Overreaction: Game 15/82 - Disturbing Trends

Dwane Casey and the Pistons came to town and kicked the Raptors' behind.

Quite a few disturbing trends that have been going on the past few games:

• Inconsistent perimeter shooting leading to empty possessions. Under 29% versus the Pelicans on Monday, and this time, 20% against the Pistons. Worse, the 20 attempts tonight might be the lowest this season.
• Passive Kyle Lowry. Kyle Lowry is too good to take a backseat and defer too much of the offence to Kawhi. It's understandable that Kawhi is the alpha male of the team, but Lowry needs to be a threat to create more space for Kawhi and everybody else when Lowry's playing off the ball.
• Too much Kawhi ISO-ball. I mentioned this on my last blog, but Nurse and Kawhi need to talk about incorporating him more and more to the offence, rather than relying on getting him ISO possessions. At times it slows the pace down, and that's not the ideal situation for the Raptors.
• (Too much) Pound The Rock. I know this is coach Casey's mantra, but  Delon/FVV and even Lowry at times are pounding the ball for too long when the shot or mismatch is already there.
• Bounce pass in traffic to the Cs. A hard bounce pass in traffic to either Ibaka (stone hands), JV (too slow), Moose (can't bend, too slow) is a turnover waiting to happen. This is only effective when the ball does not get deflected and it bounces directly to their "pocket." Tonight, JV and Moose combined for 6 turnovers. Majority of them were from those bounce passes.
• Forgot about Skills. This dude is making a killing. Siakam needs to have an opportunity to create every now and then in crunch time situations to get him reps and to make the offence less predictable.
• Centers sagging to the middle of nowhere. I guess this is where we miss Serge Ibaka. JV and Moose are both sagging to the middle of nowhere leaving their teammate getting caught in between switching or sticking to their man.
• Kawhi's Perimeter Funk. Don't look now, but Kawhi's shooting 1/10 from deep for the past 3 games.
• Lowry's Perimeter Funk. Remember when Lowry was shooting the lights out from the perimeter? It feels like a long time ago. For the past 4 games, he's shooting a meagre 4/21.

Tidbits:

• It's good to see Nurse take VanVleet out in crunch time as last year, Casey would have kept him in there till the end
• The BLOB play that Casey almost pulled off looks so similar to the Miami Heat's game-winner against the Raptors last year.

Overreaction: Game 8/82 - It's not Rebound-ball

• A bit of a nitpicking here, but Kyle Lowry needs to stop hunting for assists sometimes because the shots are right there
• I don't know how many games has it been, but even though the Raptors are winning, it feels like they are losing the rebounding battle on a nightly basis
• I don't want to write anything new about CJ Miles because there's nothing new to write
• Pascal Siakam's starting to break out. I don't know how this will affect OG's playing time, but we have too many decent young players, and at least one of them need to step up and become good or even better
• Just imagine how this team will look once FVV, OG Anunoby, and a healthy Delon Wright are back in the lineup. Speaking of Delon, it's good to see him start to look like his old self.
• Again, a couple of major difference between Nurse and Casey - Nurse will get Malachi and Brown some reps that they need, and CJ all the rope to get out of his rut
• I guess no matter how much weight JV loses, his heavy feet will always be a weakness when teams utilize Cs to get their three-point shooters open
• I love how simple Kawhi's game is offensively, yet he would easily get 20-25 a night. We're not even seeing those games where he would force 2-3  turnovers leading to his fastbreak points.
• Norm Powell is quietly putting together a decent showing offensively, however, he still struggles to chase guys off the ball. He needs to watch how Danny Green -- someone who's way slower than him -- chases guards off the ball. It's not just about sprinting. He keeps getting caught on those screens as if he really didn't see them coming. Maybe he didn't.
• From what I've heard from my friends, certain employers in the middle east region would hold the passport of their expats as part of their employment agreement. Is this what Masai is doing?
• For the road - Raptors won despite getting pummeled on the boards -- As Raptors legend Andrea Bargnani once said "It's not rebound-ball, it's basket-ball"

Overreaction: Game 4/82 - Four-oh

• Kawhi is starting to look more and more fluid with his moves, and this is a good thing (or bad for the rest of the league).
• I'm eating crow when it comes to Serge. I had really low expectations coming into the season, and I thought that he'll be a liability and a dead weight on the roster. Kudos to Nick Nurse for finding out a way on how to better utilize him.
• How good is Kyle Lowry? I keep telling everybody, he may have taken a step back defensively, but not offensively. Last year, he was basically cruising at 80% for most of the time, and with fewer minutes so that FVV and Delon Wright can develop. Now we're seeing Lowry at his finest.
• A bit of a concern - when it's all bench unit, it feels like FVV is having a hard time setting up others based on their offensive sets. I don't have data to back me up, but it feels like more often than not, the possession ends up late clock and FVV has to iso.
• Minor annoyance with Siakam --- if he's in the starting lineup, his role is not a playmaker, but a finisher. between Lowry and Kawhi, there's more than enough ball pounding between the two. He should be more aggressive and look to score especially if he's got Jeremy Lamb guarding him.
• I liked Malachi's garbage time minutes. Aggressive, taking advantage of the chance to play.
• Instead of commenting on how I liked how Powell and CJ Miles worked through their struggles, I'd go a step further and say I liked how Nick Nurse is taking the opportunity to get those guys back into their groove.
• It's great to see the Biz. He'll always be one of my fav non-all-star Raptor.
• How long before the Hornets figure out that Nic Batum-is-a-good-player is a scam?
• I'm really impressed by the Raps defense through 4 games, and it feels like there are a couple more gears that they can go as their cruising speed. Scary.
• I'm out like DeRozan watching Raps game - I'm typing this while watching the Spurs-Lakers game.

Overreaction: Game 3/82 - KLOE forever

• First off, I really don't get how former all-stars get these "studio analyst" jobs with ESPN or other media and at the same time be clueless about almost everything? T-Mac was recently quoted saying Lowry's gonna have to carry a big load because the Raps got no bench. Very disappointing for a former Rap. No wonder he got dissed on the Sportsnet hype video.
• Despite being relegated to the bench, I'm really impressed by how Siakam played tonight. Now, if he can just don't get too excited and not spin too fast that he loses control of his shot.
• Happy for Norm -- he had a bad 1st half and a really positive 2nd half. Nurse asked him to do what he's good at: his fast-twitch muscles to push the pace and to quickly get up and snatch the rebounds.
• Danny Green had no legs to his shot tonight, but man, he's good at predicting the movement of his man, and it saves him the unnecessary movements, and also take away some moves and limited the blow-bys.
• OG Played well for the most part, except for his ticky-tack fouls.
• The way FVV is playing right now makes me think of a "what if FVV did not get injured on the last game of the regular season last year?" Also thank god nobody outbid us for his services.
• The Go Daddy curse is for real. I hate to see CJ Miles struggle like this -- to a point that he's hesitating on the open three-point shot.
• It looks like the pre-Magic Ibaka is back. After a shaky first game, his next two games were really awesome. He is really a C on this modern NBA age.
• John Wall played ok despite being too hungover the night before.
• The Wizards imploded in the fourth, and it's only the game 2 of the season. They haven't even had Howard yet, and they haven't even turned on each other.
• I don't know how good Scott Brooks is as a coach, but it's not working out for him with the Wizards.
• Going back to the Raptors, what a game for Nick Nurse -- he was able to flex his coaching chops when it came to in-game adjustments, game management, and his ATO/OOB plays were solid.
• Lastly  - Kyle Lowry is the best point guard in the East. Quote me, @ me, fight me, whatever. Kyle Lowry is the best point guard in the East.

Overreaction: Game 1/82 - Linear Champs

• Kevin Love got that moneybag yet he still can't afford a good barber. Fred VanVleet got less money yet he looks like he gets a fade every day.
• Earlier today, I think it was Eric Koreen who had a bit of AMA on The Athletic, and I asked on the last minute: "Is there a path for Pascal Siakam to have a breakout year?" I was hoping for one, but not expecting one. Siakam made a huge stride tonight.
• I tweeted this earlier, but the entire game felt like how the bench mob played last year.
• Only true Raptors fans know that Kyle Lowry actually took a step back, instead of NBA media's belief that Kyle regressed last year. Keep flexing that muscle boi.
• Kawhi looked rusty, but Nurse was more than willing to give him his reps and all the minutes to get his conditioning back.
• The first two games of the NBA is more than enough of a justification for the Suns to fire their GM.  Terry Rozier yesterday, Fred VanVleet today. Damn Van Fleek is good.
• I'm in my mid 30s, and I definitely feel what Ibaka went through today. There are days where my body feel so stiff, that I need a WD-40 on every joint of my body. I would do 1 good thing for every 5-6 bad things.
• I tweeted earlier, if Kawhi and OG are on the same side of the floor on defense, we should call that side the "weak side" because that's where the offensive team would be the weakest. If Ibaka is in the area? Might as well call that the Bermuda Triangle.
• Congrats Nick Nurse on your 1st NBA head coaching career win. as a tribute, here are some of the differences had Casey coached the game tonight:
• Ibaka and JV would have started together
• Norman Powell would have gotten the short end of the stick, as the bench mob would have FVV, Miles, OG, Siakam, Monroe
• FVV would not have left the court in the 2nd half
• Siakam won't see crunch time minutes
• Monroe, instead of JV would get that Ibaka breather in the 4th quarter
• Won't call the timeout when Clarkson scored 3 straight buckets with the score 90-81. Instead, would wait for the Cavs to get more momentum

Thank you, Dwane Casey

Dwane Casey is a good coach. For almost a decade, the Raptors were a joke, and it took Dwane Casey's hiring seven years ago to bring the team, and the organization to where they are now. Five playoff stints in seven years are no joke. However, even Casey as a coach has plateaued. While Casey improved his coaching for the past three years, he was not able to elevate the team in the playoffs for three consecutive years.

If you don't follow the Raptors, it's easy to judge the Raptors for letting go someone who might win the Coach of the Year. Dwane Casey's done a great job this season. This regular season. However, like last year, Casey is being judged not by what he did in the regular season, but his performance in the playoffs.

Blaming Lowry and/or DeRozan is easy. Even Ibaka. However, they were not responsible for the offensive and defensive schemes. Nor the ATO or SLOB/BLOB plays. Sure, the stars are often involved in most of those plays, but the coaches are responsible for putting the players where they can perform the best. Lowry/DeRozan/Ibaka have two more years to go at it, and removing Casey from the equation should give us a better picture where this organization is heading in the next five years.

Just look at Al Horford. Al Horford was the best player in Milwaukee Bucks vs Boston Celtics. They have Giannis and  Khris Middleton, who are better than Horford. Al Horford, once again, was the best player in the Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics. The 76ers have Embiid and Ben Simmons. The best player in the east playoffs outside of LeBron? Al Freakin Horford.

The Boston Celtics are winning despite missing their top two players. They are winning despite having to play a bunch of young guys. They are winning because of elite coaching.

I've said this before and will say it again. In the playoffs, you need to have either an elite coach or elite player(s) on your team. Some teams have both. In the playoffs, what a team did in the regular season have been thoroughly investigated by the opposing team's coaching staff by the time game 1 would have started. Dwane Casey and his coaching staff failed to counterpunch in the playoffs - for three years.

Dwane Casey is a good man. He's a good coach. Rebuilding teams should go get him. It's just that in Toronto, it's time for him to go. I just wish they never went through that stupid press conference two days ago. It doesn't look good, and Casey does not deserve that kind of treatment.

I'm sad to see him go, but it's not like Masai is firing a guy who's not at fault here. It's also not fair that Casey had to pay for some of Masai's blunders.

I just keep going back to game 82, and I wonder if I'm penning this piece on Casey if Fred VanVleet did not dislocate his shoulder.

Still, Thank you, Dwane Casey. It was frustrating at times, but it was fun seeing this team grow under your tutelage.