The Raptors are trying to hit their top speed

From Samson’s piece:

“It’s become a welcome and familiar sight to see the Raptors open games against opponents with a special vigor defensively. A lot of teams script the first handful of their opening sets, and the Raptors have made it their business to pay special attention to those – and blow them up. Scottie Barnes is the most important instrument, maybe even weapon, in allowing the Raptors to do this. The Pistons did score on their opening possession, but did it in the fashion of a broken, busted up play. Barnes quickly identified where the Pistons were sending the ball, and how, and mucked everything up. The Raptors held Detroit to a paltry 5 points across the first 4 minutes of game play, and Barnes held his check, Cade Cunningham, scoreless. Barnes subbed out and the defense immediately lost the thread for a short time, but you get the point.

This is a focus of the Raptors, and it’s why they’re able to clamp down so early in games, and so late – where they possess the best clutch time defense in the league.

“Our coaching staff is doing a really good job in preparing for our opponents. We’re really trying to be locked in.” Darko told me. “For every game we’re approaching it with a special intention, almost like playoff prep. A lot of times we’re doing different things, what works against one team won’t work against another. Over the course of the year we’re introducing coverages — some attention to detail — that I think really helps our guys in the bigger picture. We have more in our arsenal. We have more when it comes to playing big time games. Over the course of 82 games we’re really trying to improve on identifying those sorts of things.”

When I asked if this was a more detailed and specific approach than what Coach Darko had experienced with other coaching staffs, he said yes. “When somebody has a championship level team it’s kind of easier to do whatever you’re doing. For us, it’s really about growing through that experience, and for us, we’re doing a bit more for sure.”

Have a blessed day.

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