Deep freeze won’t chill need for threes
Anunoby, Siakam ice cold from long range but bring more to table in new look
There are still some kinks to be worked out in this whole “shoot more three-pointers” thing the Raptors have going on. Like making more. While a new-found reliance on long-distance shooting — to open the court, add a new dimension to what was a predictable offence, and take some scoring pressure off DeMar DeRozan — has the Raptors among the top offensive teams in the NBA, there are issues.
Starting small forward OG Anuboby is 7-for-41 (about 17 per cent) in 13 games since he made six in one outing against Charlotte. And Anunoby’s on fire compared to Pascal Siakam, the backup power forward who is 3-for-41 (a rather wretched 7 per cent) in 22 games date back to Dec. 1.
But still, in this NBA day and age, coach Dwane Casey isn’t going to insist they stop trying to make any at all.
“They’ve got the green light,” Casey said. “The one thing we’ve got to do is have those guys improve as three- point shooters throughout the season.”
It is the long game that Casey and the Raptors are playing with the long ball. Incremental improvement over the course of the season will help when things really are important.
“Once the playoffs start, teams are going to scout us, they’re going to scheme for us,” the coach said Tuesday. “You want those guys to be ready and confident to shoot the ball. There are some other things we talked about doing with them, along with shooting the ball, but they have the green light to shoot the ball (from) the corner.”
In their defence, neither player was expected to be a three-point threat when the season began. Anunoby was an unknown commodity, coming off knee surgery a year ago, and no one would have predicted he’d be staple of the starting lineup, let alone a proficient threepoint shooter. Siakam, meanwhile, was an energy guy who changed games with effort and athleticism rather than pure shooting or scoring in any manner, truth be told.
But with the Raptors truly committed to taking somewhere around 30 attempts per game, each has to become more proficient, and whether that’s a fair request or not is really a moot point.
They’re going to play because other aspects of their game are important, but they simply have to start making some shots from beyond the arc.
“Pascal’s biggest thing is confidence,” Raptor C.J. Miles said. “It’s not form, it’s not lack of work. We watch him every single day. It’s just about him finding a rhythm in it and just believing in it, especially when it’s not your natural instinct. Like, he wants to be getting to the basket — slashing, cutting, diving and things like that — so he’s adding that to his game, and the belief part will come second.”
Casey said it’s also a confidence issue with the rookie Anunoby.
“He’s a great three-point shooter. He knocks them down every day in practice. He’s got to take them with no hesitation, in the corner,” the coach said. “That’s the only way you’re going to build confidence in the league.”