Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Tip Off: 3:00 PM (PST)
Projected Starters
Toronto Golden State
PG – Jose Calderon Monta Ellis
SG – DeMar DeRozan Dominic McGuire
SF – James Johnson Dorell Wright
PF – Amir Johnson David Lee
C – Aaron Gray Andris Biedrins
Scope the opposition: Get your Raptors fix at Raptors Republic.
Preview: After getting blown out in Philadelphia Friday night, the Golden State Warriors will play the fifth game of their six-game road trip today at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Raptors are coming off a home loss on Friday night at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies and they will be looking to bounce back in the early game against the Dubs.
On offense, the Raptors sport a 96.6 offensive rating (26th in the NBA) and convert 43.5 percent of their field goal attempts. Those figures would have you believe that the Raps are an isolation driven team that struggles to create high percentage shots.
In actuality, it’s far from reality. Indeed, the Raptors do a good job of consistently keeping the ball in movement to get the defense out of place.
They will run post ups for the likes of James Johnson and Aaron Gray in an attempt to get some good looks at the rim and may even on occasion throw the ball into DeRozan and Amir Johnson on the block. Should those options not be available, instead the Raps will swing the ball around the perimeter and then run pick-and-rolls to create open midrange shots.
And in truth, more often than not, the post up options are not often available because opposing defenses sag into the lane, which essentially keeps the Raptors away from the paint.
Consequently, Toronto does not get a lot of easy scores. On the season, the ACC tenants average 37.7 points in the paint per game (25th in the league) and also gather 10.3 offensive rebounds per game (tied for 25th in the association).
Further complicating matters, the lone Canadian team in the NBA scores a mere 10.8 fast break points per game (25th in the NBA). One would think that with athletes on the roster such as DeRozan, Amir Johnson and James Johnson, that the team would try to get out in transition more with Calderon leading the break but such is not the case. Toronto plays at the 24th slowest pace in the league.
Put it all together, and Toronto is essentially a jump shooting team, firing away 23.6 shots per game from 16-to-23 feet (fourth most in the league) and converting 33.2 percent of those looks.
With that said, the Raptors do know how to sneak up on opponents as Calderon likes to probe the paint coming off the pick-and-roll and throwing up exquisite lob passes for highlight dunks.
On defense, the Raps have a 100.9 defensive rating (17th in the association) and yield 43.2 percent shooting from the field. Toronto’s biggest weakness last season was defending shots around the rim as they allowed nearly 50 points per game on average in the paint.
However, Dwane Casey has brought in a new defensive attitude to the team this season and has thus made them a little tougher on this end of the court. The Toronto Raptors allow the fewest points in the paint per game in the league so far this season (a mere 35.9 points in the paint) thanks to their new defensive attitude and philosophy.
Their screen-and-roll defense offers different types of coverage—which is to be expected from a good defensive unit—depending on the ballhandler. The one big principle that goes along with every one of their defensive wrinkles is that the players must rotate to the paint and guard against people coming in there.
In terms of their coverage, they may try to trap a player in the pick-and-roll if he is a poor passer, go underneath the screen if it’s a mediocre shooter or hedge the ballhandler (Arsenalist of Raptors Republic does a great job of detailing how the Raptors execute this, just click here) if he is a scorer or good passer for the sake of getting him out of his rhythm.
It stands to reason that Toronto should boast one of the best defenses in the league given how well they defend the ball, contain penetration and protect their boards; but they have one glaring weakness that still makes them a middle of the pack defensive unit: fouls.
Indeed, the Raptors have the propensity to close out defensive possessions with fouls and put opponents at the line. They do a good job of sagging inside the paint, but because they have some players who lack mobility, they will bump players on drives and be forced to hit guys coming down the lane to prevent easy scores. The Raps lack of a defensive anchor shows up on this front, as they surrender 27.1 free throw attempts per game on the season (second most in the NBA).
Monta Ellis has been known to drift out to the perimeter and settle for jumpers, but he should get an opportunity to draw fouls against the Raptors defenders and get to the line for some freebies. In addition, the Raptors pick-and-roll coverage will probably try to hedge and trap the scoring guard, which should allow him to find a host of open shooters along the perimeter. If the Warriors connect from deep, it will surely open up the driving lanes and give the likes of Brandon Rush and Ellis some opportunities to score at the goal.
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