While we didn’t really know what to expect from the Raptors last year, Nick Nurse’s squad defied the odds by climbing to 5th place in the East, with a solid record of 48 wins for 34 losses.
It’s a lot less flamboyant this season, with the Canadiens currently out of the Top 10 in their conference with a negative record of 15 wins for 19 losses…
A demanding defense
Toronto’s offensive limits are known. Fred VanVleet and his comrades are among the worst teams on place play, with in particular a “spacing” problem, the Raptors being 28th in terms of the number of successful outside shots per game (10.5), and they are even 29th at the level of the address (32.8%), only the Hornets doing worse…
Toronto therefore relies heavily on its defensive aggression to steal balls and go on the counterattack. With 9.3 steals per game, the Raptors are the team that steals the most leather this season. Except that the defense has regressed in general, dropping from 9th to 15th place in terms of efficiency.
“Overall, we have to hang on defensively” explains Nick Nurse on his side’s problems on that side of the pitch. “After reviewing the images (against the Clippers), there was not enough pace or energy in our defense. It happened. There is a battle in terms of energy to be a good defensive team. »
Nick Nurse’s defense is demanding. Most teams either put pressure on the ball carrier or shield the paint. The Raptors’ defensive scheme calls for both…
“We can’t choose” justifies the coach. “You can’t say, ‘Ok, we’re going to protect the racquet because they’re attacking the circle a lot.’ Yes, we can do it, but we also have to go out. And defend all possession. »
Opposing stars, targeted, adapted
The problem, as SportsNet explains, is that opponents are no longer surprised by the Raptors’ defensive aggression. An assistant coach of an opposing team explained recently that it is enough to watch the ball, to be patient and to provoke the help to obtain open shots against this team.
Especially since one of Nick Nurse’s basic principles is to get the opposing stars out of the game.
“Nurse sends guys to every possession. On the isolations, the low post game, the pick-and-rolls. He wouldn’t let me play.” explained Kawhi Leonard after the last game, where he had played distributors (8 assists) without shooting too much (15 points). “The challenge is to trust my teammates and not force anything. »
Joel Embiid had been even more direct.
“When you play a team like Toronto, it’s like they don’t care. Most of the time, they don’t care about winning. They just want to put out the opposing stars”had downright dropped the Cameroonian after the victory of his Sixers (104-101), while he had been “maintained” at 28 points at 6/16 shooting.
The pivot of Philadelphia exaggerates, but it is clear that the defensive effort demanded by Nick Nurse from his men, and his desire to cut the opposing stars of the game are no longer surprising. And are even used by opponents.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Pascal Siakam | 24 | 36.8 | 48.7 | 33.7 | 77.4 | 1.8 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 26.6 |
| Og Anunoby | 30 | 37.0 | 48.1 | 35.6 | 83.0 | 1.4 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 18.8 |
| Fred Vanvleet | 28 | 36.7 | 38.2 | 33.1 | 87.7 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 18.5 |
| Gary Trent, Jr. | 27 | 30.8 | 43.4 | 34.3 | 78.3 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 16.7 |
| Scottie Barnes | 31 | 33.7 | 45.1 | 30.1 | 77.0 | 1.9 | 5.0 | 6.9 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 14.6 |
| chris butcher | 29 | 22.2 | 45.0 | 27.2 | 76.3 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 10.3 |
| Precious Achiuwa | 12 | 20.4 | 39.1 | 17.9 | 84.8 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 8.8 |
| Malachi Flynn | 22 | 15.2 | 42.6 | 47.1 | 84.6 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 7.0 |
| Otto Porter | 8 | 18.3 | 50.0 | 35.3 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 5.5 |
| Dalano Banton | 22 | 10.1 | 42.3 | 30.2 | 82.4 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 5.2 |
| Thaddeus Young | 31 | 17.2 | 54.3 | 18.2 | 77.8 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 5.0 |
| Juancho Hernangomez | 23 | 18.9 | 47.7 | 29.2 | 45.5 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 4.4 |
| Christian Koloko | 32 | 16.2 | 44.7 | 0.0 | 67.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 3.7 |
| Ron Harper | 2 | 3.9 | 50.0 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Jeff Dowtin | 9 | 7.4 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 2.2 |
| Khem Birsh | 19 | 7.9 | 58.1 | 50.0 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Justin Champagnie | 3 | 3.6 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
