Overreaction: Game 36/82 - Thank God We Got Kawhi as a Throw-in

I guess before I go on and on about the Heat game, I want to address the lack of overreactions for games 34 (W @ Cavs) and 35 (L @ Philly). The reason behind that is because the Cavs were the Cavs, and the Philly is a schedule-loss based on the injuries that are plaguing the team right now.

Hey, wasn't that a really good comeback, or not?

The way the Raptors, especially Kawhi and Pascal Siakam started, I was ready to go with "Oh, must be the hangover" excuse.

If there's any confirmation that I was looking for that the Raps would take an L last night, it was Serge Ibaka who came out with his vintage garbage game. He was totally outclassed by Hassan Whiteside on both ends of the floor.

Whiteside or most traditional bigs would almost always be a bad matchup for Ibaka. He's just smaller - Ibaka's listed at 6'10" which makes him around 6'8.5"-6'9" range, compared to Whiteside's listed at 6'11.5" if not 7' in most sites.

Speaking of Whiteside, Greg Monroe came in and provided excellent minutes against Whiteside. He just isn't that great against players of similar size and with comparable size. Especially if they have some offensive skills.

Here's a big challenge for Fred VanVleet. What does he do when his teammates, especially Kawhi and Serge are struggling? In the first half, FVV looked as if he's overthinking the situation when this happens, it's written all over his place and it says something like "What would Kyle do in this situation?"

I don't know what's real and what's not -- the last time the Raptors and the Heat played a close game, and I'm not even talking about that stupid Dwyane Wade game where we let him do as he pleases because it was his farewell tour, but it's either one of the following could be true:

• Nick Nurse and the Raptors defended well what Spoelstra wanted to do for the last possession;
• Spoelstra doesn't have a true point guard that can run the plays and he was stuck with giving the ball to Wade or Justice Winslow to do something.

Speaking of Winslow, I'm really impressed with his transformation this season. We've seen some signs of life last year, but this year he could be a candidate for MIP. He's fixed his body, looking much leaner and athletic. His handle looks better (hey, he can use his off hand to dribble now!), but most importantly, kudos to whoever fixed his shot. It looked totally different from how he shot a few years ago.

There was a big discrepancy in FTM (Raps 19/23, Heat 6/12). Those missed FTs for the Heat definitely affected the game, as some of those misses came in the fourth quarter. I think I even saw Whiteside shoot an airball. What's surprising is the Raps got 23 attempts, and the Heat only got 12. I was not looking at the stats during the game, and with how much Kawhi and Nurse were pissed off about the lack of calls, I would have thought that it was the opposite.

Going back to Moose, I'm really impressed by what the bench provided last night. OG's lockdown defence, Moose containing and keeping Whiteside busy, Delon Wright showing the tip of the iceberg with what he can do, and Norm Powell with his 3rd straight good game. This group kept that Raptors afloat in the first half, preventing the Heat from running away with a blow-out, and continued the comeback that the starters initiated in the 3rd quarter. No CJ Miles last night, and understandably so. Powell had 5pts and 3 assists, which meant that he was directly responsible for creating 11 points in 16 minutes. In fact, Norm, Delon, and OG had at least the same # of assists as FVV.

Another game that Kyle sits with an injury, and I'm starting to get a bit concerned. Is this the type of injury that would linger on and off the season? If yes, why are we being stubborn with letting Kyle play meaningful games in October/November/December like the one in Philly if he's not 100% (or even 90%)? Now what? He'll miss the next 3 games so that he can get aggressively treated so that he can play against his best friend Demar next week?

Speaking of Kyle and DeMar:

Lastly, how about Nick Nurse and his adjustments? He doesn't get a lot of credit, but his 3rd quarter adjustments this season are really on-point. The sub pattern, zone defense, taking advantage of mismatches. He's damn good.

Overreaction: Game 33/82 - Game 1 of the Mooscher Era

The Pacers were in a lose-lose situation. Oladipo is not 100%, coming off a back-to-back. Still, there's no excuse for them to lose a game against a team that's missing 3 of their top 6 players, and one of them is banged up (Danny Green). Especially when you were up 17 against a team that can't seemingly buy a bucket. There's just no excuse for them not to win the game.

More thoughts about the game:

• Excellent job by Nick Nurse throwing things at the wall and figuring out what would stick, and here are some things that I'd like to note:
• Zone Defense
• Pascal Siakam at C
• Got the Pacers move away from their usual plays and made them iso on the post
• Quickly trying to see what would work between CJ Miles/Malachi Richardson/Lorenzo Brown
• Victor Oladipo was bad for most of the second half. I know he's not 100%, but do you need to be 100% to get the ball across to beat the 8-second count? That was a costly turnover.
• Speaking of Siakam, a couple of his moves are getting stopped more often than not now, so I guess that's the scouting report effect. The few times he was successful, he was able to beat his man because he had the space/head start. Something to keep an eye on.
• Chris Boucher made his appearance - finally - and I thought he played better than I expected him to.
• He was not shy to shoot, no hesitation, and that's a good thing because unlike with Brown, he's shooting "his shots." Those shots are the shots he's taking and making on a regular basis in the G-League.
• As expected, opposing bigs will try to muscle him down low. It was evident during his first half minutes.
• It looks like my hunch on Boucher's PNR defense is true
• What should not be missed is the way he adjusted in the second half. I thought he did a good job fighting in the post, and staying vertical instead of letting his man take the shot and try to block it in the air.
• I've never been upset and happy at Kawhi on the same game. That's normally reserved for DeMar up until this season, but he's filling in nicely. I didn't like how he gave up on that play where he was looking for a foul. Obviously he was frustrated, but that's a DeMar move FFS lol. Not complaining too much because when it mattered, he grabbed the game by the neck and got us the W.
• Ok, Moose is good offensively. But if he doesn't have the ball, he's a liability on the offense. Defensively he's bad. But he's fun to watch lol.
• A lot of people hate on Lorenzo Brown - and coming from someone who saw his MVP season, I think it's justifiable. But unlike those people, I'm not hating on Brown. I'm just disappointed. I saw what this guy can do, but for some reason, he can not get comfortable enough to do the things that he's capable of offensively.
• More on Brown - I've never seen Brown play with better defense and with more hustle than he did against the Pacers. IMO this game is better than any of his games where he got the post-game interview.
• In regards to the last play, I guess this is the time where we get to say "part of the ball" LMAO

Overreaction: Game 31-32 - Limping To The Finish Line

I've consolidated Game 31-32 (@Blazers, @Nuggets) as they both have the same narratives, such as:

• The game is on the road
• No Lowry
• No JV
• Kawhi's back
• Both losses

The Clippers are crying foul/tampering after seeing this picture

What a tough 10-game road trip, the travel, the occurrence of the games (every other + b2bs), the injuries. Thank go the Raptors are coming back home and won't be playing 'til Wednesday. A few observations from the last two road games:

• I'm done with CJ Miles. I hope that the Raptors can find him a new home this upcoming trade deadline. I like the guy, he's a really good vet, but we need someone better than we can count on to hit those open shots.
• The bench worked really hard, but there's just no scoring talent with that group. Moose, Lorenzo Brown, OG if you pair that with Miles who can't shoot and Delon at times, it'll be really hard for that group to score, especially for a team that's top 5 on defence.
• Speaking of Lorenzo Brown, I'm probably one of the few people in the Raptors blogosphere that knows what he's capable of, but man, oh man, he just hasn't shown enough to justify his roster spot. He's playing with zero confidence and walking on egg shells, afraid to make mistakes. He's actually brought more stuff on D with the Raps than what he's done at the 905.
• I think CJ McCollum's foul on Pascal Siakam was dirty. Had it was the opposite (Pascal fouling McCollum the same way and McCollum taking a hard fall) Siakam would've been tossed, if not fine. It's just a very irresponsible way. Also, like I mentioned previously with Draymond, CJ's starting to have his collection of "greatest hits." Maybe he's not the goody-two-shoes that we think he is.
• I don't know what's happened recently, but Fred VanVleet is back, and maybe even better. This back-to-back games just shows the Raps fanbase the difference between Delon and FVV if you play them separately.
• Should Kawhi be flailing or flopping everytime he drives? Because he's not getting the foul that he deserves. Denver's Craig should have fouled out before the end of third quarter last night, with all the grabbing/impeding/pushing that he's doing. Good for Nurse to stand by his guy.
• I'm a bit disappointed but not surprised with the minutes that Chris Boucher got vs Denver. I doubt Nurse would play Boucher ahead of Moose, and he'll definitely not get rotation minutes on a tightly contested game for his first game. I just hope they did this (getting his feet wet) against the Blazers.
• I do expect Boucher's minutes to creep up, especially if Siakam misses another game or two. However, Siakam or not, I expect Boucher to get some look every game, especially if Moose is playing bad.

Overreaction: Game 29+30 - He's Alive!

Note: This post covers the back-to-back games @Clippers and @Warriors

I was frustrated with Kyle Lowry's play up until the back-to-back, yet I never gave up on him. I knew he was due for a game like the one that he had with the Warriors, but the Clippers was like an extra dessert that I don't deserve after a full meal. the way Lowry and the gang molested the Warriors and Clippers on a back-to-back can make any man on Toronto's path sweat. Like this.

A few things that I'd like to touch upon based on these two games:

• Lowry's 3pt shot is still shaky, so that's something to keep an eye on
• There's just a better ball movement and activity from Lowry whenever Kawhi is not on the floor
• This ball movement+lowry+kawhi situation is for Nick Nurse to fix, not Lowry
• Siakam's spin moves are now on opposing team's scouting report, and the defenders are expecting it. Siakam needs to develop a counter. Could a counter-spin to his first spin be the answer????
• Sucks to lose JV, and while I don't really know if it was a dirty play by Draymond Green, he's starting to build up the reputation, and I'm leaning towards "maybe"
• CJ Miles showed some life and was key to that crucial 3rd quarter against the Dubs. Amazing what happens when he does the things that he's expected to do on the court
• Fred VanVleet's resurgence, it feels like Nurse's experimentation making him the main ball handler earlier this season ironed out some kinks and while he may not be dropping 14 dimes anytime soon, I feel confident to see him as the main offence initiator
• Who knew we can generate some offence running a Danny Green post-up? I'm shook.
• I'm really impressed how Siakam can defend KD. Before it scares me whenever Siakam would go on up against the KDs, Giannis, LeBron -- I love his confidence D'ing up these monsters
• Also, Fuck Clippers

Overreaction: Game 28/82 - WTH Kyle?

It was a hard fought game, but instead of going through a laundry list of things that went well or not, or what could have been done to get that W, it comes down to 1 person, and one person only: Kyle Lowry. So i thought about writing what my thoughts are based on the excuses/reasons floating around.

Lowry is in a Slump

Lowry's brickfest is nothing new for the Raps fanbase -- I mean, he's done this during the regular season before, and we've seen this in the playoffs too. However, this time, it feels different. The Lowry that I (we) know would try to get himself out of his slump by:

• driving to the basket
• getting to the FT line
• go back to his midrange go-to moves

He's not neither of those things and appear very passive, and it's understandable if his teammates are hitting from all cylinders. Most games where he struggled, especially on the losses, a Lowry production would have put the team on the top for the W.

Lowry is affected by the Kawhi Effect

It's been a gradual transition for Kawhi to look like he's part of the offense, not as a separate entity outside of the main offense. Kawhi's possessions are mostly ISO-possessions, and the ball is sticking to him too much, that Lowry is checked out offensively whenever they are dumping the ball to Kawhi. On the flipside, with a huge Kawhi usage, Lowry feels the need to utilize the rest of the offense by getting his team involved, and would often ice himself this way, taking his rhythm out.

Lowry is Injured

Is he? Some say, oh, he turned an ankle against the bulls. But I don't see any issues with him turning corners and stopping on a dime. Some say his back is hurt, mainly because that's the injury report detail when he sat against the Cavs. Did he? I don't recall any particular point on any game that he's hurt his back. Maybe in practice? Maybe, just maybe old age is kicking in. Heck, I'm in my mid-30's and I've got a foam roller, posture holster, and a back stretcher. My office chair and my car's seat both have a lumbar support.

If he is injured, he needs to get some time off to recover. Also, if it's a back issue, please, please, please - no more taking charges on anyone -- from the Embiid types to even the Tim Frazer types.

Edit: Kyle said he's not injured

Lowry is Sulking

We all know that Lowry was upset all summer. Recently, we came to know how he truly felt. The way he's turning down shots when the team needed him reminds me of those days when Vince Carter already mailed in the season, and his time as a Raptor. Lowry is a smart guy, and I don't know anyone would think that he would not feel that the team needs him to score. He can get mad at Masai anytime, but once he steps on the floor, he should be a pro. Sulking is not gonna do Lowry any favour, whether presently or if we're talking about his legacy. Does he want to go down as the main reason why the Raptors missed their Finals/Championship window?

Lowry is washed

Could he be...? Is he...? I can't even fathom to say it. I can't even consider it. We've seen Melo just not have it anymore. Lowry's lack of drive to score reminds me of Cro-Cop's late tenure with the UFC when he can't unleash his right or left leg kicks. But he was playing great during the first few weeks, so why did it fall off the cliff? I thought that for older guys, it's the shooting that's the last thing to go? That you'd lose your speed, athleticism, vertical jump, lateral quickness before your shooting starts to decline. My favourite player of all time - Allan Caidic (Filipino Basketball legend). He should be in his mid-50's right now, but damn, this guy can still stroke it from the perimeter. He moves like a snail, but his shooting touch is still there.

Whatever it is, giving up on Lowry is like giving up on this season, the finals aspiration, and even giving up on Kawhi staying. I would get frustrated at Lowry whenever he logs some bad games, but as long as I see him care about winning, I'll be rooting for him.

Overreaction: Game 27/82 - Oh, Kyle :(

What a very disturbing game. However, unlike the loss to Denver, this loss can be attributed to one person - Kyle Lowry. I'd stan for Kyle, but I also have to be honest with what I've seen tonight. And the past few games. Actually, for most of the season.

• JV had a great game offensively, but his PNR defence was probably the reason why he didn't see time in the fourth. JV just struggles reading the play, and often would be too scared of the blow by and would sag to a point where the mid-range would be wide open for anyone to take, and JV got cooked repeatedly.
• Pascal Siakam needs to finish stronger in traffic. He has to try to either dunk it or have a better concentration finishing in traffic.
• Fred VanVleet needs to get his shit together. He needs to stick to what he's good at, for now, to get himself back into rhythm. Then he can do whatever.
• I'm not too totally disappointed with how Nurse coached tonight, but my biggest pet peeve - offensive/defensive substitution should be utilized, and instead of having FVV on defence, put Delon in there.
• Another nitpick on Nurse: He let the second unit stay on the game for too long in the fourth.
• Is Norm back? Seriously, I'm done with CJ Miles.
• Speaking of Delon, I'm really disappointed with the slow development of his game. He looks and plays pretty much the same way as he did during his rookie season. This is coming from someone who was drafted as an older senior.
• Now, back to Lowry. Disturbing trend: he's shooting his career low in FTAs
• so basically if Rondo is an excellent playmaker that would occasionally pass up layups for assists, is Lowry a better player? I mean, Lowry's not passing up shots occasionally, he's passing up shots all the time. And when he takes them? At this point, I trust Rondo's shot more than Lowry.
• A few more things that I tweeted out:

hey, on the bright side, we're pretty much guaranteed not to see kyle lowry be invited to the All-Star Weekend 3-pt shootout #SilverLining

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) December 8, 2018

Lowry's struggles ripple effect: increased TOs because of overpassing & defense starting to play him for the pass. Defense also sagging off him to double/clog the space. Kills possessions (& momentum) by passing up a shot. youngsters look up to him & lose confidence.

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) December 8, 2018

I'm a big Lowry fan but this trend is either: he's on a slump, injured, sulking, or just like Melo, his offence has abandoned him

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) December 8, 2018

Overreaction: Game 26/82 - The Sixers Need One More All-Star

• Kawhi is rounding into form, and it feels like there's still a gear he can get into offensively, and a couple of gears defensively. Scary.
• Speaking of Kawhi, having Kawhi with the Raptors makes the "floor" ridiculously high. With the rest of the team struggling and just having Kawhi in there, the Raptors are tough to beat. In the past, if one of the stars and the rest of the bench are struggling against a good team, there's a good chance that we're staring at a blowout.
• Is it me or Kawhi looks more integrated w/ the offense for the past 2 games?
• Seeing JV unleashed again felt so good. Games like this makes me confident and excited about Boogie Cousins playing for the Warriors.
• Wilson Chandler looks washed. As in Big3-bound.
• Delon Wright game starter pack:
• A euro-step
• acrobatic layup
• step back 3
• drive and kick to FVV for a 3
• Nick Nurse Strategy #1: Kawhi on Ben Simmons. Simmons struggled the entire night being guarded by Kawhi.
• Nick Nurse Strategy #2: No straight up D on Embiid, and help would only come in when he's about to shoot. Embiid was definitely frustrated the entire game.
• Nick Nurse Strategy #3: Siakam + Bench. Siakam provided better ball and off/ball movement with the bench mob. Defensively, he plugged some holes that they would normally have with Miles in there.
• The Go Daddy curse seems to be contagious. Lowry and FVV have been struggling. Siakam struggled tonight. Damn, Masai, make this stop.
• Speaking of the Sixers - if they don't become top 2 in the East, do they deserve to have 3 all-stars? I don't think so.
• I might make a separate post about Kyle Lowry vs Masai later today, but I'm not a fan of what he said.
• We have a chat group on twitter for RapsHQ and I kinda mention that we should waive Brown and Monroe to free up some minutes for Loyd and Boucher. For tonight, I apologize about the Monroe comment lol.

Overreaction: Game 25/82 - Raptors lose to the Zebras

The Raptors had a bad game tonight - Poor perimeter shooting in the first half, and they didn't get their shit together on defence until the bench (OG Anunoby, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, CJ Miles, JV) showed them that it's possible. The Raptors had their chances, but the Referees are undefeated all season.

Ok, the referees were bad, but it wasn't the main reason they lost. A lot of reasons, really.

• The Raptors went 3/22 behind the arc in the first half. Interestingly, I was at the Raptors905 game yesterday, and the sauga boys shot 3/19 in the first half, however, they clawed back and were down 2 at the half. The difference? Defence. The Raptors905 played better defence to close the half, and the Raptors didn't.
• Fred VanVleet is really struggling and Delon is starting to look good shooting behind the arc. Delon should shoot 3-4 of these on a nightly basis, and maybe more as I'd rather see him try to make that trifecta than snake around contact with an improbable shot.
• Speaking of Delon, FVV wasn't bringing anything and he gets to stay for crunch time minutes? WTF Nurse?
• Crunch time,  seconds to go, down 1. Why the eff did they elect to shoot back to back three-pointers on a broken play. The first shot, I'd understand, but the second shot? I know Danny Green is money and he's wide open, but the whole damn lane to the basket is pretty much open for a layup.
• I hate to say this, but Kyle Lowry is slowly playing himself out of an All-Star berth. He's the second best player on the team, and he's playing really well as a facilitator, but he can't just have 5 points for the game.
• Edit #1: so I rewatched the game again. Ibaka needs to control his emotions, not only did he take himself out of the game, but he also made errors that were costly.
• Edit #2: uncharacteristic tons of FTs missed
• Edit #3: unforced turnovers and missed bunnies were so frustrating to watch
• Edit #3: gotta give credit to Nurse for utilizing a Siakam postup to get the defence misdirected and getting the ball to Kawhi for a clutch basket.
• Edit #4: FVV doesn't deserve his crunch time 4Q minutes right now.

Game Summary: Raptors 905 vs Grand Rapids Drive 12/02/2018

The Raptors 905 started with their one-two punch two-way players Cris Boucher and Jordan Loyd, recently assigned Malachi Richardson, Deng Adel, and Kyle Collinsworth. Curiously, Kay Felder was inactive today for some undisclosed reason. Maybe he's getting a call-up? Who knows. Regardless, this is a good game to see whether Loyd can handle extended PG minutes.

The first quarter yielded some good return for Loyd as a PG, as he started off with 2 3PM and while he didn't have that many assists to start, it was mainly because his teammates were missing wide open shots. The Grand Rapids Drive showed their aggression from the get-go, taking advantage of the Raptors905's poor defence and lack of fight on the boards. This issue culminated with Boucher picking up his second foul midway through the first quarter.

Interestingly enough, coach Jama Mahlalela chose to leave Boucher in the game. The Raptors905's offensive and defensive struggles were met by the Drive's work inside and outside ended with the first quarter with the Drive up 31-17 and threatening to pull away. It was a tough first quarter for Boucher and Malachi.

The second quarter pretty much continued much of what transpired in the first quarter, with Garner looking locked and loaded from the perimeter and Hamilton an unstoppable force in the paint, while the Raptors905 is bricking everything outside the paint - going 3-19 around the perimeter in the first half. As the Raptors905 starters started to come back into the game, they made a concentrated effort to buckle down on defence, get transition opportunities, and score inside.

The Raptors905 managed to get the lead down to 9, trailing 30-39 midway through the second quarter, but the Drive answered with a back-to-back three-point shot by Bethea Jr and Garner. The Raptors905 clawed back and went on a 15-2 run with Boucher joining the fray to score 9 points to end the half trailing by two, 45-47.

The second half was all Raptors905 show for the rest of the way. The Raptors905 tightened up their defense for the most part, and Boucher continued to take over the game, scoring 15 in the third frame. The Drive's offense sputtered, and they were held to 15 points in this quarter - exactly how much Boucher scored in the quarter as well. The quarter ended with the Raptors905 comfortably ahead, 74-62. Loyd, not to be outperformed, poured in 10 points in the final frame, with the Raptors905 easily trashed the Drive 106-91.

Overreaction: Game 24/82 - Wasteland

• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Sucks
• Without
• LeBron
• SMH
• Raptors
• Didn't
• Show
• Up
• And
• Still
• Won