Biyombo leaves big void for Raptors
It’ll take more than magic to replace him
• Bismack Biyombo was one of those players who turned out to be a lot more important to the Toronto Raptors than just about anyone envisioned when he was signed.
Despite averaging just 16 minutes a game, Biyombo became a fan favourite, topping off his one and only season in Raptors colours with a tour-de-force run in the playoffs.
But the Raptors could not begin to compete with the four- year US$ 72- million contract the Orlando Magic came at Biyombo with. In fact, because of the salarycap structure, Biyombo leaving was all but a foregone conclusion.
Replacing him is not going to be easy.
The candidates, though, are lined up and are for the most part really young. Keep in mind these are just the backup minutes behind starting centre Jonas Valanciunas we are talking about.
The potential replacements include rookies Jakob Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, a still somewhat raw Lucas Nogueira or barring one of them it could be newcomer Jared Sullinger sliding over to the five when Patrick Patterson is in at power forward.
Raptors coach Dwane Casey looks at using some or all of those players to fill the void left by Biyombo’s departure. “That’s something that we have to do collectively,” Casey said. “I don’t think one guy can come in and take that position.”
And if you don’t believe Casey, take it from Kyle Lowry, who was in the trenches with Biyombo and knows first- hand exactly what he meant to this team.
“Last year we were able to be 0.8 of a second late or even a second late and Biz would be that good to clean it up,” Lowry said of specific defensive coverages. “Now this year we have to be a second early, 8/ 10th of a second early, to make sure we cover up for the shot blocking that we don’t have. We’ve just got to be on a quicker page. Sometimes you would get beat and just say, ‘ Biz is there.’ Biz is not there now, so we’ve got to be earlier and our reaction time has to be quicker.”
So this won’t all fall on the shoulders of the one guy or guys who wind up filling those minutes behind Valanciunas. It’s going to be a team- wide thing, but they still need to identify and settle on someone to take this minutes.
“Somebody in that group is going to step up and protect the paint,” Casey said. “It’s going to be not just on the bigs but on the guards and wings to make sure they contain the ball and do a better job of not letting the ball get to the paint so we don’t put as much pressure on our rim protection and our rim defence.”
And forget about anyone adopting the Dikembe Mutombo finger wave that Biyombo did. None in the group of potential Biyombo replacements have his shot blocking skills, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be the effective defenders Casey needs.
“There’s a different way to do it,” Casey said. “I think the main thing is they are not going to be the high flying, shot blocking energetic type. I think it might be more cerebral, anticipation getting to a spot, understanding the schemes a little bit more and playing within the schemes because the scheme will take care of where you have to be. I think that is going to be a different type of rim protection rather than someone up there around the rim at every chance to block shots.”
Siakam has a ton of respect for Biyombo and what he has accomplished, but is quick to point out he is not that type of player nor does he want to be compared to him or any other player. He is here to establish himself and right now the best way to do that is through his defensive play.
“Coming in I knew that’s how coach Casey was and then when I got here I could tell,” he said of Casey’s reputation as a defence first coach. “I think the only time he talks to me is when it has to do with defence.”
But that’ s fine with Siakam who can play that game, too. “He is a very defensive guy and that is my mentality, too, so I think we get along,” he said. “I know it’s going to be the guy who defends the most is going to be the guy that gets those minutes. So that’s my focus. Playing defence and guarding multiple positions.”