Lineup still a work in progress
Raptors trying new things as they prepare for opening night
The Raptors have played three pre-season games, and they’ve been good in bits of each and bad in bits of each. That’s to be expected given the roster, the relative inexperience, the need to integrate a significant number of new pieces and some new schemes.
But it is the work they are getting in before and after games that matters most of all, and according to some who are integrally involved in that process it’s coming along just fine, thank you very much.
“They’re learning,” veteran guard Fred VanVleet said. “That’s all you want to see is improvements each day. They’re learning. I think (coach Nick Nurse) is doing a lot more teaching than he’s used to doing, I think we all are doing a lot more teaching than we’re used to, but you just want to see the retention. You want to see guys pay attention.
“You just want to keep seeing guys taking steps, and we’ll see who can play and who can’t play, who can follow a game plan, who can take coaching. And we’re seeing that.”
The intricacies of what the Raptors are doing are many, given the newness of much of the roster and the absence of four key rotation players in Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, Khem Birch and Yuta Watanabe.
They are changing the offence a bit so that there’s more ballhandling being done by wings and forwards rather than guards, and every player on the court seems to be setting screens somewhere.
They are trying to capitalize on their length and athleticism on defence to switch on almost every screen, and that takes split-second decision-making and communication that’s not nearly as ingrained as it should be.
It’s a process, and it’s why they’ve looked great at times in some games and like a bunch of strangers in others. But they were better in a Saturday loss in Boston than they were in a Thursday defeat in Philadelphia and are, they say, improving daily in practice.
With two games left in the pre-season and then a week of practice before the Oct. 20 regular-season opener at home against Washington, there’s time for the necessary fine-tuning.
“I’m watching the film, saying ‘Geez, I’m talking about that a lot.’ We’ve got to go kind of redefine it, re-explain it, re-walk through it, and it’s just a little bit more going over some of that stuff with a fine-tooth comb and then redrilling a lot more,” Nurse said. “It’s interesting and it’s fun, It’s fun to watch them grow, and they’ve grown a lot since the summer. A lot.”
The positives have been the overall game of rookie Scottie Barnes, the emergence of Svi Mykhailiuk and Precious Achiuwa, and rookie Dalano Banton looking more comfortable.
But Malachi Flynn has struggled at times, and Freddie Gillespie’s difficulty finishing at the rim is an issue. There are spots that need work, without question.
Trying to guess who’ll play how much in the regular season is pointless, in part because of the missing players and in part because matchups and nightly absences are going to factor in.
“Every team you look at has two or three or four guys out every night, so you play your best players. They’ll creep into the 32- to 36-(minute) range (in the regular season) and then you’re going to have your four or five other guys for that night that are available that have to be in the rotation, and will be in the rotation, but I couldn’t tell you who they’re going to be,” Nurse said.
It’s impossible to say what the Raptors will be until they get some of their missing players back.
Siakam’s a few weeks away after off-season shoulder surgery. Boucher, recovering from finger surgery, might be available near the start of the season, Birch was cleared from health and safety protocols Sunday but hasn’t yet had a practice, while Watanabe is already ruled out of Monday’s game against Houston with a calf strain.
The trickle-down effect will reduce some of the players now logging serious minutes to much more limited roles, and that should give the Raptors a boost. Until then, there’s work to be done outside of the games that won’t be apparent until the season begins.
“There’s a big hole for minutes,” said VanVleet. “We’ve got four guys that probably are going to be rotation guys that are out, so that’s a lot of minutes there that (other) guys are getting. But I think we’re seeing some nice strides.
“Scottie’s making improvements, Precious is making improvements, Svi played pretty good. Yeah, so there’s guys that are making strides that you think can plug in and plug out, but that’s kind of up to Nick and the coaching staff to figure out who’s going to do what.”