Toronto Raptors: 5 things right and wrong, including VanVleet’s All-Star case

The Toronto Raptors have gone 1-3 for the week, but things are finally starting to click despite the record not being reflective of that.

After the first two weeks of writing this type of article, there have been 1 right and 9 wrongs. And it was rightfully deserved. The Toronto Raptors Raptors were playing very poor and uninspiring basketball to the point where we had to stop watching. But this week the Raptors have trended upwards despite their win-loss column not saying the same story.

In two of their last three games, they have done almost everything right except getting the final result they wanted (we’ll pretend the Boston game didn’t exist for the sake of having some positivity).

They were in the Suns game till the end, but the Suns’ 21 threes were too much to handle for the Raptors. Against the Kings, they more than took care of business with an astounding win. And then their toughest game was a loss against the Warriors last night, which had some questionable officiating.

But the Raptors cannot control that part of the game, and they could’ve sealed the deal had they made their free throws — the Raptors missed 8 of their 22 free throws. So let’s look at what has been in their control, and that starts with the excellent play of center Chris Boucher.

(Just keep in mind some stats in the article were before the Warriors game).

Chris Boucher’s guarantees victory in “Center Roulette”

Nick Nurse has given everyone a fair chance to fight for minutes at the center spot. Over and over again, it is Chris Boucher who is displaying why he is the only center deserving to start. With Aron Baynes doing everything possible to stay off the court (failing to catch a basketball or score a basket from within 3 feet) and Alex Len being too lethargic to be a center in the modern NBA; it should be inconceivable that the Raptors don’t start Chris Boucher moving forward.

In only 21 minutes per game, Chris Boucher is averaging career-highs across the board this season: 13.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. But his impact goes beyond his statline. Boucher gives what was the Toronto Raptors’ stagnant offense a weapon they desperately needed, an elite roller of the pick and roll.

Of all rollers off the pick and roll with at least 3 or plus possessions this season, Boucher ranks third in the league in points per possession at 1.50. He is on top of players like Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, and Serge Ibaka; while only being under Bam Adebayo who averages 1.79 points per possession, and Nikola Jokic who averages 1.52 points per possession.

He helps the Raptors’ offense flow that much better and also gives them much-needed unpredictability with his willingness to pop.

I understand coach Nurse’s reluctance to start Boucher because of his thin frame and foul troubles. But up until Baynes or Len start playing decent basketball, I don’t see a world where Boucher shouldn’t be the starter moving forward.

It is worth mentioning the incredible stretch Boucher provided in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors. Boucher essentially played the whole 4th quarter with five fouls and he still managed to put up 2 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and one steal before finally getting fouled out with 3:22 left in the quarter. Boucher was playing out of his mind and was a big reason for the Raptors’ comeback.

That stretch alone makes can explain why he has the third-highest PER across the league, only behind Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Boucher may not be the All-Star like the players mentioned above — although he has looked like one this past week — but there is one player on the team who is proving a very strong case.

VanVleet’s case for being an All-Star

If the All-Star vote were to happen right now, Fred VanVleet certainly has to be considered, right? Fred VanVleet is averaging a career-high in points with 22.3, and he just had himself an impressive week scoring 34 points against the Celtics and 35 against the Kings — 5th game this season with 25 points or more. (Oh, and it is known defense doesn’t get you All-Star votes, but it’s worth noting that he held Curry to 11 points and a 2/16 shooting night.)

Back to what gets people to voting, scoring. And VanVleet has been doing that on elite efficiency with a 58.5 effective field goal rate. VanVleet is shooting 41.1 percent from three on a ridiculous volume of nine threes per game; he has finally improved his efficiency at the rim, shooting 54 percent (last season it was 51); and not only is he now taking mid-range shots, but he’s also doing it at a clip of 60 percent (last season he shot 32 percent from that area).

In the Eastern Conference among all guards, he is seventh in points, seventh in steals, 9th in assists, and first in three-point shots made with 3.8 per game. He is playing the best basketball of his career, and if he continues on the same track he will have a legitimate case for being an All-Star.

He has improved in every season he has played this year, and I don’t see that stopping now. Let’s just hope he can get to the free-throw line a little more.

Is Toronto Raptors’ offense fixed after franchise-high 144 points?

It really is puzzling that this current Raptors team (what we thought was one of the worst offensive teams in the league) is the team that breaks the franchise record for most points in a regulation game in the regular season. But is this just an anomaly or have they slowly figured out their new offense?

In the first four games of the season, they had the worst offense in the entirety of the league while maintaining the third-best defense. Since January 1st, the Raptors are now the best offensive team in the league while having the worst defense in the league.

So the 144 points they scored against the Kings is clearly a sign of their offense working to full effect. They made Siakam the primary creator (he had his career-high 12 assists vs the Kings) and that created a lot of open looks for cutters and three-point shooters. They also ran a lot of pick and roll with Boucher and that worked to full effect.

It seems like things are finally clicking for the Raptors on the offensive end. They hired assistant coach Chris Finch to bring more unpredictability to their offense and that is finally paying off. Nick Nurse and the Raptors just have to get back to playing defense to their usual level because you won’t win many games in the league if you score as many points as you concede.

Malachi Flynn has finally broken in

Watching a rookie finally find his groove after being unable to get rotation minutes for so long always feels good to watch. After being pushed down in the rotation to start the year and failing to impress Nurse when he got his chance, it didn’t look like Malachi Flynn was getting another shot any time soon.

When it was announced that Lowry was missing the game against the Kings, the rookie from San Diego State had himself another chance to showcase why he’s worthy of more minutes. After failing to register a point in his first 23 minutes of basketball across four games (mostly garbage time), Flynn finally scored his first NBA points against the Kings. In 17 minutes of play, he scored 12 points shooting 5/6 from the field, and also added 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Flynn for the first time this season looked comfortable. He was making shots off the dribble, beating his man off the dribble, and wasn’t hesitant to shoot threes when open. Lowry missing the game certainly helped, but it’ll be intriguing to find out what happens with him back. Do his minutes get scattered with Terence Davis who also played very well Friday, or do we see a bit of both?

The Toronto Raptors core is still winless when starting together (there had to be one wrong in the article)

The Toronto Raptors failing to win a game with their starting core of Lowry-VanVleet-Anunoby-Siakam is probably one of the odder things this season. Against the Knicks, they won without Siakam in the lineup, and Lowry was unavailable against the Kings. Not only have they not won together, but their minutes on the floor haven’t been good.

In 226 possessions together this season, they have a net minus 1.3 per 100 possessions.  Last year the same four had had a net plus 7.8 per 100 possessions. A big reason for that is that four combined with Marc Gasol at the five where they were a net plus 13.1 difference in that department. And if you look at the stats with Ibaka and the core four, they were a net minus 2.5, per Cleaning the Glass.

Gasol’s presence was that crucial and his departure has hurt the team the most, but the Raptors have to find a way to win games without him. There should be no world where the Toronto Raptors’ core of Lowry-VanVleet-Anunoby-Siakam that everyone believes in is currently 0-7 when playing together.

To stay on the optimistic side, it wasn’t a terrible week for the Raptors. It was a very good 1-3 week. Siakam looks like himself, 4th quarter Kyle is still here, VanVleet is playing his best basketball, and Chris Boucher is looking like prime Hakeem Olajuwon. Most importantly, the offense is starting to click and that is something that hasn’t been emphasized enough.

They have a more lenient schedule this week as they face the Trailblazers today, and the Hornets twice later in the week.