After practicing at the Air Canada Centre on Monday afternoon, the Toronto Raptors flew to Cleveland. The team will face the Cavaliers on Tuesday night, going into the game with their first two-game winning streak of the season. After effectively locking up O.J. Mayo on Friday night and slowing James Harden on Sunday afternoon, the team will look to go for three straight victories and hope to contain sophomore sensation Kyrie Irving.
While there is still plenty of work to be done to right the path of this season, the team finally has something to feel good about. In both victories, they competed for a full 48 minutes and allowed their defence to set the tone.
Alan Anderson has been preaching the importance of having fun on the floor, while also talking about the boost that the team gets from playing solid defence, getting stops and earning easy scoring opportunities. He also said a key difference with the team over the past few days has been a willingness to listen. Not just to the coaching staff, but to anyone in the locker room with an opinion or observation.
“Coaches are not the only ones talking now,” Anderson explained. “It’s everybody. When someone else talks, we listen. It’s not like when somebody has something to say, somebody else is in a side conversation. Everybody is listening, everybody has a good input and even if it’s somebody who’s not playing as much, we’re still listening because they’re watching. Just keep doing what we’ve been doing. Still watching film, see what we can correct. We’re not perfect out there, but we’re striving for it. Limit our turnovers, limit our defensive mistakes that happen and keep building from there.”
Anderson said the team meeting in Utah had a positive effect on the team because it allowed concerns and feelings to get out into the open.
“… It was emotional and heartfelt,” he said. “We know how hard we work. Guys want to win, it’s just a new group so we don’t know how to win yet. We know if we leave our effort out there, it’ll come.”
It isn’t rare for struggling teams to have closed door meetings to try and sort issues out. It is rare for them to work. So far, the Raptors do seem committed to trying to fix things and to shake off the brutal start to the season and take advantage of an easier stretch in their schedule to try and make up some ground in the standings.
Everything coming up Calderon
After Sunday’s game against the Rockets, the locker room was filled with praise for Jose Calderon and the job he has done in Kyle Lowry’s absence. Another triple-double and a brilliant performance in the victory, Calderon’s presence cannot be quantified by looking at a stat sheet. Anderson had lofty words of praise for his point guard on Monday, giving a glimpse into the role Calderon plays off of the court for this Raptors team.
“He’s like the glue,” Anderson said. “He does everything, man. Without Jose I don’t even know if we could win any of these games. He’s amazing to us. Rebounding, passing, vocally leads everybody, talking, gets everybody in their positions. He’s just like our calm, poised leader on the floor. It’s great to have him.”
Anderson’s return helps to settle Raps
Dwane Casey talked about the importance of having Anderson and Calderon on the floor for the Raptors. One is a point guard, the other a veteran who has been around the globe and back in his respective basketball journey. Together, the duo provides a sense of leadership that the team had been searching for to start the season.
“Both of them are very important as far as being glue guys and the quarterback, and that sort of thing,” Casey said. “Both of those two guys, maturity wise, have not let us give in during any situation, offensively or defensively. Both of them are talking. I thought Alan did an admirable job, as well as you could against Harden. He did that well before against O.J. Mayo. And then Jose, his IQ. Those two together have been a huge plus for us.”
Casey pointed out that the different situations Anderson has been in has played a part in allowing him to grow as a leader and veteran basketball player.
“He’s mature. He’s been around,” Casey said. “He’s played overseas. He’s played in Europe. He’s been in the NBA. He’s just a mature, young man. He has a sense of maturity about him that is a calming effect for our young guys. It’s good to have him. He knows how to play. He’s smart. He’s talking on the floor. He’s seen situations before. He has a high basketball IQ, which is important for us. He’s been a huge help.”
