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Raptors need to play with purpose | What's next? | Bye bye Bruno

Raptors coach Darko Rajaković faces real pressure for the first time during his tenure - The Athletic
“We were not connected,” Rajaković said of the Raptors’ performance on Monday. “We didn’t have enough fight over the course of the game. I thought the first couple of minutes was decent. There was fight, there was intention behind it, and we were not able to sustain it. So we’ll need more sample size. We need more guys to play together, to find the rhythm together, and definitely will need to bring much more fight to the game than was the case tonight.”

“I think we had some fight,” Barnes added, “but the second half (that) wasn’t really there as much as the first half.”

Strategically, Rajaković has to find a way to open up the offence. The Bucks made more 3s than the Raptors attempted in the first half of Monday’s game. The Magic, one of the league’s worst shooting teams, also dominated the Raptors from deep on Friday. The Raptors are short on shooting talent compared to most teams, but they have to be able to generate those shots.

Defensively, there have been way too many times over the last few games during which multiple Raptors have been camped in the paint waiting for a potential rebound, knowing they were not close to being able to execute a meaningful closeout. That indicates overhelping on the ball and poor communication.

Some grace should be extended to Rajaković and the Raptors on matters of execution. Sure, they worked together a lot in the summer, but the injuries have kept them from furthering that on-floor cohesion. However, it is the middle of the season — it is not as if a bunch of practice time is going to open up for the coach. This is part of the job of an NBA coach, to be able to get his players to improve even when the conditions aren’t optimal.

It’s far too early in the team’s relatively healthy state to judge the Raptors or Rajaković on nailing every detail. The coach and two of his stars mentioning a lack of fight and effort is, if not a red flag, then a bright yellow one. These next six weeks are likely to be the most important of the season for the Raptors in terms of establishing who they are and what they can do together moving forward.

Fair or not, it’s on Rajaković to help the Raptors establish a baseline of enthusiasm and, eventually, competence. That starts now, if it hadn’t already.

Toronto Raptors’ veteran Garrett Temple talks leadership, being an ally, and re-learning how to play Call of Duty for his teammates - Raptors HQ
“Masai and Bobby did a great job scouting and getting these guys,” Temple says of the Raptors’ current rookie class of Ja’Kobe Walter, Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead, Ulrich Chomche, and Jamison Battle. He notes that there is a possibility of these kids coming into the league with a lack of gratitude for the chance they have been given, because of the wealth they have the chance to build in college. He hasn’t seen that from this team.

He calls it a ‘hunger’ for the game, noting that they are all incredibly hard workers, and grounded. Their personalities and upbringings have a lot to do with it, in Temple’s opinion. They are easy to be with, and Garrett puts in the effort to connect with all of them and learn about who they are outside of basketball.

“I had to go back to video games,” he laughs, “Call of Duty. You know I was around when the first Call of Duty came out?”

Temple also speaks on taking the four rookies (Chomche was not with the team during this road trip) out to dinner in Sacramento. He wanted to have uninterrupted conversations with each of them about how they got to this point, their upbringings, and find ways to connect with them. He asked them the precise moments they realized “hey, I could actually be an NBA player.”

He mentions how it actually helps that he’s not fully in the team’s rotation on the court. No one is looking into his connection-making thinking that he’s trying to take their spot on the court. Temple has a genuine desire for the team to be better, for these young men to be better as well.

That desire also led to Temple running for a spot in the NBA’s Players Union, where he serves as the Vice President. His family history and education in business studies at LSU gave him the desire to learn about the ins and outs of this billion-dollar industry he found himself in. He first started out by going to meetings, learning about the issues his teammates where passionate about.

He didn’t expect to win his election, but notes that he thinks his peers understood his work ethic and how he made it into the league. His pitch to voters was that he had come up in a unique way, from G-League, to 10-days, to finally getting a solid spot on NBA rosters. He was the little guy. Nine years later, he’s still on the union’s board.

To him, that work is more important now than ever. Not just because of the state of the world, but to make sure his younger teammates know what resources are available to them. To let them know that someone has their back in all of it.

The Raptors have a starting point and a road map after crashing against the Bucks - Toronto Star
“I don’t want to have any kind of prejudice or expectations,” Rajakovic had said hours before tip-off. “I just want to observe. I want to learn what this group can bring … and it’s not going to be one night. It’s not going to be one game.

“We’ll need time for those guys to start clicking.”

The three put up pretty good numbers for their first game together, and there is certainly something to work with.

Barrett had 25 points and nine rebounds; Barnes had 21 points and five assists; Quickley chipped in with 11 points and three assists.

It was, as expected, a spotty outing with just enough promise to generate some optimism for the future.

“Tonight I don’t think was about us getting used to each other; we just didn’t play hard enough,” Barrett said. “That’s top to bottom.”

But the overall team performance marked another display of lax defence that needs to be addressed.

Toronto was crushed from beyond the three-point line — outscored 66-27 — and gave up far too many easy baskets in transition.

It was a combination of scheme and effort and personnel and gives Rajakovic all kinds of fodder to work with.

“Every time we were supposed to rotate and close out to the three-point line, to break the rhythm and to take away threes, we did not do a good enough job of that,” the coach said. “So that’s something that’s an emphasis for us. That’s something that we’re working on.”

RJ Barrett Gets Real Honest About Raptors' Lack of 'Fight' - Sports Illustrated
“Tonight wasn’t about us getting used to each other,” said Barrett, whose return to the lineup against Milwaukee marked the first time he, Scottie Barnes, and Immanuel Quickley had played together since March. “We just didn’t play hard enough, top to bottom. We have to figure it out. Just playing hard, being that team we were at the beginning, fighting—we didn’t have our fight tonight. So that’s disappointing.”

It’s one thing to lose.

Nobody in the organization is alarmed by losses in isolation—rebuilding and development have been the Raptors’ mantras since Media Day. But for a team that has long prided itself on effort and fight, the lack of competitive fire has been alarming.

“It's OK if you lose a game, but you fought, you played hard, and you did all that you could,” Barrett said. “I don’t think we did that tonight. That’s the disappointing part of it.”

This isn’t an occasional off-night. It’s becoming a troubling pattern.

The Raptors surrendered 430 points over three games in late December, prompting their head coach to unleash a profanity-laden tirade that got him ejected. The response? A 54-point annihilation by the Boston Celtics, the most lopsided loss in franchise history.

“There’s no excuse for what’s happening right now,” Barrett said, his voice almost breaking. “We’ve shown we can do it already. We all have to be better, we all have to lock in completely and bring a certain level of fight and compete from the jump all the way through. That’s all of us. It starts with me, Scottie, and Quick, but it’s all of us. We have to be together and play harder than we are right now.”

As embarrassing losses mount for Toronto Raptors, fans' apathy can be felt - Toronto Sun
The team’s recently completed three-game homestand began on New Year’s Day when the return of Quickley provided a short-term jolt as the Raptors ended an 11-game losing streak by beating the Nets.

That was followed by a loss to an undermanned Orlando Magic team when the Raptors seized up in the second half. At that point, fans at Scotiabank Arena had finally seen enough and began to make their way to the exits.

Then came the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, coming off losses to the Nets and Portland. Toronto lost 128-104, a scoreline that did not reflect the Bucks’ superiority.

About the only consolation for fans in attendance was the free slice of pizza at stake once the Raptors were able to reach 100 points.

In the dark days of the franchise, free pizza slices came to represent the low point. When the on-court product is inferior, the entertainment value non-existent, fans pined for pizza. It was an embarrassment then and it was embarrassing Monday.

Equally embarrassing was Toronto’s effort level, which has come under question more often of late when no one had to wait until late in the contest for a game to be decided.

The predictable learning curve was on display as the Raptors finally had their projected starting five available for the first time this season. But what played out was inexcusable, the type of effort that cannot be tolerated and yet it wasn’t the first time when signs of capitulation were evident.

Frank Kaminsky, at 31, can see the NBA from the Raptors 905: ‘It’s about chasing something’ - Toronto Star
Kaminsky called the NBA home for eight years before playing in Serbia last season. He has started the last six games for the 905 and had his best outing in a 112-111 win over the San Diego Clippers on Dec. 21: 33 points (three for five from three-point range) with seven rebounds and five assists. At this stage of his career, he said, he isn’t driven by gaudy individual numbers.

“Basketball is just the art of wins and losses,” he said, repeating a mantra learned from his dad. “It’s like: Did you do your job well enough to win a game? And I think that’s the most important thing I’m looking for at this point in my career.”

Part of that mentality comes from experience. Kaminsky remembers playing for the Wisconsin Badgers (who retired his No. 44 in 2018) and losing to Duke in the NCAA championship game, and playing for the Phoenix Suns and losing the 2021 NBA Finals to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.

“I would love to have another opportunity, whatever role it is, just to be a part of a team that is going for it,” he said. “That’s the biggest motivation for me. At the end of the day, I want to be able to call myself a champion. It’s not just about holding on to a basketball career, it’s about chasing something.”

With the 905, Kaminsky also provides veteran leadership. Ulrich Chomche, the 19-year-old centre drafted 57th by the Memphis Grizzlies and traded to the Raptors on draft night last summer, is one player Kaminsky has taken under his wing.

“He’s in such a development phase that I’m trying to show him just small things of how to be a pro every day,” said Kaminsky, emphasizing the importance of getting to the gym early and leaving late, taking care of your body and staying ready for every chance to play.