On the dry-erase board in the Raptors’ locker room, you’ll mostly find notes and reminders on opposing teams or information about upcoming flights and practice times. But in the top-right corner is a box that tracks Toronto’s current five-game portion of the 82-game schedule. This serves as a reminder to players that while the future does matter, it’s the present that needs the most attention.
It may be cliché, but in professional sports it really is best to take things “one game at a time.” Or in this case, five games at a time. Coaches and athletes don’t tend to look much more than a week into the future. I’ve had players ask me on a Monday who they’re playing on Friday… because they haven’t even looked past the middle of the week.
Right now, Dwane Casey and Co. are 0-1 in their third set of games—after going 2-3 in each of the first two condensed chunks of the NBA marathon. The dry-erase board shows the “L” beside Sunday’s Portland game; a thrilling but ultimately frustrating overtime loss to the Blazers. But Philadelphia, Washington, Brooklyn and Miami are in the cross hairs, and Toronto has to take advantage of this stretch or risk burying themselves too deep, too early in the year for a second-straight season.
The 76ers started the 2013-14 campaign as one of the hottest teams in the Association. However, the surprise sizzle ultimately fizzled, and Philly will be riding a three-game losing streak (dropping five of their last six, as well) when they entertain the Raptors on Wednesday night.
In D.C., the Wizards have lost four in a row (they’ll play Minnesota and Cleveland before coming to Canada on Friday), and rumours are already swirling around head coach Randy Wittman and his future with the club.
Meanwhile, the Nets have been a star-stacked mess thus far and Jason Kidd, barely six months removed from his playing career, has not pressed the right buttons as a coach quite yet. To be fair, though, he has had a ton of injuries to deal with already— including to Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett—and a lot could change with this team before they arrive in Toronto next Tuesday. There’s too much talent in Brooklyn for this team to fail to improve. Some have likened them—thanks to their veteran-laden roster—to an old car that’s taking a little longer to get the engine warmed up.
These next three games present the Raptors with an opportunity to get back to .500 before the Heat bring their circus to T.O. on Nov. 29. However, playing the game on paper is a heck of a lot different than what actually goes down on the hardwood. And the red-and-white have displayed an offence that’s been nothing but black-and-blue thus far.
Entering Tuesday night’s games, Toronto ranks 20th in points per game (96.9), 23rd in three-point shooting (32.6 percent), 25th in field goal percentage (41.9) and dead-last in assists (16.5 per game). So, it wouldn’t be hard to understand if the fans in Philly, Washington and Brooklyn were looking at a game against the Raptors as a chance to get ‘healthy’ as well.
Rudy Gay and Kyle Lowry are each shooting a hair over 38 percent from the floor, while DeMar DeRozan has been slightly better at 40.4 percent. Those three, Casey’s top scorers, account for 55.2 percent of Toronto’s total offensive production, but they get there on 58.2 percent of the team’s total shots.
Compounding the issue is the lack of lift the Raps get when they go to their second unit. DJ Augustin—who was supposed to be a scoring threat (especially from the perimeter) and a legit back up to Lowry—has been missing in action and now has almost as many DNPs as he does games played. Dwight Buycks and Terrence Ross have provided some decent defensive displays, but their contributions on the scoreboard have been minimal at best, and Landry Fields’ minutes have been sporadic. The only consistent scorer has been Tyler Hansbrough—and he was brought here for his rebounding, defence and gritty edge more than anything else.
While some folks want to criticize Casey for his decision-making on certain plays or his substitution patterns on various nights, I’m inclined to give him a pass (most of the time), or at least put more of the onus on the players and their lack of execution on the floor. It’s not surprising that the coach is searching for the right combinations at times; those numbers above don’t lie.
No matter what strides the Raptors have made on defence (top 10 in opponents’ points-per game, top 10 in rebounding and top five in opponents’ rebounding) it all could be wiped out by how much the team seems to labour to score. But that defensive tenacity, for now, has given Toronto a reputation around the league—at least with coaches—as a team that is not an easy out on most nights.