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Raptors in pre-season – what’s jumping out from stats to date

By Brian Boake

TORONTO, CANADA - SEPTEMBER 25: Serge Ibaka
TORONTO, CANADA - SEPTEMBER 25: Serge Ibaka /
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The Raptors pre-season games are drawing to a close. Can we draw any conclusions, or spot any trends, from the results so far?

In advance of the only pre-season game the Raptors will play in Toronto, it seems appropriate to consider how they have made out so far. The Detroit Pistons are in town tomorrow night, with both teams facing big questions and final cuts.

Let’s begin with the highest profile statistics of all, those pertaining to the Raptors’ 3-point shooting. After three pre-season games, Toronto ranks 28th in percentage of makes at 24.4. [20-second timeout: The NBA site only lists the Raptors as having played 2 games. Another fun fact: the Raptors aren’t among the worst 3-point shooters, because the NBA also credits international teams with stats. Thus, the Guangzhuo Long-Lions are 35th(!) and last with 11.1%.]

While the makes aren’t impressive, the attempts certainly are. The Raptors rank second behind the Houston Rockets, with 41 tries per game. The Rox stand second in percentage made at 43, which is why they are the leading team in scoring per game by the crazy margin of 6.7 points. Admittedly they have only played 2 games, which is statistically meaningless, but still – they were expected to be scary, and are so far.

Remarkably after displaying such poor marksmanship from deep, the Raptors are 15th in team scoring with 102.

PORTLAND, OR – OCTOBER 5: Kyle Lowry
PORTLAND, OR – OCTOBER 5: Kyle Lowry /

While I’m not so worried about Serge Ibaka’s deep shooting (11.8% so far -yesh!), Bruno Caboclo is playing himself back to the minors with 15.4%. That’s 2 makes on 13 attempts, so he’s clearly got the green light to fire away.

How about the new, improved DeMar DeRozan, he of the busy summer shooting threes? One make on four tries, which proves precisely nothing.

One sad footnote: Andy Rautins’ departure was inevitable after going donut on seven attempts. Deep shooting was all he had to sell, and it wasn’t there when he needed it.

Some strange stuff – with more to come?

Here’s a few more stat oddities which jump out at me. Lucas Nogueira has 7 blocked shots and 6 points in 45+ minutes of play. The Raptors stand second with 22.7 turnovers per game, a shocking number. Only the Knicks are worse. Our team’s assists numbers are still unsightly, ranking 26th at 18.3. Kyle Lowry has played limited minutes, but looks ready for tipoff. He’s shooting 50% from the field, and well over 90% from the free throw line.

All of which leads me to believe we’ll see a lot of the hopefuls firing up 3-balls on Tuesday night. Somebody (I’m looking at you, K.J. McDaniels) needs to separate himself from the pack. I expect more minutes from Lowry and DeRozan as the season opener approaches. In fact, I won’t be surprised if the starting five (Kyle, DD, Serge, JV and C.J. Miles) play most of the first and third quarters.

The wait is almost over.

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