Quick Reaction: Raptors 128, Grizzlies 96
RJ Barrett / A+ / 25 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 4-of-6 from deep
A fantastic game. He wasn’t forcing too much, as he has in some recent contests, but he was still putting his head down at times and reaching the paint. That was a good thing. In the second quarter, he stampeded a catch and finished a push shot. The shooting was obviously a huge plus, and he even hit a stepback triple midway through the second.
Brandon Ingram / A / 17 points, 5 assists, 7 rebounds, 6-of-11 from the field
He did exceptionally at fitting into what the team did well and not commandeering the offence too often. He was passing early, finding Poeltl for a layup on a pull-up-to-pass look that turned out very well. When he wasn’t passing, he was driving as aggressively as I’ve seen, drawing fouls or finishing (or both, in the case of one monster dunk, which was later ruled to be an offensive foul, which, boo).
Scottie Barnes / B- / 10 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 turnovers
He never really turned it on, but he never had to. He was quiet in the first quarter until he realized his team was sort of sleepwalking, and then he knocked in a couple of mid-rangers to at least move the chains on the scoreboard. But he committed some uncharacteristic turnovers with sloppy passing. There’s a fine line between the home-run look and the short cut, and it seemed like Barnes couldn’t find the right side of it at times. When he settled into the game and stopped trying to force things, Toronto stopped turning it over, which let the defence play in the half court, which let the offence play in the open court.
Jakob Poeltl / C / 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
It looked like it was going to be a big Poeltl game early, with him passing out of the mid post for a dunk and rolling for a layup. But he very quickly got lost in the shuffle of a relatively flow-free game. Defensively, he wasn’t as mobile as he should have been, with some sloppy closeouts and slow help shown around the rim.
Jamal Shead / A+ / 11 points, 6 assists, 2 steals
The most impactful player in the game for long stretches. Missed an open corner triple on his first touch, but then made a terrific pass to Poeltl on a slip that resulted in a blown layup. He generally created open shots for his teammates whenever he touched the ball, and despite them missing, he was a boost offensively. He forced lots of turnovers (with steals and drawing offensive fouls) on the defensive end just through activity, which led to Toronto finally creating distance in the second quarter with some transition play.
Gradey Dick / Incomplete / 7 points
Garbage time. (He was trying really hard, cutting and running and doing his best to get some points on the board.)
Ja’Kobe Walter / A / 7 points, 8 rebounds, 2-of-9 shooting, plus-39
His numbers were quiet, but he did his job. Defensively, he got beaten on some fancy drives from Memphis’ small guards, but in general he was terrific in isolation. He missed an uncontested triple on his first look, but it was a great job hunting his shot around an RJ-Poeltl empty-side pick-and-roll. He’s been doing more off the bounce in recent games than at any other point in his career, and he showed it in this one. He drove as the second-side attacker multiple times, looking to create for teammates with his dribble. He chased offensive rebounds. He’s expanding his arsenal without losing what makes him important (defence).
Sandro Mamukelashvili / B / 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1-of-4 from deep
Gave good minutes. He fought on the offensive glass, cut well on Barrett’s drives, drew tons of free throws and almost had a huge transition dunk. The defence wasn’t fantastic, although it settled into place when the rest of his teammates really put the clamps on. His offence is just such a boon right now, even when the triple wasn’t falling.
Collin Murray-Boyles / A+ / 19 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
He was consistently very strong. He did terrific getting to the rim at all times, whether when others passed him to the rim or just dribbling there himself. His driving has quietly been popping in the last few games, and on his first touch he drove from the perimeter for free throws. He had a smooth spinning drive for a lay in the third, too. He missed a lob dunk that he really should have put through the rim. He was way too good for garbage time and got out of there quick.
Jonathan Mogbo – Incomplete
Garbage time
Jamison Battle – Incomplete
Garbage time
Alijah Martin – Incomplete
Garbage time
AJ Lawson / A / 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
His defensive activity was meaningful, though he had a nothing foul called on him while he moved his feet well. He was always pushing; in the fourth quarter, with a few minutes remaining, he pushed off a made dunk from Memphis and hit a corner triple three seconds later.
Darko Rajakovic – A
The Raptors opened the game playing through Poeltl in the mid post, he lobbed to a cutting Barnes for a dunk. Very nice scripted set. The team was very clearly trying to force activity into the game, with lots of full-court press, and players like Lawson and Shead trying to run at all times. He was searching, even trying a Walter-Barrett-Barnes-Mamukelashvili-Poeltl lineup to try to win some possessions on the glass. Eventually, it paid off. He had the team performing well.
Three Things:
1 – Early on there were some weird offensive fouls called on the Raptors on would-be buckets. The Raptors were really shaken up by the refereeing, though, which was probably more harmful than the actual calls. Even when the calls went their way, it was just a slow game that couldn’t get a rhythm for the first 20 minutes.
2 – Toronto’s defence was fairly solid, even before the turnover parade started in the second. It forced tough shots, which the Grizzlies made often enough. It cleaned the glass. It did well. Even though Toronto wasn’t building a lead for much of the first half, it was at least setting the stage for a lead eventually becoming a reality.
Your next read: Samson Folk, on Scottie Barnes moonlighting as a point guard:
Coach Darko made reference to Nikola Jokic and Milos Teodosic as passers. Their need to “feel things out” and “test the limits”. He highlighted Barnes as this kind of passer as well. Barnes is willing to make high risk/high reward passes all the time. He hits an astounding amount of them, but there’s still a lot more risk in his form of creation, because it’s more reliant on off ball breakdowns from the defense, not on ball breakdowns by a dominant offensive player like Barnes.
The result? Obviously a mixed bag. Barnes, without anyone to create for him, saw volatile swings in his effectiveness as a scorer. Even his creation on the whole was fairly volatile in the halfcourt. And this is during March where scoring comes a lot easier in the NBA, and against some pretty bad defenses. His on ball limitations — handle, lack of a pull-up jumper from deeper than 16 feet — showed up constantly. Still though, the sheer amount of reads he got to filter through and his passing talent meant that the Raptors were guaranteed some production. This is the pitch, not even for Barnes as a point guard, but just as a more featured offensive player. A conduit on a lot of possessions to inject pace and dynamic passing. Not to mention all the things that Barnes can do well outside of this. He’s been a great mismatch iso scorer this year; really strong as a roller, and still capable on the offensive glass.
The post Quick Reaction: Raptors 128, Grizzlies 96 first appeared on Raptors Republic.