‘We have no swag to us’
Raptors’ crucial road trip starts off on wrong foot
It’s not an ideal situation, heading west for an extended trip and hoping for some positive change, but that is the situation in which the Raptors find themselves.
The Raptors’ trip got started late last evening in Phoenix, previously a weak sister in the uber-competitive West, but no longer with Chris Paul there now and Devin Booker establishing himself as one of the premiere scorers in the association.
Phoenix beat Toronto 123-115, though one bright spot might be the struggling Pascal Siakim leading the team in defeat with a seasonbest 32 points.
The Raptors also led after the first quarter and there were seven lead changes in the second quarter. Toronto started strong in the third, but the Suns ultimately took back control the rest of the way.
What follows are stops in Sacramento, Golden State and Portland. It’s not the gauntlet the West can be, but it’s no secret that even the middleof-the-pack teams in the West are a step up from what the Raptors see most nights in intra-conference play in the East.
Now sporting a 1-6 record to start the year, though, the Raptors aren’t seeing anything past their own early season inadequacies.
Following their loss Monday to Boston, Kyle Lowry, a guy who has made his reputation with his won’t-backdown approach to the game, openly admitted the Raptors just aren’t playing tough enough to deter teams from doing anything they want against them.
“Right now, we have no swag to us,” Lowry said. “Right now, we have nothing, you know, there’s nothing to us, right? We’re just like that team that teams are looking at us like ‘Alright, let’s go eat.’ And that’s not a good feeling. And I think we have to use that and fuel our own fire.
“And somehow, some way this West Coast trip, you know, has to be the start of something, because it could be a really bad trip if we don’t, look at this first game, and look at all these games and see how we can get better.”
The team went through a traditional morning shootaround in Phoenix on Tuesday and Norm Powell, one of an extended list of Raptors struggling to find his game, spoke with the media.
While admitting the Raptors were in a tough spot even before Wednesday night’s defeat in Phoenix, he seemed intent on limiting the panic that has followed this uncharacteristically poor start by the Raptors.
“Everybody’s frustrated,” Powell said. “Everybody feels like they could be doing a lot more to help the team be in a better situation than now. I would say we’re not down; we’re just frustrated and focused on working our way out of this hole, focused on extending the really good minutes of play that we have had, and limiting the really bad moments, the really tough stretches that we’ve had in these games that we’ve lost.
“So, we’re just focused on staying together, bringing the right energy, the right mindset to the game, and fighting the full 48.”
It’s generally at times like these that a players-only meeting gets called. Coaches and management are asked to leave and the men ultimately responsible for changing the current fortunes put their heads together and decide the best way forward to change the path on which they find themselves.
Powell believes it’s too early for something like that.
“No, I don’t think one is needed right now,” he said. “I think we’ve, in the majority of games we’ve lost, I think besides two, we’ve been right there. It’s just sustaining that and figuring it out. I mean, we have talked collectively and things like that, but we know what it takes, we have enough guys who have been through the trenches, have been through ups and downs and know what it takes to win. It’s just getting everybody clicking, rolling on the same page, focused on the same thing for the course of the game.”
Powell, though, does believe this four-game swing can potentially make or break the season for the Raptors.
“I’m in full agreement with you that these next four games can really help define
how our season’s gonna go, define the team in general,” Powell said in response to a question about the Raptors having used these trips in the past to their advantage.
“I mean, I can’t speak to the different things of previous seasons and things like that, but I feel like on the road, it’s a true testament of your character and your team, to be able to go into an opponent’s arena and play the best basketball you can.
“I mean, it’s a little different with no fans and things like that, but you’re still on the road, it’s still all you’ve got is your teammates and your team and your coaching staff. We’ve gotta go in with that mindset of playing a gritty, tough, 48-minute game for these next four (games) to dig ourselves out of this hole and get back to the level of play that we know we can play at.”
For now, the onus remains on the players currently on the roster to improve their situation.
A tough trip or more of the same results in the remaining three games of the swing and the focus could very quickly shift to potentially changing the players on the roster.
The Raptors take on the Sacramento Kings (4-4) tonight before playing the Golden State Warriors (4-4) on Sunday and the Portland Trail Blazers (3-4) on Monday before returning back to their home base in Tampa, Fla. to await the Charlotte Hornets (3-5) next Thursday.
“We’re just like that team that teams are looking at us like ‘Alright, let’s go eat.’ And that’s not a good feeling. And I think we have to use that and fuel our own fire.”
Kyle Lowry Toronto Raptor