Raptors’ Nogueira shows his stuff

• Not to make the Toronto Raptors’ two Brazilian rookies seem like they are in a boy band — OK, precisely for that reason — but Bruno Caboclo is the quiet one and Lucas Nogueira is the fun one.

At this point, it might be a question of language: Caboclo is still taking frequent English lessons, while Nogueira, because of his six seasons as a professional in Spain before coming to the NBA, has picked up a wide range of linguistic skills. Regardless, you get the sense that even if Nogueira was in the heart of Siberia without a drop of Russian in his repertoire, he would still be smiling, laughing and just generally being loud.

Yet, moments before the first quasi-NBA game Nogueira was eligible in, he was silent. He had just finished a rollicking session with the assembled media, eager to hear his irreverent take on his return to health from hamstring and calf injuries. (The highlight was when he expressed hope that he and Raptors director of sports science Alex McKechnie would be “friends for life.”) Under all of that hair and behind all of those grins, apparently, lie some nerves. James Johnson took him aside.

“You’re going to mess up,” Johnson told Nogueira. “Just make a mistake at 100% [intensity], not 30%.”

It does not seem like that will be an issue for Nogueira. Acquired with Lou Williams from Atlanta, Nogueira, like Caboclo, is a project. At 7-feet, he could develop into a legitimate defensive presence at the rim. He is not close to being ready to play a regular role, though, which is fine — he will linger behind Jonas Valanciunas, Amir Johnson, Patrick Patterson, Tyler Hansbrough and probably Chuck Hayes in the rotation. Heck, he might be looking up at Greg Stiemsma if the journeyman centre earns the Raptors’ final roster spot.

And Nogueira is cool with that.

“I’m OK because I’ve played six years professionally,” Nogueira said. “The first three years [in Spain], I didn’t play. I stayed on the bench the whole year. Sometimes, [when] the [starting centre] got hurt, coach put the shooting guard in the post, but don’t [play] me. I’m OK if I don’t play 82 games.”

In his first appearance, in the Raptors’ 92-85 win over a tired Maccabi Haifa team, Nogueira showed a little of that. Upon checking into the game for the first time in the second quarter, Nogueira blocked two shots in quick succession. He added a dunk and put-back as the Raptors avoided an embarrassing pre-season loss in the fourth quarter, finishing with eight points. Nogueira’s lanky frame and long arms make him a shot-blocker. When he and Caboclo shared the floor together, you honestly wondered if the opposition could ever compete a pass through the middle of the defence. Their arms go on and on.

However, if everything goes right for Toronto this year, both of them will not approach meaningful minutes with the Raptors. It will be tough, then, to evaluate their progress.

So, the Raptors are left to hope both players can absorb and adapt. When the Raptors have more pertinent matters to deal with, at least Caboclo and Nogueira will have each other.