Restart Game # 6 Toronto at Milwaukee Monday August 10th 6:30pm

[golden]

I still wouldn't play Boucher much in the playoffs despite the game he had yesterday. He reminds me of Bebe in a way.. just gets lost and doesn't think. Those heat check 3's with plenty of time on the clock.. the missing his man on defense and guys getting open looks. I saw Siakam screaming at him a few times.

Matt however is awesome.. and really should get 10 minutes every game if possible. He is not the greatest defender but he plays hard. A really sneaky good rebounder. And just ice in his veigns. Milwaukee had to sick Bledsoe on him which opened up the game for the others on the team.


As for our core.. Siakam is still not playing sharp. Poor efficiency game and they didn't have Giannis in the paint. He should have been taking it hard to the rack. I thought Marc was great. He does a really good job on the Lopez brothers. Couldn't score, but had some really nice open looks. Norm had an awesome first half. Sort of dipped a bit in the second, but overall a great game. He just loves playing against the Bucks. OG's defense on Middleton in the first quarter set the tone, and took Middleton out of his comfort zone.

Philly next, and I doubt they'll be playing Embiid. So we could take the other half the roster out. Rest Siakam, Gasol and Norm. Play the others.

Did you just compare Trebuchet to Bebe?

Boucher and Bebe could not be more different in terms of heart and compete level. Boucher is just skinny, inexperienced and moves awkwardly - but he's very effective. People truly undervalue offensive rebounds and putbacks, but that is some of the highest efficiency offense you can get... and Boucher is the best on the team at that. That, and closing out on 3-pt shooters, while also protecting the rim. It's no wonder why Boucher is a net positive (e.g. PIPM, BPM, etc...) on both ends of the court.

And yeah, it's a shame that we gave all those development minutes to McCaw when those could have been useful reps for Thomas.

[slaw]

Did you just compare Trebuchet to Bebe?

Boucher and Bebe could not be more different in terms of heart and compete level. Boucher is just skinny, inexperienced and moves awkwardly - but he's very effective. People truly undervalue offensive rebounds and putbacks, but that is some of the highest efficiency offense you can get... and Boucher is the best on the team at that. That, and closing out on 3-pt shooters, while also protecting the rim. It's no wonder why Boucher is a net positive (e.g. PIPM, BPM, etc...) on both ends of the court.

And yeah, it's a shame that we gave all those development minutes to McCaw when those could have been useful reps for Thomas.

Boucher is ugly out there sometimes but he does stuff and he creates a lot chaos. Sometimes that is good and sometimes it is bad but you can rarely accuse him of being bystander. There are a lot of guys in the league in similar situations with the same or more talent than him (and far better pedigrees) but they don't actually do anything when they are out there- just waiting for something to happen to them.

By the way, Trebuchet is a great nickname for him. Was that Jack Armstrong?

[G__Deane]

That game felt like a game where the coaches on both sides didn't want to show anything. Fun to watch, but not a lot you can take away from it.

The comment I want to make and will probably take some heat for is that I hate seeing Marc swing the ball when he is wide open. His defender is playing so far off him that Marc is now creating tougher shots for his teammates. Unless other guys are hot from the perimeter those possessions are hard to watch, but even if they are hot like last night it feels like bad basketball. Just doesn't feel right saying that about anything Marc does on the court

I'm just concerned some of his unwillingness to shoot last year's playoffs may have been masked by Kawhi bailing us out. Hope Nick has something planned for this year.

Many of us have been saying that for more than a year. It's crazy that prior to coming to the Raps, he was a 15.7 PPG player and now he seems scared to shoot and his PPG has more than fallen in half. I'd sooner he missed a couple of wide open looks than compromise the other players shots by not opening up the floor as well. When Marc drains a couple, he'll force the D to play him more honest, and space the floor better for his teammates.

I took some heart from a Nurse quote a few weeks ago saying that Marc had been encouraged to be more active/"selfish" in the offense but nothing seems to have changed.

[slaw]

Many of us have been saying that for more than a year. It's crazy that prior to coming to the Raps, he was a 15.7 PPG player and now he seems scared to shoot and his PPG has more than fallen in half. I'd sooner he missed a couple of wide open looks than compromise the other players shots by not opening up the floor as well. When Marc drains a couple, he'll force the D to play him more honest, and space the floor better for his teammates.

I took some heart from a Nurse quote a few weeks ago saying that Marc had been encouraged to be more active/"selfish" in the offense but nothing seems to have changed.

Gasol has stepped up when the Raps have needed him. Games 4 and 5 against Philly, 3 and 4 against the Bucks, and he had three big games against GSW including game 3 that really shifted the series. They will need the same thing from him this year: a handful or so of playoff games where he becomes a threat offensively and scores 15-20 but he isn't going to be doing it on a nightly basis.

[G__Deane]

Gasol has stepped up when the Raps have needed him. Games 4 and 5 against Philly, 3 and 4 against the Bucks, and he had three big games against GSW including game 3 that really shifted the series. They will need the same thing from him this year: a handful or so of playoff games where he becomes a threat offensively and scores 15-20 but he isn't going to be doing it on a nightly basis.

Yup, I get it. Just personally don't want to see too many 0 or 4 point nights from your 7' starting Centre. As long as they're winning it's easy just to admire the nice passes and screens and normally, the game outcome.

[golden]

Boucher is ugly out there sometimes but he does stuff and he creates a lot chaos. Sometimes that is good and sometimes it is bad but you can rarely accuse him of being bystander. There are a lot of guys in the league in similar situations with the same or more talent than him (and far better pedigrees) but they don't actually do anything when they are out there- just waiting for something to happen to them.

By the way, Trebuchet is a great nickname for him. Was that Jack Armstrong?

Jack Armstrong? Puh-leeze. Just put him out to pasture already. The guy can't even pronounce Bonjour correctly. Jeezus.

The nickname Trebuchet (Trey Boucher) originated right here on RR, suggested by a really smart and creative poster

https://forums.raptorsrepublic.com/f...06#post1336506

[LJ2]

Many of us have been saying that for more than a year. It's crazy that prior to coming to the Raps, he was a 15.7 PPG player and now he seems scared to shoot and his PPG has more than fallen in half. I'd sooner he missed a couple of wide open looks than compromise the other players shots by not opening up the floor as well. When Marc drains a couple, he'll force the D to play him more honest, and space the floor better for his teammates.

I took some heart from a Nurse quote a few weeks ago saying that Marc had been encouraged to be more active/"selfish" in the offense but nothing seems to have changed.

Yup, I fear this puts a lot of pressure on other players and may result in them forcing up some bad shots. This isn't Josh Smith jacking up 3's where even the home court fans are groaning, Marc is a career 35% shooter from deep. Fully capable of making them.

[golden]

Yup, I fear this puts a lot of pressure on other players and may result in them forcing up some bad shots. This isn't Josh Smith jacking up 3's where even the home court fans are groaning, Marc is a career 35% shooter from deep. Fully capable of making them.

It's not even Gasol being reluctant to shoot that's most infuriating. I hate it when he receives the ball wide open and then swings it immediately to a teammate who is tightly guarded. He's not even holding the ball long enough to draw out his man and create some spacing. It defeats the whole purpose of the quick pass and just wastes time off the shot clock.

[MixxAOR]

Yeah it is what it is with Gasol. Gotta replace him next season

[LJ2]

It's not even Gasol being reluctant to shoot that's most infuriating. I hate it when he receives the ball wide open and then swings it immediately to a teammate who is tightly guarded. He's not even holding the ball long enough to draw out his man and create some spacing. It defeats the whole purpose of the quick pass and just wastes time off the shot clock.

One of the things I saw in yesterday's game which reminded me of something he would do last season, was when he received the ball, wide open as you say, and swung it immediately to Kawhi who was literally a few feet next to him. He did that with Norm a couple times at least yesterday and Norm would take what I thought was a bad shot (thankfully he was shooting well yesterday). Totally agree he's not even holding the ball long enough to pull a defender or create enough space for his teammate to drive. Defenders are just sitting back and clogging driving lanes.

[The Great One]

Matty Ice needs more mins. Dude is automatic from 3.

[inthepaint]

It's not even Gasol being reluctant to shoot that's most infuriating. I hate it when he receives the ball wide open and then swings it immediately to a teammate who is tightly guarded. He's not even holding the ball long enough to draw out his man and create some spacing. It defeats the whole purpose of the quick pass and just wastes time off the shot clock.

Yeah if you're a Centre playing in the perimeter, you gotta either shoot the 3 when open, or be a pick and roll/pop threat (or both). Just swinging around and hitting the occasional cutter is not enough offensive contribution for a starter.

[KeonClark]

Yeah it is what it is with Gasol. Gotta replace him next season

Huh?

He was the exact same player last year and we don't win a championship without him.

[G__Deane]

Many of us have been saying that for more than a year. It's crazy that prior to coming to the Raps, he was a 15.7 PPG player and now he seems scared to shoot and his PPG has more than fallen in half. I'd sooner he missed a couple of wide open looks than compromise the other players shots by not opening up the floor as well. When Marc drains a couple, he'll force the D to play him more honest, and space the floor better for his teammates.

I took some heart from a Nurse quote a few weeks ago saying that Marc had been encouraged to be more active/"selfish" in the offense but nothing seems to have changed.

Found it
https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...ptors-offence/
Nurse thinks Marc Gasol has bigger role to play in Raptors’ offence

2:18 | July 12, 2020

Nick Nurse spoke about Marc Gasol’s fitness regime through quarantine and how he sees him fitting into the offence more with the Raptors.

"I'd like to make him more of a main cog in the offense but it hasn't been a necessity yet"

Right after a similar interview this season, Marc had a good game or two and I thought he was turning the corner again.

But Nurse has also been saying that at least since last November so it's kinda on Gasol why he can't listen to his coach more.
https://clutchpoints.com/raptors-new...e-focal-point/
Nick Nurse admits the Raptors want Marc Gasol to be more of an offensive focal point

I remember Kyle being quoted as saying Marc can't give up these open looks an he wasn't talking about 3 pointers.

[MixxAOR]

Huh?

He was the exact same player last year and we don't win a championship without him.

Can't keep everybody