Raptors film room: Ja’Kobe Walter has an opportunity
The Raptors have been searching for one of their shooting guards to answer the call. Maybe that player is Ja’Kobe Walter. In a win against the Bulls, Walter showed up in a massive way, with Brandon Ingram calling him the second-best shooter on the team.
I broke down just how important Walter is, plus what we should be looking for with the Raptors rotation moving forward:
Here’s Louis Zatzman on the game:
Credit where it’s due: The Raptors played ferocious defence against the Bulls. They jumped every drive, turned most Bulls possessions into one-on-one contests with multiple Raptors stunting and helping. Chicago scored 45 first-half points, and it was lucky to get to that number. Quickley and his backcourt mate, RJ Barrett, had real moments of defensive strengths. Barrett had a help block at the rim (ruled a steal). Quickley picked off an outlet pass to save another sure thing. Even if they aren’t empowering Toronto’s top-10 defence, they are certainly fitting within it. That’s meaningful.
The thing is, we already knew the Raptors were a fantastic defensive team. That isn’t new.
The team needs to find ways to play real offence. Because right now, something is missing. And Quickley and Barrett, the starting guards — positions that are supposed to catalyze team offence — were unable to effectively drive sustainable and simple offence. Quickley hit some floaters, including an and-1 floater powered by an impressive pump fake. Barrett got his own rebound on a post-up for a layup. But those are not the type of baskets that drive meaningful, team-wide offence. The two combined for 27 points and six assists, which would be great numbers for one starting guard. Not two. The Raptors were virtually entirely healthy against the Bulls, playing against the 25th-ranked defence in the league, which has been last by a country mile since the deadline. If Toronto couldn’t break out and score some easy points against this defence, that’s problematic.
Am I mad because my toddler decided, after years of sleeping perfectly, that he is going to freak out when we leave the room at bedtime? Maybe! It’s been a long week with very little sleep! But I maintain that there is a real problem with Toronto’s offence. Probably.
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