Raptors Playbook: How the Raptors destroy press defense

As the talent level in the NBA continues to creep higher, and the variety of roles and positions you can put players in grows; so too, does the job of head coaches and offensive architects. The Raptors, as currently constructed, are bereft of pull-up shooting and and dynamic, live-dribble creation. Those limitations force the Raptors to shorten the playbook in some of the more conventional 2025 areas, and widen it in some unique ways.

Considering half the season is gone, it’s a good time to check in on some of the Raptors successes from their playbook. You’ll get to see how the Raptors create buckets despite their limitations. This is part two of a two part series highlighting some of my favorite plays.

Today, we’re focusing on how the Raptors beat pressure defense.

It’s important to note that the Raptors are actually one of the best teams (by the numbers) in the NBA at beating press defense and it’s less because of the X’s and O’s of it all, but rather the heightened pace and importance placed on passing that the Raptors play with. Not to mention, the Raptors are an extremely weak team when it comes to breaking down a defensive shell or shooting over the top of it, and a defensive press allows the Raptors to move with a new advantage. It’s why teams rarely trot out press against them.

Much is made about Raptors star, Scottie Barnes’ unselfish style of play, and it’s a true characterization of his game. Barnes’ greatest skill is his playmaking and he’s more than happy to prioritize his teammates scoring over his own. The Raptors leading scorer, Barrett, does plenty of his work as a cutter, and his touch time on ball and dribbles used are both fairly low, as he makes quick decisions to keep the ball moving. Gradey Dick sprints and knifes off ball, Jakob Poeltl will screen and handoff and deliver high-low feeds at the drop of a hat.

The Raptors offense as a whole qualifies as far more egalitarian than many in the NBA, and ball movement is a central tenet of how they operate. Evidenced by this is the fact that during this 6-1 stretch for the Raptors, they have no players scoring over 20 points per game, and 6 players averaging double-digit scoring (with Kelly Olynyk just shy of making it 7). They move the ball, they don’t care who scores, and they take what’s available.

A lot of what works here is just the Raptors moving very quickly into their Pistol and Delay concepts, using Poeltl as a touchstone and sprinting off ball for basket cuts out of split-action. The Raptors can move easily to that stuff when the press isn’t particularly effective.

What happens when it’s effective, though? What if Jrue Holiday is hounding you at halfcourt and hunting your dribble with an insatiable hunger? Well, you already have one of the world’s best defenders up near halfcourt, so send Poeltl to go get RJ Barrett on a curl and have it function (more or less) like an empty-side pick n’ roll between your most successful handler/screener partnership. Poeltl is a great roller so Porzingis has to respect him, Holiday would typically have been the dig man but he’s up at halfcourt; Tatum doesn’t want to help off Gradey Dick in the corner, and Jaylen Brown has always been a pretty sleepy off-ball defender – hey, that’s a nice drive from Barrett! Bucket!

A nice scripted play the Raptors run (and nabbed from Indiana) is 77 Skip. It’s the play vs. the Nets where you’ll see the Raptors set up a double stagger set for Immanuel Quickley on ball, only Quickley won’t use the dribble to navigate these screens, he’ll use the pass and his motion. A player like Trae Young, for example, has an unbelievable handle and is lightning quick, so he can snake through screens more effectively with a live dribble. For Quickley (and for Tyrese Haliburton) who has a relatively limited dribble for a lead guard, throwing the hit ahead pass to turn the play into a Get action where 60-percent of the defense is above-the-break? That’s good stuff.

Quickley’s shooting prowess forces a higher pickup point for every defender involved, not just his check, so when he back cuts the second screen and knifes into the middle of the lane, the corner man is the low man, and that creates a wide-open triple for Dick.

It’s not particularly fancy, and the Raptors offense as a whole hasn’t been a home run this season, but they certainly have adopted Coach Darko’s style and process. Personally, I think this is a very forward thinking and elite way to play the game of basketball. A way that can only stand to improve once it’s injected with more offensive talent. Depending on what the stars of the future look like in Toronto there will be tweaks and changes to maximize things, but the talent has to come first. I’m excited to see how the offense grows going forward.

Have a blessed day.

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