The reason the Raptors defense became elite

Over the last 10 games, only 4 teams have managed to win 80-percent of their contests, and the Raptors are in that small group. At 8-2, the Raptors join the Pacers — who have been the hottest team in basketball this past month — the Grizzlies, and the Lakers – who somehow, oh my god, got Luka Doncic in a trade a couple nights ago.

For the Raptors to win 8 out of 10 games (the most successful stretch of basketball under Coach Darko) immediately after they had lost 16 out of 17 across more than a month of basketball, things had to change and they had to change drastically.

Hello Defense, we’ve missed you.

Over the first 39 games of the season, the Raptors defense was tied for second last in the NBA. They were unparalleled in how often they sent opposing teams to the free throw line, allowed countless drives to the bucket, and failed to rebound the ball to closeout possessions. They were, on average, terrible. They surrendered new records in points allowed and biggest margin of defeat. Then, all of the sudden, they broke off a 10 game stretch where they were the #1 defense in the NBA, and they did it without any trades, and without a major change in scheme. So, what happened?

Well, there was a meaningful personnel change, a burst of defensive energy and prowess from a familiar face, and then everything kind of fell into place behind that. Even though Davion Mitchell left the starting lineup over the last 2 games to make way for Immanuel Quickley, the Raptors broke off 7 wins in 8 games with Mitchell as their lead guard. Mitchell is far and away the best perimeter defender on the Raptors and with the Raptors scheme asking for significant ball pressure and higher pickup points from their point-of-attack defenders, Mitchell elevated everything immediately.

It’s a hard scheme to maintain, but when it’s done correctly it allows you to achieve a couple things:

1. A high pickup point can often times move teams out of their desired actions, or spacing on the court. Teams practice with targets taped or painted on the floor to create their ideal spacing for the harmony of their offense. By picking up early and applying pressure, you can force the offense into triggering their offense in different places. The result of this can change screen angles, force catches 5-6 feet farther away from the rim, and move teams into areas that are easier to dig into with rotation.
2. Quite simply, if you have an elite on ball defender like Mitchell, you can pester star guards into getting rid of the ball earlier. Or, if they’re adamant on keeping the ball, you can weak them on every screen. Weaking is when you play a defender to their weak hand. It takes a resilient defender to avoid allowing the cross back to the strong hand, or to evade and jump screens to ice them, but Mitchell is excellent at doing this.

With Mitchell on the floor, the Raptors are significantly better at forcing misses, closing out possessions, and avoiding sending teams to the line. He allows them to control defensive possessions from the outset, and he allows the Raptors two biggest and baddest defenders to thrive behind him.

Scottie Barnes is one of the largest swing factors for defensive improvement in the NBA. The moment he steps on the floor, the Raptors defense improves at everything they’re trying to do. You want to turn teams over more? You got it. Rebound better? Yes sir. Force misses? Affirmative. Foul less? Yesssss bossss.

Darko Rajakovic is yelling “I SAWED THIS BOAT IN HALF” before liberally applying Scottie “Flex Tape” Barnes to it in order to fix it and make it whole.

Over this stretch of games, Barnes is averaging nearly 3 stocks per game. He’s contesting more shots, more shots at the rim — the most on the Raptors, actually, which is a change — and defending them well. The better defense at the point of attack has allowed him to stay in closer proximity to the rim so he can remain a significant deterrent for oncoming drivers. It also allows him to play more aggressive in passing lanes, or play deny defense 30-feet from the rim without worrying about the back line – like we saw against Paolo Banchero. Barnes has taken this opportunity to free wheel a bit, and he’s bitten off as much as he can chew. He’s had the best defensive stretch of his career. If this stretch lasted a full season, or even 3/4 of one, he’d comfortably make an All-Defense team.

Jakob Poeltl has also been put in much more comfortable positions over this stretch. His effectiveness guarding the basket is extremely high, and he’s being asked to step out less often, which keeps him at home where his size can be a major factor in changing shots and closing out possessions.

The aforementioned three provide a spine, a structure for what the Raptors defense needed to be. For long stretches of this season the Raptors were trying to operate without one, and they kept suffering collapses. When a structure emerges, everyone gets an opportunity to be better.

RJ Barrett has had his strongest stretch of defense in sometime. His compete level at the back end — whether it’s holding ground until a scram comes, shading in driving/passing lanes, or tracking players off-ball — has been much better, and he’s been a little stickier at the point of attack. Ochai Agbaji, who was overextended as the Raptors #1 on-ball stopper, now gets to do it for shorter spurts and with more effectiveness.

When players stepped up, roles became more defined, and players thrived. I’ve spent the past 3 months, roughly, speaking to head coaches around the NBA about defense, coaching it, and all of them echo the same message: defense is driven by players. Players who perform, players who hold each other accountable, and players who care about busting their ass on that end of the floor. The Raptors have got the performances, they’ve done it as a team, and they’ve done it with a whole lot of effort.

I’m not sure exactly how long this team stays in place with the trade deadline coming up, but it sure was nice to see the defense hit this peak for this stretch. Gives you something to hold onto, and something to believe in, in the future.

Have a blessed day.

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