. “We came a long way especially for a lot of us that were here, and learning a whole new defence,” he said. “I haven’t blued (a form of defending the side pick and roll that keeps the ball handler from getting to the middle of the floor or the paint) or kept the ball on the sidelines since my rookie year. It’s something new for me and for all of us to get accustomed to doing. That was the biggest strides for us and I think everything else will come in line offensively.” Fortunately things got to such a bleak point a year ago defensively that all those returning players saw the need for such an intense focus on one side of the ball.
Raptors Roundtable: Casey, Ujiri & front office Q’s | Sportsnet.ca
The focus on defence was a must, but it’ll be interesting to see how well the offence of this lineup handles itself. Last season they were a weird contradiction in terms—they were relatively efficient despite taking lots of unadvisable shots. But they’ve lost their two most consistent bench scorers, who—for whatever downsides come along with this—could create their own shots. If the commitment to ball movement doesn’t take, that just leaves a larger burden on Lowry and DeRozan, and a lot of late-clock heaves in the hands of guys who don’t thrive in doing so.
Stackhouse is fitting in on Raptors coaching staff | TSN
Stackhouse doesn’t remember thinking about coaching much as a player. It’s something that became of interest late in his career, almost by default, as he recalls. “I was going out and watching my son play on a seventh grade team,” he said. “And saw that they really had no structure, they were just rolling the ball out there. I was like, I got time, I could do it, I could help these kids and maybe give them a chance to play at the next level.” It didn’t take long before his passion for coaching grew. He had been a mentor to many teammates, both young and old, during the latter years of his carer, but NBA players have already established certain habits and a style of play they don’t necessarily want tinkered with. This was different. He loved being able to teach, watch young players grow, get better and be an integral part of their development on the court.
Toronto Raptors 2015-16 Player Preview: The Disappearing James Johnson | Raptors HQ
The first thing you notice when you see Johnson in the locker room, slumped low in his chair, is the tattoo. Naymin, in big block letters across his neck, announces his infant son. He talks in a low voice, except when joking with nearby teammates (usually Terrence Ross or the now-departed Greivis Vasquez). If Johnson’s new role on the team, behind DeMarre, and Luis Scola, and Patrick Patterson and maybe even Anthony Bennett, bothers him, he hasn’t shown it. If it angers him to have a coach who only seems to trust him as a last ditch efforts, we don’t know. If he’s aware of always being the toughest person in any given room, he keeps it to himself. It’s easy to wonder why Johnson’s basketball career isn’t a bigger deal than it is; easier still to wonder what he thinks about it, or if he thinks about it at all.
James Johnson Will Help The Raptors This Season | Pro Bball Report
“I think being in the league and out of the league and being on some tough teams – some really good teams and some really bad teams – I’ve learned not to lose my confidence over stuff like that and not get upset,” Johnson told Pro Bball Report. “The coach wants to win just like you do and he is going to put people in positions to be successful regardless of whether we win or lose. So I have to keep that in the back of my mind, keep your attitude and your self in check, it’s tough. “During the year people are going to get hurt, god forbid, and people are going to have to step up and when those people come back from being hurt, they go back to their normal role regardless of whether you have been playing the best basketball of your career or not. So you got to know that and know you are just here to help.”
Know Your Raptors ep.12: Bruno Caboclo | Sportsnet.ca
Caboclo will likely spend most of the season in Mississauga after playing eight games for the Raptors last season and averaging just under three minutes a game. With a 7’7” wingspan, Caboclo is an exciting but raw prospect whose time in the NBA Summer League was one of highs and lows. At only 20 years old, both physical and mental maturity are required for Caboclo. He offers tremendous promise but still needs to get his reps in and become properly acclimatized to the pro game. But don’t expect the Raptors to bury him this season. In Mississauga, he’ll have the opportunity to do that and he’ll benefit from being close enough to Raptors coaches and management as well.
Toronto Raptors 2015-16 Player Preview: Bismack Biyombo, Your New Favourite Dude | Raptors HQ
Again, though, he’s willing to work hard. His offensive rebound has gone up every year he’s been in the league. Last year, it took a jump from 5.1 per 100 possessions to 6.6. He’s a good finisher from that distance as well, making 60.4% of shots five feet and in last season. It’s nothing glamorous, but having that blue collar presence on the Raptors interior should bolster their efforts. With plenty of guard penetration, attention will be off Biyombo and will afford him opportunities to score. Ultimately, it’s the hard work aspect that should endear Raptors fans to Biyombo on both ends of the court. He plays bigger than his 6’9″ frame and has a motor that will help win interior battles. If you’re a fan of hard work and looking for a bench guy to latch on to, I give him my full recommendation.
Raptors Roundtable: Is Jonas Valanciunas poised to break out? | Sportsnet.ca
Valanciunas will take a small step this season particularly if the team’s offensive system runs well. He will be a key in slower paced offensive game that helps the defensive attitude. The new defensive approach will help keep him closer to the basket and may help keep him on the floor more late in games, then again, it depends on the matchup with the opposition’s personnel and the situation in the game.
Toronto Raptors 2015-16 Player Preview: Is it Finally Jonas Valanciunas’ Time? | Raptors HQ
Last season, Valanciunas played and started in 80 games. He posted a career high in scoring with 12.0 points per contest, adding 8.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 57.2 percent from the floor and 78.6 percent from the free throw line. He did all that in a mere 26.2 minutes per contest, though, including an average of only 5.1 fourth-quarter minutes (the ninth-highest mark on the whole team). There were even 23 games in which Valanciunas didn’t see the floor for a single second of the game’s final frame. Coach Dwane Casey, much to the chagrin of many Raptor fans, has displayed a lack of trust in Jonas when it has come to those late-game situations, preferring to go small instead.
Are the Toronto Raptors better than the Bulls? | Blog a Bull
I’m just saying I don’t want to imagine a world where Doug McDermott has to defend an on-fire T-Ross. Rose and Lowry is a great matchup that could go either way on any given night. Carroll seems like a natural matchup for Butler (edge: Jimmy, but it’s not a blowout), Mirotic and Patrick Patterson is nice little stretch-four duel and Jonas could conceivably have an edge against Noah this year. With that being said, the Bulls just seem to have a higher ceiling and a higher floor. I’m guessing Toronto finishes closer to 40 wins than 50 wins and has trouble sneaking into the playoffs.
Stein’s Power Rankings: Season’s-eve edition | ESPN
The four teams in the 12-15 range — the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards — all realistically start the regular season on even footing and could easily just consider themselves as tied for No. 12 until the real games start separating them. Indiana (No. 19 to No. 16 thanks to how good Paul George has looked lately) and Sacramento (No. 21 to No. 19) are the standout upward movers, thanks to the increasingly upbeat buzz that both teams are generating lately about actually sneaking into the playoffs this season.
Six NBA Preseason Lessons Learned | Basketball Insiders
Before everyone was talking about how many points Kyle Lowry was pouring in during the preseason, the big story about Lowry was that he lost a significant amount of weight in the offseason to help him stay healthier over the course of the grueling NBA campaign. While he has been fairly healthy the last two seasons, Lowry does have a history of getting dinged up and losing weight is a great way to approach correcting that heading into a new season. Regarding those points, though, Lowry looked like the league’s preseason MVP through his first three contests, averaging over 30 PPG in that time, including a 40-point performance in under 30 minutes back on October 12. His final two performances of the preseason were much more human, but we’ve seen just how effective Lowry can be and how much his new body type has helped his effectiveness. He’s in for a big year.
Ranking the NBA’s impact players for 2015-16 season | USA Today
Carroll is coming off the best season of his career when he started and averaged a career-high 12.6 points for a 60-win Atlanta Hawks team that lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals. Carroll is mostly known for his perimeter defense, but he recently has shown a more complete offensive game. He made 120 three-pointers in 70 games and connected on 39.5% of his three-point attempts last season. The Raptors rewarded him with a four-year, $60 million contract. The Washington Wizards swept the Raptors in a first-round playoff series, but adding Carroll should give Toronto a good chance to win a postseason series for the first time since 2001 and only the second time in the franchise’s 21-year history.
23 bold predictions for the 2015-16 NBA season. | Sports on Earth
Remove the best team defender and most efficient scorer from any team in the league and there’s a good chance it’ll struggle. This is not complicated. Toronto lost Amir Johnson and Lou Williams, both of whom finished in the top five in Win Shares for them a year ago. Canadian optimists will cite the addition of DeMarre Carroll, a trim Kyle Lowry, an improved Jonas Valanciunas and a more defensive-minded supporting cast as reason why the Raptors should be feared. But I’m not buying it. What happens if this amended core is no closer to a title than last year’s frustrating bunch? Who knows? Maybe GM Masai Ujiri takes a step back and lets it all play out into the summer. Or maybe he shops DeRozan. The one-time All-Star supposedly loves living in Toronto, but his inefficient, iso-heavy skill set remains troublesome. He’ll be a 26-year-old free agent this summer, and it’s unclear if Toronto will have much interest in bringing him back on a pricey contract, especially if DeRozan continues to fire up long twos like they aren’t the least cool thing he could possibly do.
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