Keeping it up
Raptors get in rare practice session before today’s early tip
The NBA’s dog days continue with teams having fewer practice days to iron out the kinks, each rare session designed to focus on defined areas while taking into account the opposition at hand.
It’s the nature of the NBA, mandated practice days to reduce the wear and tear on players, the grind of an 82-game schedule about to hit a hiatus with all-star weekend looming.
There’s always something to work on, naturally and obviously, but the luxury of practice time gets precious.
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is familiar with the routine and the perils when teams don’t get in a solid practice.
When he emerged to address the media Saturday, Casey was pleased with the pace and purpose of practice, the first formal gathering for the team since its demolishing of the New York Knicks Thursday night.
The Raptors visit Charlotte Sunday for a rare 1 p.m. ET tip before returning home.
With Boston losing to Indiana on Friday, the Raptors now occupy the top spot in the East by mere percentage points.
“Practices are few and far between,’’ Casey said.
“You have to be specific on what we’re going to work on, organize what we’re going to work on and maximize the time we do have on the court.”
It’s a fine balance, finding the proper amount of time to hone in on defensive responsibilities, offensive sets and keeping an eye on the next opponent.
Because of Sunday’s early tip, there is no shootaround, a time normally reserved late in the morning to fine tune that night’s keys and responsibilities.
“Today (Saturday) was a practice, shootaround setting,’’ Casey continued.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the Raptors played host to Memphis for a noon tip.
Following Sunday’s contest, the Raptors will have two remaining afternoon games, March 11 in New York, the following Sunday against visiting Oklahoma City.
Players in every sport are creatures of habit, but as Casey pointed out the post-season does feature afternoon starts, which the Raptors have struggled with in playoffs past.
“You got to be ready to be a pro, understand how it feels, what you have to do to get ready to play whether it’s noon or 1 p.m.,’’ Casey added.
Saturday also marked the first time for the Raptors to meet Malachi Richardson, the player Toronto received from Sacramento for Bruno Caboclo.
Richardson is likely bound for the Raptors 905 in the G-League.
If anyone is likely to have an impact the rest of this season and into the post-season, it’ll be via the buyout process as players with expiring deals are simply waived.
The deal to part ways with Caboclo did free up cap space and the Raptors have a roster spot they can fill.
“I remember him from college,’’ said Casey of Richardson, who attended Syracuse.
“A good shooter, athletic, excellent body.”
Casey’s focus, understandably, is on Charlotte, a team coming off a 1-3 Western trip.
As is always the case with the Hornets, the key is to try to contain Kemba Walker, whose name circulated in trade rumours.
“He’s been on a tear,’’ said Casey of Walker, a dynamic point guard who can score, create and simply take over games on his own. “He’s playing great, offensively minded. Their team goes as he goes and he’s doing an excellent job of scoring.
“(Nicolas) Batum is a problem, Dwight Howard is a problem down low, but guys like (Frank) Kaminsky and (Cody) Zeller present different problems, both are smart, they DHO (dribble handoff ) a lot, they know how to get Batum open. It’s almost like having two different teams with their first group and second group, almost like us.
“Again, we have to be mentally prepared.”