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.

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 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.