Teams the Toronto Raptors Bench Unit Could Beat (Part 2)
Nov 7, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) faces Toronto Raptors forward Patrick Patterson (54) in the first period. Toronto won 103-84. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports
This is the second part of a multi-part series. If you haven’t read part one, click here.
Most of us have said it before: the Raptors have one of the deepest, if not the single deepest bench in the league. Further, most of Toronto’s supporting cast have experience (40+ games) as starters in the Association.
Which teams could the bench unit defeat if they were the starters, and Lowry, DeRozan, Johnson (Amir), Ross and Valanciunas didn’t exist? For the sake of this series, let’s simply compare Toronto’s top-five bench players with the five regular starters for some of the league’s saddest squads.
The Raptors
*Big change here: with James Johnson out (sprained ankle), The bench unit will take some considerable reworking. It’s hard to say who will be doing exactly what for the next few weeks, but I decided to go with the change that would cause the least amount of shuffling. Landry Fields (yeah, he’s still on the team) will slide into Johnson’s position. Fields offers great defending, much like Johnson, so the Raptors won’t lose much on that end. Fields is actually often a more intelligent player than Johnson. The big loss is on the offensive end, where Fields offers very little. Johnson is averaging an efficient 7.6 points per game, and seemed to be really coming into his own right before his injury. Fields has one basket (two points) to his name this season, though he has been playing very limited minutes, appearing only in four games.
Centre: Tyler Hansbrough
Power Forward: Patrick Patterson
Small Forward: Landry Fields
Shooting Guard: Louis Williams
Point Guard: Greivis Vasquez
A Team They Could Easily Beat
Nov 19, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) help forward Josh Smith (6) to his feet during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Detroit Pistons
Centre: Andre Drummond
Power Forward: Greg Monroe
Small Forward: Josh Smith
Shooting Guard: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Point Guard: Brandon Jennings
The Pistons should be a better team than they are, since they actually have a host of decent players. Unfortunately, they have been playing dysfunctional basketball for the last few years, with no real improvements in sight this season. Basically, the whole team has been shooting terribly. The Raptors would win easily by playing superior defence and scoring enough to coast. A Particular weak point for Detroit can be seen in Caldwell-Pope, who has a player efficiency rating of just 8.2, averaging 11.8 points per game. If the Raptors were to play slightly relaxed defence on Caldwell-Pope, and frequently double team Jennings, they would stifle the Pistons’ chances of igniting. Patterson would have a big game, using his three-point ability to punish the often weak Detroit defence, and effectively create space for his teammates to work. Plus Fields would shut down the struggling Josh Smith, who is already averaging a field goal percentage of just 36.9.
A Team They Could Grind Out a Close Win Against
Nov 18, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Nick Young (0) reacts after making a basket in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Lakers won 114-109. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles Lakers
Center: Jordan Hill
Power Forward: Carlos Boozer
Small Forward: Nick Young
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant
Point Guard: Jeremy Lin
A few days ago, I would have put the Lakers in the “Teams They Could beat Easily” category. Then, Nick Young returned from injury (thumb), and the Lakers started looking a whole lot better. Obviously, this team is still a mess, and they will have a terrible next few seasons. However, since Kobe has shown that he can still be an effective player in this league, I think they would be able to compete against the Raps. Swaggy P and the Black Mamba should be a capable offensive duo this season, and the Raps would need to come hard defensively to cope. Landry fields would have to play really well on Young, and Williams would have to play really, really well on Bryant. Regardless, Kobe would light it up. Defensively, the Lakers are pretty weak. The Raptors bigs- Patterson and Hansbrough, would have huge offensive games against Boozer and Hill. Overall the Raptors are a good enough defensive team to grind out a win against even the strongest offence
the Lakers
Kobe ft. Swaggy P could muster.
In the comments, let me know what other teams you think the bench unit could beat.