WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE RAPTORS SO FAR? | Basketball Island

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE RAPTORS SO FAR? | Basketball Island

Winners of five of six. A winning record through 11 games. Fabio Lucarini. Are the Raptors good? They are good. And I’m good. I am good, too. I’m better, man. Let’s go. This is Basketball Island. Hind hamone West Fab Wraps with another win. Nice win over the Nets. Couple of shaky moments in there, but IQ has looked great over his last three games. Is this for real or is this more just like you’re beating up on bad opponents? You’re doing what you’re supposed to do. Uh I don’t know if it’s for real yet. I think the best win of the season was the home win against the Bucks. But again, even that win, the Bucks are on the second game of backto-back. I like the way they played against Philly, but Raptors were on the second game of back to back. I don’t think we’ve been tested yet. I think a big test is Thursday against the Cavaliers in Cleveland. That would be a real measuring stick. But I like the way things are going. It’s not perfect yet. I think Emanuel quickly even said that last night. It’s not perfect on the floor. The guys haven’t jelled, but we are seeing morsels of where I think they could be. Brandon Ingram’s mid-range game is just like it’s just beautiful to watch, man. He can get a shot over literally anybody. your boy quickly being way more efficient from the floor being being aggressive too. Aggressive early and kind of letting it fly, but his second half yesterday against the Nets was just he was almost the difference in that game when they needed a bucket. He scored. It’s nice. It’s nice. But let’s see. Just take care of the games in front of you. I think that’s the big thing. Yeah. I think the Raptors have done what they’re supposed to do given the schedule. Yeah. I think they lost the teams that you would expect them to lose to and then when they had opportunities that were given to them, they took care of business just like the other game against Brooklyn. So, I I don’t think there’s anything extreme one way or the other. They’re they’re right where they’re supposed to be. Uh you’re you’re happy as a Raps fan 11 games in. You want to see if this can continue. And you can you’re looking to cherrypick the things that you’re hoping for coming into the season and seeing whether or not they can continue on it. The defense is definitely where my eyes are at. I want to see if they can improve on that. But for the time being, you’re not high, you’re not low, you’re you’re just happy where we are. Yeah. Six and five. No complaints. 11th in offense, 16th in defense. I mean, that’s that’s pretty good. Above 500 with a reasonably tough schedule. I thought the win in Atlanta was very encouraging because they didn’t look good for most of that game, but they won ugly. Turned it up in the second half. The game against the Nets, a lot of miscues. Hey, the New York nightife, it’s undefeated. They were out drinking with, you know, eating with Sandro the night before. They had that big meal. It was a little the effort was we, you know, the the con, they were waning a little bit at times. though you you can if if you can give a halfass effort against the Nets and still win, I don’t care. Have as much fun as you want. And you mentioned that game against Atlanta. Here’s what I’m wondering. Do we use the same parade route for the NBA cup that they used for the championship in 2019? I hope not because I hope not. December too, December logistics is going to be a little trickier. I mean, anyone who is there that bus took about 8 hours to get to Nathan Phillips Square, which was a little insane and it was extremely hot that day. We need more toilets, man. We need more toilets. Definitely hope they learn better. I was going to share two more stats, I think, talking about just how they’ve been in the uh these first 11 games. Two things that jump out. Number one is they lead the league in transition frequency. That’s just what they do now. That is part of the identity. Remember at the beginning we’re saying ah there was too much of it, too frantic. Last few games. They’ve scaled it back. The reality is that’s their mo on offense. They are just gunning it right away off of live rebounds, whatever opportunity they have. Do they score necessarily at a great clip? Ah, they’re still working on that, but they’re pushing it. That’s what they do all the time. The second thing you love to see number one in assist to turnover ratio, taking care of the ball. Taking care of the ball phenomenally and the ball is humming. That is all Darko. That’s what he wants them doing in this offense. And so, it’s nice to see some of the things that they’re trying to roll out is being executed now. And I think Fab referenced it 11th in offense. I think that’s a surprise. Yes. I don’t think that’s something we expected coming into the season. And again, I’ll reiterate Brandon Ingram’s proficiency in the half court when things are kind of bogged down where the motion offense just it’s hard to run motion 48 minutes. Like it’s just hard. It’s hard to back cut people because you’re tired. These guys are human beings, right? I do love the minutes distribution as well to keep guys like BI a little more fresh when they’re on the court. I think that’s a testament to their depth. You’re you’re having a good bench allows you to do that. And I think we saw it yesterday. Scotty picks up his fifth foul in like the six-inute mark and he’s he’s out for what, two and a half minutes. You win those minutes when he comes back into the game. And essentially the game was over by the time he comes back in. Whereas that’s an eight-point game. Scotty leaves. That’s kind of what went wrong in the third quarter when Scotty left with foul trouble and then the Nets kind of made their run. Yeah. And I think to me that depth will help prolong some of these dudes who have an injury history, a tumultuous injury history. Brandon Ingram, I think, playing the backtoback in uh in Philly, you know, he there were a couple moments there where he pulled up a little lane. It’s like I’m still, you know, knock on wood, I’m still a little worried about that, but if you are playing 10 11 guys, they were without Sandro in that uh Brooklyn game. I like that going forward. You’re preserving your guys and you want to keep them on the floor as much as possible because that’s what has bitten the Raptors in the past. Yeah. I mean, we came into the season, all of us, I think we’re all in the win total over, right? We’re all over. Yes. My main point on the Raps being over was that start of five, not necessarily the best of the best across the league, but their bench depth, I was very confident, was going to be superior to the other bench units that they’d be playing. If you look at the Raptors like player page on NBA.com right now, in terms of net rating, all five of the bench guys, all seven of the bench guys, they sit above the five starters. So, what that is Brady one’s a little suspicious. Suspicious. But what I’m trying to point out with that is that sure starters against starters, Raptors starting five, you know, they they have they have their moments, but the bench units, they’re not giving away games. It’s the opposite. They’re building leads a lot of the times against other teams, um, crappy bench units. That’s how the Raptors as a regular season team are going to be able to stack up wins. And we’re seeing it in like games like the Brooklyn one where they were able to make it happen even though it was ugly. Yeah. To your point, the starting lineup uh per cleaning the glass negative -2 and a half in 203 possessions. So, the starters have lost their minutes. Yeah, that’s not a great sign, but there’s still enough I I don’t think enough time has gone by that I’m going to finish that chapter yet. Like, let’s get let’s get five or 10 more games more games with Hurle looked good yesterday, too. But the point I want to make is I think they’ve been more successful with some of these transitional lineups. Two starters with a few bench guys. I mean, we we were in a group chat with Javon Shepard. He’s clamoring for Jameson Battle minutes and he came off that monster game and then kind of got frozen out a little bit and then he came in against the Nets, you know, bangs a three, looks pretty solid. I mean, you could there is room there for more minutes from a guy like that too or Scotty with more shooting around him, right? Like Darko still, once again, we’re in the infancy of the season. Darko’s searching for stuff. He’s throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. I was excited to see Battle come into the game yesterday and he hit that three and then kind of nothing else really happened for and he only got like 10 minutes or so but you could feel Darko searching. So yeah, Battle I think you know Kia Nurse like Javon they’re all clamoring for more of his minutes cuz he is a guy that you have to guard on the perimeter. He has gravity to him. Jacobe Walter Grady Dick you know there’s I think Darko is still searching for consistency out of that two spot some some of that wing depth like Aaji’s hurt so like I think you’ve been frozen out though anyway. Yeah, I mean, okay, he started against Philly because I know they were they thought he could guard Maxi. I mean, I mean, he tries something, but no other Raptors have guarded Tyrese Maxi for years. No one in the NBA leads a league in scoring. So, it’s like So, I think to me there’s I’m encouraged by other performances off the bench. Your boy Jamal Shed comes in steady steady diet of assists off the bench. CMBB, I just like the way he competes. He’s made some mistakes, you know, a couple reachin fouls against the Nets, but he comes in, he’s switchable on defense and just gives you a little bit of tenacity. The passing is something the dish to Purle, you see that little that that to me is, you know, basketball that you have a basketball mind. You know how to play the game. That’s what I love. Also on CNB, nine of 18 from three on the season. Not a ton of volume, but he’s already matched his college output. Well, also too remember from like I think it was from the Chicago pre-draft stuff that video went viral of him of him. People didn’t know what to expect offensively. His handles impressed me. His vision has really impressed me and yeah, the shooting has been way better than anyone expected. The versatility of the bigs off the Raptors bench is very intriguing when you have Purle who’s I think he needs to he he took a couple floater range shots yesterday that is required for him to for this starting lineup. Absolutely. He has to be able to take those. You can’t turn those shots down. Free throw line extended a little bit in. You need to hit that floater. But then if he comes out, CMBB Sandro, they can bang threes and they’re willing to take that shot. I think that keeps defenses honest. So I know we’ve kind of complained about Yak, but it looks like he’s is moving so much better. The offensive touch was really there yesterday. He was kind of automatic. That play with Scotty, the little volleyball pass give and go. Scotty was there, I think. But as a whole though, we talked about it last week with the 0.5 basketball. the players seem to be really buying into it and the ball is really moving and Wes’s assist to turnover stat really kind of backs that up. I mean, that’s that’s kind of the beauty of this team. It’s like when past iterations of the Raptors, one guy, one star player has a bad game, that’s the game, they’re done. They lose. Whereas like a night like Brooklyn, RJ couldn’t find the bottom of the basket, the Raptors still able to find somebody else to pick up the slack. BI, IQ both putting up 20 plus point games. Like that’s the beauty of this team. Now, I know there’s no like 30 point per game score on the team, but when you have four guys capable of going off on a given night, you can now afford one person to have a rough night and the way the offense is set up, they can defer and it’s not a detriment to how they’re running their offense. Whereas before, you kind of have, you know, one guy off that night. It kind of sewers the entire game. This is the beauty of how the team’s built right now. You can get your offense from different guys as long as everybody’s still giving it on defense. And they haven’t really faced that stalwart defensive opponent yet. You know, Atlanta’s probably like the Brady, although they were without Trey Young. So that exe like I think that highlighted a little more defensive players on their side and they kind of fell apart offensively. Hold on. But like looking at the rest of the league and the some of these scores in some of these games. Do who really is that team? It’s it’s not play it’s not playoff basketball. So even besides maybe the Thunder, all of these even elite defensive team aren’t necessarily giving you that on a nightly basis. Sometimes they’re they’re comfortable just getting into a shootout with you and saying, “All right, no.” I get what you’re saying, though. I want to see them up against a team that has like solid defensive principles and some like gamebreaking defensive players. Well, no, no, you did. The Spurs absolutely mangled, though. They got crushed. That was during the losing streak. We don’t talk about that. We don’t want to throw that away, but like that’s a team where the Raptors probably don’t have a lot of answers. Maybe. Yeah. But I’m thinking like perimeter guys like you know Webyama is our favorite defense player of the year for a reason. He’s a defense unto himself. I mean give me some like I know Lou Dort’s hurt but like just I want someone to get in like we saw BI go up against Lou Dort in the playoffs and get absolutely smothered. Now BI was also hurt. I just want to see it. Like I want let’s let’s chew on some film here a little bit. Like you know again you win the games that are in front of you. You take care of business. I’m cool with that but I’m yearning for more. I want to see I want to see them tested. Before I forget, uh, Purle, I I think his inclusion in the starting lineup also helps a guy like Quickly because you get those screens, you get those nice like relocation, catch and shoot threes and Quickly, you know, last three games shooting 45% from three. Yeah. Like that’s exactly what Quickley needs to do to have value. I don’t know if he’s ever going to live up to like how much he’s making, but for the starting lineup to succeed, he has to bang threes. And we got on him. He started the year two of 18 from three, and we we got on him for that. And that’s rightfully so because he wasn’t giving you much defensively either. I like the way he’s kind of popping from like the logo like he’s the confidence is back. Yeah, the confidence. I think he has to be confident. I still question a lot of the decision-m him going to the net can be an ugly sight. Like you know when he’s just he’s throwing it up at the net and I’m like I don’t think that’s going in and that’s a bad sign. And you made a good point about the transitional lineups like having him play off ball off Jamal Shed who’s a point of attack defender who can handle who can get the offense going. That might help him get more comfortable throughout the game because I agree with you. I don’t think he should be the guy handling the ball all the time. Scotty Barnes I think could also take some of that role on. It’s a nice balance. You could feel Darko searching. I like where they’re at. Take care of business. So now here’s what I’m wondering though. We talked a ton before the season about fit and how do these pieces fit. I think when Quickley is playing like that, it seems like all the pieces fit because like you said, you can play shed with him as a primary ball handler. You can have Scotty as your primary ball handler. You can have RJ as your primary ball handler through 11 games. How do you guys feel about the fit? And sorry, just to add on to this, I think when we saw it yesterday, when your half court offense stalls and you have Ingram who you can go to just to go get you buckets, I think that helps the fit. But overall, it’s better than I expected going into the year. Shouldn’t that be their downfall? Shooting’s important. That’s all I I think that’s all it comes down to in terms of the fit. I think you have it four capable ball handlers who can make something out of nothing if needed on the offensive end. It’s just does the shooting sustain? They all started redot and that was great. But you look at RJ going 0 for seven, 0 for eight last night. You look at BI now, he’s starting to cool off from three as well. 30% from three. Yeah. So they’re all dropping a little bit. You need that to sit mid30s, high 30s in order for this to be a good fit. Scotty’s still doing his job shooting what 40 44% from three. So he’s doing his part. Um but he shot below 30% last year. So which you know it’s kind of like which version? Probably somewhere in the middle realistically. My concern is more defensively because good teams there’s still weak links in that starting lineup that you’re going to be able to attack especially with with superstar players like you can put bar into tons of actions. you can put quickly into tons of action. So, there are holes you can poke in there. Ingram, his defense kind of waivers a bit. Scotty, to his credit, has been awesome defensively, especially as a helper. Purle not a shot blocker necessarily at this point, but still like offers you solidity and defensive rebounding, which I think is a huge factor because as we saw in that game against Atlanta, the first half, they were just getting bludgeoned on the offensive glass and and they did clean it up and that’s I think what helped aided them to a win. But defensively, I still need to see more from the starters. Yeah. But like again to the fit, it was all offensive. Everybody’s question marks about offensive fit. And every pundant out there in the American media, they say the same thing. We don’t know how it works at how it works. There’s truth to that, but there are also solutions being implemented like what I talked about with the transition offense stuff. Like that’s how they get around some of these things that you might see in terms of half court like stagnation. Well, they’re number one in transition offense and that they have four guys who are very good at transition who can get up and down the court and so they’re just playing to the strengths right now and that’s on Darkham good coaching. If I’m an opponent of the Raptors and it’s a high leverage game, I’m packing the paint. The only shooter I respect is Emanuel Quickley and you just make sure you get back on transition defense. And if you do that, I would love to see the Raptors try and solve that problem. But luckily that’s those are the type of things that don’t really happen until playoffs and that you’re playing too many games to kind of scheme that way that like teams are just going to kind of let it fly and that’s enough to maybe get you I saw I was looking on FanDuel this morning plus 194 45 wins. I think that’s like that’s I think that number is just a little big for where things are currently at. But if you want to talk about a big number minus 1,000 to win the group in the NBA Cup and I think I just got to float this out into the universe. Is FanDuel sending us to Vegas? Are they Are they let me drink some? Let’s go. You know what to do. So, they’re going they are making it out of the group to the NBA cup, which bravo. That’s a premature clap. Okay. So, okay. So, Cleveland is 17 to1. Then the Pacers are 20 to1. That’s a premature clap. So, you know what the clap is, right? The clap is the premature move is you just expect Indiana to run the table now for the rest of the group. So, here’s a scenario just Okay, so Raptors are minus 1,000. Kind of unbeatable. They’re the only team in the entire NBA that has two wins in the NBA Cup right now, but NBA Cup juggernaut. Look how far we’ve made it. Look at us. Look at the new Indiana Pacers. Okay. Um, but what has to happen right now? Indiana has to win outright for them. You’re saying for the Raptors to not advance. To not advance. Even if they don’t win the group, they’re going to get a while. The Pacers are the Pacers are one and nine or one and 10. Rapundd came back last night. The Raptors lose to the Whiz by accident and then they lose to the Pacers. That’s what happen. So that’s the big thing. Two home games remain. One against the Wizards, one against the Pacers. Raptors need to win one of those two games and they’re in. That’s it. That’s essentially the game. Win a quarterfinal match and then we’re in Vegas. So how just No, I want to spell it out just so everybody understands. A loss of G. That’s how you spell it. A loss to the Pacers doesn’t guarantee them an entrance because if they finish 3-1, the Pacers will have the tiebreaker over the Raps. Sure. So, I’m saying they should, all things considered, it should be done. Just beat the W. So, you jumping on 20 to1. Do you like 20? That’s the only So, I’m saying that’s the only bet you can make. Otherwise, you don’t touch anything. 20 to1 on the Pacers to win the group. Otherwise, don’t touch it. So, just make that bet and then if that happens, you can just pay to take us to Vegas since the Raptors won’t be going anyway. That’s our That’s our backup. Just beat the Whiz. Just beat the Wizards at home. Just do that and then you’re likely good. Like come on. Minus 1,000. But hold on though. Sorry to cut you off. You can’t pencil in Vegas. You have to still win a quarterfinal game, which I think would be at home. If they win the group or Yeah, exact. Exactly. You’re supposed to. So, and last He’s getting so excited for Vegas. Dude, we sh he’s shaking shaking right now. I’ve gone on rants the last two years. I really do enjoy the NBA Cup. It’s a ton of fun. You enjoy Vegas? I have done it. I love it. I got this. I got it. We got it. But we got it. This is sort of what this tournament is about. This is giving hope to a fan base of like, hey, may maybe we can make this and like if if a team like the Raptors wins the NBA Cup, then it’s like, hey, cool. Like, this is something to build off of. And then, hey, no one’s won the domestic double yet, so then we we can dream. But I don’t know. I just get excited. This is what it’s about for these smaller teams that we have. We have no shots to win. tell you’re very excited. I think it Yeah. Listen, the the Lakers and Bucks have won it. Ultimately, those teams had greater goals than winning the NBA Cup and and we don’t really remember it because their seasons kind of didn’t end very well, but the Pacers in it in its infancy made a nice run. They were like an upstart team. OKC took it very seriously last year. So, for a team like Toronto who hasn’t been in the postseason in a few years, here’s an opportunity to at least announce yourself somewhat to the rest of the league. Take it seriously. I mean, I I would expect that if they’re hosting a quarterfinal, that crowd is going to be really good and better better than an average uh game in the regular season. It should be. It should be. The Toronto crowds know how to step up for big events. Fab. We were in the stadium for Hogan Warrior. Maybe maybe the greatest crowd in Toronto history. I was five. I was six. We And we both went home crying. But Toronto fans know how to step up. You know it’s scripted, right? Yeah. I was at six. I didn’t know that. Hey, man. Grow up fast. I did that night. I did that night. You know, of all the times Hogan had to lose, it had to be at the Wrestlemania. I was at Come on, man. He didn’t lose for like seven years. Yeah. But, you know, like going back to the NBA Cup, one thing, let’s go back to basketball. Okay. One thing to point out is like, you know, there’s this whole idea of like, you know, championship or nothing. That’s the only thing that matters. All the 29 teams suck. Like, you know, that’s kind of the culture of sports that we live in right now. But the reality is for these teams to get to that level, it just doesn’t happen overnight. You have to build it up. And just like the Pacers two years ago for the Raptors right now, you’re coming off a really rough season, you try to cherrypick little bits here and there where you can get and this is an important building block. So yes, you can have other people laugh and say, “Oh, this is a dumb tournament. This means nothing.” Blah, blah, blah. But the reality is those are either fair weather fans who don’t pay attention until the very last game of the year. or your people that understand that, hey, you have to start somewhere. And this is an important for this is an important tournament for a team like the Raps are a very young team that have proven nothing. Exactly. Proven nothing. To quote Lester Freeman, all the pieces matter. So like just these things matter. They build confidence. It’s good. It’s a nice thing. Beat the Wizards. You know, Wes said people are laughing. You know who’s going to be laughing? The four of us at the blackjack table in Vegas when we’re sent to the NBA. Vegas has taken my money three straight like years. That’s my fourth. That sounds like your dude. Yeah. That’s okay, man. You go uh you go enjoy the buffet after. It’s fine. Save it. You stick around. The wind buffet. They slice the crab for you. They take the work out of crab. Thank god they got free drinks there, man. Shout out to Shout out to the wind buffet. Uh okay, let’s transition and let’s let’s bring out We’ve switched Iso Ball. Instead of Iso Ball, we’re going Isobo Bald. I so bald. Where’s my camera? That right here. All right. Jaylen Brown. All right. I am a bald man. All right. I’ve been I’ve been balding since what age. Like 27, 28. No, it’s a little before then. How dare you. All right. Remember the Jbone Mini Fro era of like 22 to 25? I’m doing a bit, man. All right. All right. Look. Okay, JB. There’s two things you do as a bald guy. All right. You either cling to the scraps or you let it all go. Look at your teammate Derek White. He did the thing. He did the thing. Manager Nobly, dude. Had a ball spot his whole career. We didn’t judge him for it. We respected him. You know what I’m saying? We respected him. This nonsense you’re putting on your head and it’s rubbing on other people’s jerseys. It’s infuriating. You’re you’re a wealthy man. You’re making 200 mil. You have a lot of good things going for you. Just go to Turkey. Yeah, I was just going to say you got the money. Pay for the trip. First class. You can afford it. But why are you spraying your hair before games? You’re doing cardio. It’s sweating. It’s energy. I respect you, brother. I like what he says socially. Like, I like him as a player. You’re better than this, man. You’re better than this. Just embrace it. I’m just glad Hamilton didn’t rub his head on my show. He is. He did. At least he leaned into the bit with the Connor bring up the tweet. The AI tweet. AI is crazy or whatever he said. That’s hilarious. But I I just want to say this. As a It’s insane. As a society, I love that making fun of bald people is the last. We’re still allowed to do it. And I like that as a society, we can still laugh. How comfortable I am. Like, it’s just hair. Just wear it. Some of us are blessed with a full head of it. Like myself and Wes. You too. I think Fab’s coming to my side, too. I’m sure I’m still fighting my my guys are fighting the front line. Oh, I’m not I’m not I’m not done yet, man. I respect I’m not done yet. I respect. All I’m saying is is like island like dude like Carlos Boozer, LeBron for a time. Like guys, come on home. The TNT panel said it best. Come on home, baby. Come on home, man. It’s okay. You guys are doing great. There there’s no way we can top that. Got it. Got it. Got him. Got him. Got him. Got him. I don’t know how he top that. That’s Jaylen Brown. So bald. Pay attention to what Hamone is saying. Jaylen Brown. He’s clear. This is the only thing he’s more passionate about is Eric Spolster for coach of the year. Yes, sir. Plus 900. What? Plus 900 and dropping plus 4,000. I got it at something up there. That’s all today. You can catch us on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. ISO bald.

After a questionable start to the season, the Raptors have won five of their last six to improve to 6-5 through 11 games. Is this team actually good? What have we learned so far? Is Toronto a lock to win their NBA Cup group? Should Jaylen Brown be bald and proud? Hein, Hambone, Wes and Fab discuss that and more.

00:00 – What Have We Learned?
16:05 – Vegas Here We Come?
21:43 – Iso Bald

APPLE PODCAST: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/basketball-island/id1774771296?i=1000735494402

SPOTIFY PODCAST: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1G1JxM6yRDa9UYJRB8V6W5?si=3h_nD_AGQgy95qbSnh0C9w