Raptors Takeaways, Nov. 15, 16: Scorching Poeltl, Barrett playmaking bounces back
Toronto lost both ends of a back-to-back to Detroit and Boston but the positives continue
Jayson Tatum knocked down a triple over Ochai Agbaji at the overtime buzzer after some questionable footwork, handing Toronto about as heartbreaking a loss a team can have in the regular season.
Undermanned on the road for the second night of a back-to-back, the Raptors admirably battled the defending NBA champions and had several leads in the second half before falling short at the overtime buzzer.
In combination with effectively being eliminated from the NBA Cup the night before against Detroit, the reality of ping pong balls becomes all the more visceral at 10 games below .500 just halfway through November.
As a programming note, with the key early trends like Gradey Dick’s leap and Ochai Agbaji’s corner 3-point shooting having already been identified and detailed, I am going to switch to doing one takeaway piece for back-to-backs (that’s why you didn’t see a separate post for the Pistons game). There’s still a long way to go in the season and this will help avoid being repetitive and I can load manage a little bit, too.
With that, let’s get to takeaways from both Friday against Detroit and Saturday against Boston:
Poeltl’s dominates the entire weekend
SIXTY points on 28-of-39 shooting and 30 rebounds across the two games. Yes, Jakob Poeltl was absolutely phenomenal across both games. The funniest thing about the Austrian dominating games is that he does so in a manner that runs completely counter to the word dominant.
In his career-high 35-point performance against Boston, the 7-foot centre had a total of zero dunks. It was a barrage of the niftiest moves around the basket, soft push shots that unassimingly swish through the hoop, and sweet kisses off the glass for layups. Much like his close friend Pascal Siakam, the ethical rating for his buckets are at an all-time high.
My favourite shot across the weekend is the little runner below nearing the end of the first half against Boston. In the right corner for this possession, Al Horford is on the edge of the paint because he knows that’s how little he needs to respect Poeltl on the perimeter. When Davion Mitchell makes the pass to Poeltl, that is a lane that your typical 7-foot centre would love to receive the ball on the move and take off towards the basket for a powerful jam.
But this is Poeltl. Instead, the Raptors centre says, hey Horford, I see you’re probably too old to do anything to stop a bucket in this scenario but how about I do you a favour and save you the embarrassment of a thunderous dunk in your face. Poeltl just rises up for the runner and all four Celtics players around the paint have no choice but to watch the ball carress its way through the net.
Poeltl is now averaging a career-high 16.2 points and 11.6 rebounds. He’s also shooting a career-best 64% from the free-throw line but that has been trending downards since a 9-for-11 night in the second game of the season. The scoring will likely take a hit once Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley are able to return, but it’s been great to see him take on an expanded role in the offence in such an efficient manner and without trying to do anything out of the ordinary.
Barrett’s playmaking bounces back
After an excellent stretch of scoring and playmaking in the absence of Barnes and Quickley, it looked like all the heavy lifting finally caught up with Barrett heading into the Pistons game.
Over the previous four games, Barrett had just 12 assists and the reason that seems so few is because he had 36 assists in the four games prior to that. The offence had generally fallen flat during that span, understandable as there was only going to be so long that players could step into much bigger shoes and fill them.
Against both Detroit and Boston, Barrett combined for 22 assists including a career-high 15 against the Celtics. Unlike the previous games, Barrett was once again able to find that head of steam and attack downhill and he’s a fundamentally different player when he’s able to do so. Ten of Barrett’s 22 assists were delivered to Poeltl and here’s some of his best from the weekend:
How fatigued is Dick?
Gradey Dick was not expected to be the No. 2 scoring option on the Raptors entering the season. Because of the injuries to Barnes and Quickley, though, that’s the role that Dick has had to step into and was brilliant for a while.
His emergence this season has been eye opening enough to warrant early Most Improved Player conversations but we are now seeing him become a victim of his success. Teams are now making sure they are extremely physical when defending Dick and not leaving him open at any cost.
Against the Pistons and Celtics, Dick combined to shoot 5-for-14 on twos and 2-for-15 on threes. Considering the lack of shooting on the Raptors currently, it makes things that much easier for opponents to really lock in on ensuring Dick can’t get to the spaces and have the time he might with a fully healthy roster.
What’s great from a big picture perspective is that all this attention Dick is receiving will only accelerate his growth further. If the 20-year-old hadn’t come out of the gate scoring in the variety of ways he has, it wouldn’t have brought all this attention and the challenges that come with it.
Think of athletes who engage in elevation training so that their body can endure that much more when they compete in their specialized sport at low altitude. Dick is in high altitude right now and he’s going to be better for it.
Appreciate Mitchell’s 1-on-1 defence
It’s true, Davion Mitchell struggles as a playmaker and can’t score the ball at a consistently meaningful level. It’s unlikely he figures into the Raptors’ long-term plans, either, but there is no questioning just how impactful he can be on the defensive side of the ball.
Across these two nights, we saw Mitchell as the primary defender against both Jaden Ivey and Jaylen Brown and it’s a luxury to have a point guard who can defend both those prototypes. Yes, he’s undersized against Brown but he does so much with his strength and ball pressure to prove more than a handful. They affectionately call him ‘Off Night’ for a reason.
In the clips below, you can see everything from his screen navigation to ball pressure to just how great he is with his hands and anticipation. There are offensive talents who allow their man to get back whatever they score and Mitchell who is on the other end of the spectrum, making life as difficult for his opponent as he finds putting the ball in the basket.
Boucher’s hustle instrumental in battling Boston
It’s easy to take for granted just how reckless Chris Boucher is with his 6-foot-9 frame. He will literally throw his body every which way to help his team and I don’t know that there’s another player in the league quite like him in terms of that maniacal style of hustle. Not all board men get PAID.
Knowing that, it was pretty hilarious to see Payton Pritchard matched up against him at one point. I mean, what kind of chance did Pritchard have boxing out the spontaneity and ingenuity of Boucher on the glass?
In the first clip, even when Pritchard makes a desperate attempt to grab Boucher’s right arm, there’s no sour grapes or begging for a foul from Boucher. He just uses his available left arm to tap the ball away and create an extra possession. Pritchard gets even more desperate in the second clip, almost engaging in a bodycheck style boxout but Boucher still manages to get to the ball first while being completely off-balance.
Then, when he’s making his triples like the two he made here from opposite corners on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter, he becomes a heck of an X-Factor for this Raptors team and frankly any team that may be interested in his services.
Notes
Against Boston, Toronto had a chance to go 2-for-1 at the end of overtime in possession of the ball with 33 seconds remaining. Coming out of a timeout, RJ Barrett dribbled right and attempted to finish over Jaylen Brown with 20 seconds remaining. He was blocked at the rim, setting the stage for Tatum’s game-winner.
Bruno Fernando’s right foot landed on Jamison Battle’s foot when coming down with a rebound in the second quarter against Boston and left to the locker room but fortunately returned to play the second half. The last thing this team needs right now is another injury.
There was a lot of talk about the officiating both during and after the Boston game and it was deserved. It was a bad whistle for the majority of the night, but especially at the end of regulation and overtime.