Pascal Siakam – how a hustler can become an NBA player

Pascal Siakam has some terrific assets on which to build his career with the Raptors, but a jump shot isn’t one of them. Can he survive without being a scoring threat?

The Toronto Raptors selected two players in the first round of the 2016 draft. Jakob Poeltl went at #9, and with the twenty-seventh pick, GM Masai Ujiri and his team took a flier on Pascal Siakam. While the New Mexico State product wasn’t as obscure as Bruno Caboclo, he wasn’t exactly a household name either.

Pascal’s most serious shortcoming as a player has become apparent to those of us who follow the team. He can’t shoot, a flaw which would doom most players to the G League or worse. Not our guy – he’s got more to offer.

Pascal’s greatest asset is his non-stop motor. Constant energy, like “high basketball IQ” doesn’t have an easy register on a stats chart, even though the NBA now has a “hustle stats” page. The leader of the “loose balls recovered per 36 minutes” stat, with 2.2, is our converted soccer player himself.

A powerful motor is a wonderful tool if it’s properly directed. Otherwise, you crash the car into the concrete barrier. Coach Dwane Casey has chosen to focus Pascal’s energy on defense, and on leaking out when an opponent’s shot goes up. The alternative would have been to ask Pascal to crash the defensive boards, in the manner of a traditional, if undersized, power forward.

Stay away from Land of the Giants

I can’t see Pascal making a career out of dodging elbows around under the hoop. He doesn’t possess a thick-muscled frame like Reggie Evans or P.J. Tucker, and I wouldn’t want to see him bulked up. When Jonas Valanciunas grabs a board, the Raptors can immediately go into attack mode if Pascal has already sprinted halfway to the other bucket. Better yet: opponents backpedal to cover him, rather than battle for the rebound.  Coaches hate to give up uncontested layups or slams. [20-second timeout: Kyle Lowry deserves some love at this juncture. Our point guard is averaging 5.6 defensive rebounds Per Game [PG], a decimal point behind JV as the team’s best. There’s a role-reversal quick basket for you: Kyle with the board, and a long outlet feed to Pascal. I love it.]

Coach Casey appears to be comfortable giving Pascal a long leash, meaning that he has few restrictions. Siakam has made none of his eleven 3-point attempts in the last 5 games (I couldn’t bear to look further back; I don’t like pain) yet he continues to hoist them up. A normal coaching response to such counter-productive activity would be a quick hook, yet Pascal is averaging over 20 minutes of playing time PG. He’s an integral member of the bench mob which has been so essential to the Raptors’ success.

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Siakam is 23 and in his second season. There’s plenty of time for him to develop his jump shot, which he must do if he’s going to reach his full potential. In the ongoing development of positionless hoops in the NBA, his energy, in particular on D, can carry him and his team a long way. But if he’s going to become the star he’s shown flashes of becoming, he has to hit from outside.

DeMar DeRozan couldn’t put the ball in a hoop twice its size in his early years. He turned out OK.