The Raptors finally show they have a three-second lead with a win over the Pelicans
News

The Raptors finally show they have a three-second lead with a win over the Pelicans

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

NEW ORLEANS – They shouldn’t be called role players. They should be called role players. Davion Mitchell wants you to know this.

The singular means that these people have a job to do. While it’s true that many players on every NBA roster have to perform an extremely important, non-negotiable task every night in order to keep up their minutes, it’s not like they can only do that one thing at the expense of everything else.

Mitchell, who was the Toronto Raptors’ starting point guard for most of Immanuel Quickley’s extended absence, thrives on his reputation as a one-on-one defensive end. Depending on who he shares the floor with, his job changes.

“It’s not as easy as (observers) think,” Mitchell said during a one-on-one call Wednesday morning before the Raptors defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 119-93 for their first road win of the season. “People see it (I miss it) and say, ‘Oh, he can’t hit an open 3.’ But I’ll also bet that 90 percent of people aren’t capable of blocking 94 feet and then shooting the 3. …And then (sometimes I have to) run the offense. It’s a difficult thing.

“I have to have a bit of courage for the offensive. So I had to guard 94 feet – sometimes just to change the game a little bit. … They don’t understand.”

Until you play and fill Mitchell’s roles, you can’t know. However, it remains true that part of Mitchell’s job is to get those threes and hit a passable percentage. “Taking away” is part of every Raptors player’s job, with the exception of Jakob Poeltl and Bruno Fernando. As discussed earlier in the week, the Raptors are far behind in this fundamental element of the league and are attempting to make the fewest 3s per possession in the league heading into Wednesday’s games. All of that is compounded without Quickley and Gradey Dick, who has a calf bruise, the team’s best shooters outside of motion.

It’s easy to say the Raptors need more 3s. That’s what they do, from the average shooters (RJ Barrett shot 36 percent on his 250 attempts last year and topped 40 percent in his second season) to the developing shooters (Mitchell made 32.5 percent on 736 attempts in his career) to to the completely inexperienced (In 19 NBA games, Jonathan Mogbo has quintupled the number of his attempts in two NCAA seasons; he has attempted 10).

However, taking more 3s means rewiring her basketball brain.

“He tries to make the right play every time,” Mitchell said of Raptors rookie Jamal Shead, who like Mitchell came into the league as a defensive-first guard and had the ball in his hands in college. “And sometimes it affects him because he’s trying to make the right play, and the right play was shooting the ball if it was a wide open shot and not looking for someone else. “You are completely open. That’s the best shot we had, and because you passed that shot, we got a worse shot.”

Mitchell expressed confidence that Shead will figure out the process.

“Everyone tells me to take more free shots and have confidence in my shot. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Shead said shortly after Mitchell gave his assessment. “When coach Darko (Rajaković) and half of the coaching staff and half of the players tell me, ‘Hey, when you’re open, shoot the ball,’ that’s what you want to hear as a basketball player. That may not have been my role the last four years, but that’s what the NBA is about.”

Without their best shooters, the Raptors’ less celebrated shooters find themselves in difficult situations. Quickley and Dick can take on the most difficult 3s, creating more lanes for Scottie Barnes and Barrett. Aside from offensive rebounds and transitions, these drives typically produce the best 3s. Without those threats, the Raptors’ playmakers have less space to work with and therefore less room to launch those attacks, making those looks even more difficult to create.

Against New Orleans, Rajaković inserted rookie Ja’Kobe Walter into the starting lineup for Mitchell and tried to make up for those absences. Walter has a good shooting range, but is more of a speculative threat than a proven threat as he is only playing in his fifth NBA game. The Raptors’ first three looks were 3s, including two in half court that landed Walter in the corner. Walter hit first. Seven of the Raptors’ first 11 shots before the first TV timeout came from long range, but Walter was the only one. They were mostly wide open. Toronto made 17 Boston Celtics-style 3s in the first quarter, just four.

Luckily, Jamison Battle knocked down a few as the game progressed and Ochai Agbaji joined him. The Raptors took a significant step backwards in real time, making eight of their 12 3s in the second. Battle and Agbaji both had 24 points, a career high for the former and a season high for the latter. In the end, Battle, a rookie on a two-way deal, underwent a heat check. (“I thought it was going in,” Battle said, smiling.)

The Raptors made 52 3s to the Pelicans’ 35, making New Orleans 21 for 11. The Raptors have often been on the wrong side of this calculation. It was the first time this season that they attempted more 3s than 2s and made 54.7 percent of their attacks from deep. Their previous high was 42.4 percent.

You should be glad they created the looks. Without Dick and Quickley, the Raptors’ other shooters will have to get used to making more difficult shots than they otherwise would just to keep the opponent honest. It’s not a comfortable way to get comfortable from the depths. Before Wednesday’s action, shooters across the league were making 35.8 percent of three-pointers; Only Battle (43.3 percent on 3.3 attempts per game) and Agbaji (46.2 percent on 4.1 attempts) are above this threshold among regular Raptors rotation players. Two of the five Raptors who have made the most 3s overall this year (Mitchell and Chris Boucher) are more than 3 percentage points below average; Barrett rose to 33.3 percent on Wednesday.

“I think we have to be ready to hit good shots, good rhythm shots,” Rajaković said. “For me, when you’re open, there’s a short closeout and you have the opportunity to catch and shoot 3s. I think at the NBA level that’s a really, really good shot. That’s why I encourage all boys to take them in situations like this.”

As Mitchell pointed out, sometimes this is easier said than done. However, in the modern NBA, this is not optional.

“The 3-point shot is really important in today’s game,” Shead said. “I just have to keep getting better, whether I have the ball or not.”

Notes

• Switching to the starting group was worth a try, if only to add a bit more theoretical movement shooting to the lineup. The hope is that Walter and Barnes will play together often, so it’s nice to see this pairing in different contexts. Walter scored 14 points and 11 rebounds, both highs for his young career.

I can’t believe this transition game worked, but it sure was fun:

Walter’s aunts from Alabama, whom he hadn’t seen since the start of the season, were at the game. When they caught his attention as he approached the tunnel after the game, he flashed a sweet smile.

• If the Raptors could dream of a sequence, it would be with Agbaji smartly driving a driver toward Poeltl and Barrett and Barnes going the other way in transition. Simple, beautiful stuff:

• After a few difficult games, I started to worry about Agbaji. I shouldn’t have done that. There is nothing new here: clever defender, demon in transition. After an excellent start to the season, he had only managed 13 points, six rebounds and two steals in the last three games.

“I had a friendly conversation with him and I just challenged him because I know how much he can do, how much he can contribute to this team,” Rajaković said after the game. “And I know what a good player he is. I never had any doubts. I just wanted him to be aggressive. And he was aggressive.”

• For what could be his final game in New Orleans, his hometown of Baton Rouge, La. closest town, Garrett Temple said he only asked for six tickets. On Tuesday he saw most of his family. Veteran platoon.

• Please note that in their first and second games after months-long absences, the Pelicans will have Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum, a sixth-year journeyman (Javonte Green), a rookie center (Yves Missi) and a two-way winger (Brandon Boston Jr.) started .). Beggars can’t be voters when you’re winless away from home – at least until Wednesday. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

(Photo of Scottie Barnes reacting after shooting a three-pointer: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *