With Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes out, the Raptors faced a shortage of ball carriers to face the Hornets last night. Nothing to be alarmed about for Nick Nurse, who trusted Pascal Siakam to assume the responsibilities of creation. In a big 5 major, the Cameroonian was indeed lined up as leader, alongside Gary Trent Jr, OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa. Tall ball made in Canada.
And the experience was fruitful since the Toronto All-Star delivered one of the most complete games of his career, bordering on the triple-double: 24 points at 9/16 on shots, 9 rebounds and 12 assists! And victory as a bonus.
” I’m getting more and more comfortable” he declared about this “interim” at the head. ” I try to be a complete player and I feel like I can do that often, be the best player I can be and make life easier for my teammates. I don’t think I’m a traditional point guard. But if I keep working on it, I think I can keep improving as a point guard.“
For Nick Nurse, it is the calm with which the Cameroonian makes his decisions that makes him so effective. ” I think he played with a good tempo, he knew what he was doing. He is under control. That’s what I like, his phlegm on the pitch. When he takes shots, he takes them in his spots, they are good shots.“
15 days ago, Siakam explained that he was ready to play this role of “point forward”. ” I like it. I remember when I arrived, people always laughed at me when I said that I didn’t want to be a traditional interior. I’ve been working and I feel like the more experience I have in basketball, the better I get.”, pointed out the person concerned.
With experience and hard work, comes confidence, and it’s Nick Nurse who gives it.
“We are confident when he plays like that, that he generates good shots in attack with confidence and consistency. concludes his coach.
| Pascal Siakam | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | TOR | 55 | 16 | 50.2 | 14.3 | 68.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 4.2 |
| 2017-18 | TOR | 81 | 21 | 50.8 | 22.0 | 62.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 7.3 |
| 2018-19 | TOR | 80 | 32 | 54.9 | 36.9 | 78.5 | 1.6 | 5.3 | 6.9 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 16.9 |
| 2019-20 | TOR | 60 | 35 | 45.3 | 35.9 | 79.2 | 1.1 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 22.9 |
| 2020-21 | TOR | 56 | 36 | 45.5 | 29.7 | 82.7 | 1.7 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 4.5 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 21.4 |
| 2021-22 | TOR | 31 | 37 | 48.0 | 33.0 | 72.0 | 2.0 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 21.2 |
| Total | 363 | 29 | 48.7 | 32.5 | 77.4 | 1.3 | 4.7 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 14.9 | |
