Defensive slippage, Fred VanVleet’s health at forefront of Raptors’ concerns

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Two wins going into the Christmas break were supposed to mark some return to normal after a six-pack of setbacks for the Raptors.

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But a lacklustre defensive effort coming out of the break and uncertainty around starting point guard Fred VanVleet, who is dealing with a back issue, has brought back a lot of the negativity that surrounded the team through much of December.
VanVleet, who played just 23 minutes in Tuesday’s 124-113 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, did not work out with the team on Wednesday although he was at the practice facility getting treatment.

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The back spasms he is experiencing, as anyone who has suffered through them knows, are unpredictable so there is no saying whether he will miss one game or five games or even more.

That setback came the same evening that head coach Nick Nurse felt the team was finally getting back to a level of health so he could get a true gauge of what he had.

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Pre-game, he mentioned how much of their recent struggles were because of the bumps and bruises certain individuals were playing through for much of December, but that those were on the mend.

The obvious issue, outside of a slew of injuries to key players, has been some serious defensive slippage.

Consider that over the first 20 games of the season, the Raptors put up a decent 11-9 record. Over that span, they had an offensive rating of 112.4 and a defensive rating of 109. 9, representing how many points they scored or gave up per 100 possessions. That was a plus 2.6 rating.

In the 14 games since, a span in which the Raptors have won just four times, the offensive rating has actually gone up with the team scoring 113.7 points per 100 possessions. But that has been more than offset by a defence that has given up 116.7 points per 100 possessions — which is more than 6.5 points more per 100 possessions than they had been in the first 20 games.

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Nurse was asked about the slippage on Wednesday.

“I think overall we’ve got to hang in defensively,” the obviously irritated coach said. “After I go back and watch the tape, there isn’t enough pace or energy in the way we’re playing defence. I think that kind of shows up. It’s an energy battle for being a good defensive team. There just wasn’t enough of it (Tuesday) night.”

Nurse’s defensive scheme ask his players to cover a lot of ground. He’s seeing them do part of the job, but not finishing it and that’s leading to open shooters for the opposing team, or easy buckets at the rim.

“You can’t say: ‘OK we’re going to protect the paint because they drive a lot,’” Nurse said. “You can do that, but you have to be out, too. It’s completing the entire possession and playing the whole possession. Guys are driving, we collapse on the paint but then we don’t guard the ball long enough and they get an easy chest pass out. We’ve got to finish guarding the ball so the chest pass is harder, and that gives us a chance to get out better. There are a lot of little things like that.”

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With a super-quick Memphis team next up on the schedule, Nurse is convinced the Raptors are looking at the team in the NBA that can probably exploit this more than any other.

“The biggest focus is pace of play,” Nurse said. ‘They’re in the paint a lot. Making sure we’re getting our defence set, doing a good job of either guarding the ball or providing really good help. The point of attack, we’ve got to be better in the initial part of our defence, and it applies certainly to them more, probably, than just about anybody.”

There is a ray of good news on the horizon but it’s unlikely to arrive before Friday’s game with the Phoenix Suns at the earliest. It’s the imminent return of the physically bruising and high-energy defensive game of Precious Achiuwa.

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The 6-foot-8 forward has been out seven weeks but put in a grueling post-practice workout Wednesday in front of general manager Bobby Webster.
It sounds like a return could come on Friday.

Achiuwa has had a front-row seat for the defensive slippage over the past few weeks and even knowing he has to ease himself back into playing shape after the long layoff, he believes he can address some of shortfalls the team is suffering in the defensive part of their game.

“I think when I get back the team can use some more defensive effort,” Achiuwa said. “I think that’s something I could provide right away. So that’s my biggest focus coming back. Try to help the team defensively. Just bringing as much as I can and trying to help our team get to where they need to be at that end of the ball game.”

Toronto’s success is built on its defence. Anything that helps it right now would be a most welcome sight.

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