Analysis | The Raptors aren’t sure what they have at the NBA quarter mark. But they know what they need

Fred VanVleet was told that a proper description of the Raptors so far this season is “weird” as they can impress at times and confuse others, often within the same game.

They search and fight for consistency and can’t find it, at least not yet, not during the first quarter of the NBA season that came and went with Friday’s 114-97 loss at Indiana.

The veteran guard smiled a little and finally nodded.

“Yes, we are,” he said. “It’s probably going to be like this for a bit, up and down. You see a lot of talent, you see the sparkles. It’s there.”

And then comes the “but”.

“In the game, there are times when I’m like ‘f —‘, and then you have to turn around and you have to try to make a play on the next play,” he said.

“I am not worried about the production or what we are doing. It is more (that) we take a play from a time-out, we go out and we do not execute. We talk about the game plan for two days and we get into the game and we don’t execute it. Those are the moments (that) directly reduce your chances of winning. That’s the hard part “.

It’s been 20 tough games for the Raptors, who begin a seven-game home run, the longest of the season, against the Boston Celtics on Sunday with a 9-11 record. They are not buried in the ultra-competitive Eastern Conference, but the hole is being dug.

It has been fun at times, frustrating at others. Good victories and bad defeats. In many ways, it is expected of a team that is among the most inexperienced in the league.

“The frustration only comes from this, but this is common (throughout the NBA): You’re going to say, ‘We have to do this, this is going to happen’ and exactly what we envisioned to happen and it didn’t register,” said the coach. Nick Nurse.

“But that’s going to happen… Yes, I get a little frustrated. I say, ‘Man, we told them to do that.’ But we also accept that that’s where we are. We have to do more repetitions to be able to fix it. (Otherwise) we will not improve. “

Not that the season is spinning down the drain or anything with 62 games to go, and fans shouldn’t divert their attention to draft prospects just yet because this is a good Raptors team full of promise and talent. Only the most valuable commodities, familiarity and experience are missing, but there is a lot to like.

Here are some points to consider:

Learning curve

VanVleet made a great comment that goes to the heart of the problem: “We could be the best practice team in the world. We look like champions in training and training and all that, when we can train and keep everything in order. But when you go out to that floor, it’s just us and there’s not much help that the coaches can give us. “

Until young players like Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa, Gary Trent Jr. and Dalano Banton, even Khem Birch and Malachi Flynn, learn to make the right split-second decisions in the cauldron of a game, inconsistency will reap its ugly head. .

A case for the defense

Or rather, the case against a defense that was too spotty too often during the first quarter of the season. Some of that has to do with the ever-changing roster due to injuries, but much of that is just not executing on a plan. Toronto is in the bottom five in opponent’s field goal percentage.

“I don’t want to say chemistry, but it’s different people who come in and out in different positions … That makes it difficult to get that chemistry and connectivity, ”Nurse said.

But, like many other factors, it has had its ups and downs.

“We have shown that we can play a very good defense, and we have shown that if we are not fully committed, we cannot be that good defensively either,” said the coach.

Rotation

Nurse has probably been asked two dozen times about his game rotation. You probably have one in mind, but it’s been a waste of time talking about it. Not once in the first 20 games did the Raptors have their full roster for a game, with eight players lost in a total of 47 games. That included key players from the front court, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Yuta Watanabe, Birch and Achiuwa, and wasted any idea of ​​consistent starting and bench units.

“We have to figure that out,” Nurse said. “I don’t know how we’ll solve it, but we just have to hope the ball bounces a little better on our way on that front.”

Rookie watch

One of the bright spots has been the play of rookies Barnes and Banton, who have become key players in the rotation.

Barnes cooled a bit on the recent road trip and talk of him as the first favorite for the rookie of the year had faded, but he still averages 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Banton, selected 46th in the July draft, has become VanVleet’s top endorsement, a shocking development for such a late pick. Play more than a quarter in each game. The nurse said, “I like how he looks when he’s out there.”

What remains to be seen is how they hold up in the last 62 games.

“You have to keep going,” said Barnes, the fourth pick. “I don’t really feel it that much in my body, but I’m sure some people do.”

So where are they?

It’s hard to really understand how good or bad this team is. Injuries, inexperience, youth have conspired to ruin the season so far.

“We are at that point now where we have made almost every mistake that we can make, and now we have to learn from them and not keep repeating them,” VanVleet said. “I still feel good about this group and where we can go, but that learning curve should increase shortly.”