Raptors on the brink of being forgotten
Last night’s debauchery reminded me of the chorus to “Forgotten,” a Canadian rap classic by Snak the Ripper.
Changes come, time moves on
The clock is never stoppin’
Don’t pay attention to the bullshit these people talkin’
One day you’re on top but then suddenly your shit ain’t poppin’
People love you one day but by Sunday you’re forgotten
He was referring to the fleeting success of being an underground artist and also to life as a man. His bars were fitting after last Sunday night’s loss to the Nets. The Raptors are slowly fading into irrelevance having lost to a team that is now 8-19. The Nets sit two spots ahead of the bottom-dwelling Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards. Two of their measly eight wins came recently as they beat the Bucks by 45 points (45 points!) and us last night. We are in bad company.
Poeltl’s back made a cameo appearance, but Poeltl’s back-up simply could not fill his shoes. Mamu went from a season-high 24 points the night before to four points last night. Against the Nets, Mamu came out with a bang, hitting a corner 3, but that pizzazz would fizzle out quicker than a one-hit wonder.
I thought Ian Finlayson’s quick reaction on Mamu was accurate:
“He was the first sub off the bench alongside CMB. Truly awful game from Mamu, I think easily his worst of the season so far. Couldn’t rebound, couldn’t protect the rim and was continually out of position on defence, at times pressing too high and allowing cutters to sneak behind him. The shot-making that buoyed his performance against the Celtics abandoned him. It is untenable to play him at centre in Poeltl’s absence without Barnes alongside him to help on defence and on the glass.”
Mamu’s defensive weakness made the MPJ-Day’Ron Sharpe combo look like a legendary NBA duo. For four possessions in the second quarter, Mamu failed to guard a Sharpe handoff or screen. The worst one was this: Scottie got clipped in Sharpe’s hand-off, and Mamu was waaayy too slow to react. This gave MPJ so much room to throw the rock into the Atlantic Ocean. His lack of defence could you mistake MPJ for being the league’s reigning MVP.
Some Positivity
I watched the first half intently, and noticed Scottie’s offensive process was quite good. When wins are popping, people talk about Scottie’s clairvoyance, his ability to see plays before they happen. Against Boston, Scottie commanding CMB to screen for BI helped shorten the PnR and got CMB the ball down low. Last night, when the obvious play seemed like Mamu would either attack the rim (especially after MPJ had just scored on him) or throw a lay-down pass to Scottie, the latter commanded for the pass to out to Agbaji on the wing. Scottie relocated to the corner, got the ball, missed the 3, but I thought it was the right play.
There was another solid offensive possession in the third quarter. Scottie used an inverted screen from IQ, which forced the latter’s defender, Terance Mann, to switch onto Scottie. The process worked to perfection, but not the end result. Scottie got in the paint, bumped Mann, but then missed the turnaround, fadeaway jumper. Ironically, BI shot from the same spot the following possession and missed, too.
In the second quarter, there was a glimmer of rare offensive chemistry, where Shead passed to Agbaji in the opposite corner, allowing him to attack baseline and kickout to Mamu, who then threw a cross-court pass to Scottie. Scottie was as wide open as shooting in an empty Barclay’s Center – there was not a Net in sight even coming for a very late shot contest. Alas, miss.
According to Vivek Jacob, Scottie’s mid-range has been improving. But in both Saturday and last night’s pathetic losses, his mid-range literally disappeared. He scored 12 and six points, respectively. Recency bias and any other cognitive distortion will run amok the more the Raptors continue to lose.
Even when the Ws weren’t popping, the Raptors were the Department of National Defence. However, a defensive lowlight was MPJ hitting a 3 off a broken play in the third quarter. It looked like pre-game shoot around as Noah Clowney and MPJ stood together in the same corner. Clowney’s screen managed to confuse Scottie, and that bought enough for MPJ to catch the ball one pass away and splash. That was after enduring 24 minutes of high school basketball with the first-half tied at 39 apiece. TV off, TV off.
With Barrett’s much-anticipated return right around the corner, the Raptors have a chance to right the ship with four games left against Miami, Washington, Golden State, and Orlando before they face the Denver Nuggets on New Year’s Eve.
Let’s desperately hope that a change will come both on and off the court – and that last night wasn’t the beginning of Toronto’s return to the Eastern Conference basement. If that happens, all the early season success will be simply be forgotten, vindicating the major outlets that doubted Toronto to begin with.
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