National Post (National Edition)
Mccaw takes ‘big step forward’
Raptors reserve forward making gains on offence
The Toronto Raptors had nearly a fully healthy roster for Monday’s game here in Cleveland, save for injured point guard Fred Vanvleet, but the many absences of key players throughout the season have not always been a negative.
The bright side of not having superstar forward Kawhi Leonard in the lineup 19 times so far, including five of Toronto’s past 13 games, is that opportunities arise for youngsters like OG Anunoby, or Sunday’s hero in Miami, Patrick Mccaw.
The team has been working with the 23-year-old since signing him back in January, trying to bring along the perceived weak link in his game, his jump shot.
Head coach Nick Nurse described the efforts as akin to “summer shooting school,” as the coaching staff tinkered with Mccaw’s form in order to exact better results from the career .296 shooter from beyond the three-point arc.
“We’ve tweaked a little bit of his technique and tried to speed him up a little, and have guys flying at him (on defence),” Nurse had explained.
“We’re charting (the results). We’re doing a lot of things to get him involved. We figure it’s really hard in any high-level game to play with any total non-offensive player in this league.”
On Sunday, Mccaw nailed all three of his three-point attempts, while also showcasing the ball-handling skills that have let him fill in as an emergency point forward, as well as his strong defensive instincts.
“(Sunday) was a big step forward. It’s good to see the hard work pay off,” Nurse said.
Mccaw only saw spot minutes on Golden State’s championship squads, but is hoping to be in the mix for a deep run in Toronto.
“Every time I step on the floor — three or four minutes or 20 minutes — for me it’s an audition and a chance to show ‘hey this kid knows how to play the game of basketball,’ if it’s scoring or rebounding, I just try to do every little thing I can while I’m on the floor to help my team win,” Mccaw said.
“I just go all out, no matter what. If I make a mistake, I learn from it, but if I’m not going 100 per cent every time I’m the floor I’m cheating myself and cheating my teammates.”
Toronto set season highs in three-point makes and assists against Miami, which even reminded Mccaw a bit about that revolutionary team he was a part of in the Bay.
“It’s exciting. When we’re playing defence and we’re getting out in transition and running and guys are knocking down shots, it’s fun to watch and also to play and seeing my teammates having fun out there and being a part of it is always special,” Mccaw said. “I think we tied a franchise record (for threepointers) … that’s pretty dope.”
With Leonard back against the Cavaliers, McCaw returned to the bench.
Nurse said he gave some thought to resting veteran starting guards Kyle Lowry and Danny Green, but with both rolling on offence and a light week on tap ( just games on Thursday at home against the Lakers and at Detroit on Sunday), it made more sense to build team chemistry.
“We’re going to go out there with our full team today,” Nurse said during his pre-game media briefing.
“We only have two games until Sunday so we’ve kind of got to go into this mindset of let’s leave it all out there tonight and then we’ve got three days before we play again and then we’ve got another couple of games until we play again. We’re all right. We’ll just be happy we’ve got all our guys out there playing together.”
Nurse praised the work of Serge Ibaka before the game, saying competition with Marc Gasol appears to have brought out the best in him defensively (Ibaka had been averaging nearly three blocks a game in March and 10.4 rebounds).
Still, the coach opted to start Gasol against Ante Zizic, going with bulk and a bit more length, instead of Ibaka. Gasol has now started five games at centre since the all-star break, Ibaka four.
Nurse also said he wants to try the two big men beside each other a bit at some point in case that’s a combination that needs to be broken out at some point in the playoffs.