The Toronto Raptors have had a successful return to play in Orlando, but the same can’t be said for Pascal Siakam who is struggling to find his form as of late.
It feels as if we have seen three different versions of Pascal Siakam so far this season — and he is gradually getting less spicy — and this Bubble version is his worst yet. This may have been a while ago, but remember when Pascal Siakam was playing at an “MVP” level for the Toronto Raptors?
That was back in November when Siakam’s name was tossed around in the MVP discussion as he was averaging 25/8/4 before the eventual injury that saw him miss 11 games. Since his return from injury, Siakam hasn’t been able to play to that exact level ever again, but he has been good nonetheless.
In the Bubble in Orlando, however, Pascal Siakam hasn’t been good, in fact, he’s been playing some pretty awful basketball. With the bubble, it is safe to say we were hoping for a fresh and rejuvenated Siakam like the one we saw before the season ended. But instead, we have witnessed Siakam’s worst stretch of basketball since being Toronto’s number one option.
We already know what his “MVP” numbers were like, but let’s get more specific and review all three versions of Siakam this season (beware, the numbers are steep).
- MVP level Siakam: 25.1 PTS/8.0 REB/3.6 AST/45.7 FG%/39.2 3P%
- Siakam after injury: 22.2 PTS/7.0 REB/3.6 AST/46.2 FG%/32.2 3P%
- Bubble Siakam: 16.9 PTS/5.7 REB/2.3 AST/39.4 FG%/35.6 3P%
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam is settling on offense
You can see the gradual decrease in Siakam’s play and that has a lot to do with how teams are guarding him. Siakam’s best area to score has always been the rim, so what do teams do? Well, they give him the Ben Simmons treatment, of course, it isn’t as severe as Simmons, but players do sag off from Siakam when he has the ball around the three-point line.
We all know Siakam isn’t like Simmons and he will shoot the ball if he’s open, but he is feeding to the other team’s hand when he does so on high volume. Siakam’s strength was never his shooting, he’s at best a good shooter, having average shooting splits across the board.
Siakam’s obvious strength on offense was always his speed and agility to get to the basket and finish around the rim. It was the biggest consistency in his game, shooting 65 percent around the rim before the bubble.
But even that has become a flaw of Siakam’s. In the bubble, he is shooting an atrocious 56 percent around the rim, which ranks among only the 20th percentile among all forwards in the bubble, per Cleaning The Glass.
Opposing teams are crowding the paint and playing mind games giving him enough space to shoot the open shot. Siakam also isn’t driving as much as before, he seems much more reluctant to do so and it seems he has resorted to post-ups, which is the next topic of conversation.
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam should not be posting up
The Toronto Raptors’ best post player is Marc Gasol, and for various reasons. He can bully his opponent if he really wanted to, he has great vision to kick to the open man or find a cutter, and he has a smooth short mid-range shot.
Now, what exactly does Siakam have to be posting up now? He is a decent passer, he’s not strong enough to bully his way through, and he does not have a smooth short mid-range shot like Gasol does — Gasol shoots 47 percent from this area while Siakam shoots 35 percent.
His point per possession on post-ups is 0.92, which is good enough for the middle of the pack. Posting up is an entirely different game of Siakam’s, and it isn’t something that is learned overnight. It may have been an experience in the eight games, but it isn’t something the Toronto Raptors should be doing any more of. And unless you have Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid, your team shouldn’t be posting up consistently.
Toronto Raptors: Pascal Siakam needs to shoot less, drive more
All that Siakam must do to be more effective is to shoot less and drive more. Siakam should take his man on and drive to the rim. He only goes to the line five times a game, he can make that easily 8-9 times if he really wanted to. He is crafty and fast enough to do so and it would also help by putting opposing teams in foul trouble. After all, the free-throw line is the most efficient points you can get statistically.
Siakam is also above league average in that department. He shoots just under 80 percent in that regard, which is really good for someone who was shooting it at just 62 percent two years ago. That just a testament to how much work Siakam has put to his game every time we see him on the court.
That is why I’m hoping that we see the “MVP” level Siakam we saw in November. Efficient all around, no post-ups, no settling for shots and hopefully he can even add to his game by going to the charity stripe more often.
The Toronto Raptors are going to need Siakam in the playoffs, and he is going to need to find his MVP groove again so he can show us why he is his team’s best player and why his name was Spicy P.