A work in progress
Team still figuring out how to best use Leonard’s skills
Kawhi Leonard is like a new toy, a toy you want to use as much as you can, a toy better than any other toy in the closet.
And the Toronto Raptors are still learning how to best use their new toy so it doesn’t get worn out, and the other toys don’t gather too much dust.
It’s a work in progress and not particularly easy at times, because Leonard can be one of those toys you sit back and watch rather than interact with.
More interaction, less spectating. The key.
“A lot of times we settle,” Raptors teammate Danny Green said. “We walk up the court and say, ‘OK, we are going to give it to him.’ I think we (should) push it first and then if we don’t have anything then we look for him.
“But it depends on game to game, matchup to matchup, and whether we have a mismatch or not. But to our advantage is how we play and moving the ball at a faster pace.”
Finding that balance hasn’t come together too smoothly for the Raptors, but it’s all relative and still early.
It became part of the current narrative last week when the Raptors played two of their most thorough offensive games during wins over the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, games Leonard missed with bad hip and wins that pushed Toronto’s record without Leonard to 7-1.
The chatter was that, somehow, the Raptors’ offence is prettier, more centred on ballsharing and, perhaps, more effective — it gave Kyle Lowry more impetus to dominate, and he did.
But that’s part of the deal in the what-have-you-done-lately news era in which we live. Conveniently not mentioned was the fact that Lowry got off to what many thought was the best start of his career, and Leonard was routinely putting up big offensive numbers when the two shared the court.
They figured it out then, they’ll figure it out now, and as long as they’ve got it worked out in the last weeks of the season, this will be a blip.
“That’s what we’re shooting for … it hasn’t just been this season, it’s been kind of a project that we’re doing. I think the unpredictability of what we’re doing is our goal come the end of the season,” coach Nick Nurse said.
“That’s what we’re working towards.”
Thirty-one games into an 82game season — especially for a team that took a league-best 23-8 record into Sunday’s game in Denver — gives no cause to think there are any serious issues at play.
The Raptors have shown they can play and win at a fast pace, and they’ve shown they can play and win in a halfcourt game when Leonard’s skills and physical dominance are most useful.
All they need to work on is perhaps finding a better mix so that the switch from one to the other doesn’t catch any player unawares.
“We have to keep playing and flow and when it breaks down, get the ball to (Leonard) and still give him his touches,” Lowry said. “I don’t think it’s a situation where he hasn’t but he’s that talented where we’ve let him do a lot more offensively because he can do it. But as team we have to help him (and) be a little more assertive all around him, and make the game easier for him.”
Regardless of how “fast” the Raptors play or don’t play, there is no denying that Leonard’s unique talents make them better, and anyone who suggests otherwise hasn’t been fully paying attention.
Need a guy to get a bucket at a crucial moment? Leonard’s going to get the ball and everyone connected with team is fine with that. The other times? Each game presents its own unique challenges and, so far, the Raptors have accepted and met those challenges.
“His job is to make plays and score the ball as well,” Green said. “We are going to need that sometimes, most times. Especially when you are not shooting well or getting good pace or good ball movement you need to have a guy to give the ball to and say ‘Hey, get me a bucket.’
“He gives us that. It’s always an advantage. It’s never a bad thing. The game is a lot easier with him.”