The Toronto Raptors have not felt like the Raptors’ team we’re used to after their poor start to the season.
The Toronto Raptors have lost both of their first games for the first time since the 2012-2013 season. A start most of us and the Raptors are not at all used to in recent years.
Their first loss against the Pelicans was a disappointing one, and it was exacerbated when the Heat beat the Pelicans with ease two days later — the Heat was a team on a similar level to the Raptors last season. The Raptors did bounce back nicely in the second game against the Spurs but still got the short end of the stick.
There is no need to panic (yet). It has only been two games and the Raptors are still in the midst of figuring it out as they go. Regardless, there is still a lot wrong with the Raptors and that leaves me (and the fanbase) with a lot to question so far– great example: Why isn’t Malachi Flynn playing?
Things are working right with the Toronto Raptors, like Pascal Siakam being a legitimate creator/playmaker for the team. But there’s still so much more wrong than right, that the wrongs have to be the focal point.
1. Siakam playing playoff minutes in the regular-season
Pascal Siakam has been one of the Toronto Raptors’ few bright spots for the team. His playmaking, shooting, and decision-making have all gotten better. Three things that coach Nick Nurse was hinting he’d improve on entering the new season. However, his improved play shouldn’t be a reason he is playing such heavy loads in the early stages of the season.
Siakam has played a game-high in minutes in both games so far — 38 against the Pelicans and 43 against the Spurs. A worrying stat for a player being relied on for everything the Raptors do. In the Spurs game especially, Siakam’s fatigue was on full display in the second half.
- First half stat line: 21:37 MIN/12 PTS/5 AST/12 REB/1 STL/1 BLK/5-12 FG
- Second half stat line: 21:25 MIN/4 PTS/3 AST/3 REB/0 STL/0 BLK/1-4 FG
The drop-off in play is significant and there’s a reason the Raptors were up by 7 after the first half. By the second half, Siakam looked fatigued and did not resemble at all the player he was in the first half.
Siakam’s game requires a lot of energy and movement, and that’s what makes him so hard to stop. But when he’s not receiving any rest while commanding the offense and playing elite defense, it’s a difficult task.
There should be no reason Siakam is playing such heavy minutes in regular-season games. Understandably, there is no real replacement for Siakam, and Nurse doesn’t want to fall too behind in games. However, Siakam must be rested more if Nurse wants to get the most of him for the entire duration of the game.
That can start by trusting OG Anunoby more on the offensive end to replace Siakam’s minutes when he’s off.
2. OG Anunoby is being used no differently than last year on offense
The consensus among all Toronto Raptors fans before the season was that OG Anunoby was going to take his big leap this season. He’s only 23, and the Raptors were going to need to get some offense from somewhere after Gasol and Ibaka’s departure to Los Angeles. Two games into the season, we have still not seen Anunoby be anything more than the Three-and-D player he was last season.
What made most of us believe that he was going to take a leap this season were glimpses of his improved offense in the bubble. Anunoby displayed much better handles and even flew by his opposing defenders a couple of times. He also introduced to the world that he had a spin move that was ready for use in the bubble. Although it would later get predictable due to his limited arsenal on offense, it was encouraging to see an improved offensive game from him.
The other improvement Anunoby showed in the bubble was his playmaking. Driving and kicking out very nicely and finding the open man when dribbling. He also displayed good awareness to find cutters and open shooters when he has the ball near the rim as he did below.
The Raptors don’t have the championship aspirations that they had the past few years. There is no better time than now to develop Anunoby’s offense in games. The forward depth is already lacking and trusting Anunoby is also a good way of resting Siakam more. If Jeremi Grant can lead the offense in Detroit, I don’t see why Anunoby can’t at least have a few possessions of his own to shine for the Raptors.
3. Threes, threes, and more threes.
The Toronto Raptors’ half-court offense has not been inspiring whatsoever. Their offense is revolved around just getting the best look from three and nothing more. Whenever someone is open, the ball goes to that player to launch the three. It doesn’t matter if the player is cold, a bad shooter, or Aron Baynes; when there’s an open three, they take it.
They currently lead the league in threes taken with 43.5 attempts per game and are shooting it at a 33.3 percent rate. Looking like the new Houston Rockets isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it does feel like there is a lack of creativity too many times on offense. When the shots from three aren’t falling, the Raptors continue to launch away.
This can be problematic when shooters are cold and you have no plan B, which is what happened in the first game against the Pelicans.
Threes are what Nick Nurse lives by and he will always make it the focal point of his offense. He loves efficiency and for his team to take efficient shots only (no long two’s). While there isn’t much wrong with that, Nurse has failed to balance it out with the other efficient scoring areas of the game — scoring around the rim and getting to the free-throw line.
This makes for a predictable offense that makes it easy to gameplan against. The Raptors currently have the 25th best offense in the league, per Cleaning The Glass.
4. The Toronto Raptors are afraid of going to the free-throw line
It is embarrassing how little the Raptors have gotten to the line. They are ranked dead last in the league with an attempted 13.5 free throws per game. There are multiple reasons for this, and the first reason starts with their unwillingness to go to the rim.
Let’s rewind to last season when they were the second-best team in the league. The Raptors were ranked sixth in the league for the frequency of their shots coming from three and they ranked third for the frequency of shots taken at the rim. That added up to the third-best location effective field goal rate at 54.8 percent. This season, they still rank highly in the rate of threes taken; but they have fallen to 24th in the frequency of shots taken at the rim.
Going to the rim is where the majority of free-throws are given. The Raptors have to be more willing to either go score at the rim or draw contact when at the rim.
This all has to start with the Raptors’ all-star, Pascal Siakam. He is elite around the rim and is capable of going to the free-throw line at will if he really wanted to. Siakam has been playing a lot more around the perimeter and the post so far, and that’s a reason he’s only gone to the line 6 times.
Although seeing Siakam doing a bit of everything is encouraging, going to the free-throw line should be a priority. That’s one area of improvement he has yet to show, and one area the Raptors desperately need him to be active in for the team to find better success. If the Raptors can at least be a middle of the pack team in free-throw attempts, this helps their chances of winning that much more.
5. From “Bench Mob” to “Does the bench even have a job?”
One thing Nick Nurse didn’t carry on from former head coach Dwane Casey is maximizing the bench unit. In the 2017-2018 season, the Raptors’ bench (also known as the Bench Mob) was arguably the best in the NBA — they had the second-most minutes in the league with a league-high plus/minus at +3.6 among all team’s bench players.
Three seasons later, not one team has used their bench less than the Toronto Raptors have. The bench is averaging a league-low 13.9 minutes per game. With the majority of those minutes going mostly to Chris Boucher, Matt Thomas, and Norman Powell — the only other player who was a constant so far is Bembry with 5 minutes in each game.
Using a 7-8 man rotation is generally used during the playoffs and not the regular season. It is puzzling for everyone that the bench is getting so little use in the early stages of the season.
Rookie Malachi Flynn has yet to see significant NBA minutes despite having a strong showing in the preseason. Yuta Watanabe who played great as a Three-and-D player in the preseason has yet to register any minutes — even though the Raptors’ forward depth is thin as paper. Alex Len wasn’t used against the Pelicans when they had to play a traditional center in Steven Adams; the exact type of player you’d want to put Len against.
There’s the possibility Nurse wants to prepare for the playoffs as soon as possible and that’s why he has a strict eight-man rotation. But we’re so early on in the season and there’s a lot of basketball games left to do that. It doesn’t hurt to use bench players who are hungry for action and ready to prove themselves, especially when your team is struggling to find any rhythm.
The starters are going to need as much rest as they can to carry the load from game to game throughout the season. It’s not time to use Siakam until he’s gassed out then come playoff time he’s a shell of himself again. Lowry is also not getting any younger and he needs to be as fresh as possible for the playoffs. This is one of the bigger things Nurse and the Toronto Raptors are doing, and hopefully, he starts being more cautious with his lineups.