Overreaction: Game 53/82 - Valid Concern

So the Raptors lose another high profile game against the Bucks.

Let's roll in the excuses here:

- No JV
- Lowry is not healthy
- Kawhi is not 100%
- The team hasn't had a consistent practice with a full roster

We'll get JV back soon, so that means Ibaka won't be overextended, and JV would be able to start on certain matchups. That's good.

Lowry is not healthy. However, from the looks of it, he won't be healthy anytime soon, and we'll see more of Lowry's floor than his ceiling for the rest of the season. Heck, maybe for the rest of what's left of his career. It sucks for me to say all of this because I'm a big K-L-O-E guy. But when we get his floor, where he's closer to being the 7th best scorer than the 3rd best scorer on the team, what happens? We're almost fucked.

The book on Kawhi this season is out: Play him straight up on defence with defenders that can absorb the contact and bang with him, have help defenders ready should he gets past his man because chances are, he won't make the extra pass. Is he healthy? I think so. Is he in game shape? I'm not 100% sure, and it doesn't look likely. Good lord, he better not be, because if this is who he is at 100%, the Raptors are fucked. Especially on days where he can't even be the clear cut #1 scoring option.

The onus here is on the coach, on Nick Nurse. He has to roll with who can play his offence. That means he can pamper Kawhi with all of these load management crap, but Nurse should be able to get Kawhi to return the favour and get him to be a willing participant in his offence.

Nurse also has to let go of the politics, and play the guys that are playing well, and are suited for the situation. For example, Delon Wright is a much better defender than Fred VanVleet, especially with Kyle Lowry on the floor when the Raptors are playing a defensive possession down the stretch. Also, if Delon is playing well down the stretch, you don't take him out because VanVleet's got dibs in crunch time, especially if VanVleet is not playing well.

Tonight, Danny Green should've gotten the rest of the night off because he's got the shits, but lo and behold, Nurse had to put him back in during crunch time, because, he's Danny Green. Even though Green hasn't done anything offensively the entire game. He got to play instead of Norm Powell and Delon Wright, both guys who were a big part of that run that got them back in the game.

Lastly, Masai can't be watching this game, or the games recently and be satisfied. Do your job, Masai. This team need some help.

Overreaction: Game 46/82 - What Point Guard Depth?

• This is the best start I've seen in a while from Kyle Lowry. I'm not talking about running the offense, I'm talking about his aggressiveness looking to score in between setting his guys up.
• Remember that "Scott Sterling" viral videos before? Kyle got banged up today in so many different ways like Scott.
• I really like the energy that  Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright provided when they came in. Their appearance single-handedly cost them the game.
• Fred and Delon could not handle the physicality that Rozier, Smart, and Brown brought, and it got contagious, even the starting unit got affected.
• Siakam is also another guy who couldn't handle the physicality that the Celtics frontcourt brought to them. He could not get his offense going at all.
• Silver lining re: Siakam: His playmaking was phenomenal.
• I like how Moose battled and got some offense in, but man oh man... he's such a liability on defense.
• I love how coach Nick Nurse took the decision making aspect out of Serge Ibaka. Ibaka's basically put in a position where he's only doing one thing in the midrange and in the paint: shoot. If he's in the 3pt line? Swing pass or shoot it. No more playmaking to be done.
• I feel bad for Jordan Loyd. He's getting his NBA days via DNP-CD. At the same time, I don't think he's 100%. Based on what I've seen in the G-League, he's banged up.
• Am I concerned about this loss? Sure, the backup PGs are unreliable, we can't contain Kyrie, and the usual crunch time ISO-ball. But do keep in mind, Moose is playing JV's minutes, and if this is a playoff series, we won't see that much FVV+Delon minutes, especially together.
• I know Kawhi needs his reps in crunch time, but the Raps can't go all-season letting Kawhi cook in crunch time and just have 4 bystanders. They also need reps.

Overreaction: Game 39/82 - No Show/Good To See You, Deebo

The Raptors no-showed one of the biggest games of their regular season. With all the lights, media, hype, etc. focused on the Raptors and the Spurs, majority of the Raptors let Kawhi down. Siakam showed up, and tried his best, but he's best at when he's somewhat under control. Same thing can be said with Moose. When you ask him to do more than the little things that he can do, it's not a good thing. Serge Ibaka, FVV, Delon Wright, Danny Green, OG Anunoby all no-showed and were disappointing at best last night.

Are they being too soft because of their friends?

Playing Deebo and Yak for the first time, there's a lot of emotions going on that might have taken some of the Raptors out of their game. It's evident - the start of the first and third quarters were a disaster. It's up there as one of the worst games I've ever seen for the Raps.

JV said in the summer that they need to learn how to put foot on the neck or something along that line. In this case last night, the Raps need to set aside any emotion about the game and just be professional and try to win the game.


Take away the first quarter brainfart, and you have a game where you can count on Kawhi to try to win. Unfortunately, that's not how it goes.

The Raptors PG - FVV and Delon even up to now still cannot execute the offense. Delon at least was not getting killed on the defensive end. Either way, all they did was pound the ball too much to get the offense going.

Nick Nurse should take some blame too, as he was front and centre on how Danny Green and FVV were crapping the bed last night, it should've been a quick hook when you have decent players that can take the minutes (Wright and Powell).

There were a few bright spots on a forgettable game, such as:

CJ Miles hit a rhythm 3. It was wide open, yes, but it was at least 1.5ft away from the 3pt line and he made it easily. Small victories.

Chris Boucher, my son, came in and did what I expect him to do: Hit his 3s and block/alter shots. He finished with a team high +9, to go along with 1 3PM, 2Reb, 1Blk. Heck, his 3PM made pop call a timeout.

As mentioned earlier, Moose came in to battle. Unfortunately, he felt compelled to do more than what's expected from him, and that's where his issues came up.

Can we finally say that Norm Powell is back? Can we say that the GoDaddy curse is lifted? How long before we officially lifted JV's curse label? When he's in control, he's a big time role player.

I'm not disappointed about the loss, I'm disappointed about the effort. Or lack, thereof.

All in all, I'm happy for Deebo. Just like coach Casey's win in Toronto, he could not have scripted this better. This is probably the only acceptable L in the Raptors history.

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 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 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.

Overreaction: Game 23/82 - So You're saying You need 2 of the Top 5 players to Defeat the Raptors?

What a classic game, and for Raptors fans, this game will be added to those "way back" games that NBA TV Canada would play throughout the summer.

• It's amazing watching Pascal Siakam's development and last night couldn't have played out any better for him. I also love how he's getting crunch time minutes right now, because he'll need these reps if we want him to close games in the playoffs. Boy, did he showed up in OT.
• I'm officially jumping off the #JVHive, I'm done watching him struggle in PNR situations where he basically can't close out and it almost always end up a mid-range shooting drill.
• Excellent job by Danny Green and help defenders on Klay Thompson - he finished the 4th Quarter and OT going 1-9.
• I know Nick Nurse wanted to give the bench the reps, but games like last night should warrant a shorter leash. They were not productive at all -- to a point where they're playing worse than most of the Warriors reserves. Worst of all, their defense sucks.
• Speaking of the bench, there's a bad chemistry going on between Fred VanVleet and Jonas Valanciunas. FVV struggles to get the ball to JV on most of his penetrations. My take here is that:
• FVV doesn't have the passing savvy like Kyle Lowry. For example, Lowry would pass to his guys, but the pass would force them to get to the sweet spot, whereas FVV would wait for JV to get to his spot before he passes the ball
• FVV needs spacing on his dribble penetration, and JV does not read the situation well and would often be either out of position or get in the way of FVV
• Ok, up 3 with seconds to go Warriors ball. Sam Mitchell would've intentionally fouled to get the ball back.
• Delon Wright's been shooting pretty well around the perimeter for the past few games, he should just keep shooting them rather than turn down a very wide open 3 and go kamikaze for a kick out.
• Hot-take-ish here, but coming into the game, I had a feeling that Lowry will have a bad shooting night - and boy, he almost crapped the bed in the 4th.
• Speaking of Lowry, the Raptors need to develop Siakam and OG at a rapid rate, as they need a dedicated secondary scorer outside of Kawhi. Lowry is starting to become more and more unreliable in games like this.
• I listen to podcasts all day, and I listen to all of the Raptors podcasts. However, Friday morning will be reserved for Warriors podcasts, drinking in all the denials and silver linings that they will make of this game.
• got someone to delete their tweet
• Last year, the Raptors played the dubs twice. Both games, the Raps came back and almost got the W. The opposite happened last night. The difference? Our new acquisitions: Kawhi and Danny Green.
• The Warriors will definitely miss Kevin Durant next season, coz that guy ain't staying
• Am I the only one not scared of Boogie Cousins? If anything, if he's healthy -- he'll be the Raptors trump card LOL
• So someone on twitter tried to sandbag the Raptors W by bringing up that their team is composed of G-Leaguers. I can't believe that I made that person upset enough to delete their posts by using Lorenzo Brown and Chris Boucher as a counter argument.

Overreaction: Game 22/82 - First Signature Win

The dinos came back after being down 17, and out-grit and out-grind the Memphis Grizzlies.

• Nick Nurse flexing his coaching chops in the second half. A few things worth noting:
• Shortened rotation in the second half: no CJ Miles who was a defensive liability, JV only played 7 minutes, who was struggling last night
• man to zone defense switching
• Having at least one of Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard at all times to ensure offensive stability and still kept them fresh (Lowry had about 5 mins and Kawhi 4 minutes of rest in the second half)
• Played VanVleet off the ball for spot up shooting
• The bench mob redeemed themselves - although it was really a Kawhi/Lowry + Bench lineup. The all-bench lineup of CJ Miles-JV-Delon Wright-FVV-OG Anunoby coughed up 4 turnovers in 5 minutes in the first half, which sucks because they were actually shooting it well, going 6/7 FGM/A including 3/3 from the perimeter.
• FVV was excellent tonight - and he was back playing what he does best - hitting his perimeter shots with the occasional opportunistic drives to the basket.
• Crucial part of the 3rd and 4th quarter: When the starters came out, and it became Kawhi/Lowry + Bench lineup. The starters got the lead down to two, but the offense sputtered a bit especially when it was Kawhi+Bench. However, the defense was more than good enough to hold their own and more, and they rewarded Nurses's trust.
• It's really great to see the offensive minded Lowry back, shades of 2016 Kyle Lowry for sure. If the Raps have any aspiration of being the last team standing in the East, they need more performance like this from Lowry.
• For the first time this season, Kawhi's play in the entire second half looked like he's really now part of the team. When news broke that we are getting Kawhi, last night's second half was what I had in mind on how Kawhi would play with his teammates.
• I'm realy impressed with coach Bickerstaff's reclamation project in Memphis, and if the Clippers weren't enjoying their early success, maybe they would get more mainstream buzz.
• Mike Conley is no longer on my top 10 lefty NBA players after making more right handed floaters last night than his lefty shots.

Overreaction: Game 19/82 - I Miss the Old Bench Mob

Bench Mob circa 2017-2018 season

• Let me start this off that finally, we got an A+ game out of Kyle Lowry. The perimeter shot came back, but most importantly, Lowry didn't settle for outside shots but was also aggressive with his drives to the basket.
• I don't understand Nick Nurse's logic of starting Fred VanVleet and pretty much playing him almost an entire quarter at a time when he's not contributing at all. In fact, he was a liability on both sides of the court.
• If we have to rely on Greg Monroe to provide a solid contribution to win a game, we're f'd. I look at Monroe worse than what Ibaka was last year. We don't need Monroe, and we should be giving his playing time to Chris Boucher.
• Delon Wright is already 26 years old, and while the floor of his game is not too bad - minimum level quality bench player, he hasn't shown any considerable improvement to his game offensively. I'm not saying I've given up on him -- considering the fact the DeMar made huge strides at age 26-28 after appearing to stagnate from ages 22-25, but it doesn't look promising. Bottom line is, at age 26, he's no longer a "potential" player.
• I don't like that 3-point guard lineup at all. Most especially if none of them are playing well. Worse, you add in Moose to that lineup. These 3 backup point guards played horrible tonight - and don't get misled by FVV's 11 points -- the majority of them came from garbage time. It was so bad that Lowry had to come back late in the fourth to protect the lead, and it cost him a busted nose.

Overreaction: Game 18/82 - That Play Looks Familiar

A win is a win, eh? Tonight was probably the ugliest 2nd half I've ever seen the Raptors play - and still win. A few rants and notes below:

• Kawhi, Kawhi, Kawhi. As much as the Raptors kept missing open looks in the 2nd half, it's actually Kawhi's momentum killing ball pounding iso that got the Magic started. The Raps were up 18 in the first half, the pace and the ball movement was good, and here comes Kawhi and his ISOs that went nowhere.
• I think Kyle Lowry is banged up, but it's starting to look more and more that Lowry's best days as an offensive threat are long gone.
• Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright combined to be a mediocre option as Lowry's backups. Except for a couple of a high-degree of difficulty layups, these two didn't bring much to the table.
• At some point, I was wondering how come Nurse didn't utilize any of their 3 G-League assignees? Malachi Richardson, Jordan Loyd, and Chris Boucher are 3 of the 5 best Raptors perimeter shooter and they did not get a single minute.
• Lorenzo Brown really pulled his sock up and played excellent D the entire time that he was there. I doubt the Raps get the dub if he wasn't there.
• The Raptors' perimeter shooting once again got exposed. The opposing teams have more than enough sample for their scouting, and we'll probably see more and more teams clog up the paint and let the Raptors try to win the game from outside.

Overreaction: Game 17/82 - Nurse and the Art of Building a Player's Confidence

Finally, some breathing room.

After a rough 3 game losing skid, the Raptors 905 got back into the winning column. Yeah, Raptors 905 as the majority of the players that were active today have ties with the 905 club.

Confidence

It's obvious that Nick Nurse is trying to rehab his players' performance by giving them the longer leash and empowering them the more that they struggle. Right now, while the intent is good, Kyle Lowry went down with an apparent ankle injury while the team was up 30 in the 3rd period -- all for getting Lowry to shoot his way back into rhythm.

It worked for Ibaka, Siakam, and JV -- it's starting to work for Delon Wright. It was slowly working for Norman Powell.

Nurse is trying to make it work for CJ Miles, Lorenzo Brown, and Malachi Richardson. It looks like Malachi is starting to get there.

Had this been Nurse, CJ would have been in the doghouse after 5 games. Brown and Richardson won't be seeing rotation minutes unless it's really, really bad.

Looking at how Nurse's handling the Kawhi situation - especially the late game gaffes -- it looks like Nurse is doing the same with Kawhi.

Nurse knows that he needs to elevate his team's individual performance to get as deep as possible in the playoffs. Kawhi by himself won't cut it, regardless of how good he is. Kawhi's going to need an army of solid players to play off and play with.

Tonight was a good sign of progression. We saw Kyle got the leeway to get himself out of the slump. Siakam, Ibaka, and JV are playing better than expected. Malachi and Brown started off shaky but was able to shake off the cobwebs and contribute.

Jordan Loyd and Chris Boucher even got some good burn tonight.

Personally, I like the approach, and a team like the Bulls tonight was a good practice run.

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 11/82 - NBA does not want Ibaka to win the MVP

1st Quarter

12:00 No Kawhi, what a bummer, but I wasn’t surprised. Raptors will come into the game playing with house money. Maybe a schedule loss today? I’m pretty sure they’ll try to see how far they can go.

11:17 3 TOs in a row. Not a good sign.

10:00 Ibaka’s help-D is just so much better than JV. While JV’s got 2 blocks already, JV’s always half a step slow on his help D.

8:50 5 TOs already. Raptors look lethargic on both ends of the court.

7:15 JV3 of course. Kidding aside, Raptors showing some life

5:36 early sub-in for the bench. FVV and Ibaka for JV and OG who did not have it for tonight.

4:29 timeout Utah. Raps got back to within 3 (17-20) behind Pascal+Serge+Lowry. Interesting move: OG for Danny Green. Not the usual Miles/Powell. hmmm.

2:44 Raps up 1. Ibaka might be the next former OKC to win the MVP. Lowry with a stupid 2nd foul on a three-pointer. Would like to see a Delon-Exum matchup at this point.

1:56 Another interesting sub. Danny Green back in for Lowry. CJ Miles finally in for Siakam.

0:00 Raptors close out strong. Ibaka not gonna miss anymore. CJ’s defence is still a lot to be desired.

2nd Quarter

9:46. Ibaka still on his MVP campaign but picked up his 3rd. CJ Miles showed some life. Finally, Powell for Green but what a luck, looks like he dislocated his shoulder.

7:30 Raps down 6, slipped a little bit on defence and also JV with the missed bunnies. Lowry back. Good to see FVV hitting his threes.

6:49 Utah calls a timeout after OG’s transition 3. Raps down 3. Love how the team’s intensity goes up when Kyle is on the floor. MVP?

5:05 Raps back up 1 on Lowry and FVV’s strong coast to coast flex-your-muscle layups. Should be both and-1s.

3:30 it took the refs the entire 1st half until they realized that Gobert’s been illegally screening all the time. Also, Siakam is really good on the open floor.

Raptors finished strong on Lowry+Siakam brilliance. Siakam’s growing before our eyes. Greg Monroe looked like he’s been on a bulk up meal-plan.

3rd Q

8:42 Raps start strong, and are up 20. Hooomannn, this team is good!

4:37 Raps still up 18 but we’ve seen a few bad Siakam plays. He’s still rough around the edges, but the good plays are outnumbering the bad ones right now. JV did a great job being big vs the Jazz big men. Lowry and co need to step on the gas and go for the kill. They can’t have a drawn-out game on the 2nd game of a back-to-back.

1:05 Lowry got T’d up after Lowry won’t stop yapping as he was fouled (no-call) again with the defender taking his landing spot. Of course, Ibaka came back and hit a few shots. Raptors gave the physicality and defence back to Utah and gave them some more. Impressive.

4th Q

10:33 Ibaka with back-to-back fouls. Not good. Was looking to see him go 10/10 FGs tonight.

9:08 FVV seems to be on a mission to force his way all the way to the cup. Pretty ballsy of Nurse to leave Ibaka with 5 fouls. I don’t know what the ref is seeing but the Joe Ingles bumped into Favors. Monroe in.

7:22 Monroe is just too slow. Don’t want to see Monroe and CJ Miles together on the floor if it’s not garbage time. Refs just gonna keep making whistles against the Raps.

5:30 left and the Jazz bust out Udoh and Thabo. This game is over.

Parting shots:

• For some reason, the refs keep missing the 3-in-the-key call on Jazz bigs all the time. They’re on the paint for  5 seconds!
• The Raps as a whole brought the physicality and defence back to the Jazz, but Kyle Lowry set the tone for them.
• Rubio’s got one of the most punchable face on the NBA and for some reason, I felt good seeing him take a Delon Wright shoulder on his face. I don’t even hate the guy.
• Coz I'm a lefty baller, Joe Ingles is my fave lefty player and it's not even by default. He's pretty good.
• It took at least 10 games before we got to see the brilliance of FVV and Delon Wright as their usual selves.

Overreaction: Game 10/82 - Starters' Chemistry + Defense FTW (aka Baka is my Father)

I thought I should change up my posts about the game, so I made some sort of a running commentary as I remember to type:

1st Half

• The Lakers started big with LeBron-Lonzo-Ingram-Kuzma-Javale 28-10 start. Interesting strategy, not having pure shooters out there with LeBron and Lonzo being the smaller player on the floor (who's way taller than Lowry)
• Kyle picking the Lakers defence apart early. This is a clinic.
• Lakers went small LeBron-Kuzma-Stephenson-Rondo-Hart and Ibaka just "sonned" them.
• Ibaka 18 points in just over 8 minutes. WTH. Lowry with 9 assists.
• sorry, but Walton is trying to get fired here by fielding Rondo-KCP-Hart-Kuzma-Stephenson with them down 25 with 3mins left in the first half.
• Not liking the defensive effort of the second unit. Allowed the Lakers get some offensive rhythm. CJ Miles. Oh well CJ Miles.
• Lebron started to impose his will when he came in around 8mins in the 2nd quarter. Interesting to see how the Raps respond. Nurse slowly added the starters in.
• Raptors bend but did not bend that much in the 2nd quarter. The defensive intensity went back up when the starters came back.
• Ibaka picked up his 3rd chasing a 3pt shot late in the 2nd. something to keep an eye on.

2nd Half

• Rough defensive trips to start the 2nd half. Ibaka also picked up his 4th.
• Loving Lowry's intensity to keep the crew focused. He refused to let the complacency to sink in and become the norm.
• Ibaka crossed 30pts 4 mins into the 3rd quarter. what.
• Raptors need to get this lead bigger to make this a short night for LeBron.
• Nick Nurse's timeouts are on-point so far. Borderline too early, but so far they're the right call.
• Raptors got the lead up to 24-26, but LeBron started to make a push again. Hitting back to back threes. Nurse with another timeout. Let's see how the team respond.
• Kyle Lowry went to the bench late in the 3rd, really important how the bench who'd start to come in respond and maintain this lead. up 22.
• Bench barely protected the lead with 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The offence is dead outside of JV destroying Ivica at every possession that he's got the ball. CJ, Powell, FVV are all cold. The defence is not as good as the starters, even against a crappy lineup of Rondo-Stephenson-Rondo-Ivica-Mikhailuk
• Ingram and Kuzma came in with 7mins left, probably a feeler whether they can get back into the game without LeBron.
• Not liking how FVV and Delon were milking the clock before trying to get the ball to JV
• Lead down to 14 off a Lonzo back-to-back three-pointer. This bench outside of JV is trash right now. If I were Walton I would put Lebron back in there right now.
• Nurse's only bad decision tonight was to keep the bench for too long. I know he was trying to get them more reps, but if they are not playing D, they have to be out of the court.
• Kyle and the starters came back stiff, but after a few possessions and a charge, he's warmed up again.

Parting shots:

• If CJ can't shoot and can't provide a passable defence, he shouldn't be on the court, period.
• LeBron James obv a primadonna trying to make a statement, left the game immediately without shaking hands. This is a protest for sure.
• Kyle Lowry and Chris Bosh talking. Bosh probably wants in on that "Kawhi-home-games-only" contract.
• Excellent defence and chemistry by the starters, horrible outing for the bench players.
• I don't know if Nick Nurse was right on keeping FVV to close the game, he hasn't done much -- if anything, I would have kept Delon Wright because you need defensive closers. The Lakers got their shots too freely in the 4th quarter.

Overreaction: Game 9/82 - Bare Minimum

• The lack of production off the bench is killing the Raptors. OG, CJ Miles, FVV, Delon Wright didn't have anything in the first half, and Norm Powell didn't shoot enough.
• The defence in the 1st half looks like last year's defence, which is bad.
• Pascal Siakam got 15 rebounds against the 76ers, and to see him only have 1 rebound in the first half is not acceptable.
• I lost track, but there have to be at least 6 three-pointers that went in and out
• I don't know about you, but I feel the same when OG+Kawhi team up on a fast break and when Kyle+FVV team up on their own fast break.
• I almost forgot that the Suns have Josh Jackson. With limited playing time and a drastic haircut change, he looks like one of their typical scrubs.
• The Raptors had FVV-Powell-OG-Miles-Ibaka late 3rd/early 4th. I caught myself saying "Thank god Ibaka's there to provide veteran leadership and scoring." OMG
• The bench performance in the 2nd half was probably the closest to last year's bench mob in terms of production and cohesion.
• Kyle Lowry really does not respect Canaan's offence, he let the dude go off for 19 points
• Kyle, Kawhi, JV came in the 4th with 5 mins to go up 18, and their subpar defence and offence saw their lead to go down to 13 and Nurse had to call a timeout.
• Uh-oh, Kawhi heading back to the locker room. Not good.

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 7/82 - The Curse Is For Real

What a bummer. No Kawhi. No Giannis. No FVV and no OG. Did I expect the Raptors to win? To be honest, no. But I expected them to put themselves in a position where they have a chance. A chance that never happened. The Milwaukee Bucks pulled away in the 2nd half and the Raptors' wheels fell apart. Admittedly, I was barely paying attention to the game, as I spent pretty much the entire game carving our jack-o-lantern pumpkin with my little one.

• 22 points on a 10/16 shooting for Pascal Siakam. Is this his career high? He looked great playing extended minutes, and I really hope that he can sink at least 1 of every 4 threes that he would hoist up. While the box score only shows 2 assists, he had a few situations where the receiver did not finish, and he has at least 2 hockey assists.
• My Serge Ibaka apology streak just won't end. I've been eating crow when it comes to Ibaka-baka-baka as I've written him off this season. Now, he looks like he's an important cog for this Raptors team.
• CJ Miles' Go-Daddy curse is back, and this time it's worse. If he's not bricking shots, he's turning the ball over. You know it's bad if you played worse than Malachi and Lorenzo Brown.
• Kyle Lowry's shooting went back to earth, and what an unfortunate time for it to happen. It also didn't help that the Bucks defense focused on contesting his shots and making him more of a passer. I doubt that will be the case next game.
• Is it just me or Norm doesn't get the ball a lot whenever he's on the same floor with Ibaka? Norm posted a modest 2/3 FG tonight, yet as a starting SG, he should have been more aggressive and have more shots than that.
• Defense needs a lot of work - whether it's switching or just plain communication. It was terrible tonight.
• I know this is Delon's 1st real game, but at his age and given he's in his contract year, I expect a jump in terms of what he can bring to the table - and I'm still waiting.
• I love that Nurse is willing to enable and empower his non-starters, giving guys that are on the end of the bench to build up confidence. Malachi played decent tonight, hitting a 3, playing good positional defense a few times, and showing more effort and defensive awareness than before.
• Is it Casey or.... Well, let's look at this. Lowry's hit a new gear, DeRozan is flourishing in San Antonio, Alfonzo McKinnie is playing really well for the dubs, and the Raptors offense looked better and different from Casey's tenure. Ibaka and JV had been great for the most part. Was Casey holding them back?

Take That for Data - Individual Defense

Through 6 games, I was under the impression that Kawhi’s covering the opposing team’s best player - which is typically the volume shooter on the team. Surprisingly, Danny Green is contesting an average of 15 shots a game — and defending them admirably by giving only 36.7% of those shots. Eye test suggests the following:

• Kawhi is shutting them down in some possessions;
• Opposing players are getting Kawhi switched out of them.

Other observations from the data:

• Opposing players are attacking Fred VanVleet at a higher rate but surprisingly not that successful (41.9%).
• Eye test that says Serge Ibaka is defending the basket much better can be affirmed by his 35.2% DFG which is pretty good since he’s mostly defending near the rim.
• Siakam is a monster, yielding only 29.8% in 9.5 shots defended per game.
• Green, Ibaka, VanVleet, Lowry, Kawhi, Siakam so far are our best defenders based on these stats (highest DFG% is Lowry at 42.9%), which makes the switching on defence easier to execute since there’s no  major weak point. Heck, even JV and OG are 50% or under.

Overreaction: Game 6/82 - "The Lorenzo Brown Game"

• What a fourth quarter for our 4th PG Lorenzo Brown. I was ready to write him off after the third quarter. I went to the garage to get my groceries during the intermission, feeling a bit down because the closing lineup blew the lead, and not really looking forward to Lorenzo Brown play the beginning of the 4th. Lo and behold, I came back a few minutes into the fourth quarter and the Raps were up 10 again. I had to re-start the 4th quarter because I literally missed something amazing, which is, Brown, playing like the G-League version of himself.
• Serge and Kawhi got too trigger happy in this game -- I thought that both players had at least 3 shots where they could've moved the ball to an open teammate.
• Kyle's evolving into a much more complete, efficient version of himself. Looking at the games this season, it looks like the game is coming to him very easily -- he's pretty much cruising along that 3rd or 4th gear and still end up as the teams top 2 if not top 1 player on a nightly basis. This is without him going super-Saiyan mode that we're accustomed to in the past.
• I'm really impressed by Siakam's court vision. He finished the game with 3 assists - which should've been 6 or 7 if the recipients did not screw up their bunnies. Siakam needs to be more of a threat as a scorer and it should open up more passing lanes for him if he can do that.
• It's great to see CJ Miles play like his old self tonight. His 10 points tonight might be the most in-rhythm streak of points he's had this season.
• Could be just me, but I cringe every time Kawhi would get whacked and end up on the floor, which is what happened several times tonight.
• Six games in and we still haven't seen FVV and Delon Wright share the floor. I'm really intrigued how the bench rotation and what the actual product on the floor would look like once Delon and FVV are back and healthy.
• I saw a few posts on twitter about Celtics' DEFRTG. I don't really care who's number one. As long as the Raps are in the top 10 and winning with some sort of defensive showing, that's all I care at this point. I'm more interested to see whether the Raps have holes on their defense -- i.e. last year, even though the Raps are top 5 in defense, the defense is weak when it comes to the LeBron/KD/Giannis type, and JV was just a 1/5 PNR nightmare on defense (for our team). I see some slippage on defense every now and then like what happened tonight, which is just a bunch of guys getting accustomed with each other.

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.