Backups have each other’s backs
Raptors’ bench players are a close-knit, supportive group without any agendas
It was Sam Mitchell’s contention years ago that you couldn’t have a good basketball team on the court until you had a good basketball team in the locker room, players who legitimately cared about each other and the group more than they did themselves.
The current crop of Toronto Raptors — particularly the backup group of disparate personalities and histories — seems to prove his point.
Quite aside from their varied skills, the group’s genuine support of each other has helped them become one of the best second units in the NBA.
“We just enjoy each other’s company, so it’s easier on the court just to play, because we kind of know each other,” Pascal Siakam said. “We’re still figuring out everybody, but I think, for the most part, we know each other.
“If you think about it, it’s all great guys, man. Everyone has a story, every story is different, and I think you can just relate in different ways. It’s easy to just talk and all hang out.”
The now well-documented informal workouts last summer in Los Angeles were the genesis, and the relationships fostered then have carried over into the season.
Siakam, Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, Norm Powell, Lucas Nogueira and Jakob Poeltl were involved in the sessions that not only built on-court cohesion but off-court relationships as well.
The group basically lived together, and you can sense something special among them.
“They have an identity, they have a little pride together as a unit,” coach Dwane Casey said.
“They play for each other, pull for each other. They work together before practice, after practice as a unit, during practice as a unit, so they’ve developed a chemistry that’s really, really important.”
The important thing is no petty jealousies will develop if one of them gets more minutes or shots or responsibility than another. They know they have to all stay ready be- cause each could be vital on any given night, and they have found some kind of communal support system that’s been vital for the Raptors on more than a few nights.
Last week in Philadelphia, the Raptors rallied to win after being down 22 points — the second-greatest deficit overcome in franchise history.
Wright was the catalyst of that comeback, playing extended minutes at a cost to VanVleet, who had become the primary backup to Kyle Lowry, and Powell, who played fewer than 13 minutes.
“We all just want each other to do well,” Lowry said after that game. “Tonight it was Delon and Freddy was the first one up cheering for him, Norm and JV. That shows a good team.”