Whatever makes OG Anunoby different is a mystery that likely won’t be cracked in the short term.
And it almost certainly won’t be laid bare by the man himself.
The Raptors’ 20-year-old small forward is a rookie of few words – at least for public consumption. And he’s got an impressive poker face, too.
And it’s not only those who watch from a distance who wonder if there is more to him than he lets on.
“I’ve literally never seen him [outside of basketball], I’ve never run into OG. It’s crazy,” Raptors forward C.J. Miles was saying the other day. “That’s who he is. He’s opened up more as the season has gone on, he’s got more comfortable with the guys — we spend so much time together — but he’s naturally quiet, to himself some. But he’s very… intriguing… that’s the word.”
The intrigue will continue to build as Anunoby and the Raptors set up base camp at Mount LeBron for their third attempt to summit the tallest peak in the Eastern Conference.
There can’t be two more different players in the second-round series – maybe in the entire league — than the two who will be matching up at the opening tip Tuesday night.
LeBron James is a global icon who may retire as the best player in basketball history.
He stars in commercials, makes movies, claps back at the President on Twitter and settles in for post-game press conferences holding the microphone lightly in his hand, looking like a filmmaker expounding upon his latest feature making its debut at Cannes. He speaks in paragraphs, the general topic being the always-unfolding drama that is LeBron James.
Anunoby was a late-bloomer in high school, lightly recruited for college and fell in the draft due to a knee injury in his second NCAA season. He’s started 62 games for the Raptors, but wasn’t chosen for the Rising Stars event at all-star weekend. Undeterred he spent his week off in Toronto working out because he preferred that than getting organized to go on a sun vacation like most of his teammates.
There are no frills. Anunoby’s answers in his scrum on Monday averaged 10.2 words for every inquiry. Half of those words were him repeating the premise of the question. There were 30 questions lobbed his way in five minutes. It’s tempting to dismiss it as him being shy, but the most common adjective his teammates have for him is confident and/or mature, so maybe it’s something else.
It could be that he’s not all that concerned with what anyone thinks about him, at least superficially.
“If anybody knows OG, he’s a unique individual,” DeMar DeRozan was saying the other day. “If you know him, he’s a unique individual. And I’ll leave it at that.
“Maybe one day it’ll come out. I’m not going to share it today. OG is a special individual. I love him.”
The Raptors need Anunoby to be special. They need him to be the first point of contact with James to make him as uncomfortable as a veteran of 224 playoff games can be.
Three years ago, Toronto spent $60 million to sign DeMarre Carroll in free agency with the hopes that he could offer James some form of resistance at the small forward spot.
Carroll’s resistance was futile. In 10 post-season games against the Raptors over the past two years, James averaged 30 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists while converting 67.2 per cent of his two-point field goal attempts and 41.7 per cent of his threes. Carroll was exiled to Brooklyn for his sins.
Now it’s Anunoby’s turn.
And while Anunoby doesn’t talk much, it’s not like he doesn’t say anything when he speaks.
Does he believe he can compete physically with James, one of the few players Anunoby wouldn’t automatically have a size and strength advantage against?
“I still feel that way against him,” said Anunoby on Monday. “He’s pretty strong but I feel like I’m strong too.”
Anunoby will likely be spending a good portion of the series using his powerful six-foot-eight, 240-pound frame, long arms and unusual lateral quickness to get all up in James’ aura.
Not that it will be his job alone. Pascal Siakam, the Raptors’ second-year power forward will get his share of time on James as well and he presents a different challenge with his length, speed and athleticism.
And any time James is on the floor, slowing him down is a five-man job.
But the more resistance you can provide at the point of attack, the better. Making James work for his points while avoiding sending a second defender and triggering a series of rotations that he can pick apart with his passing would be the optimal approach.
At age 33, James led the NBA with 3,026 minutes played and his 288 playoff minutes so far is tops as well. In the Cavaliers’ seven-game first-round series against Indiana, he averaged 43 minutes a game when you remove the 31 minutes he played in the Cavs’ blowout loss in Game 6.
Game 1 of the Raptors series will be his fourth game in eight days and with contests scheduled for every other night throughout the second round, that could run to 11 games in 22 days if the series goes seven.
James suggested he was feeling it after he eliminated the Pacers after putting up 45 points in 43 minutes in Game 7 on Sunday – “I’m burnt” – he said.
The Raptors are skeptical, having seen James’ superman act too many times.
“You believe he’s tired?” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey. “I don’t believe it.
I’ll believe it when I see him sitting over on the bench, and I haven’t seen that very much ’cause he’s playing at such a high level.”
But the Raptors are banking on Anunoby and likely Siakam to make James work, or at least that’s Anunoby’s understanding of the game plan.
“Getting into him before he gets the ball. Picking him up full court, turning him,” he said. “Mixing up the coverages, that’s the main thing.”
Can you tire James out?
“You have to ask him,” said Anunoby. “I don’t know if he’s tired. I’m going to try to get him tired.”
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Anunoby doesn’t seem to be fazed by the playoffs. Against the Washington Wizards he shot 59 per cent from the floor and 46 per cent from three in 21.8 minutes a game and played credible defence on speedsters John Wall and Bradley Beal. And when challenged – such as when he got tangled up against Washington tough guy Markieff Morris — Anunoby didn’t take a step backwards.
But James is in a different category. He has yet to be stopped individually, which is why as dominant as James has been against the Raptors, it’s how his dominance has impacted his teammates that Toronto should be trying to limit.
Toronto has gone 2-8 against Cleveland in the playoffs and in large part it’s because it has been strafed from deep. The Cavaliers made 61 threes to 27 for the Raptors while sweeping them a year ago and 68-44 in beating them in six games the year before.
The Pacers rarely double-teamed James in their series – according to ESPN they only sent a second defender about one out every 20 possessions, allowing them to stay home on James’ supporting cast.
The result? While James was dominant, averaging 34.4 points and 7.7 assists a game, the next highest scoring Cavalier in the series was Kevin Love with 11.4 points on 34 per cent shooting.
“I think we have the guys to cover him single coverage,” says Anunoby. “I don’t know what they did in the past, but we have the guys to do it.”
And if they can?
“We wouldn’t have to help [and] leave shooters open, that’s the main reason.”
Anunoby has had some success against James. According to NBA matchup data, the Cavaliers have averaged just 1.09 points per possession with Anunoby as the primary defender, compared with the 1.12 mark the Cavs put up with James on the floor in the regular season.
It won’t be the rookie’s job alone to slow down the best player of his generation, but it will be his to start.
He says he’s up for the challenge.
“Me personally, I want to play him,” Anunoby said. “He’s one of the best players to play.”
It’s a chance for Anunoby to make a name for himself not just for being different, but by being a difference-maker.
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