Raps not lost in the hype
Casey does not believe his team is reading their press clippings
Having won 12 of 13 games, the sky was the limit for the Raptors.
Now, having lost two straight, it would seem the sky is falling.
Somewhere in between, like it always does, lies the truth and the truth is the Raptors aren’t that good and they aren’t that bad, either.
It is a team that must maintain a certain level of attention and intensity from the opening tap to the final whistle, a team that needs Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to lead the way.
The bench has shown it can maintain a lead, even restore a lead when the starters falter, but an added piece, ideally an extra shooter who can create, would be welcome.
Delon Wright is coming of age and the return of C.J. Miles gives the Raptors that gunslinger who will light up opponents when he’s in rhythm, much like he did Wednesday night in Oklahoma City when the veteran led the Raptors in scoring with 20 points in just over 22 minutes.
Toronto would lose the game, 124-107, this after the Raptors lost the previous night in Dallas, 98-94. Against the Mavs, the Raptors were too soft when the game began, being able to summon their best in the fourth quarter, but it was a classic case of too little, too late.
Still, had Serge Ibaka not missed an open three-ball, the outcome could have been different.
Two vets, Dirk Nowitzki and J.J. Barea, combined for 38 points on 17-of-31 shooting.
On the same night, DeRozan, who earlier in the day was named as the NBA’s Eastern Conference player of the week, scored eight points on 3-of-16 shooting.
“I didn’t recognize our team in Dallas,’’ Raptors head coach Dwane Casey would later admit.
He saw glimpses in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder, winners of five straight heading into the evening, rolled. Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony produced 81 of OKC’s points.
Toronto’s Big 3 of Lowry, DeRozan and Serge Ibaka combined for 35 points on 10-of-33 shooting.
The plus-minus attached to each of the Raptors’ starters was stunning, the low light being the minus28 next to Jonas Valanciunas.
OKC outscored the Raptors by 17 in second-chance points, producing 15 offensive rebounds and outrebounding the visitors overall by a 52-34 advantage.
Not all is lost with these Raptors, but they do need to return to their defensive approach.
Casey doesn’t buy into the theory that players were reading the press clippings and getting wind of the chatter making the rounds in the NBA that somehow they had achieved the ranks of the elite.
“To get to that next level you have to approach it: ‘I’m punching in to go to work,’’’ said Casey. “Every day, no matter who you’re playing, how you feel, how you played the last game, who you play next game, it doesn’t matter.
“The (required) approach each night, each possession, is in a very robotic, workman-like way.”
The Raptors can turn it around, but work is necessary, focus, efficiency and a mind set that never wavers.
“Understanding this moment right now, understanding how much it sucks, to feel this way, to lose, to perform the way we did,’’ DeRozan said following the lopsided loss to the Thunder when discussing how the team can reverse its fortunes. “Keep that in mind, come out as competitors, and know what we need to do to win games.
“We could have done a lot of things differently. When you play like crap, the outcome of the game is like this.”