Boucher a bright spot as Raptors struggle for wins
The Raptors may have stumbled onto a solution for one of their big problems. Or, more literally, an answer to one of the problems with their bigs.
It is no secret that a roster imbalance — too few proven frontcourt players, a surplus of guards and wings who are indistinguishable from each other in too many ways — is an issue coach Nick Nurse has had to wrestle with.
The Raptors really don’t have a legitimate backup to starting forward Pascal Siakam at the four. They have shuffled OG Anunoby there for a few minutes and have tried a couple of other small lineups, but it was a frustrating search without an apparent answer.
Enter Chris Boucher, one of the few bright spots to emerge from a horrible start to the regular season.
Boucher — for the last two games at least — has spent a fair amount of time on the court with one of the centres, Aron Baynes and Alex Len, and it has been a revelation to Nurse and his staff.
“We really need some depth there, so it’s good to see that he’s been able to make a transition, kind of on a need basis,” Nurse said after Boucher poured in 24 points in Toronto’s 120-116 loss the Pelicans in New Orleans on Saturday night.
It’s not as if Boucher and Baynes, or Boucher and Len, are going to remind anyone of the old Twin Towers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson with the Houston Rockets. But using a combination of those two in the times when Siakam is either resting or disqualified after picking up six personal fouls does give the Raptors a boost in size and versatility that they need.
“As far as the way Chris has played with those guys in two games, it’s been pretty good at the four,” Nurse said.
Boucher has been a bright spot for most of the season, even if his individual success has to be tempered by Toronto’s 1-4 stumble out of the gate.
He’s been more attentive to detail on defence and his usual active self on offence, averaging 13.4 points, six rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots while playing about 20 minutes each night.
“There’s a lot of work that I still have to put in, but when it comes to helping my teammates, playing defence and running the floor, and bringing energy, that’s something I can do every day,” he said. “So I try to focus on those things.”
Playing alongside another big man should help the six-footnine, 200-pound Boucher expand his game and increase his contribution. He’s a bit too slight to bang with bigger centres — the Raptors used the bigger Len ahead of Boucher against both Steven Adams of the Pelicans and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid — but Boucher’s tendency to gamble on defence could very well work in his favour with another centre on the floor with him.
He would never be the last line of defence at the rim, and since he’s quick enough to get out on shooters on the perimeter, his ability to float off his man to block shots should be enhanced.
“You can contest (shots) a little bit more, help a little bit more on the drive knowing the centre is going to be at the position for the bigs,” he said. “So I think it just helps me to make a better read.