Kawhi’s Raptors’ take, Scottie Barnes’ All-Star triumph, and Beating new expectations

Samson Folk, Trevon Heath, and Esfandiar Baraheni discuss the latest in the Raptors realm.

From Samson’s piece:

“What the Raptors can also do is tether Quickley to a hopefully healthy Poeltl. Quickley has seen his pick n’ roll volume dwindle this year as the Raptors have other mouths to feed, but he deserves a lot of credit for slowly creeping up his efficiency over the duration of the season. A Quickley pnr possession has pumped out 1.072 points per possession this season, which is in the top 20-percent of NBA players who run them.

If we think about Quickley’s paltry 31.5% pull up triple performance this year, we have to turn our eyes to the 41-percent he’s shooting on pull ups out of the pick n’ roll. He’s always been a shooter who likes to operate at his own pace, and pick n’ roll possessions allow for that. Despite Poeltl playing close to a third of the Raptors games this season, two thirds of Quickleys made pnr triples have come with him on the floor. It’s a very important feature of the Raptors offense and Quickley’s game, and appears to be loosed almost exclusively by the Raptors large, Austrian big man. Also, on top of all of that, the passing read Quickley is most capable of making out of the pick n’ roll is the pocket pass to about 15-16 feet, and Poeltl is the only player on the roster who consistently takes that pass and turns it into points.

I think this Raptors offense, if healthy, has the potential to sit in the top half of the NBA. There is no route to that optimism that doesn’t include Quickley. The Raptors just have to believe in what has been good process, and wait on the good results. Everything indicates that it should come around. Carry that couch. Deftly slide those feet backwards. Lock your hands like a vice grip.”

Have a blessed day.

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