Robert Gray is a Toronto-area writer and a devoted Raptors fan since day one. He’s been a fan since Walt Williams revolutionized the knee high sock industry. He once asked Lamond Murray for an autograph in a convenience store and Murray thought he was being sarcastic.
For me, there is one sequence that defines how I felt about Terrence Ross as a Raptor.
It was last year, mid-season. The Raptors were in a close contest and in need of a defensive stop. A Lowry/Biyombo trap was set and the ball was poked loose. Kyle sent a laser beam of an outlet pass to a wide open, fast breaking Bizzy B who fumbled the ball (somehow endearingly) out of bounds. The anguish on Biyombo’s face was outdone only by such a guttural baritone bellow of agony that it remains echoing in my ears to this day.
The very next play was a long three-point rebound for the Raptors. The ball zipped up court again— This time the recipient was Terrence Ross— for what was surely to be an easy two. Like Bizzy’s prior play, the ball skipped off Ross’ fingertips and out of bounds. Another opportunity squandered.
But unlike Biyombo, Ross smirked as I threw my bowl of cheezies across the living room. He even chuckled a little and gave an “Aw shucks” snap of his fingers, like it was no big deal.
In that sequence, I simultaneously fell in love with Bismack Biyombo and wrote off Terrence Ross.
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A year later, oddly enough, they both play for Orlando. After an inspiring performance in last year’s playoffs, Biyombo signed an uber-lucrative deal with the Magic that the Raptors would have been insane to match. There was nothing we could have done to keep him and as fans who had big-time love for Bizzy, we knew that the 2015-16 season had been like a sizzling summer fling that had to end come autumn. We watched him leaving on a jet plane and wished him the best. We’ll always have Paris.
But with Terry Ross now gone I can’t help but feel that, like his aforementioned botched fast-break, an opportunity has been squandered.
You see, I spent most of my Ross conversations using words like ‘indifferent’, ‘uninterested’ and ‘uninspired’.
How could I, a devoted Raps fan, hate on a player who, as a sophomore, tied Vince’s franchise record with 51 points in a game; who threw down random 360s with defenders nearby; whose beautiful three-point stroke had more elevation on it than a tee box in the Himalayans?
Because he didn’t care, that’s how!! It drove me crazy to see such a lack of emotion. For crying out loud, Andrea Bargnani showed more passion!
Then, last week, I read Ross’s farewell letter to the city. And I’ve been feeling guilty ever since.
I was overjoyed when I heard that we had traded Ross for Serge Ibaka. My impression of the Raps new Congolese power forward was that he was like a Biyombo with hands. I knew we were losing a definite talent in Ross, but talent without passion, I felt, was useless.
But he wasn’t without passion. He’s just a shy kid.
In his letter, he calls himself an “Honorary Canadian” (should have spelled it with a ‘u’ then, really). He talks about coming to live in Toronto when his career is over. He speaks about the team and the staff like they were the all one entity with a boulder on their shoulders, determined to carry the weight of an entire nation to the promise land. “We were all Raptors” and “we took our mission as a franchise seriously.” Where’s my Kleenex?
To be sure, Ibaka has brought some excellent things to Toronto. He is a leader and a great communicator on defence, he shoots the ball way better than I had realized and he likes to intimidate opponents— twice in his short Toronto tenure already has he had scrums with opposing players broken up by the refs. That’s the kind of heated brand of ball we like to see in Toronto. It motivates the whole team, like every game is a playoff game.
While I am still happy with the trade, I have to say that since the departure of Ross, the Raptors have most definitely felt the sting of his absence. His (mostly) dependable long distance shooting was something that we could use now more than ever— especially since Lowry’s wrist injury. Ross also had begun to develop a nice little drive and dish game this season, showing a never-seen-before ability to create plays off the dribble, a trend that he continues to build upon in Orlando.
The Magic, meanwhile, are happy with their shiny new athletic acquisition. Ross dropped 24 points in his second game for Orlando and has since been steady. Their front office no longer has to worry about losing a star player in the off-season for nothing, and seems to have created more space for the talented big Nik Vucevic to operate. Ross only deepens the three-point shooting that they had with Ibaka and as for the low-post grit that the Magic lost in the trade, the Bismack-Daddy is more than capable of picking up the slack. So, in a sense, it was probably a good deal for both teams.
Alas…
I’m left wondering so many things. Why was Ross never so passionately verbose during his time here? Why did he have to wait till we gave him the boot to tell us how much we meant to him? Could the Raptors’ have worked harder to bring the shy young lad out of his shell? Should we have tried to keep him and send Jonas Valanciunas packing instead? (I don’t know which is the more valuable of the two, but I sure know which one Coach Casey will play in crunch-time).
Terrence, Terry, TJ… whoever you are, I’m sorry for questioning your love for this team and for this city.
If I was hard on you, it’s only because I knew just how much you were capable of. You were a part of my favourite Raptors team in history. You got me in trouble with my wife when I snuck off during a friend’s wedding to watch you win the dunk contest. You got me up out of my chair on many a play. You will be cheered upon your return.
Thank you, Terrence.
