Valanciunas is OUT – what can Raptors do now?
By Brian Boake
What can the rest of the Raptors do to mitigate the loss of Valanciunas?
The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday that Jonas Valanciunas’ ankle injury suffered in Saturday’s win over the Miami Heat will keep him off the court for the remainder of the series.
To call this a major blow to the Raptors’ chances of moving on to the Eastern Conference finals would be a severe understatement. JV has been a difference-maker the entire post-season, and we were looking forward to him dominating against another injury victim, Hassan Whiteside. No such luck.
Our choices are to curse the darkness or light a candle. I’ll take the second option. As coach Dwane Casey says, “Next man up”. In this case, Bismack Biyombo is going to be pushed to centre stage. Are our playoff hopes doomed?
First, let’s consider what we’ve lost with Jonas out of commission. JV has been dominating on the defensive boards. That’s important (duh!), but the biggest difficulty will be trying to replace his scoring punch. He’s been the Raptors’ third-highest scorer and by far our most efficient one.
He’s managed a number of put-back hoops on the offensive glass, and that’s great, but he’ll be missed the most because he’s our best big man for creating his own shot. Big Biz gives an effort but hasn’t got the height or moves to be a low-post threat. If he’s going to approach JV’s impact, he’ll need to do so in other ways.
Before I continue, I must point out that so much of what I’m about to postulate is predicated on the belief that Hassan Whiteside will not be at full strength (assuming he’s able to play at all). The odds of a JV-less Raptors squad defeating a Heat one at full strength are too poor to consider.
Biz will likely face Udonis Haslem, who’s a veteran nasty boy. He’s managed to stay 12 seasons in the NBA despite being undersized and not a scorer by hustle and defense. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra could also find minutes for creaky Amar’e Stoudemire or the neglected Josh McRoberts. None of them is a threat to score, but all three will bite, scratch and claw for every rebound or loose ball.
The Raptors, like so many other NBA teams, rely on the high pick and roll to penetrate the opponents’ painted area. Running that play to its natural conclusion, which is either a high-percentage jump shot or a slam-dunk off an alley-oop pass from the point guard, won’t be happening with Biz. He can’t be counted on to receive anything but a perfect pass with no defender to bother him, and Miami isn’t likely to allow easy hoops.
Bismack’s picks will be needed above the arc to grant our ball-handlers some spacing, but he’ll need to deliver several of them on the same possession. Furthermore, the ball will need to zip around the perimeter at a rate faster than the Raptors have displayed so far. The team must shoot better than the 29.8% it has managed so far from beyond the 3-point arc in this series, or the 28.2% versus Indiana.
Biz can’t play 48 minutes. Coach Casey seems to like Patrick Patterson as a sort-of centre when the Raptors play (really) small ball. There’s not much alternative. Perhaps James Johnson might get another chance, or even Jason Thompson, who will certainly be fresh.
I can’t forget Lucas Nogueira, who’s been in street clothes so far. His presence may be necessary if Bismack gets into foul trouble, which is an all-too-real possibility.
Ultimately this situation is a throw-down to DeMar DeRozan. He’s got to make more shots.