NOT SPICY ENOUGH
For the Raptors to be successful, they need to get Pascal Siakam more involved
During the Raptors' win over visiting Atlanta on Wednesday night, Dennis Schroder reached a career milestone by scoring his 10,000th point.
During the Raptors' loss over visiting Atlanta Friday night, Pascal Siakam made his 402nd-career start, eclipsing Vince Carter for fifth place on the club's all-time list.
The Raptors split their mini twogame split against the Hawks, showing an inconsistency that continues to plague this unit.
Toronto has not won consecutive tips since beating Indiana on the road in a score-fest and then returning home to beat Chicago.
In the interim, the Raptors have gone 2-7, which included a season-high four-game losing streak.
The Raptors shot the ball well in clipping the Hawks, 135-128, only to go 10-of-31 from distance in dropping the rematch, 125-104.
Toronto missed seven free throws in its win, but then went 14-of-25 from the line in its loss.
Trae Young scored 29 of his gamehigh 38 points in the second half Friday night as Atlanta snapped its fivegame losing skid.
Combined, Young netted 73 points, recorded 28 assists and turned the ball over 13 times in the two games played in Toronto.
Once again, the Raptors' deficiencies in shooting and making stops were highlighted.
Somewhat lost in Friday's loss was Siakam's field-goal attempts.
In the first game, Siakam's overall skills were on full display, draining shots from beyond the three-point arc, scoring on spin moves, pulling up in the mid-range and getting to the line.
He scored a team-high 33 points by making five of his six shots from distance.
Overall, he took 19 shots.
He went to the line seven times, but would convert only four of his freebies.
Then came Friday night when only 11 shots would be heaved and only 15 points recorded.
One has to go back to Nov. 15 when Milwaukee made the second of its early season visits to find a less productive outing when Siakam scored 11 points on nine attempts.
Whether he stays or goes, whether
an extension gets engineered before some long-term play is made clear, Siakam needs to be a focal point of the offence and not an afterthought.
Given the events of Wednesday, it was inexcusable how little impact Siakam had Friday night.
Granted, the Raptors played with no energy, no sense of urgency or purpose and really had no chance of posting back-to-back wins.
Still, the ball needs to be in Siakam's hands, even when the likes of a Scottie Barnes is carving up defences by imposing his size and skill.
The jury is still out on whether Siakam and Barnes can co-exist.
When each is able to make straight-line drives to the basket, neither can be stopped.
Barnes can back down opponents by using his size, resorting to bully-ball when matched up against smaller defenders.
In Toronto's win over Atlanta, the two combined for 60 points.
In Toronto's loss, the two were limited to 38.
The season began with a new head coach in Darko Rajakovic and a new system, roles redefined and rotations yet to be determined.
No one thought the Raptors would be among the elite in the Eastern Conference, but most felt they'd be competitive on most nights when quality wins could be produced.
As long as Siakam is on the roster, his usage must be greater than the 11 attempts he had Friday.
In basketball, the ball usually finds good players.
There's no disputing the fact that Siakam is a good player who is capable of reaching an elite level.
But he needs more touches.
With Charlotte coming to town for a Monday night tip, the Raptors will be favoured to beat a Hornets team that was home Saturday to face Philly after losing the night previous against visiting New Orleans.
When the Raptors visited the Queen City last week, Siakam needed 15 attempts to score 25 points in a Toronto loss.
Monday's game is the third of a four-game homestand for the Raptors, who wrap up their stay at Scotiabank Arena with a Wednesday night tip against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
Toronto then plays 17 of its next 24 games on the road before the NBA's trade deadline kicks in on Feb. 9. Wins and losses were never going to the measuring stick, at least they shouldn't, when a rookie head coach was hired.
The measuring stick involved development and improvement.
But as long as Siakam is a member of the team, he has to be more involved, even with the franchise moving toward a more Barnes-centric approach, if it hasn't already played its hand.
Two games against a Hawks team not that dissimilar to the Raptors and two different Toronto teams took to the floor.
In the win, Barnes and Siakam were each in sync.
The loss underscored a myriad issues, area of weakness that have been commonplace this season.
The Raptors are not a good team and probably won't be good in the foreseeable future.
In fact, it might get worse depending on what kind of moves ultimately are engineered.
Matched up against teams such as the Hawks and Hornets, there's no reason why lack of communication on defence or an ability to make free throws or protect the glass should exist.
Above all else, there's no rationale behind the 11 fieldgoal attempts heaved by Siakam.