What happened against the New Orleans Pelicans can’t be swept under the rug.
In what was arguably the most embarrassing moment of the season, the Toronto Raptors allowed the Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray to punk Jamal Shead.
But despite the Raptors moving on to their next game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, the rest of the NBA world, and especially Raptors fans, are justifiably stuck on this viral moment that perfectly captures the essence of this iteration of the team.
Always have your teammates’ backs.
It’s a rule in sports, both at the professional and amateur levels. It’s actually written in bold.
With tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on TSN, the Raptors have an opportunity to silence the deafening criticism with a win over a Suns team on a four-game winning streak.
Warming up the hot seat
There’s a complexity to coaching in the NBA that only those lucky enough to experience it can truly understand. For Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, it’s difficult to gauge his coaching acumen. The organization has hidden behind a marketing strategy centred on it being the second year of a rebuild. There’s also the argument that Rajakovic doesn’t have the players to fit his pass-heavy and quick-decision-making system. It’s also easy to spot flaws in this roster, particularly the spacing issues.
All of these narratives make sense.
But for Rajakovic, there has to be a breaking point of some sort. If there isn’t, then what’s the point of playing out the rest of the season?
The Raptors’ commitment to Rajakovic’s system was obliterated when the front office traded for Brandon Ingram. There were earlier signs of a disconnect when Toronto traded for a guard more suited to play off-ball in Immanuel Quickley, and a bully-ball type of wing in RJ Barrett.
Adding rookie Collin Murray-Boyles and free-agent Sandro Mamukelashvili was an attempt to course-correct, but the core of the team is counterintuitive to what Rajakovic wants to do.
If the season still matters, the Raptors must commit to a play style that properly weaponizes the team’s best players, and that’s on Rajakovic. Scottie Barnes needs to spend less time in the corner. The Raptors shouldn’t exhaust a majority of the shot-clock trying to force-feed a specific look.
On the defensive end, something needs to change too.
The Raptors are a poorly constructed offensive team, but it was supposed to even out on the other side of the court. That’s why it’s depressing when the Raptors give up 122 points on 51 per cent shooting to a lowly-Pelicans offence.
Something has to change, especially if the Raptors aren’t going to show fight when opposing teams aren’t afraid to bully them.
The blame doesn’t fall exclusively on Rajakovic and the coaching staff. As the faces of the franchise, the change must begin with Ingram and Barnes. There has to be a level of takeover from the two All-Stars, especially if the game-planning approach remains the same. It’s not fair to compare Ingram and Barnes to the NBA’s upper echelon, but players like Kawhi Leonard and Lebron James have boiling points. When it’s reached, those types of players veto play calls, put the teams on their back, and live with the consequences.
The next two games at home will likely serve as valuable insight into what the rest of the season could look like.
Players to Watch
Expect a gritty game from Shead. The home crowd is well aware of what happened to the backup point guard. If Shead can leverage the crowd’s appreciation for him, it could lead to one of the better moments of the season.
For Phoenix, Jalen Green has seemingly figured something out during their winning streak. Green is averaging 27.5 points on 50.1 per cent shooting in the last four contests. The explosive guard is getting the All-Star type of volume that fits his chaotic offence, and the Suns are benefiting from it.
