Restart will put experience to test
Getting back up to speed may pose a challenge, but Raps have confidence Raptors centre Marc Gasol is 35 and has played just one game since Jan. 28.
The greatest attribute of the Toronto Raptors has been their adaptability, and that will be put to the sternest of tests in this strangest of NBA seasons.
Now, with guidelines in place for a resumption in play, everything the Raptors pride themselves on —versatility, familiarity with each other, the experience gleaned from a championship run — will have to come together if they are to chase another title.
“I feel like there’s chemistry there, we’ve been playing for awhile, we’ve been winning championships together, things you don’t really forget,” Pascal Siakam said earlier this week. There are concerns though: Marc Gasol, the team’s starting centre, has played just nine games since Dec.18 and one since Jan. 28. At 35 years old, how long will it take him to get back to full NBA speed?
Kyle Lowry is 34 years old and Serge Ibaka is 30. It’s fine if they’ve been maintaining some kind of workout regime since March but, again, NBA games take a while to get used to.
The time off has helped Fred VanVleet and Norm Powell deal with any residual effects of injuries but how much down time is too much?
Will there be enough depth to handle the possibility of 36 games in 74 days, which it might take to win a second consecutive title?
Were all those injuries that hit the Raptors through the course of their first 64 games flukes or a pattern that will reemerge when games are played again?
The benefit is that the Raptors are familiar with the playoff grind and have proven they can win under odd circumstances this season.
Each of the team’s top eight players have missed significant time, forcing head coach Nick Nurse to mix and match lineups, but all five starters and sixth man Ibaka have the experience of last year’s run.
“I feel like we have a pretty solid group and the way we play, we can always find it back once we get out on the floor,” Siakam said.
All the other teams headed to Orlando to resume the season starting July 31 are in the same boat as the Raptors, obviously, and whichever figures out things the quickest is sure to have an edge.
Still to be determined is who the Raptors will play in their eight “seeding games” as the league is referring to them. According to NBA.com, Toronto has the fifth best record in games between the 22 teams that will convene in Orlando next month, their 27-17 overall record leaves the Raptors trailing only the Lakers (37-14), Milwaukee (31-12), the Clippers (33-17) and Denver (32-17) in the pool that will chase the championship.
Having the season resume gives the Raptors a chance to try to defend the championship they won last season and to reaffirm themselves as consistent title contenders.
The focus leaguewide is surely to centre on the Milwaukee Bucks, who were putting together one of the best regular seasons in league history when the season came to a screeching halt in March, and the Los Angeles Lakers, with LeBron James leading a storied franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
It’s possible Toronto will fly under the radar in some circles, which is something they tend to use as motivation.
“To be simple and truthful, I just don’t care what people think of the Raptors,” Siakam said.
“I think, for us, it’s been a lot of years caring about, ‘Oh, love me too,’ and I think that’s over, man. We are the champions and if you don’t see it, that’s your problem.
“And for us, it’s about us, we’re not worried what other people think, we’re gonna continue to win games and chase championships. That’s the only thing we care about and whoever feels the way they feel, that’s them and has nothing to do with us. We don’t care about perception.”