TORONTO — There was a play in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s intense, madcap, fun, fast-paced, unpredictable, seesaw, just-two-teams-getting-after-it game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors when you could catch a glimpse of what Masai Ujiri and co. believe they’ve found in young Jakob Poeltl. A quick play that maybe you missed. A play that almost didn’t make it onto the television broadcast because they were still showing a replay of an earlier Poeltl rebound. A deft piece of work in the paint against an extremely talented team that demonstrated why the ninth-overall pick in this June’s draft has his coaching staff pretty excited.
It came off a pick-and-roll with Cory Joseph. As the Raptors guard dribbled around Poeltl’s pick, the centre spun toward the basket with Kevin Love following in close pursuit. But when Joseph pulled up as if to shoot, Love stepped away from Poeltl for just a moment to contest the shot, which left the rookie open for a short lob out of Joseph’s hands.
Poeltl went up in the air to grab the pass, which is the point where many centres would have pulled the ball down and tried to go up again under the basket. Maybe bank it in; maybe get a jam; maybe draw a foul.
But not Poeltl. He grabbed the ball in the air, pivoted his body to his left and took a shot before his feet ever reached the ground. Underneath the basket, LeBron James was crashing in for a potential block but could only look up and watch as the ball fell through the hoop and bounced at his feet. The four-time MVP gave his best Unimpressed LeBron face before angrily demanding his teammates give him the ball.
At first blush it didn’t look like much of a play. That’s because Poeltl made it look so easy. But there are a lot of centres who don’t have the touch and awareness to pull that off. Especially centres playing in their second-ever NBA game.
“I was pretty nervous on that play, I’m not going to lie,” Poeltl said. “But it’s something that I’ve done in practice and I’ve done in the past. So, I was nervous and confident at the same time, if that makes sense.”
It does. Poeltl is here because he’s able to do things like that. The seven-foot son of Austrian volleyball players, Poeltl has already played a year of pro ball in his home country and two more in the NCAA, where he averaged 17.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for Utah in 2015-16. He’s very, very good.
But he came into Friday night with exactly 12 minutes and 47 seconds of experience in the NBA, and he had the not-at-all-daunting task of playing against LeBron freaking James at centre as Cleveland sent out super small lineups over the second half of the game, likely in an effort to keep Toronto’s starting centre, Jonas Valanciunas, off the floor.
So, sure, Poetl was nervous. Second night in the show and he has to play against the best player on the planet. But he was confident at the same time.
“It’s a matter of being ready and taking every single opportunity you can get,” Poeltl said. “And I think I was ready today.”
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey certainly thought so, as he kept Poeltl on the floor for a long stretch of the fourth quarter in a very tight game, only taking him out with less than five minutes left.
“I really liked the way he came along. He gave us some energy,” Casey said. “He had seven rebounds in ten minutes, which was very effective.”
Six of those rebounds came in that final quarter, as Poeltl battled under the rim with Cleveland players who had plenty of size, years, and sheer experience on him. But the rookie played up to his peers. The bucket he made off the pick-and-roll with Joseph was only possible because moments earlier Poeltl fought through two Cavaliers under the Cleveland basket to get to a rebound, swatting the ball back to the top of the key, where the Raptors retained it.
“He has such great hands and good feel—even on his offensive boards,” Casey said. “He’s in there and he can catch and finish a lot just like [Valanciunas.] He gave us some very valuable minutes.”
And you have to consider the opposition. You don’t get to experience what it’s like to play against a phenom like James in the NCAA. And you certainly don’t get to experience it in the Austrian Bundesliga. And even if you did play against some very, very good players in your day, it’s next to impossible to prepare for the unorthodox challenge that is facing up with James playing as a centre.
“Going up against a guy like him, it makes things a little bit more complicated on the court,” Poeltl said, understating the obvious. “There’s little details that make things a lot harder on the court. He’s basically a threat in three different ways. He’s a very good passer. He can definitely draft to the basket pretty well. And then he’s a good shooter, too. And in those post-up situations, it’s not easy to figure out when to help and when not to help.”
But Poeltl figured it out. The Raptors were plus-9 when he was on the floor, and James scored just four points while playing against Poeltl in the fourth quarter, which is a minor miracle when you really think about the matchup.
When Poeltl came out of the game as Cleveland called a late timeout, he returned to Raptors bench that swarmed him with high fives and hugs. None were bigger than that of fellow rookie Pascal Siakam, who wrapped the seven-footer up and buried his head in his chest.
“I was just so happy for him and proud of him,” Siakam said. “We always work out together—I know how bad he wants it. And it made me happy to see him finally go out there and just play basketball. He’s so talented. But he showed toughness, too. He’s a really good player and he’s only going to get better. He’s just at the beginning.”
It’s true. Poeltl turned 21 just a couple weeks ago. He’s yet to log even half an hour on an NBA floor. There are sure to be games, maybe even weeks, when Poeltl doesn’t look good at all and has to adjust to the unique tests NBA basketball throws at you. But Friday night’s performance was very encouraging. Especially considering the quality of opponent it came against. Poeltl didn’t look out of place, even if he reminded everyone after the game that he’s still very new and very raw to this league.
“I think, it’s just, like, I, I hustled my…” Poeltl began, before sheepishly stopping, unsure if it’s okay to use a foul word like “ass” in an NBA interview or not, before a journalist filled in the blank for him. “Yeah. I think that’s why he kept me out there. And I’ll take every single minute I can get.”
