Alijah Martin Makes a STATEMENT in Toronto Raptors’ Summer League Opener Against Chicago Bulls

Alijah Martin Makes a STATEMENT in Toronto Raptors’ Summer League Opener Against Chicago Bulls

Summer League may be for shadowheads, but guess what? Elijah Martin showed up and showed out. You are Locked On Raptors, your daily Toronto Raptors podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. It’s your favorite part of the day. Thanks for making Lockdown Raptors your first listen every day. I’m VC Jacob. I’ve been covering the Toronto Raptors for eight seasons across several outlets. You can follow Lockdown Raptors on X, Instagram, and YouTube. And be sure to check out the Lockdown Raptors Discord where you can talk all things basketball, but especially the Raptors. Today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account and use Locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. It is Friday, July the 11th. I’m going solo today. To recap, the Raptors 11672 win over the Chicago Bulls. That is right, folks. A 44point win to open up summer league. We’ve put some big expectations out on this team. They’ve named a really strong roster and they show that they are about that business. And to start it off, Jamal shed, baby. Energy, intensity, focus, leadership. He brought it all right from the get-go. I think that’s what you wanted to see. Uh that’s what I wanted to see uh in terms of setting the tone. The Raptors didn’t get off to the greatest start. They did lose the first quarter 24-21, but I thought he did everything that he needed to do. And then the rewards came in uh the second quarter. Scoring wise, the Raptors did struggle in the first quarter. Uh about midway through the first quarter, uh the Bulls went into a one 122 zone and I thought that kind of frazzled the Raptors. And for that second half of the first quarter pretty much, uh, the lineup was shed, uh, Elijah Martin, AJ Lawson, Jonathan Mo, and Orish Tomche. And they just couldn’t figure it out. And I think, you know, some of that is obviously the Bulls just saying, “We will see if you guys can beat us from the outside.” And, you know, the Raptors just couldn’t find a flow. Uh, I think that’s something that, you know, maybe going down the line you’ll see tested a bit more and we’ll see how they turn out against that. But the answer to that was, hey, let’s just force turnovers and get up the other end. So, that’s what the Raptors did. Second quarter really set the tone. Came out with a 9 run. So, trailing 24-21, went on a 9-0 run and that set the tone for the entire quarter. Uh they took a 4833 lead into the half and let’s go back to that 9-0 run because uh Jamal Shed and Elijah Martin were in the back court again for this run. And man, Elijah caught a body. This man drove down the lane rightand tomahawk. I mean, he had Norm Powell down to losing the ball midway in the air and jamming it. Uh, yeah, that man uh can fly. And defensively, I thought he was excellent. The intensity he played with, you know, when he and Jamal were in the game together, I I thought that was so much fun to watch. And you watch Elijah Martin play defense, he looks like he he’s bigger than 6’2. He plays like he’s bigger than 6’2. And dude is just built like an ax, man. Like it is going to be tough to get by him. And he came out made a statement like this was hey, you know, I have a point to prove and uh you you can just see the norm vibes, right? Like just taking no nonsense, just trying to prove a point every time. Uh obviously defensively maybe we’ll have different things to say about each of them, but uh I think Elijah uh that’s going to be his calling card. That’s what he’s going to, you know, stand on. And that was a huge part of the Raptors just getting out in transition over and over again. They ended the first half forcing 18 turnovers, 21 points off those turnovers. Uh and and that just set the tone for the rest of the game. The Bulls finished with 33 turnovers. That tells you everything you need to know about this game. The Raptors, this was just an extreme tryhard performance. Like they just outplayed them, outplayed the Bulls in terms of intensity, uh competitiveness, and energy. And I think that’s going to be the calling card for, you know, you look towards the regular season and these guys being bench guys. I think that that just is going to be what this identity of this team is. And can you come out and can you apply a fullcourt pressure for as long as you’re in the game? And maybe you’ll play shorter shifts, but when you’re in there, you will be absolutely as intense uh as possible. Uh quick shout out to Chucky Hepper. Uh, and you know, I mentioned short shifts. Uh, Jamal Shed actually checked out pretty early and Chucky Heburn came in and I thought he played some good defense. The shot wasn’t there in this one, but the defense definitely was. Uh, so I thought that was super encouraging. Uh, coming back to Elijah Martin, I mean, finished the finishes the game with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists, uh, two steals, uh, knocked down a couple threes. He had a move where um he got the ball on the perimeter against Matas Buzzelis and he was on the right side just around the three-point elbow and he drove left just drove hard and finished uh with uh a lefty little, you know, finger roll and that was such a smooth move to watch. And again, I think that was just recognizing that, hey, I’ I’ve got the step on this guy. So, when a bigger guy’s on me, uh who who doesn’t have the quickness, you know, to show that poise, to show uh that focus to say, hey, I’ I’ve got the matchup advantage here and I I can just take it all the way to the rack. I think that was super uh encouraging to see. So, little things like that and again, knocking down a couple of three balls, that’s going to be big for him, right? To see how that shot falls. uh as I mentioned, didn’t fall for Chucky Heer, and he missed all four of his three-point attempts, but I I I did like the defense I saw from him. Uh Jamal Shed, you know, if you look at the box score, maybe you’ll say, “Okay, whatever. Nine point. Assists, uh four rebounds, and two steals, but I I I thought, you know, he was kind of the heart and soul uh of this game.” Uh beyond that, uh I think what stood out with the back court, uh beyond the ball pressure, beyond, uh you know, just forcing the turnovers offensively, I think that uh Jamal can get into some actions in the pick and roll. We’ve seen that. Uh he’s definitely shown that he’s kind of above this summer league level. Um, and I he should continue that Sunday against the Magic, but I think there were instances where he was having to deal with some ball pressure, uh, where the Bulls threw some of their own half court pressure, fullourt pressure, 3/4 court pressure. Um, and you know, he had one turnover, for example, from half court. he tried to throw it uh to the corner um and and kind of skip past uh to the corner and threw it like miles out of bounds. So, little things like that to work on. Uh I think we’ll maybe I hope we see uh other teams more play more zone just so the Raptors get tested with that just so we can see what that looks like. And in terms of the Raptors getting tested, you you do want to see opponents take better care of the ball, but at the same time, it’s just amazing to see the intensity that the Raptors play it with, like this is what you want from this group. And so, if this is the way they’re going to set the tone and continue it, this is what you want to see uh going down the line. Now uh in the next segment we are going to get to uh some really good play from AJ Lawson, Jonathan Mobile and Orish Shamch. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? 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And we are back. As promised, we are going to talk about some AJ Lawson, Ora Chomsh, and Jonathan Mo. I thought with AJ Lawson, we discussed this earlier. It’s really going to come down to his shot. And he made four out of eight threes in this one. Finished with 22 points. Uh he has that pop in his game, that intensity that he plays with. He got a bit of a sideline interview. And over there, he just talked about, “Hey, I’m actually a vet when it comes to summer league. This is my fifth summer league and on this team it’s all about playing hard, playing uh with intensity and maxing out your energy and effort uh for as long as you’re on the floor. And I thought AJ fit the bill in this one. Both ends of the floor played hard. Uh and you know he’s got that dog in him. I think when he plays uh this way when the shots falling then everything is clicking. But, uh, you know, he looked to attack the basket at different moments. Uh, he got to the line six times. So, that’s another encouraging thing to see with AJ Lawson. And, yeah, it’s just going to be nice to have, you know, him and Elijah Martin coming off the bench for this summer league and maintaining that intensity, uh, bringing the heat, so to speak, and, uh, enjoyed what I watched from him. Let’s get to Orish Shamsh because I think for those of us who watched last year’s summer league, obviously you saw a big time project and uh you know he struggled to make catches inside. There was uh you know just constant fouls and getting himself in foul trouble jumping at everything and I will say you know maybe he he’s still a little jumpy. Uh but I thought the catches were better. I thought uh there was more poise on his finishing. So I think the big thing that gets talked about with Shamsh is steadily seeing the game slow down for him. And so I think to see him make those regulation plays is a step forward and I think that’s progress when you compare last summer league to this summer league. That’s something that you really wanted to see from him. And again, couple of nice t uh touch finishes uh in and around the basket, a jump hook in there. So, uh encouraged by that. He had one nice steal where uh again, obviously the Raptors applying pressure and there was an inbounds near half court and he just used his length. Uh you know, they they thought they could throw it over him, but the answer was no. Uh Chay was able to tap it and then just race down the court and slam it down himself. So, uh, good to see from him. Finished the game with nine points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks, four for six from the field. So, good signs from him. And then Jonathan Mo. I said that this was going to be, you know, as far as summer leagues go, a big one for him to show progress, especially finishing on the inside. The guy finishes seven for eight from the field. I think five at least five of them were dunks and just getting out in transition uh creating good opportunities for him for seals against smaller guys and then you know just catching the alleyoop and finishing uh and defensively he started the game he got the match up on Matas Bzelis and I thought he defended him really really well. Uh shout out to Bzelis having one uh nice dunk for himself. He had a windmill in transition. Nice clean finish on that one. But Mobo, I think overall uh in this one uh was really solid on both ends. 15 points on seven of eight shooting again. Uh had three steals as well. He he he actually picked uh Noah As’s pocket and went down the floor uh for a transition bucket. That that was a nice play uh to see from him. Quickly on Asen at this stage of his career, obviously a project. He very much looks like, you know, if he gets any offense, it’s going to be in transition. He knocked down one three. He had one transition bucket. Um he finished the game with five points. So those are the two buckets I’m talking about. Uh he did have three steals. uh and you know obviously the length is there but this is very much going to be a project for the Bulls and uh something that they will have to hope pans out in the long term. Shout out to uh Javon Freeman Liberty by the way. Uh JFL familiar face 21 points in this one. Went 10 for 13 at the free throw line. So got to the line plenty. But uh coming back uh to the Raptors. Yeah, having those three performances, Mo, Shamshay, AJ Lawson, uh really nice to see, really good signs uh moving forward. In terms of other guys worth talking about, let’s get to some Jacobe Walter. Obviously, this is a guy that I I’ve talked about quite a bit. And I gave him a bit of a mamba challenge to say, “Hey, these four games, uh, are there going to be are are you going to be able to show that you could potentially be the best player on the floor?” Uh, I I don’t think he took home that award tonight, but uh, I think he had some good moments. uh you know finished with the 12 points, three rebounds, two assists. He actually started the night uh for the Raptors with a pull up three in transition and uh that got me excited off the bat. I was like, whoa. Okay. Uh Jacob’s coming out to show something. By the way, the first time you see Jacobe uh looks pretty unrecognizable from the braids that we got used to uh seeing. He’s got, you know, very clean cut now. uh baby face and so it took some getting used to with that for sure. Uh I think with him, you know, I think there’s some tough shots that he takes. That’s kind of just like part of the nature of his game. Uh but I think there is good intent, uh good process in terms of what he’s trying to do, but it’s just the uh efficiency that maybe isn’t quite there. He shot four for 12 in this one. Uh I mentioned he hit the pullup transition three. He missed his next four threes for the rest of the game. Um he had some sloppy turnovers as well. So uh I think maybe the the handle is one thing that you would have liked to see some progression with and maybe that’s not quite where it needs to be. And we’ll see. first game, you know, maybe maybe some rust, maybe some uh timing that needs to come along with getting into uh summer league action. So, we’ll see how that plays out the the rest of the games, but yeah, nothing nothing to write home about for Jacobe. He was just okay. Uh oh, I I can’t believe I I didn’t even mention this, but uh uh Colin Murray Boils did not play. Uh unfortunate for him, uh he did have an adductor strain. I believe there was some reporting that it’s very minor and uh he could very much be in play for game two against the Magic uh on Sunday. So hopefully extremely precautionary and we do get a look at him and uh yeah so with him out uh you had Colin Castleton get the start. Uh he was alongside uh Jameson Battle, Jamal Shed, Jacobe Walter, and Jonathan Mo. Jameson Battle was solid. Knocked down his threes three for five from beyond the ark. Kind of did his thing. uh quickly on those two guys because uh Darko had mentioned that Jacobe added 12 pounds of muscle and he had said that Jameson Battle had bulked up as well. I could definitely see the tan on Battle. I don’t know if I saw too much of a weight gain. Uh Jacobe it was also hard to tell. Uh so we’ll see. Maybe I mean Jacobe I could see as being one of those guys who’s just like wiry strong um and so maybe it’s not quite as visible. You know he’s kind of in that Chris Bosch category that way where even when the muscles being added it doesn’t quite show. Uh but yeah with Castleton uh I think he was decent. I think the the good thing with him is, you know, you can use him up top in actions and uh maintaining a flow up top and uh defensively. I think he’s actually a decent rim protector at this summer league level. Uh and so he gives you that uh and a bit of that paint protection. Obviously, uh he’s not someone that has a lot of muscle, so if he goes up against someone who has the strength advantage, that’s going to be a challenge for him. didn’t get much offense going in this one. Uh just the five points on six shots. Uh but yeah, I think uh overall uh if you’re a Raptors fan, this is the start you wanted to see and uh you got it right. like even right at the very end when uh you had the reserves check in for the final few minutes, you you had the broadcast saying, “Hey, like man, you really got to be able to apply a fullcourt press to play for this team.” All uh the entire game, fullcourt press, a lot of intensity. Uh, and I it’s clear that that’s kind of the uh MMO for this team here at Summer League. And hopefully that’s something that will then carry over to the regular season. To finish up, we’re going to get into uh some of the things that happened off the court uh that were encouraging. So, speaking of what was encouraging off the court, number one, who showed up for the game on the SC sidelines, you had Scotty Barnes, you had Brandon Ingram, Emmanuel Quickley, RJ Bear, Yaka Purle, Grady Dick, Oiabaji, and the new Raptor himself, Sandro Mamukash, Villi. So, plenty of guys in attendance to support this team. And we had talked about earlier that hey this is something that has been part of the fabric part of the culture of the Raptors organization from the leaders. And so you wanted to see that continue especially with you know what’s going on above them and uh there being uh a whole in the president’s position right now. You want to see those things have that continuity. And so, uh, to see those guys courtside and cheering and man, Scotty was into this game and you love to see that. You love to see that leadership from Scotty. Super encouraging. Uh, and so, yeah, just very, very happy to see that. Uh Jacob Purle uh had a nice sideline chat with uh Dennis Scott during the game and he was talking about expectations for the season and he just sounds like really excited for what this team can do. Uh and yeah, he said he believes that, you know, the Raptors can push uh and compete with the top teams in the East and they’ve got to go out on the court and prove it. You know, it’s funny. If you were to take this summer league game in the approach, if you were to take the end of last season and like what the Raptors are trying to do, and you’ve got this very talented starting five, you’ve got potentially some depth off the bench. Uh I could see this sort of, hey, let’s have short shifts. Let’s go really, really hard. uh let’s keep maybe two starters on the court at all times and maintain that intensity but also have that talent out there and and really uh put pressure on the opponents. Uh they might be like the Indiana Pacers without without the three. Uh the three-point shot is obviously going to be an issue. Uh that’s going to be another thing. You know, we talked about the zone earlier. I think that’s something that we’ll see as we go on here uh in summer league. Just quickly, I will say with Dennis Scott, you know, I think he’s a super fun guy. Um is, you know, enjoyable to watch when he’s on the broadcast and uh always has fun chemistry with whoever he’s with. We got to get to a point where, you know, we know how to say Yakurto. It’s It’s uh you know, it’s turtle with a P. It’s not that hard. Uh we got to get away from Pule. Uh that’s that’s my only gripe. Uh hopefully Dennis Scott gets the memo for the next one. But uh besides that, in terms of encouraging signs, um just looking down the list here, I’m pretty touched on pretty much everybody. uh coming back to battle, I I’ll probably say that, you know, he’s going to just play that same role all the time, right? And I think that in this situation, he came in and he didn’t force anything and that and that’s good to see too, right? I think maybe there there’s a priority saying, “Hey, like we want to see what Jacob’s going to do on the ball.” That was something that Darko actually mentioned uh in media. Um, and so maybe that was how they’re just going to operate and it’s like, “Hey, Jameson, we’re going to get you your catch and shoots and we want you to thrive off that.” Uh, so seeing him in kind of that role playing option um, and maintaining that is going to allow us to see, you know, what Jacob’s got when Colin Murray Boils comes back. Maybe we’ll see what he’s got. And, you know, we’ll see what changes are made to the starting five. then if it’s is a it battle out, is a Castleton out? Uh is it mobile out? Um so I guess we’ll wait and see on that. Uh last thing I’ll touch on, Quincy Gary came into the game late. Uh went up for what would have been a big big dunk and got fouled, landed awkwardly on his back. Uh nothing malicious about the foul at all. He just landed awkwardly and so a bit of a scary moment. Uh but he seemed okay. He he took his time uh you know on the ground for a bit but got up seemed okay. So uh we’ll see if he figures into the action for game two. But that was another thing I thought was worth mentioning. And yeah to finish up again love the way Jamal Shed set the tone. But Elijah Martin, man, shout out to you. Like, you’ve got the attention of Raptors fans. Uh, caught a body in that second quarter. And man, if he would have made that second dunk, oo, like that one, he took off. I I think it was like from the semicircle and just one-handed. Tomahawk again, just cocked that joint back. that, you know, I would have had to bring Sean uh and have a what sound did you make uh segment with him for that one. Like it was almost a good thing he didn’t make it. Like my mind was not ready for that. That that dude exploded and he is going to be fun to watch these remaining three games. Uh and then we’ll see beyond that. But, uh, yeah, the Raptors are able to get it done 116-72 over the Chicago Bulls. Uh, game two will be against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, 6:00 p. p.m. Eastern. Uh, and, uh, I will have a podcast up for that Monday morning. Thanks for listening and don’t forget if you want to carry on this discussion, this game discussion, I know it’s already happening in the Discord, but if you want to continue it over the weekend, head on over to the Locked On Raptors Discord. Link is in the description. Thank you for making Lockdown Raptors your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Lockdown NBA podcast where there is no offseason. Doug, Matt, and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

The Toronto Raptors defeated the Chicago Bulls 116-72 to open up their 2025 Las Vegas Summer League campaign. Vivek Jacob goes solo to recap the win and the outstanding play of Alijah Martin. Jamal Shead, AJ Lawson, and Jonathan Mogbo also shone.

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