Zach has a playoff winners and losers column out:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page...-dame-warriors
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page...-dame-warriors
Pascal Siakam
Oh, you thought he was fake -- a regular-season mooch who would quake in the playoffs? Drink some hot sauce. He was Toronto's best player in the highest-stakes moments of their highest-stakes first-round game -- their close-ish Game 3 win in Orlando. He defended everyone. When the Magic slotted smaller defenders on him -- as they had to in playing their best five-man lineup -- Siakam beasted them.
He was an ironman, leading the team in minutes, and bridging the gap between the starters and small-ball lineups featuring Leonard at power forward. (That said, the Siakam-as-solo-starter lineups should probably vanish as the competition ramps up.)
He's real.
Oh, you thought he was fake -- a regular-season mooch who would quake in the playoffs? Drink some hot sauce. He was Toronto's best player in the highest-stakes moments of their highest-stakes first-round game -- their close-ish Game 3 win in Orlando. He defended everyone. When the Magic slotted smaller defenders on him -- as they had to in playing their best five-man lineup -- Siakam beasted them.
He was an ironman, leading the team in minutes, and bridging the gap between the starters and small-ball lineups featuring Leonard at power forward. (That said, the Siakam-as-solo-starter lineups should probably vanish as the competition ramps up.)
He's real.
Masai Ujiri and Marc Gasol
The Raptors did not appear to need Marc Gasol. Serge Ibaka was thriving as a full-time center. Nabbing Gasol would mean demoting Ibaka to reserve duty, and no one was sure how he would take that. (Nick Nurse experimented with flipping the starting job between them, but it was clear from the start that Gasol would supplant Ibaka.)
Jonas Valanciunas had found his water level as a backup scoring force. Why risk chemistry for a marginal upgrade?
But Ujiri and his staff knew better. Gasol is much more than a marginal upgrade, even if he's barely shooting -- just 5.6 attempts per game against the Magic! He has changed the look and feel of Toronto's team. He shored up the Raptors' defensive rebounding. He yields nothing in the post; Nikola Vucevic couldn't dislodge him, and he gives Toronto a chance to guard Embiid without sending urgent double-teams.
He and Kyle Lowry share a basketball sensibility -- head-on-a-swivel selflessness that can bleed into fastidiousness -- and together, they injected a sometimes sloggy half-court offense with new verve. With about five minutes left in the third quarter of Toronto's Game 4 blowout, Gasol caught a pass on the move at the left elbow with two shooters -- Siakam and Leonard, looking dangerously like the "Thanks, I'll be taking the ball from you now" Kawhi from two years ago -- open on the right side.
In one motion, Gasol turned his head, glanced at Siakam, and fired the ball to Leonard. Ibaka can make that pass; he needs a second to scan the floor. That second is everything. Gasol gave that second back to the Raptors, and that alone has justified the trade.
The Raptors did not appear to need Marc Gasol. Serge Ibaka was thriving as a full-time center. Nabbing Gasol would mean demoting Ibaka to reserve duty, and no one was sure how he would take that. (Nick Nurse experimented with flipping the starting job between them, but it was clear from the start that Gasol would supplant Ibaka.)
Jonas Valanciunas had found his water level as a backup scoring force. Why risk chemistry for a marginal upgrade?
But Ujiri and his staff knew better. Gasol is much more than a marginal upgrade, even if he's barely shooting -- just 5.6 attempts per game against the Magic! He has changed the look and feel of Toronto's team. He shored up the Raptors' defensive rebounding. He yields nothing in the post; Nikola Vucevic couldn't dislodge him, and he gives Toronto a chance to guard Embiid without sending urgent double-teams.
He and Kyle Lowry share a basketball sensibility -- head-on-a-swivel selflessness that can bleed into fastidiousness -- and together, they injected a sometimes sloggy half-court offense with new verve. With about five minutes left in the third quarter of Toronto's Game 4 blowout, Gasol caught a pass on the move at the left elbow with two shooters -- Siakam and Leonard, looking dangerously like the "Thanks, I'll be taking the ball from you now" Kawhi from two years ago -- open on the right side.
In one motion, Gasol turned his head, glanced at Siakam, and fired the ball to Leonard. Ibaka can make that pass; he needs a second to scan the floor. That second is everything. Gasol gave that second back to the Raptors, and that alone has justified the trade.
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