Raptor of the Week: OG Anunoby
By Avishai Sol
OG Anunoby’s play this week shows that the Toronto Raptors may have one last ace up their sleeve.
Until Friday night’s game, plenty of players were vying for the highly-contested title of Raptor of the Week. Will Kyle Lowry’s steady production and team leadership put him over the top? Or will OG Anunoby’s newfound assertiveness and defensive bulldozing give him the edge? Over the course of 38 minutes during a win against the Miami Heat, OG shot 5/6 from three, defended the entire Miami roster, and looked like a genuine star as he led the team to a win.
Lately, OG has been playing like the guy Raptors fans hoped he would be at the start of the 2020-21 season, as he is embracing his basketball gifts and using his unique skillset to help Toronto pull out victories in close games.
Defence
Everybody who knows anything about Raptors basketball is aware of Anunoby’s skills on the defensive end, but his effort on that end has to be analyzed, as has been was locking people up of late.
There is literally, not figuratively, no one OG can’t defend, as he can take on point guards as well as more physical forwards. Which Raptor would Nick Nurse want guarding Russell Westbrook? What about Joel Embiid? Once Aron Baynes picks up his 4th foul in 5 minutes, who can Nurse rely on to get a stop? That’s right. It’s Anunoby.
This week, OG took Bam Adebayo down from his usual 19 points per game on 62 percent shooting to 14 points and 44 percent shooting. He also limited Luka Dončić to 15 points and 36 percent shooting, a sharp decline from his usual 26 points and 45 percent shooting.
Quite simply, Anunoby is one of the six or seven best defensive players in the league right now. When you take flexibility, stats, and consistent effort into account, it is impossible to leave him out of that elite tier. Toronto has allowed the second-fewest made shots in the league on that side of the floor, and Anunoby a huge reason why.
Per Basketball Reference, The Raptors are allowing 108 points per 100 possessions with OG Anunoby on the floor
— Raptors Rapture (@raptorsrapture) January 23, 2021
That's a better mark than that of Draymond Green (109) and Marcus Smart (113), who made 1st Team All-Defense last year. Tied with Kawhi Leonard. He's good #WeTheNorth
Offence
If you want to focus on one aspect of OG’s offensive production that was genuinely impressive this week, one can point to his shooting.
After a rough start from deep this season, Anunoby has turned things around lately, hitting 19 of his 36 three-point attempts at a scorching 63 percent clip.
While it is unreasonable to expect him to stay THAT hot going forward, a return to his usual 40 percent rate would still be excellent and should be enough to bump his scoring average up.
The shooting’s been great, but that’s not the best thing about Anunoby’s performance this week, as he has been ultra-aggressive with the ball in his hands. In previous games (and, really, in previous years) the most frustrating part about Anunoby was that he didn’t seem to know how good he was. He was content with standing in the corner, playing excellent defence, and maybe getting a big dunk every once in a while.
Well, that OG is no more! Goodbye, passive OG Anunoby, and hello dribble-pull-up, ball handling, shoulder lowering OG Anunoby!
I’ve counted 12 times this week where OG has driven it into the paint, hop-stepped, and completely leveled his defender with a shoulder to the chest. It’s not like these are shrimps he’s bowling over, he’s sending dudes like Bam Adebayo staggering into the stanchion.
Intangibles
OG’s lack of aggression has been the biggest obstacle that has prevented his ascendance to true stardom in Toronto. It’s not his shaky ball-handling, nor his inconsistent touch around the rim. It’s been his reluctance to take the game by the throat. This week he did that.
When he continues with this aggressive, physical mindset, it makes Raptors fans feel like they have Shawn Marion again, or even dare I say a watered-down version of Kawhi Leonard.
This week proves what he can be when he asserts himself. He has all the weapons he needs to be a truly great player on a consistent basis, he just needs to deploy them more frequently. Raptors fans admire his humility, as it’s one of his best qualities as a teammate and celebrity, but he’s much too good now not to take more shots in key moments. They’ll land, and the league will feel them when they do.
