TORONTO — If you’ve attended a Toronto Raptors home game this season, you may have witnessed the following game ops presentation, in which OG Anunoby purportedly cites things people are afraid of, including a variety of mammals and, after an extended pause near the end, a polarizing dairy product.
There is some controversy as to whether Anunoby’s answers were presented in the appropriate context. But there is no questioning his stance on the mild, protein-rich snack.
“There’s nothing wrong with cottage cheese,” Anunoby said. “I’m not afraid of cottage cheese. It’s not true.”
It was that kind of day at Raptors practice Wednesday, as Toronto enjoys a rare, three-day break in its schedule. Plenty of intrigue awaits Thursday, when the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks are in town, and the Raptors find out whether or not Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam will be joining Kawhi Leonard as team representatives at next month’s all-star game.
It’s at least certain that Anunoby will be there, as he’s been selected to play for the World Team in the NBA’s annual Rising Stars game that weekend. It was a bit of a shock that Anunoby wasn’t selected to participate in the contest last season, when he was enjoying a standout rookie campaign. But now, a year later, the NBA has righted its wrong.
“I was more surprised last year — but it’s okay,” Anunoby said. “It’ll be a cool experience to play in that game. I’m looking forward to it. … Just seeing how other players prepare for games and stuff they do. Practice habits. Stuff to pick up on and take and incorporate into your game.”
It’s a deserving selection, but an interesting one nonetheless, as Anunoby’s season has zigged and zagged. He’s spent long stretches operating within Toronto’s second unit, and brief periods featuring in the starting lineup. He’s been away from the team at times due to personal reasons. His minutes have been as high as 28 and as low as 10. He had nights in November when he was taking double-digit attempts from the field. And nights in January when he did little more offensively than space the court.
The one thing he hasn’t done is find a groove. To a certain extent, it’s to be expected of a 21-year-old playing his second year in the league. Consistency is the hardest thing to achieve in professional sports, particularly for still-developing athletes like Anunoby.
But it’s still hard not to characterize his season as a step back. Overall, he’s minus-2.8 per 100 possessions while averaging 20 minutes per night, and his minus-2.9 net rating is 10th on the Raptors, ahead of only end-of-bench players who don’t see nearly as much floor time as him. Last season, when Anunoby played similar minutes while starting 62 of Toronto’s games, he was a plus-9.5 per 100 possessions, and played to a 9.7 net rating.
Some of it is likely osmosis. Per 100 possessions, Anunoby’s hitting a similar percentage of his attempts from the field as he was last season. His three-point shooting’s down, but he’s rebounding more and his steals, turnovers, blocks, and assists have been consistent. He’s not performing all that differently. But the units he’s playing with are scoring less and allowing more points against. It happens.
“He’s a good player,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said. “I’m still hoping to get him on track and back. And I’m expecting him to. A lot of it is right time, right place — and it hasn’t been his time this year yet. But there’s still a long ways to go. And I think he still emerges at some point.”
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The biggest drop-offs in Anunoby’s game have been three-point shooting, down to a 34 per cent clip from 37 per cent last season, and free-throw shooting, which has plummeted massively from 63 per cent to 40 per cent this season. It’s not what you want. But they’re better problems to have than effort or hustle. Shooting can come and go, and it wouldn’t be crazy to see Anunoby get on a hot streak and raise his numbers at some point between now and the end of the season.
And, at his best, Anunoby is a coach’s dream. Long and athletic, he can guard a variety of positions, and fit into a variety of lineups both big and small. On the offensive end, he can space the floor with his three-point shooting or beat his man off the ball and cut to the basket for quick points in the paint. As NBA lineups grow ever more positionless and switchable, Anunoby’s the kind of athlete built to thrive in those systems.
With 30 games remaining between now and the playoffs, Anunoby has plenty of time to rediscover his rhythm. Overlooked for last year’s Futures Game, and oft-forgotten this season as he’s been in and out of the lineup, he might just surprise some people with his versatility down the stretch. He’s used to being underrated. Kind of like cottage cheese.
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What a basketball coach can learn from football
As perhaps you’ve heard, the Super Bowl will be contested this coming Sunday between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams. Nurse has been a big Rams fan since he was a child, when he was the only kid in his northern Iowa neighbourhood who didn’t cheer for the nearby Minnesota Vikings. Nurse liked James Harris, who quarterbacked some pretty good Rams teams in the mid-70s. He had a No. 12 jersey and everything.
Last summer, Nurse spent time at the team’s training camp, talking to Rams head coach Sean McVay about some of the philosophies and approaches he utilizes. There’s more crossover between the two sports than you might think.
“I see a lot of similarities offensively in how the plays are called, how you organize things,” Nurse said. “I just wanted to talk to him about his process of calling plays — how he gets them from the paper to his head to his quarterback. And how he organizes things prior.
“It’s really a tremendous organizational job with a football team to watch them go through their day. And their leadership style — what motivational things they’re doing, what team themes they’re using. It was a pretty broad learning experience for me, going there.”
Nurse says he’s even implemented some actions into his team’s plays that came straight off the football field. When the Raptors line up four-across on the court, with everybody moving in the same direction before one players slams on the brakes and pivots back against the flow, Nurse calls it a sweep or sweep-counter, terminology lifted from football. He’s also designed pick plays for players running down the floor, not unlike how an NFL receiver’s route could be used to set a disguised pick up-field and open up a teammate.
One time, when watching a CFL game, Nurse made note of the advantage receivers get with a running start before the ball’s snapped. He’s applied similar techniques to how his players move purposefully before the referee’s made the ball live on out-of-bounds plays.
“I got that idea watching the Argonauts play one day,” he said. “ You just kind of bring it in, see what it looks like, and if it works. There’s some crossover.”
Siakam and Raptors await all-star news
Nurse has been doing his best to help Siakam’s all-star game case, calling and texting other coaches around the league to encourage them to consider the third-year forward with their votes. Siakam’s numbers speak for themselves. But Nurse has been reminding his colleagues of the circumstances Siakam’s breakout has occurred in, as well.
“I think the strongest case is the team’s success – and he’s been a big part of that,” Nurse said. “He’s been part of a team that’s had a lot of success missing a lot of their key guys. He’s kind of been the one guy that’s been there the whole time. You’ve got to pay really close attention to know all that stuff. But that’s the facts as they are.”
Siakam says his all-star candidacy hasn’t been on his mind, other than when 76ers star Joel Embiid — who was voted a starter — texted him about it recently. But Siakam would obviously be thrilled to see his name included when the remaining participants are announced Thursday. And, someday, he’d like to be an automatic selection like his friend in Philadelphia.
“It would mean a lot,” Siakam said. “It means that all the hard work that you put in is paying off. It’s definitely a great accomplishment. But, for me, I want to get to the point where I’m not worried about if I’m going to make it or not. I want to get to where there’s no question that I’m there. So, for now, I’m just continuing to work and whatever happens, happens.”
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