Toronto Raptors: 3 issues impacting Raptors’ success in 2021
By Jason Mills
The Toronto Raptors are uncomfortable being displaced
The general disappointment felt by everyone who has affection for the Toronto Raptors has grossly underappreciated the issue of location impacting the team’s success this year.
Necessary, for the second year in a row, the Raptors have been displaced from their beloved Raptors nation in the North, Toronto. This time, still in Florida, the Raptors are based out of Tampa. It presents multiple issues.
Not sleeping in your own bed, learning a new city or town, and limited access to the people you are familiar or friendly with has to be tough. Further, when it was announced that the team would be allowed to have 3,800 fans attend games, it seemed a positive thing to recoup some of the financial loss accrued because of the COVID-19 pandemic while providing a somewhat more normal game experience for players.
However, the Raptors players must feel strange, perhaps stranger than when playing during the bubble last season in Orlando without fans participating in games. It is hard to compete when the crowd you are playing for is not behind you emotionally.
Often referred to as an extra man or, in the case of basketball, the sixth man, the crowd’s that were attending Raptors’ games in Tampa, Florida were decidedly in favor of the opposition. Eduardo A. Encina recounted the Raptors early struggles with the so-called hometown crowds in Tampa Bay at the Amalie Center writing for tampabay.com:
"the Raptors have felt like visitors in their temporary home in more ways than one. In all four of their games at Amalie……The most glaring instance was the Raptors’ most recent home game against the Celtics, a 126-114 loss in which green jerseys filled the stands and fans spent most of the fourth quarter loudly chanting, “We want Tacko,”"
As of January 9th, 2021, in a CBC.ca article, it was announced that fans would not be allowed until at least February 5th, 2021 to games played in the Amalie Center because of rising cases of COVID-19 in the area. That decision could be linked to the Raptors’ improved play with a 4-2 record in six home games since the decision. It appears no crowd is better than a hostile one.
However, it’s likely fans will eventually be allowed again soon. One potential solution is for the team’s coaching staff to introduce sounds of a hostile crowd during practices and scrimmages to help players focus and learn to block out the distraction.
On top of other flaws troubling the roster, it is with a mentality of playing on the road how the Toronto Raptors will need to approach their remaining home games this season. Except for the very best, most teams struggle on the road.
The 76ers are first in the Eastern Conference with a 12-6 record. However, they are just 3-5 in eight road games heading into play Wednesday night. Essentially this season, every game the Raptors play is a road game. It will not be an easy task to manage.