Raptors can’t ignore repetitive mistakes
Poor shot selection became huge issue in loss to Pacers
The recipe for offensive success within the Toronto Raptors roster is as easy as counting the number of times the ball switches hands and switches sides.
Ball movement forces a defence to move and adjust and when the defence is moving and adjusting, openings get created. In the heat of the game quite often, ball movement falters.
Monday night against the Indiana Pacers the Raptors had periods of great ball movement, but they were all undone by a succession of possessions where a few individual players decided what they had early on in the possession was a good look and they took it.
That offensive mistake — honestly, it’s only a mistake if the ball doesn’t find the bottom of the hoop, which it didn’t — led directly to a defensive mistake as the Raptors were slow to get back on defence leaving the Pacers with great chances at the other end.
“I think we had too many in a row — pull-up three, pull-up three, pull-up three, pull-up three — and the game changed,” guard Fred Vanvleet said. “For stretches there we just didn’t execute well enough to give our defence a chance, and we already weren’t playing that well defensively so that certainly didn’t help our chances.”
This is not to say that no Raptor should ever attempt a pull-up three just seconds into the shot clock, but being aware of how frequent these shots are attempted is important.
“It’s just we have an aggressively free-flowing offence and kind of an equal opportunity thing,” Vanvleet said. “And so, if a guy is dribbling it up and he feels like he’s got a look, he takes it. And if you make it it’s a great shot and if you miss it it’s terrible. But, like I said, I don’t think we can survive three or four or five of those in a row. One maybe and then after that it’s like, ‘All right we’ve got to get another good shot, especially with the way the game is going.’ ”
Poor shot selection isn’t a regular occurrence with the Raptors, but when it does happen, pulling out a win becomes much more difficult.
A PROBLEM WITH THE WHISTLE
Officiating and arguments naturally go hand in hand.
A call has to be made and more often than not, it’s not the one 50 per cent of the audience expects or wants.
Following Monday’s loss to Indiana, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse clearly was unhappy. He thought too many calls were in favour of the Pacers — and thought he was ignored when he was trying to get a timeout called before Chris Boucher slid out of bounds in possession of a rebound. It’s possible the official didn’t see Nurse but it was the kind of night where every perceived slight was magnified.
Nurse also thought the whistle prevented his team from playing what had been an effective defence.
Vanvleet said: “There are nights when the whistle goes your way and there’s nights when it doesn’t,” choosing his words carefully so as to not get fined by the NBA. “But I think for me, personally — I can’t speak for any of the other guys — (Monday) I was just disappointed in the relationship and the back and forth that was going on between the players and the officials. So, I can’t speak to any calls or things that I would like to go in different ways, but I will say that getting a warning seven, eight minutes left in the first quarter that we were talking too much and complaining too much, that sets a hard precedent for the rest of the two hours that we’ve got to spend in the arena.”
Protesting calls is as much about getting the next one as it is about a complaint about the one you just got. Putting a team on warning that early in the contest takes an already potentially adversarial relationship and amplifies it.
“I don’t want to single those guys out,” Vanvleet said of Monday’s officiating crew. “I don’t want to single any plays out, but it is very, very difficult to play that way.”
Vanvleet suggested by taking away the freedom to complain, the officiating crew took a strategic avenue normally open to the Raptors and closed it.
SCOUTING REPORT
Wednesday: Milwaukee Bucks (10-6) at Toronto Raptors (7-10), 7:30 p.m. ET, Amalie Arena, Tampa.
It got quite a bit easier to breathe in Milwaukee when Giannis Antetokounmpo put pen to paper and signed his max-contract extension earlier this off-season. With the Greek Freak locked up and newcomer Jrue Holiday running the point the Bucks appear to be a much tougher out. Toronto’s defence will have its work cut out for it as the Bucks not only score more than any team (just over 120 points a game), they own the highest field goal percentage (49 per cent) and offensive rating as well. (117.9).