Raptors: Fred VanVleet’s comments after Jazz loss don’t hold up

The return of Jakob Poeltl was not enough to help Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors keep their win streak alive against the Utah Jazz. A terrific night from All-Star nominee Pascal Siakam was utterly wasted thanks to more poor performances in the fourth quarter.

Despite leading the game by 13 points with five minutes left at home, Toronto finished the game on the wrong end of a 24-5 run that knocked them down to a miserable 26-31 on the season. VanVleet was irritated with how his team was unable to get a stop against Utah.

VanVleet said that the blowout loss is “unacceptable by our standards,” which sounds like the type of cliche-mongering that one would expect from a veteran leader in a press conference. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem like the kind of postgame assessment that many fans will be reassured by.

If this is truly an “unacceptable” game, why have fans seen this exact scenario play out half a dozen times? Even after making a new addition to the team in the trade market, Toronto’s lack of depth and poor roster construction lead to them blowing leads most teams hold onto.

Fred VanVleet and the Toronto Raptors blew another lead.

This Jazz game was a microcosm of the Raptors’ season. After starting off strong, the bench relinquished a lead. The starters eventually built up a cushion heading into the fourth quarter, but things quickly fell apart as the Raptors got gassed due to the heavy workload placed on the starters.

Not only did the offense devolve into iso ball that is as aesthetically pleasing as watching a Fiat speed across a cobblestone street, but the defense surrendered 11 consecutive made shots to a Jazz team that was missing many of their best offensive players.

While Poeltl did just arrive on the team, he was making his mark as a rim protector when he was on the floor. The fact that Toronto kept up with their aggressive style of defense and refused to put him back in the game when Precious Achiuwa wasn’t getting the job done simply boggles the mind.

VanVleet and the Raptors have been blowing leads all season long, and the addition of players like Poeltl is likely not going to change some structural and fundamental problems with the roster, despite what Ujiri thinks. The Raptors are masters at blowing leads; this likely won’t be the last one.