Morning Coffee - Feb. 25, 2025
Boucher; the elder statesman | Quickley's 3's | Barnes defense | Canada qualifies for Americup 2025
After passing Vince Carter, Chris Boucher reflects on his Raptors journey - Raptors Republic
This marked Boucher’s 404th game as a Raptor, which moved him past Vince Carter for 12th all-time in franchise appearances. With 25 games left this season, he will crack the top 10, passing Fred VanVleet and Alvin Williams who are tied at 417. And with all due respect, he is the outlier, the most unlikely name on the list.
In fact, it seemed unlikely that Boucher would even stick around past February, let alone for the past seven seasons. Multiple reports suggested that teams like the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers were interested in his services. Given that the Raptors are set to hit the lottery for the third time in five seasons, and that Boucher is a useful player on expiring deal, a trade made all the sense in the world.
Except, that wasn’t what Boucher had in mind. He says that he knew all along that he was sticking around and was in constant communication with the front office throughout the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
“I won’t lie to you, I think it was the most peaceful deadline I had compared to the other years,” Boucher told me.
“I was also talking with Bobby (Webster) and all of them, and I never thought I was going to be going away. The media says one thing, but really, the GM, and the people around here would have told me if something would have happened, and then I would have been a little bit more concerned.
“I felt like I was doing everything I was supposed to do, being a good vet, playing well, doing what I’m supposed to do when I get the minutes, and staying professional. That’s all you can do, really.”
Boucher isn’t the oldest Raptor – he doesn’t have greys in his beard like Garrett Temple – but he is the last remaining member from the 2019 championship.
To put that into perspective, when Boucher lifted the Larry O’B, Scottie Barnes was in high school, Gradey Dick was too young to drive, and Ulrich Chomche was a kid working on the family farm in a small Cameroonian village (a partial list of his crop: beans, bananas, cocoa, coffee, and sweet potatoes).
Granted, very few people knew Boucher back then either. In 2018, he got an invite to summer league and to training camp, then signed a two-way deal and was stashed in Mississauga. He went on to average 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks for Raptors 905, earning him G-League MVP and DPOY honors, but again, who was really around for all that? (That nerd Blake Murphy doesn’t count.)
“I was so pissed,” Boucher said of his start with the team. “I went to training camp, they gave me a 10-day, and I wanted a contract. Then they gave me a two-way, and I was so pissed because I just came back from a two-way and I felt like I was way better than that.
“At the beginning of the year, I felt like I was with the team, I’m with Kawhi (Leonard) and Danny (Green), with Kyle (Lowry) and I was watching them play, and I was like ‘Okay I’m going to be here.’ And then they sent me back to the G-League and I realized, ‘Oh, damn it’s not going to be like that.’
“The travel (was tough), I had a roommate and all, so at the time I was really pissed that year. But I also told myself that I was going to use that anger in the G-League, and that really ended up paying off. I ended up playing really good, got MVP and DPOY, and that same year I got converted, so I never really looked back from there.”
Immanuel Quickley’s 3s, Gradey Dick’s defence and more: What to watch from Raptors - The Athletic
Monitor: Immanuel Quickley’s 3-point attempts and percentage
Whenever Brandon Ingram begins playing regularly for the Raptors, it should serve to further limit the primary creation duties for Immanuel Quickley. Accordingly, Quickley’s play will be even more dependent on his shot-making. That is his best NBA skill.
On Friday against Miami, Quickley attempted 11 3s, the first time he reached double digits in his 17 games this year. (He was on a minutes restriction upon returning from his groin injury earlier this month, making it difficult for him to get to that volume.)
“It’s his teammates (finding him), but also it’s (him) trusting when he gets off the ball, the ball is going to come back,” Rajaković said. “It’s great to see him take that number of shots.”
Quickley’s 3-point accuracy and volume will be huge as the Raptors try to inch toward half-court competence. He’s shooting 40.2 percent from deep for the year. Quickley had 9 points and six assists, a plus-19 along with Barnes, in a sensational fourth quarter against the Suns.
Monitor: What Barnes does in the paint, and how he gets there
Nick Nurse was right, early in Barnes’ career, when he pushed him to get to the rim as often as possible. That is where his size and passing make him the most dangerous. While he has improved in the short midrange, he is still most threatening in the paint.
He is shooting below league average in the deep paint this year. He’s fallen from 73.3 percent last year at the rim to 70.2 percent this year. The Raptors’ spacing is poor, and that keeps him from getting cleaner looks. The Raptors need to work to get him early post-ups in transition, but he is the player who pushes the pace in transition the most. It’s hard for him to get an early opportunity if the rest of his team isn’t helping him set the tone.
Similarly, the Raptors should have him work as a screener more often. That is tough to do when Poeltl is on the floor, but Barnes’ best role, right now, is as a screener. He will need to do more of that when Ingram is healthy. Get him catching the ball on the move as close to the paint as possible.
The Raptors’ defence passes the Durant test. The Celtics test comes next - Toronto Star
A day after a stellar defensive performance against one of the great offensive players in NBA history, Scottie Barnes and the Raptors were talking about how that’s emblematic of a team identity they are striving for.
The Raptors held Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant to just 15 points Sunday, his second-lowest output this season. Durant went 5-for-15 from the floor and missed his five attempts from three-point range. He was 1-for-9 with Barnes defending him.
Defence is becoming a collective mindset for the Raptors. They have the league’s seventh-best defensive rating since early January, limiting opponents to 111 points per 100 possessions. (Their 116.5 rating for the season is among the league’s worst.)
“I really enjoy playing defence,” said rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, who played 18 minutes Sunday. “The more and more I’m on the court, I get to guard more superstars and just more people … and I’m just learning more about myself (and) what type of defender I am.”
Barnes always takes his defensive responsibilities seriously, whether he’s guarding an elite scorer like Durant or someone else.
“I’ve been a great defender since I entered the league,” he said after practice Monday, noting he has been locking up opponents since his high school and college days. “I’m a player that focuses a lot on defence … I move pretty well for my size, I have great length to be able to contest shots, block shots, rebound and make adjustments on the fly.”
The Raptors, from the stars to the rookies, appear to be buying into the defensive approach of coach Darko Rajakovic. He points to Barnes’ leadership and the trickle-down effect it has had on the team.
“I believe that winning comes with defence,” Rajakovic said. “The better defence you have, the more defensive-minded players you have, you have a better chance of winning.”
He believes it is part of a coach’s responsibility to help create a winning culture by holding every player accountable on defence.
They will have an opportunity to test their commitment with the defending champion Boston Celtics in town Tuesday.
“As much as you’re trying to keep your identity.” Rajakovic said, “and to play the way you want to play — for us that’s being disruptive and being aggressive on defence and really using that as player development for the majority of the guys — it’s also important to know personnel and know what other teams are bringing to the table and how they want to exploit some of your weaknesses or lack of size.”
The Raptors could be at a disadvantage in the front court with centre Jakob Poeltl still listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game while he deals with a right hip pointer. And they will have to deal with an offence that leads the league in three-point attempts and three-pointers made.
“We know it’s going to be difficult to guard those guys,” Barnes said. “Just try to limit them as much as possible … contest (their shots) and run them off the line and try to rotate from there.”
Raptors Insist Scottie Barnes Deserves More Attention: 'This guy is elite' - Sports Illustrated
Kevin Durant tried to shake free.
A screen from Mason Plumlee was meant to create some separation from Scottie Barnes. Plumlee came all the way up to mid-court, giving Durant as much room as possible to operate. But it didn’t matter.
Barnes fought through the screen, staying attached to Durant. The former MVP tried to turn the corner, but Barnes was there, hands high, cutting off his path to the hoop. Durant took two dribbles toward the basket, realized he couldn’t shake Barnes, and pivoted away, throwing an ill-advised pass right into the hands of Raptors rookie Jonathan Mogbo.
“They did a great job as a team,” Durant said post-game. “Scottie is getting good at that scheme, he’s long, athletic, but I usually get guarded by the whole team. But they do a great job of playing hard in that scheme and making it tough.”
Barnes has been on a tear lately, taking on the league’s toughest assignments nightly—and holding his own. Against Durant, he held the Suns forward to 1-for-5 shooting with two turnovers in eight minutes as the primary defender, per NBA Stats.
“He's an unbelievable defender,” said Immanuel Quickley. “What he does a lot of times doesn't show up on the stat sheet. Guards the best player night in, night out…. That's probably one of the biggest, arguably one of the most important parts of a game night in and night out is who's gonna guard the best player, and a lot of nights [it’s] him.”
What makes Barnes so special is his rare combination of size, length, and mobility. His 7-foot-3 wingspan, coupled with his strength and lateral quickness, allows him to guard almost anyone. He looks just as comfortable defending seven-footers like Durant and Evan Mobley as he does staying in front of the league’s quickest guards.
“[He’s] very physical, very smart at the point of attack,” said Chris Boucher. “On going overs, under, kind of always talking. Obviously, I think that the one thing that he's put way more energy on it too. You can't deny the work that he's put in, and you can't deny how smart he's getting on defense and always helping us.”
For those who haven’t been locked into the Raptors this season, Barnes' defensive impact has been easy to overlook. His numbers don’t pop the way they do for Victor Wembanyama or Dyson Daniels. And with Toronto ranking 25th in defensive rating, many have glossed over the strides he’s made on that end.
“This kid is one of the most elite defensive players in the league,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajaković. “I don't think that he's getting enough credit for how diverse he is defensively and what he's doing defensively for us as a team. Maybe that has something to do with our record. But if you have eyes and if you're watching the game, you see that this guy is elite.”
'If you have eyes' you see Scottie Barnes is an elite defender: Raptors coach - Toronto Sun
The Raptors head coach consistently goes to bat for his franchise player.
Most famously, Rajakovic unleashed an epic rant just over a year ago when the referees completely jobbed Barnes and the Raptors in a terribly officiated game against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
There have been plenty of other, less-fiery examples, of Rajakovic backing Barnes strongly and the latest came after an outstanding defensive performance by the forward against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.
Durant, one of the most gifted scorers in NBA history, shot just 1-for-5 and had two turnovers when covered primarily by Barnes in Sunday’s Raptors win and didn’t hit any three-pointers, and took the blame for the loss afterward. Barnes was a force from the start in that one, asserting himself physically from the opening tip and sticking to Durant like glue (Durant didn’t even touch the ball at all on Phoenix’s first five possessions).
Rajakovic hopes the basketball world is paying attention to what Barnes has been doing, particularly in the past month or so when his defence has gone up a few notches whether he’s guarding all-NBA centres, power forwards or wings.
“I don’t think that it says anything about him. I think it says about media. It says a lot about (the) public that is not recognizing this kid is one of the most elite defensive players in the league,” Rajakovic said when asked what the Barnes performance against Durant said about him.
“I don’t think that he’s getting enough credit for how diverse he’s defensively and what he’s doing defensively for us as a team. Maybe that has something to do with our record. But if you have eyes and if you’re watching the game, you see that this guy is elite.”
Raptors big man Chris Boucher broke down what makes Barnes so good at defence.
“Very physical, very smart on at the point of attack, on going overs, under, kind of always talking,” Boucher said. “I think that always helps him out. And obviously I think that the one thing that he’s put way more energy on it too. You can’t deny the work that he’s put in, and you can’t deny how much, how smart he’s getting on defence and always helping us.”
Canada Officially Qualifies for the 2025 AmeriCup - Raptors Republic
It wasn’t pretty, but Canada Basketball got it done, despite falling to Mexico 98-94.
Entering the game, Canada was in comfortable position to qualify for the 2025 AmeriCup. With the Dominican Republic routing Nicaragua and clinching the second last spot, the SMNT needed either:
a win against Mexico OR
a loss against Mexico by 18 points or less
Certainly not an impossible task for a roster that had a good mix of talent and FIBA experience. However, It was an inauspicious start to the final AmeriCup Qualifier game, with tip-off delayed by about an hour and a half due to technical difficulties. With the routine and rhythm of the players disrupted, there was no telling how Team Canada would respond and start the first quarter.
One player who came out firing away was 17-year old Mexican basketball phenom Karim Lopez. The tall and long New Zealand Breaker played fearless on his way to 7 points in the opening frame. His strong play on the offensive end was punctuated in a single sequence where he out-muscled Phil Scrubb deep in the restricted area for an easy layup. For the Canadians, it was Isiaha Mike’s perfect 3-3 start (7 points) that matched Lopez’s output and helped the SMNT weather the early Mexican momentum, settling for a three point lead after one.
The second quarter saw Mexico storm back, mainly off of sustained hot shooting from beyond the line (8-14) and extended ball pressure on the defensive end. A positive feedback loop emerged for Mexico, as each 3 that fell allowed them to set their aggressive defense and force Canada deep into the shotclock. It was a similar recipe for success in Saskatoon and Mexico grew their lead to as much as eight, before a quick flurry from Jahvon Henry-Blair cut the deficit to a manageable 54-51 entering half time. Canada was playing the point differential as much as they were playing for a win.
In the second half, Canada finally got back to their brand of basketball — hard-nosed, physical play on the interior. Led by the sheer size and brute strength of Mfiondu Kabengele, the graceful strides of Mike and the dribble penetration of Trae Bell-Haynes, Canada dominated, recording all but 1 basket from the painted area or the FT line in the third and fourth quarters. On the night, they thoroughly outplayed Mexico on the offensive glass, finishing a +10 (17-7). All of that interior dominance was enough to survive a Pako Cruz 30-ball and 15 3’s from Mexico.