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 38/82 - New Year, New Career High

• Kawhi with a career night and pretty much got what he wanted and even took Joe Ingles' soul in the process. I mean, what can that accountant do to Kawhi?
• Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell combined for 7/28 shooting. Thank god we have Kawhi and Danny Green.
• Not to be outdone, Pascal Siakam also had an under the radar career night. 28 points and it looked very easy. He could've gotten more if he forced the issue a bit more.
• I know it's not gonna happen this year, but I can't wait to see a stronger and more skilled Siakam. I think there's another gear to his improvement.
• Norm Powell came in and did what most of us Raps fans hope he would do: be a spark off the bench, playmake, and hit the occasional 3. With him out there playing like this, the Raps don't really need to give Lorenzo Brown his minutes (Sorry Lorenzo).
• I thought CJ Miles's 3 minutes weren't a waste, he has a couple of steals/loose ball rebound. Let's start with small victories for now when it comes to CJ.
• I also thought this would be a game where Chris Boucher could come in handy, but I guess Nick Nurse does not think the same.
• Moose with an equally good as an equally bad game. I'm not sure if the good wipes out all the bad he's done all game.
• It would be interesting to see whether the Raps will bring Boucher and Malachi (either or?) for the trip. The Raps go to Texas to play the Spurs and DeMar on Jan 3rd, then go to Milwaukee to face Giannis and the Bucks on Jan 5th. The 905 plays on the 4th and the 5th back to back.
• Speaking of Spurs and DeMar, they just announced that Lowry is getting anti-inflammatory injections for his back, and there's no timetable for his return. So yeah, I expect him to play on Thursday against his best buddy DeMar.

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 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 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 21/82 - Dwyane Wade's Farewell Tour

I don't know what kind of nonsense coach Pop is talking about questioning Kawhi's leadership attributes. Personally, neither Kawhi nor our boy Deebo that he got are real leaders. Why? Because this guy is the real leader:

Kawhi's finally part of Lowry's entourage. Oh, he's definitely staying now. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/GlKvjKN0ZK

— JD Quirante (@jdkeyrants) November 24, 2018

• Kawhi looks like he's getting closer and closer to his old form. It's two straight games now where Kawhi's asserted his will not just defensively, but offensively. Can't wait until we get to see this guy 100%
• Speaking of Kawhi, he forced a lot of issues in the fourth quarter - he's either trying to get the dagger or he's trying to get more crunch time reps. They looked ugly for the most part in the 4th quarter.
• Dwyane Wade looked great and he dropped 35 points making people like me nostalgic and remember how good he was.
• Speaking of Dwyane Wade, Delon Wright really need to stop playing like the little bro and start taking what he deserves. He was too soft on Wade the entire night - too respectful on defense, and was not trying to take advantage of an obvious athletic and physical edge he's got over an ageing Wade. Between him and OG, Wade found a way to lube up his joints and start cooking.
• I don't care what other people say, Pascal Siakam is the MIP
• During the TSN broadcast, Leo Rautins pointed out that CJ Miles looked great shooting 3s off the bounce. I'm not sure if this is true, but it's worth looking into.
• Is Kyle Lowry better than our CFL quarterback? he was throwing those bombs from far away
• Should teams start defending Lowry as if he's Steve Nash? he's starting to look more and more like Steve Nash right now.
• Going back to Wade and Kawhi, it was a really nice gesture of Nick Nurse for him not to put Kawhi on Wade -- that is, until late in the fourth when the nonsense needs to be stopped. Wade was quickly put back where he belongs - the bench.

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 12/82 - Raps had the Kings' Heads Spinning

1st Quarter

9:27  What's up with the slow starts recently? Opened up with a miss, a couple of turnovers, and an Ibaka miss. Lowry bailed the team out with a buzzer beater 3.

7:13 Transition basket off a miss. I thought Lowry was passing to Kawhi who was really fast to the offensive end. Well, Pascal was faster.

6:42 Plenty of sloppy plays on both ends for the Raps. Teams are starting to make business decisions about shooting with Ibaka in the vicinity. Speaking of Ibaka, I wonder why it wasn't JV that started with WCS on the floor? Maybe Nurse is thinking that JV can match up better the Kings' backup Cs?

4:48 Raps struggling. Bogdanovic is back, this is great for me, he's on my fantasy team.

3:29 Fox's speed is a problem. Pascal over Bjelica mismatch will be there all day. Kawhi's timing looks off. Danny Green should not be allowed to have more than 5 dribble and steps combined.

0:00 Lowry does not like Mason III. Interesting sub pattern here. Siakam left around 8mins, only to come back for the last minute to replace Lowry. Kings' bench sucked, so the Raps find themselves up 3 at the end of the quarter.

2nd Quarter

8:47 Siakam looked so confident right now. Bagley's only going two ways: left and extreme left.

6:55 Nurse is pushing the right buttons right now. Taking advantage of all the mismatches on the floor. I really like this young Kings core, and if they don't eff this up, they could position themselves well in the next few years.

5:18 Kawhi getting these superstar calls (valid calls) got the Kings into the penalty early. The Kings kids are playing at an all-time high confidence. Even Dave Joerger thinks that WCS vs Ibaka is an exploitable matchup. Raps up 10 all of a sudden.

3:20 DeAaron Fox will be a problem for the league if he can consistently knock that long ball.

2:19 Danny Green finally warmed up, hitting back to back 3s.

1:37 did OG make a no-look steal?

3rd Quarter

8:32 Another slow start, giving up 6pts and putting up nothing. What do the Raps do? go back to the mismatch. Siakam's making Bjelica cry. Also, here's my updated top five lefty right now:

1. James Harden
2. Joe Ingles
3. Ben Simmons
4. DeAaron Fox
5. Manu Ginobli (I refuse to think that he's retired)

6:00 Nurse calls a timeout. Kings make a run, Raps only up 7 via Buddy Hield and a 4-pt play off a Lowry foul and a fastbreak alley-oop dunk from Hield to WCS. Raps just racking up turnovers. Very sloppy. Time to put JV in?

4:13 Kawhi and Lowry restored some order.

0:53 Lowry+JV pnr why isn't this happening often? Bagley not only cannot defend, but he also can't box out either. Looks like Lowry's 10+ assist streak will be over tonight

4th Quarter

9:00 Kings bench made a push as the Raps got sloppy again. Raps still up 10. Surprised that they went away from Siakam.

7:33 Raps bench settled down. They went back to Pascal again and they're back up to a comfortable 14pt lead. Kings called for a timeout to put their starters in -- will we see Lowry and/or Kawhi again?

4:52 Kawhi went back to work, but JV's just gonna keep missing or turning them over. 8-2 run with the Raps still up 7. Sloppy defence and sloppy finishes.

2:43 Kawhi and Serge with clutch 3s. Lowry takes a charge. Pascal connects with Lowry for a transition dunk. Raps up 14. This game's pretty much over.

Parting Shots

It's really fun to watch Danny Green chase faster guys, yet he gets there pretty much on time all the time. It's way different from how Norm Powell is chasing his man. Very efficient, reading where the guy is going.

I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like OG had a "no-look" steal w/o diving for the ball. Insane.

Divac's Picks:

2015 - WCS

2016 - Bogdan Bogdanovic, Skal, Papagiannis, Malachi Richardson

2017 - DeAaron Fox, Frank Mason, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles

2018 - Marvin Bagley, Gary Trent Jr

Either Vlade's getting better or he's a volume shooter.

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"