Game #43: Toronto Raptors 122 - Atlanta Hawks 117

[golden]

As I said earlier in the game thread, the guy doesn't want the responsibility of having the ball in his hands.

But enough about him. I thought yesterday was the first time Siakam looked more like himself since the injury. He seemed hesitant to me in the first couple of games like he was cautiously testing everything out again. Looking forward to an extended stretch of him, Lowry, FVV and Gasol out there to see if they can get the offense humming.

There was that point in the 3rd quarter where Nurse called a timeout and then they kept running plays for Siakam coming from the corner off screens. It resulted in a dunk, foul call & FTs. Nurse likes to let the players figure it out on the floor, but sometimes he has to just put his foot down and tell them to force-feed Pascal. Siakam is an unselfish player, who is also a gifted passer, so I don't think it's in his nature to 'demand the ball'. That's really where the point guards: Lowry, FVV & McCaw (sadly) have to make it a priority to get Pascal involved.

[LJ2]

There was that point in the 3rd quarter where Nurse called a timeout and then they kept running plays for Siakam coming from the corner off screens. It resulted in a dunk, foul call & FTs. Nurse likes to let the players figure it out on the floor, but sometimes he has to just put his foot down and tell them to force-feed Pascal. Siakam is an unselfish player, who is also a gifted passer, so I don't think it's in his nature to 'demand the ball'. That's really where the point guards: Lowry, FVV & McCaw (sadly) have to make it a priority to get Pascal involved.

Not sure what the context here is, but Siakam is being paid like a star and the franchise has hitched their wagon to him becoming one. He needs to start demanding the ball and making this team his. I don't like this current trend of Siakam being the 3rd option behind Lowry and FVV. Maybe that will change as Siakam gets back to being fully healthy, but it wasn't the case when Lowry came back from injury. Now is the time for Siakam to rock the boat a little bit and take what is his.

[golden]

Not sure what the context here is, but Siakam is being paid like a star and the franchise has hitched their wagon to him becoming one. He needs to start demanding the ball and making this team his. I don't like this current trend of Siakam being the 3rd option behind Lowry and FVV. Maybe that will change as Siakam gets back to being fully healthy, but it wasn't the case when Lowry came back from injury. Now is the time for Siakam to rock the boat a little bit and take what is his.

So, if FVV pushes the ball up the court and jacks up a quick transition 3, or takes it to the rim and gets stuffed, what's Pascal supposed to do. We don't know what Nurse is instructing the team to do, but it seems like he wants his offense to be mostly looking for guard penetration and 3-pt shots. Pascal operating down low and in the post seems like a good way to get him involved, but this team has never prioritized feeding the post, even when we had an elite post scorer. This seems more like it's not part of Nurse's main offensive philosophies... more like something different to change up the offense once in a while.

Feels like this is as much a Nurse/FVV/Lowry issue as much as it is a Pascal "hey, give me the ball", issue. And, btw, Pascal is still on his rookie contract until next year. This year is gravy.

[Zak24gege]

Re-watched the last 4 minutes from the ATL perspective. Lots of McCaw bashing and rightly so, however, one of, if not the biggest cause of the collapse was ironically the guy who single handily won the game, Norm Powell. He committed 3 turnovers and decided not to catch Siakam's pass and let it go out of bounds. Nurse definitely made a mistake trying to play a tired bench unit the entire 4Q, but man the Atlanta announcers were laughing at the clown-act put on by the second unit. Last point, I cannot understand based on basket ball play / merit why Nurse would leave McCaw on the floor for the entire 4Q? He is getting far to much PT given his fringe NBA ability. There has to be a 'strategic' move here,

[GOLDBLUM]

There has to be a 'strategic' move here,

I wonder what that strategic move could possibly be -- because the stat lines he's consistently laying down aren't doing anything to improve his trade value. I think we can scratch that one off the list of sensible strategies.

[Codadav]

I'm as perplexed about McCaw's guaranteed 20+ minutes as everybody here. One theory I came up with is that Raptors management is positive they'll be upgrading before the deadline with a 20+ minute player, and rather than cause friction with the rest of the core when that player joins in, its just easier to waste McCaw minutes now, and then boom, insert the upgrade right into his minutes!

[LJ2]

So, if FVV pushes the ball up the court and jacks up a quick transition 3, or takes it to the rim and gets stuffed, what's Pascal supposed to do. We don't know what Nurse is instructing the team to do, but it seems like he wants his offense to be mostly looking for guard penetration and 3-pt shots. Pascal operating down low and in the post seems like a good way to get him involved, but this team has never prioritized feeding the post, even when we had an elite post scorer. This seems more like it's not part of Nurse's main offensive philosophies... more like something different to change up the offense once in a while.

Feels like this is as much a Nurse/FVV/Lowry issue as much as it is a Pascal "hey, give me the ball", issue. And, btw, Pascal is still on his rookie contract until next year. This year is gravy.

Again, going back to him claiming this team as his own, Siakam at some point would need to demand the ball and provide a good verbal (if not physical) ass kicking to FVV if he doesn't comply. All part of being the main man on the team.

[Zak24gege]

I wonder what that strategic move could possibly be -- because the stat lines he's consistently laying down aren't doing anything to improve his trade value. I think we can scratch that one off the list of sensible strategies.

Exactly what I keep thinking - the more he plays the less attractive he becomes?? Call me befuddled.

[golden]

Again, going back to him claiming this team as his own, Siakam at some point would need to demand the ball and provide a good verbal (if not physical) ass kicking to FVV if he doesn't comply. All part of being the main man on the team.

Replace FVV with Lowry. Siakam is supposed to give Lowry an ass-kicking and let him know who da' man?