Dwane Casey is right in urging observers to not get too carried away during Raptors winning streaks and to not get too low when the team goes into a tailspin, like its current predicament.
The Raptors weren’t a championship contender at 5-0 and the team is not lottery-bound as the sky is falling types want you to believe, now that the losing streak is at three games.
This is a team that is still at least a couple of pieces short of contending for a Finals berth, but, when healthy, it is also a team that should be right in the middle of the pack in the East, with a chance to meet the Cavaliers in the conference finals.
There are areas for concern, of course (like being 24th in effective field goal percentage, 26th in assist-to-turnover ratio and assist ratio, 22nd in three-point percentage, the fourth-lowest-scoring bench in the NBA, per nba.com/stats, etc.) and these all will need to be addressed.
However, that doesn’t mean ankles should be broken jumping off of the bandwagon. While the Knicks are improved and the Celtics are decent, the Raptors should still take home a third-straight division banner and also should be in the mix for homecourt advantage, though fifth or sixth are pretty much just as likely.
Let’s not forget what the team has done well so far either: (like leading the league in free throw makes and attempts, ranking eighth in starter’s scoring, ranking fifth in rebound rate, including fourth in offensive rebounding rate, which has generated a ton of extra chances and ranking 11th in defensive rating – points allowed per 100 possessions – even after Tuesday’s stinker against the Knicks.
After this week, another tough road trip looms and the small forward situation is currently a disaster, so it might be some time before the Raptors start to plug some of the leaks.
WALKING WOUNDED
Speaking of the injuries, it’s a bit of a nightmare. Even though DeMarre Carroll wasn’t at his best, he was still making a huge contribution on both ends of the floor every night. While James Johnson can replace some of that, they are not close when it comes to effectiveness. There’s still no real backup at the position (the team prefers Johnson at power forward, Bruno Caboclo isn’t ready yet, Terrence Ross is both hurt and best at shooting guard and Norman Powell probably isn’t big enough to excel there, Anthony Bennett’s really a power forward, Patrick Patterson can’t play small forward).
This could get ugly.
Out of necessity, we might see a lot more of Kyle Lowry, Cory Joseph, DeMar DeRozan, Luis Scola/Patters, Jonas Valanciunas lineups. That might mean some time for Delon Wright (since Joseph or Lowry would be spending a lot of time at shooting guard), whether the rookie Wright is ready for it or not.
WISE WORDS
Patience would be good, according to DeRozan, who foreshadowed this inconsistent start about a month ago in a 1-on-1 chat we had:
“Everything is going to take a bit of time, it’s just how fast? You can’t rush it, especially if you want something to be good,” DeRozan said.
“You can’t really rush it. We’re going to have to work our way through obstacles, when things get tough, be able to figure it out, and then I think when we get to that part understanding when things get tough and figuring it out on the go, that’s when we know we’ve got something good going here.
“A little bit of patience has got to be involved with it, because there’s a lot of new guys. It’s a new system too that we’re running. I think I’m really excited about that as well.”
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Not time to panic about Raptors, just as 5-0 wasn’t time to plan the parade; On the injuries to Carroll and Ross and more
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