905 have won development battle despite slide down standings

The Raptors 905 have both succeeded and failed this season. 

They’ve fostered a strong environment for development for the organization’s two-way players, who have clearly benefitted. The program has had multiple players signed to either two-way or 10-day contracts both with the Raptors (AJ Lawson, Eugene Omoruyi, Jared Rhoden) and elsewhere (Branden Carlson). This is one of the main objectives of the G League. After all, before the Gatorade sponsorship it was the D League, and D stood for development.  

“I mean, that’s why we have jobs. To develop talent. It’s what this league is for,” 905 coach Drew Jones told me before Friday’s game against the College Park Skyhawks. “So, whenever you see that, you know, it’s a great opportunity. It’s one, I think it shows the type of organization that we are, kind of what we value. You see the Raps really trusting our program, and I think for our guys, it shows them that the work that you do put in, it’s not taken for granted. We do give our players opportunities when it’s earned.” 

But they also aim to win, an area where the 905 have seen mixed results, largely sacrificing success in the name of young players getting more time with the big club. The team posted the fifth-best offensive rating in the G in January at 113.7 on their way to an Eastern Conference best 9-3 record. Jonathan Mogbo and Jamison Battle started 11 and 10 games, respectively, during this stretch. The availability of the 905’s two-way and assignment eligible players has dwindled since the start of February and they’ve felt it, posting a 2-10 record and falling out of the playoff picture.  

A basketball possession, game, season, is full of little successes and failures, sometimes even big ones. The 905 fought admirably on Sunday afternoon – particularly considering they started two guards under six-feet and played without a true centre – but their successful effort and intention couldn’t match their inevitable failure in the paint as they dropped their ninth straight 114-94 to the Capital City Go-Go. 

After posting a career-high 39 points on Friday, Eugene Omoruyi started hot from downtown making two-of-three. Yet at the rim – where he has been tremendously efficient this season – he was blocked four times in the first quarter. Good and bad. Eventually there was more bad, as the automatic paint finishing Omoruyi displayed the previous two games versus College Park eluded him against the Go-Go’s larger frontcourt. The Toronto-born forward led the 905 in scoring at halftime with 12 points but started the game 4-for-20. He only scored one more basket for the rest of the game and finished 5-for-23.

One of the 905’s small guards, Tylor Perry, Iverson cut off a cross screen on a BLOB and splashed a triple. Then he caught and cashed another from the opposite wing. The five-foot-11 Perry has done a tremendous job with the increased opportunity he’s been given since the promotion of Rhoden and Lawson. 

Perry’s undersized backcourt mate, Evan Gilyard, has progressively improved throughout the season, jumping from the bench to the starting lineup and increasing his numbers from the Tip-Off Tournament to the Regular Season. He averaged 9.1 points, 4.6 assists and shot 29 percent from 3 during the initial part of the schedule compared to 10 points, 5.7 assists, and 36 percent through the 34-game main stretch thus far. 

The 5-foot-10 guard turned his dribble back up court, but maintained it into a re-screen from one of the newest 905ers, Lacey James. Gilyard snaked middle, drew the help defender, and sunk a flailing shot attempt through contact for the and-1. There were also times where he struggled, picking up his dribble above the break bringing the offence to a standstill.  

The 905 played a dogged 3-2 zone defence, rotating hard first forcing a turnover and then a miss. Yet they were once again outsized by their opponent with both Ulrich Chomche and Frank Kaminsky injured. A Go-Go offensive board turned into a corner 3. 

Charlie Brown Jr. cut like a madman. On one possession a rejected a stagger out of the corner resulted in an easy backdoor baseline finish. The very next, Brown mishandled the ball off a flex cut for a turnover.  

We got the good and bad through the first half and start to the third, we got the ugly. The 905 scored a single basket through the first six minutes of the quarter – a Gilyard triple – as the Go-Go took supreme control of the lane. They scored 10 points in the paint and stuffed three 905 shot attempts as Capital City straight up big-brothered the Mississauga squad into submission. Many bricks and turnovers were thrown.

But still the 905 battled, as they have for the entirety of this slide. The losing streak has been reminiscent of the Toronto Raptors’ string of “ethical tank” losses from earlier this season. Kennedy Chandler harassed AJ Johnson’s handle as he took negative dribbles and nearly lost the ball. With the shot clock half gone, the Go-Go lazily got into a grenade DHO that Guerrier and Brown Jr. switched perfectly, eventually forcing a shot clock violation. Chandler showed real hustle off the bench, defending with gusto and running out for a transition slam.

Despite appearing to labour from a potential knee issue, Guerrier grabbed steals and stuck back-to-back 3s late. The Quebecois wing led the 905 with 25 points and added 15 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.  

The standings don’t account for the little victories that occur throughout a game, only the binary outcome that comes as a sum of these events. It was yet another loss for the 905, who now sit three games back of the playoffs with seven games remaining. It isn’t an insurmountable deficit, but considering they will be without their two-way players for most if not all it, a post-season berth is certainly improbable.

Note:

In the Raptors first game against the Go-Go this season I wrote about the return of some familiar faces, but this was the real 905 and Raptors alumni game. Mouhamadou Gueye, Kira Lewis Jr., and Jalen McDaniels all appeared in this one for Capital City. Gueye went 6-of-9 from the field with 14 points and seven board, using the length and athleticism he showed last season in Mississauga to throw down lobs and shutdown the paint on defence. Lewis Jr. was quiet but showed some good live dribble creation at times getting into lane for finishes and dimes as he finished with eight points and five assists. McDaniels didn’t score.

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