Kyle Lowry said something really interesting after Toronto’s win over Minnesota on Wednesday night.
He said he didn’t know Cory Joseph was this good when the team signed him and that Joseph had already – or was well on the way – to “outgrowing” the $7 million a season plus deal the Raptors handed the former Spurs third-stringer in the off-season. Many believed that contract was a mistake and that the Toronto media was showing some homerism in saying it was actually a smart deal.
Aside from one dip in play that in large part was a result of a viral infection, Joseph has been one of the best new additions in the entire NBA. He has run one of the league’s best bench units, become a key part of crunch time for the Raptors, playing alongside Lowry and has also made Lowry better by reducing his offensive and defensive responsibilities.
A newfound three-point shot – “Repetition is key, I definitely feel confident right now,” Joseph said – has only added to what he brings.
Toronto’s bench is +178 for the season, comfortably in second place in the NBA behind San Antonio’s ridiculous reserves, well ahead of third-place Atlanta (+91). Only three benches average fewer turnovers, only San Antonio and Golden State’s have a higher offensive efficiency and only three have been better defensively.
Joseph has been a fulcrum of that success, along with Patrick Patterson and to a lesser extent, Terrence Ross and Bismack Biyombo.
Casey recent called Joseph a godsend and you can’t really argue with that.
Not sure they’ll have the eye-popping numbers to win it and they might split the vote, but Joseph and Patrick Patterson deserve heavy sixth man of the year consideration.
IN THE BOOKS
DeMar DeRozan is now the all-time wins leader in Raptors history and Casey is impressed.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment. It’s something that’s not going to go away anytime soon,” Casey said.
“He means a lot to this organization, where it’s come from and where it’s going. He’s a big cog of that. I go back to five years ago when I first got here, we were (ranked) 30th in everything. Where we are in the league, the respect we’ve gotten and DeMar is a main reason for that.”
That’s true, his improvement has been truly impressive and the ascension of Lowry into a franchise player and great backcourt complement to DeRozan has sparked this winning Raptors era.
As always, though, DeRozan will ultimately be defined by how far one of his teams can go in the playoffs.
MINNY WILL BE SCARY
Even if another high-lottery pick wasn’t on the way, the future is mighty intriguing in Minnesota.
Everyone in Canada knows about Andrew Wiggins, who has a couple more levels he still can get to and now Karl-Anthony Towns is showing he has top five player in the entire NBA potential.
“He’s so versatile, I don’t know if you can force him to do anything. He’s inside, he’s outside. He’s doing a little bit of everything with the basketball,” Casey said of Towns.
“I said in New York, I thought Porzingis was gonna be like Dirk (Nowitzki), and this kid can be like (Kevin) Garnett. Probably more skilled out on the perimeter than Garnett. He’s still a rookie, but he’s advanced mentally, he’s matured as a young man. He’s not your typical rookie so to speak in years wise. Being around Garnett, some of that fire and intensity is rubbing off on him.”
After the game, Casey said Minnesota is going to be in the mix in the West in a couple of years.
The team already gets to the rim at will thanks to its athleticism and length advantages over almost any other team. Add that high pick and more defenders and shooting and look out.
CONCERNING?
It’s clear the Jonas Valanciunas/Luis Scola combination isn’t working, especially defensively. Both got yanked by Casey – along with James Johnson – because they couldn’t stop the Wolves. Scola never came back and Casey admitted it was a bad matchup for him. He also said earlier in the day that he won’t flip-flop Scola and Patrick Patterson, no matter what the numbers say. The belief is Scola, the team’s oldest player, won’t be good off the bench, he is better when he is warm and thrown in right away and his veteran smarts and presence is important. Plus, the bench has been so dominant he doesn’t want to mess with a good thing (not to mention, anybody who watched the pre-season will remember how much Patterson struggled when the starting role was his to lose).
I’d give Patterson another shot, but it doesn’t seem like that will happen unless the team goes on a long losing streak.
Meanwhile, Valanciunas has really regressed defensively to the point that it is troubling. Can you have him on the floor in the playoffs against a pace-and-space team?
In the old NBA, Valanciunas could be a starting centre on a title contender. Not sure if that’s the case anymore with the league going smaller and scoring threats spread at all five positions, with centres needing to cover far more ground than in the past. Not to mention his offensive gifts get largely wasted with few of his teammates willing to give him the ball.
Is there a long-term fit in Toronto if DeMar DeRozan re-signs? A mighty important question and the answer might be it doesn’t matter, he’s better than the alternative (when Bismack Biyombo walks and gets his salary multiplied by five times or so, Lucas Nogueira will be the alternative, along with anybody else the team can sign).
AROUND THE RIM
This is the second time Toronto has won nine straight at home – the first was in 1999, right when Vinsanity first ramped up (the end of Vince Carter’s rookie season as the club fell short of a first playoff berth, but served notice it would be a force in 1999-2000). The miracle Raptors team that marched to the playoffs on the strength of a record win streak without an injured Carter won eight straight at home … The Ross ejection was quite strange. Patterson said he didn’t recognize the fiery guy he saw, DeRozan said he must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and Casey said he told Ross he can’t lose control like that (even if the referees were bungling the calls) … Casey moved to .500 in his coaching career, including .523 in his five years with the Raptors.
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Cory Joseph has exceeded all expectations; Scola sticking with starters, despite strong argument against it
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