BURNABY, B.C.—The Toronto Raptors appear to be energized heading into a new season—but they’re taking a little stretching and relaxation very seriously, too. On Wednesday afternoon, the entire team followed their lone practice of the day with a light yoga session at Fortius Centre in Burnaby. The team has completed two days of training camp in Vancouver; here’s what we’ve learned so far.
New year, same expectations
After reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history, you’d assume expectations for the Raptors’ upcoming season would be huge—and certainly bigger than this time last year.
If you ask Kyle Lowry, though, the expectations are the same heading into this season, because they’ve always been high. This year, the goal is the same.
“Our expectation was to make it to the playoffs and make noise in the playoffs,” he said. “And that’s what we’re expecting to do this year.”
Filling the void
One question kept cropping up over the first two days of camp: Just who will fill the void left by Bismack Biyombo?
“We got a good pickup in Jared Sullinger,” said Cory Joseph when asked about missing his friend and former teammate. “I feel like he uses his body well, rebounds well. He’s been doing good in camp so far.”
Joseph acknowledged that Biyombo would be missed—“He was big for us last year, but that’s the way business goes”—and added that the team would need to collectively provide more energy to make up for Biyombo’s absence.
Kyle Lowry added that the team, missing Biyombo’s energy and shot-blocking, would need to be quicker on their feet: “Sometimes you get beat and you’d say, ‘Biz is there.’ Biz is not there now.”
Nearly healthy
DeMarre Carroll’s health turned out to be a big concern last season, but after an off-season spent carefully rehabbing, Carroll is getting close.
“You’ve got to stay strong,” Caroll said, adding that he was happy not to have encountered setbacks on his road to full fitness.
“I’m excited to see him at full strength,” Lowry offered when asked what a healthy Carroll would mean for the team this season. “I think a lot of people forgot how good he was defensively.”
Making gains
What does Jonas Valanciunas need to do to take his game to the next level this season? According to coach Dwane Casey, it’s all about continuing to defend.
Said Casey: “I thought during the playoffs last year he had begun to do a much better job of handling pick and rolls, and we’re gonna see a ton. People are gonna try to run us, our transition defence is gonna have to be impeccable, we’re gonna have to contain the ball and protect the paint, and that’s where he can be a big plus for us with his size and length. And he did that, when he was healthy during the playoffs. I thought he was playing some of his best defensive basketball of his career.”
Speaking out
During the Raptors’ media day on Monday, DeMar DeRozan spoke about the team’s plans to take a stand against police violence.
Coach Casey said the team has held discussions about what they’ll do, but said he’s not sure what the plan is yet.
“I’ve gone through segregation, I’ve gone through integration of schools,” Casey said. “I know what it looks like and I know why people are feeling the way they feel. Rightfully so. But there’s a right way to do it, and I trust our players. We have some of the most intelligent athletes in the world, in the NBA. So I trust whatever they’re gonna do, how they handle it.”
He added that the goal, in his view, would be to create an ongoing dialogue about police violence. “I think that’s all you could ask for,” he said.