Raptors film room: answering your questions

The Raptors game came down to Kyle Lowry being honoured. WE WANT LOWRY chants rang through Scotiabank Arena as the Raptors were on the verge of getting blown out. It was poetic, in a way.

Anyways, I answered your questions today:

Here’s Louis Zatzman, recapping the actual game:

Against the Sixers, with Barrett out, there has been room for both Battle and Dick. (The team has performed quite well with both playing, with a net rating of plus-14.) There won’t be room for both in the rotation going forward. The Raptors remain committed to Dick, perhaps due to his age (2.5 years younger than Battle), perhaps due to his potential, perhaps due to his draft location (lottery for Dick versus undrafted for Battle). 

It’s fair to wonder if Battle, even if he doesn’t fulfill the ideal requirements to upgrade from specialist to rotation member, should take Dick’s rotation spot anyway.

The Raptors make a run in the third quarter. They force some turnovers and finally get some defensive stops. A zone defence appears for stretches. AJ Lawson is a sparkplug. Dick forces some misses and gets a reverse layup to fall. It’s working so Rajakovic rides the hot group and Battle loses his Jodie Meeks Memorial Minute at the end of the third. In garbage time, he is eclipsed by the appearance of Kyle Lowry, in perhaps his final on-court minutes in Scotiabank Arena.

It feels like another shoe is about to drop at some point when it comes to Toronto’s rotation. Consider the shooting guards and small forwards. Barrett and Brandon Ingram own the minutes there, and Walter has been on the come up. Dick has been funneled consistent minutes. Martin and Lawson are on the come up. What does that leave for Battle? There isn’t clarity from night to night, and while Rajakovic has found winning combinations out of different ingredients on a night-to-night basis, it makes for a difficult job. And it makes for a player in Battle who can play zero minutes one night, 15 the next. Six minutes one half, none the next. He can fall through the cracks.

Battle remains promising, and he remains committed, and there are no storm clouds on the horizon. But he is slowly but surely graduating out of the role of specialist. He couldn’t do so against the Sixers. But at some point, he’ll be ready to step into the permanent rotation. And one hopes that the Raptors have space for him when that moment comes.

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