GANTER: Uneventful doesn’t necessarily mean Raptors wasted pre-season

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In terms of revelations, the Raptors pre-season has been much like a Tom Cruise movie.

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For the most part you know what you are going to get and while it’s entertaining in spots there’s no real meat there. Nothing that makes you sit up and take note other than the odd highlight, or in Cruise’s case, the odd stunt.

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Given that the Raptors return all their top eight from a year ago and the only needle-moving addition to that end of the rotation is Otto Porter Jr. who has yet to play a meaningful minute because of a hamstring issue, that’s hardly a surprise.

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In short training camp has been rather uneventful.

We’ve seen rookie Christian Koloko almost undoubtedly push his timeline forward with his play both in camp and in the games.

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Juan Hernangomez, another new face to the roster has fit in nicely with his combination of basketball IQ, defensive acumen and has the confidence of his new teammates with his outside shot and cutting ability to be an asset.

With Porter and Chris Boucher still dealing with hamstring issues, head coach Nick Nurse suggested on Thursday that the Spanish standout will have a significant role early on and even once their healed his three-point game will likely earn him minutes.

But beyond that this entire pre-season has been more about searching out combinations that can boost an offence that struggled in the halfcourt a year ago not to mention pales in comparison in the shooting department to some of the other contending teams in the East.

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But whatever offensive challenges this team might possess, they also have a quiet confidence that their combination of speed, athleticism and defensive interchangeability can more than offset whatever is lacking.

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“It’s just a balance thing,” veteran point guard Fred VanVleet said of the Raptors’ approach to improving that offence. “There’s not a perfect team out there, and we definitely don’t fit the mold. Where we’re strong at, we need to focus on those strengths. Where we’re weak, we need to focus on where we can get better.

“Some things are what they are,” he said. “Halfcourt offence, especially late, comes down to execution and IQ and intelligence and picking the right matchups and making shots. I remember a lot of games where we executed our butts off and couldn’t make a shot. That’s one of those things you don’t want to get carried away with. There is definitely room for improvement. As a team, all you can do is try to improve every single day.”

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Nurse believes an up-tempo pace, particularly when the team is in transition, will make up for whatever halfcourt or shooting shortfalls the team might have.

“First of all, I think that we have to run, right,” Nurse said. “I think we have to run for a couple reasons. One is we’re asking them to play all this defense, right? And that has to turn into something productive, right? I mean, you have to take advantage when you’re jarring the ball loose and you’re creating advantages, you’ve got to get those into points on the scoreboard. Right? And I just think in general, if we’re going to use some of this depth then we should be able to play at a faster rate as well.”
From Nurse to his team leaders VanVleet and Siakam, this group knows where they are good and where they come up a little short.

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Using that knowledge and figuring out how to capitalize on it doesn’t make for an eventful pre-season, but then, no one really cares or remembers what happens in a pre-season anyway.

TOUGH LUCK

Chris Boucher, dealing with a hamstring issue, was never going to be ready to play in Montreal in tonight’s pre-season finale, but now he won’t even make the trip. A non-COVID illness will keep him in Toronto leaving the Montreal fanbase with only one native son to cheer on and that would be Khem Birch.

HANDLING EXPECTATIONS

Coming off his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign, Scottie Barnes naturally has a bit of a target on himself.

Teams will be game planning to stop him of course, but the less obvious target is that of expectations from the fanbase and dealing with those can be a dicey situation.

Barnes though sounds like a guy who already has a solid game plan when it comes to dealing with external expectations.

“I just go on the floor, try to help us win,” Barnes said. “Any way possible, I try to have that impact on the floor defensively, offensively, try to take what’s given to me, just try to play the right way while I’m on the floor. I don’t really think about (expectations) when I’m on the floor. So, I’m just out there playing and trying to do what I can.”

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