Positive plays from the Raptors’ final preseason game

OK, the games are about to begin. The preseason was a mixed bag and while the Toronto Raptors finished with a 4-2 record, some of the process was less promising.

But that’s not what we’re looking at here. The start of a new season is a time for hope. With a zero in the loss column and a roster full of potential and intrigue (almost) anything is possible. So, we’re here to keep it positive, and highlight a few plays from the Raptors’ final, and most promising, preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets. Ok sure, it’s the Nets, and for that reason and for the usual preseason caveats, these results have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Still these plays serve as strong examples of what the Raptors need to do this season to be successful. Just against better teams in more important games.

Barnes making plays as the low man

Scottie Barnes playing disruptive off-ball defence is the most likely of all these positives to continue throughout the regular season. He already has an incredibly strong track record of swallowing up space and making instinctual, athletic plays as a free safety of sorts, and that shouldn’t change. Yet it will still be critical to the Raptors defence, as their ultra-aggressive pressure principles will inevitably require more help from the backline.

In this play Barnes is the low man, stationed on the weak side, meaning he is responsible to help on a drive or at the rim. First, when the pass to a rolling Day’Ron Sharpe is deflected to the Brooklyn big under the basket, Barnes times his help perfectly, allowing Sandro Mamukelashvili to recover. Then he anticipates Sharpe’s pass out from under the basket perfectly and uses his length to deflect and steal the ball, fuelling a transition opportunity for RJ Barrett.

Not only will Barnes’ defensive playmaking help prevent points, it will also create valuable transition opportunities like this one going the other way.

Barnes being aggressive with early seals

Barnes taking too many jumpers has become a much-bemoaned aspect of his game both here at Raptors Republic and more widely across the fanbase and media outlets. And for good reason. It’s not that Barnes shouldn’t take shots, in fact it still is and will be an important part of his game. It’s just that he can often score in much better ways.

Last season he ranked in the 97th percentile for mid-range frequency and took 5.8 pull-up jumpers per game, but why take so many of these shots when his strength is using his strength – attacking mismatches or using bully drives to finish at the rim.

Here is a perfect example of Barnes getting an early seal on a physical mismatch in Egor Demin and going right at his chest for an easy dunk.

Quickley paint assists

Of all these examples of strong plays that stood out, this is the least likely to carry over to the regular season. Raptors Republic’s Louis Zatzman infamously pointed out that Immanuel Quickley assisted only fives layups/dunks from the paint last season.

Well in the final game of the preseason he nearly reached half that output, dropping two dimes in the lane.

Will Quickley suddenly develop the ability to touch the paint and make plays for easy buckets from there? It doesn’t seem likely. We saw Quickley ball out in his New Years return from injury last season against the same Nets, and the playmaking prowess he showed in that game was largely absent for the rest of the season.

But if he were able to manufacture more layups for teammates it would go a long way in lifting a destitute Raptors halfcourt offence that ranked 27th in points per 100 plays last season (85.5).

It’s more likely we see Quickley improve his off-ball movement to better position himself for spot-up shooting opportunities, which would also be a huge boon to the Raptors offence. He did a great job of this against the Nets, going 5-of-9 from deep.

The Raptors had a fun preseason. They played a bunch of close games, which is another aspect of the team I wrote about recently. Hopefully the season brings much more excitement.

The post Positive plays from the Raptors’ final preseason game first appeared on Raptors Republic.