The Toronto Raptors need to bury 2021 version of small-ball
By Jason Mills
The Raptors couldn’t rebound.
The stats don’t lie, and in 2021, the Raptors had glaring team statics that tells the tale of why they are missing the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Granted COVID-19 and getting displaced in a hostile Tampa Bay as their home base didn’t help, but they still failed on the court in several ways.
The Raptors hang their hat on preventing transition defense by mostly giving up on offensive rebounds, focusing on getting back, and forcing the opposition into halfcourt sets. But a positive defensive possession is only successful if the opposition is forced into a turnover or a bad shot that you secure a rebound from.
The Raptors were 20th in the NBA in grabbing offensive rebounds, 29th in defensive rebounds secured, and 28th overall in rebounding overall. At the defensive end of the court, Toronto allowed 10 offensive rebounds every game. Thanks a lot, Baynes.
It wasn’t until after the trade deadline when Raptors’ management added frontcourt help in Khem Birch and Freddie Gillespie. They were solid additions. In 39 games, the two bigs combined to average 12.5 rebounds per game. Aron Baynes, in 53 games, averaged 5.2 rebounds a game.
The Raptors frontcourt’s lack of athleticism exposed all season long
Also, with a small guard tandem (Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet are only 6-0), attacking opponents found open teammates for easy shots as the Raptors perimeter players are aggressive in helping and rotating.
It also meant the frontcourt’s lack of athleticism and size was exposed inside on attacks at the rim. However, Chris Boucher averaged 1.9 blocks a game with Khem Birch, and Freddie Gillespie in a combined 39 games averaged 1 blocks a contest.
Those shot-blocking and rebounding totals might have been more impressive if management had addressed the lack of front-court size before the buyout season.