Raptors learn to win, stay hungry
NEVER CONTENT: Coach knows his team has to improve if it wants to have post-season success
MINNEAPOLIS — Watching a team mature like the Raptors are doing before our eyes is a thing of beauty.
The fan base has watched this team make strides before. That first playoff series by this group against Brooklyn two years ago was unforgettable and a big step forward — only to be followed by a step back last year.
Now they’ve bounced back with primarily the same core and some impressive upgrades in supporting roles.
More impressive than anything is the way this team has figured out how to win.
It’s a nebulous thing, this learning how to win, but it’s a real and pivotal step in the development of any team with long playoff aspirations.
Earlier in the year, the Raptors (35-16) weren’t successful closing out games. They also went through a stretch where they couldn’t get off to a good start. Once they fixed the starts, however, they wound up giving away games they worked so hard to take control of.
DeMar DeRozan counts it as one of the biggest differences between the Raptors today and the team that began the year.
“I think we got comfortable a lot early on late in games once we had a lead,” he said following practice Tuesday in advance of the final game before the team breaks for the annual all-star festivities.
“I think now we are staying with that sense of urgency and understanding that once we do get that lead teams are only going to be playing even harder to try and get back in the game. I think we have been more conscious of staying disciplined, especially on the defensive end.”
Monday’s win in Detroit was a prime example.
This is a team that in the first meeting 10 days earlier in Toronto almost overcame a Raptors lead of more than 20 points in the final quarter and wound up making it a two-possession game at the end.
DeRozan remembers it well, even if it hurts a little just thinking about it.
“We got a big lead and the next thing you know we are fighting to get the ball in and make free throws so we can win the game,” DeRozan said.
“We don’t like being in that situation. It’s not a good feeling and all the good teams know how to close out games.”
So when Andre Drummond hit a circus three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to get the Pistons within five, the Raptors didn’t get scared.
Instead they came out more aggressive with Kyle Lowry driving into the teeth of the Detroit defence and coming away with a layup and the freebie for a three-point play. Cory Joseph, Lowry’s fellow point guard, followed suit on the next possession after a Raptors stop, and whatever potential momentum the Pistons had was snuffed out.
It’s what a mature team that knows how to win does in those situations and it was impressive to see the Raptors go that route.
“That was a good example of taking matters into your own hands and making up for that shot,” coach Dwane Casey said of the Raptors’ response to Drummond’s potential game-changing shot.
“Not letting it get you down and not letting it be a momentum swing. Our guys responded well. I think we went on a 6-0 run in that stretch and made up for it.”
But Casey doesn’t want to get too comfortable, or more importantly allow his team to get too comfortable with what they are accomplishing.
He knows all too well what works at this point might not necessarily have the same outcome once the playoffs start.
“We are getting better. We are growing,” Casey conceded.
“Guys are understanding that and accepting it.
“But being in those close situations, believe me, we are not playing great. There are a lot of mistakes being made that when you are playing for something, it is going to matter.
“You can make up for it in a regular season game on a Tuesday night but when it really matters is what we are working to get better at.
“I think our confidence, our maturity, our togetherness has helped us in those situations.”
Casey might sound like a broken record, reminding anyone who dares suggest his team is on the brink of something special that they’re not there yet. But in DeRozan, he has an ally who will listen to that kind of talk all day long.
“You can’t get tired of it,” DeRozan said. “If you’re a real competitor, all you’re worried about is winning, you can’t get tired of that.”
The Raptors will try to put a bow on the first month and a half of 2016 with a win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday. It would give them a record of 16-3 since the calendar turned.
Even a loss assures them of the best record in franchise history at the break, but the Raptors are thinking win. Only then will they start openly discussing plans for the all-star weekend.
That kind of singular focus has a played a huge role in getting the Raptors to the record they boast today.