The Toronto Raptors lost their identities in season-opening loss
“Camp over now, huh? Back to the real world, Bertier.”
- Julius, Remember the Titans
“Man, summer’s over.”
- RJ Barrett, quoting Immanuel Quickley, Toronto Raptors
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
- Mike Tyson, Heavyweight Champion of the World.
More things work in theory than they do in real life. Utopian political theory. That Ikea desk you bought with multiple rolling sections. Going to Chick-fil-A right when it opened in Toronto. Also: Toronto Raptors basketball. Turns out, it helps to play the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards (twice) in preseason. The vibes coming out of camp were powerful, and players couldn’t stop talking about how much they got along, how much time they spent together.
The Raptors had a clear identity coming into this season. Their offensive personality was clear last year after all the trades — pass the ball, cut, move, screen, always be doing something. With lots of delay, horns, and handoffs. Starting right from media day this year, continuing through training camp and preseason, the Raptors have consistently said they’d create a defensive identity this year too. One based on aggression, effort, grittiness, and constant ball pressure. Those were the plans.
Then, of course, the Cleveland Cavaliers went and punched the Raptors in the face. And Toronto’s plans started to look a little worse than they did on paper.
“We got slapped in the face,” said Chris Boucher, back in the rotation. “It was probably good for us.”
Scottie Barnes looked a little slower than usual, a little less bouncy, and a little more tentative. That will happen when Evan Mobley is guarding you. (Barnes complemented his defence after the game.) But before the game, Darko Rajakovic said Barnes’ biggest improvement will come from constant tempo and pace, especially in the half-court. Tempo and pace was decidedly missing. Multiple times, he attacked Mobley off the bounce only to get nowhere, turn his back, spin, turn again, and end up lofting a fading hook somewhere in the direction of the rim. When he spoke with media after the game, he was calm and unbothered. It was a tough game, he said. These things happen.
Jakob Poeltl was solid on defence, particularly early. But he had trouble inbounding the ball, or catching it on the roll, and he finished with five turnovers, more than he had in any game last season. It was both Barnes and Poeltl’s first game back in the regular season since injury last season. So they will take time to return to themselves. Consider this the first step, even if a relatively disappointing one.
Immanuel Quickley looked great … until he took a hard fall trying to rebound in transition and left the game with a right pelvic contusion, per the team, not to return. That may be the real story: Toronto’s continued poor injury luck. Jitterbug lead guard Quickley now joins secondary offensive leader Barrett, lottery guard Ja’Kobe Walter, and bench veteran Bruce Brown on injured list. Like last year: health is probably the most important component if Toronto is going to be competitive with good teams.
Overall, Toronto’s limited shooting up and down the roster meant Cleveland had a fairly easy job packing the paint and contesting drives into bodies. There was, unfortunately, nothing easy. The whirring passes, constant motion, and high density of stuff was decidedly lacking.
On the other end, Cleveland’s guards figured out Toronto’s aggression fairly quickly. While the Raptors were picking up full court and forcing turnovers early, it ended up in lobs over the top, easy duck-ins for dunks, and generally more harm than good. There’s a reason most defences don’t sell out trying to press in the NBA. Toronto’s aggression at the point of attack (when applied) often led to blowbys, wild closeouts, gambles, breakdowns, and other disasters.
Mikhail Bakunin said liberty without socialism is privilege and injustice, and socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality. Well, the Raptors proved that defensive aggression without principles leads to opposing dunks or 3s, and principles without defensive aggression lead to opposing 3s or dunks.
“There were moments that we had [our identities on both ends],” said Rajakovic. “And I think everybody could feel that. There were moments that it was not there… When we did a good job offensively of moving and cutting, we were creating good opportunities. I’m not saying making shots necessarily. But we were creating good opportunities and good looks. And the same thing where we had good ball pressure, when we had good communication and were executing the gameplan on the defensive end, we forced them into tough shots. So to answer your question, for moments it was there. But for the big part of the game, we were still searching.”
As Rajakovic said, there were moments of Toronto sticking with the plan. Jamal Shead continued his heroism from preseason, on one occasion in the third quarter locking up Darius Garland for 17 seconds of the shot clock before eating the final seven seconds guarding the ball when it funneled elsewhere. He ran the offence with pace. I have a feeling Shead will frequently be lifting the team out of midgame doldrums this season. But there was more beyond Shead. Gradey Dick blocked Garland from behind, threw in a same-side up-and-under finish in traffic, and generally was Toronto’s best (?) player. Davion Mitchell ran a bench unit in the first quarter without Barnes or Quickley, and he did well touching the paint, pinging the ball to the perimeter, and creating solid looks for everyone. (He didn’t repeat the feat later in the game.)
Look, this was always the plan. Masai Ujiri admitted as much on media day when he several times said this was a rebuild. The Cavaliers are very good. They should be beating up on the Raptors. But the goal is to keep your identity in the process. To get hit in the face and go down swinging — or whatever your original plan was.
And that’s not what happened. The moments of performance, of whirring offence and gritty defence, they were the exception, not the rule. Toronto may lose by 20 points to upper-tier teams like the Cavaliers for the rest of the season. But the offensive and defensive identities must be maintained in the face of those defeats. In the season-opener, they weren’t. Until that changes, it is going to be a long season.
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