Last season, the Raptors surprised a lot of people by winning 48 games, just five wins from the top of the Eastern Conference. This team had energy, versatility and a big defense. These are the ingredients that explain its success.
Because in attack, it was much less brilliant, with only the 20th most prolific attack in the league and the 14th in terms of efficiency. Limits widely displayed in the playoffs, against Philadelphia.
“There is no perfect team and we clearly do not fit into this mould”notes Fred VanVleet for The Athletic. “We have to rely on our strengths, our qualities. The attack on the half-court, especially at the end of the match, is a question of execution, of intelligence. I remember a lot of games last season where we gave it our all, but weren’t able to shoot. The numbers showed our weaknesses. »
Will the offensive difficulties still be a ball and chain at the feet of the Raptors? “We can improve”continues the All-Star. “But you have to put things into perspective: we won 48 games last season and I’m not sure that the best half-court attack wins the title every season. »
“I am much more confident going into this first match than last year”
The first weeks of the season will deliver answers on the offensive level of the Canadian franchise. In defense, on the other hand, we should review that of the second part of the 2021/2022 season. That is to say very versatile, with many wingers who are around 2m05, and very intense. Nick Nurse had needed several meetings to find this formula, which he will renew this year.
“I’m much more confident going into this first match than last year because we didn’t find our defense in the first two months”remembers the champion coach in 2019. “We are more advanced now, we have learned the lessons. We start from the principle that this is how we should play. We have to defend and know that it will be a fight. We did not know last year, at this moment of the season. »
The other side of the coin is the energy required by these repeated efforts. Nick Nurse had also rotated little during the regular season and the holders of the Raptors had arrived on the kneecaps in the playoffs.
“It’s hard, it requires a lot”, confirms Pascal Siakam, referring to the style of the Canadians. “Not just mentally, but also physically. There are a lot of races, pressure. It’s demanding. We have the feeling that we can do it and that’s how we play. »
