TORONTO — Flip open the NBA rulebook to Section 12, heading B, subsection I, further subsection b. and it’s right there:
That’s been the issue for Toronto Raptors point-forward Pascal Siakam, who has fouled out of two of his first six games this season and reached five fouls in two others. You cannot, as a defender, initiate contact with the dribbler. And Siakam’s been caught doing it far too many times.
"He hasn’t been very smart, if you want me to be honest with you. Most of those have been fouls," Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday as his team practiced ahead of the next night’s contest with the Sacramento Kings. "And they’re touch fouls that they’re not calling on everybody, and they’re not calling every trip up and down. But if you go back — by the letter of the law, [officials] say, ‘Hey, he’s got two hands on him.’ So, he’s got to take the two hands off him."
By way of example, here’s Siakam’s first foul from Saturday’s 115-105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks — a game he fouled out of with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter — when he gets caught flat footed in transition and grabs a driving Giannis Antetokounmpo:
And here’s his second foul from that game, when he reaches in against Antetokounmpo with both hands:
That foul forced Nurse to sub Siakam out of the contest midway through the first quarter in order to protect him from picking up a third. At the time, the Raptors were down eight. When Siakam checked back in a few minutes into the second quarter, the deficit was 21.
See, that’s the dilemma. For the Raptors to be their best and win consistently, Siakam needs to be on the floor impacting the game at both ends. But if he can’t find a way to impact the game more effectively within the rules, Nurse can’t keep him on the floor. It’s why Toronto’s coaching staff has spent the last couple days walking Siakam through film of his many infractions and the adjustments he needs to make in order to avoid them.
This is what comes with being one of your team’s best players. Siakam’s going to be a high-usage focal point offensively. He’s going to carry a demanding assignment defensively. And, as Siakam continues to develop into an all-NBA player, the admittedly onerous expectation is that he’ll be able to perform both those tasks at a high level without violating the rules of the game.
"That’s what we’re working on. We’re poring over the film," Nurse said. "I don’t know that I remember him being like this [in prior seasons.] I’m not sure why he’s doing it now and I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything — other than he needs to knock it off. He just needs to knock it off.
"I don’t remember him being a foul-prone guy at all. For some reason, all of a sudden he’s picking up two early in games. And most of them are silly. It’s not like he’s being put in difficult situations. A lot of them are 30 feet from the basket and he’s just got his hands on him. He’s got to adjust."
[snippet id=4771505]
That second foul from the Milwaukee game is a good example of what Nurse is talking about. Is that the most egregious foul you’re going to see on an NBA floor? Of course not. But Siakam initiates contact directly in front of an official, and you can tell by how suddenly he retracts his hands — not to mention how instinctively Antetokounmpo attacks the outstretched limbs — that he knows he’s made an error.
It’s those ones that are surprising even Siakam when he watches them back on film. In the midst of the controlled chaos that is an NBA game, it’s difficult to recognize when these things are happening. Players are reacting as much as they’re thinking. But when he gets a bird’s eye view days later on tape, Siakam sees the tendencies he needs to work to nullify.
"It’s the little touch fouls," he said. "When you’re playing, it’s kind of like a habit. Your hands are just right there. And [the officials] train to call that. As soon as you touch someone, that’s what they’re going do. So, for me, it’s just seeing those little things. And some things that I feel like might not be much — but if you want to go by the book, it’s a foul. So, I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to move my feet and not put myself in that position."
The improvements Siakam needs to make can be that simple. Being more active with his feet; less active with his hands. Anticipating more; reacting less. Understanding how officials are calling the game, what they’re looking for, and when players have to be especially careful not to bump up against the threshold of what’s allowed and what’s not. It’s a learning process a lot of young NBAers go through.
And it’s one we probably should have anticipated Siakam going through himself. This season, his fourth of professional basketball and ninth playing competitively at any level, his responsibilities both offensively and defensively have increased dramatically. The 25-year-old’s 31.5 per cent usage rate — a top-20 mark across the league — is more than 10 points above the career-high he established last season. And on the defensive end, he’s regularly guarding one of the opposition’s most explosive, dynamic players both early and late in games.
That means a lot of possessions are ending either with the ball in Siakam’s hands or those of the player he’s guarding. He’s simply in a lot more situations where fouls are going to happen. And due to being a young player still establishing himself as an NBA star, Siakam isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt from officials, whether it’s fair or not.
So, he has to be aggressive yet mindful. Assertive yet cautious. This is the fine line he must walk. It’s extremely difficult. But it’s something he must manage as he continues to evolve. Not only because the success of his own game depends on it. But because the success of his team is largely riding on it as well.
"Obviously, there’s some fouls that I can avoid and not take because it’s definitely important for me to be in the game," he said. "It’s all part of the game, all part of learning. It’s a part of growing. And, if you guys know me, I’m always about improving and evolving. And I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the opportunity to learn and by the end of the season I can look at these games and say they prepared me for something bigger.
"It’s something that’s going on right now and I have to find a way to be better at it. It’s on me. It doesn’t matter what the [official] does or what happens. It’s got to be on me to make sure that I adjust properly to what’s being called out there and that I’m ready to help my team win. And that’s by being on the floor and not fouling out."
[relatedlinks]
