Make no mistake; the Raptors have put themselves in serious jeopardy, and the status quo cannot continue.
When a sports team, like, say, the Toronto Raptors, puts in a dreadful performance, for instance, yesterday in Indianapolis, there are a couple of reactions possible from team management.
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They could pooh-pooh the result, brushing it off as just a bad day at the office. If that were their conclusion, little or no change in the roster or players’ playing time could be expected in their next outing.
Or they could react in a mood little short of panic, in which some players are benched while others are pushed to the forefront in a desperate attempt to re-establish the team’s footing before it’s too late.
I don’t think I’m of a frantic nature most of the time, but this isn’t most of the time. Coach Dwane Casey needs to make some changes, starting now.
Luis Scola needs to be parked on the bench. He has eight points in four games, and is substituted for quickly. What are we doing here? If Casey is convinced Patrick Patterson isn’t comfortable as a starter, let’s give Jason Thompson a chance. He’s a veteran, and can help defensively. At least he won’t be a liability.
You don’t like that idea? Fine, let’s go small. DeMarre Carroll moves to the 4-spot, and Norman Powell starts at shooting guard. Hopefully surrounding Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan with more outside shooting will lessen their concerns about providing the bulk of Raptors scoring. Something’s got to shake those two out of their funk.
I’m not terribly worried about Indiana’s big men. If Ian Mahinmi and Lavoy Allen are the difference-makers for the Pacers, the Raptors deserve to lose the series. Should they appear to be out-muscling our tiny lineup, bring in 2-Pat and Bismack Biyombo as early as necessary.
Stop giving the ball to DeRozan every trip down the floor. He has 13 turnovers to his (dis)credit, and has made 21 baskets. That’s a formula for disaster, as is a cumulative plus-minus of minus_20. His failures are one more reason to roll out the small ball lineup, as he won’t be the only player capable of creating off the dribble, or of paint penetration.
The Raptors still are not pounding the ball inside. Jonas Valanciunas made 6 of 7 shots in the Saturday debacle. Remove his numbers from the game, and you’ve got these grisly figures: the remaining Raptors shot 21 of 67, or just over 31%. You might win the Thursday lunchtime pickup game at the Y shooting so poorly, but not an NBA playoff.
Dwane Casey is a players’ coach, which is essential to his success and longevity in the NBA, the quintessential players’ league. But this team is nearly out of runway. The Raptors need to win 2 of their next 3 games, or the future will become orders of magnitude uglier than the past. Casey must impose his authority on the underperformers. If they don’t like it, so what? They will be packing their suitcases anyway.