The Raptors primarily have an offense built around two guards using the dribble drive and pick and roll to create scoring opportunities for teammates and themselves. Many in the media and our fans have argued that the team needs to move to being more of a ball movement, team oriented style offense like Atlanta or the Spurs of last season in order to be consistent and effective on that side of the ball.
However this year, we have actually passed the ball less. A lot less. We're averaging 259.1 passes made per game over the last 10 (30th in the NBA) and 272.2 (2nd last in the NBA with OKC just behind us) on the season. So we're actually passing the ball less during this current insane run offensively. Last year we actually made way more passes per game with 305.4 which was right in the middle of the pack at 15th.
We're also near the bottom of the league in assists per game on the season, however in the last 10 games we're up to 13th with 22.6 assists per game (despite the team overall passing the ball significantly less times per game).
We aren't making quicker decisions with the ball either. We actually hold the ball more than any other team in the league with our guys averaging 3.00 seconds per touch and 2.53 dribbles per touch which actually lead the NBA.
I think there's a false narrative that we're suddenly moving the ball more or better. The numbers don't support it. It seems like the primary reason for the improved offense is better finishing and shooting on passes (we lead the NBA in points per touch at 0.284). We have not become some expert ball movement team, everything is still being created primarily by DeRozan, Lowry and CoJo to a lesser extent, however on the receiving end players are knocking down their shots at a higher rate.
This is again supported simply by looking at the shooting percentages of our guys. Lowry, Ross and Powell are all shooting 44% from the arc on the season. Carroll, CoJo and 2Pat struggled early but are shooting 43%, 47% and 49% from the arc in the last 10 games as well as 50%, 50% and 45% from the field.
Guys are knocking down shots at a higher clip leading to each touch and offensive possession being more efficient despite more or less the same style of play. It's an observation bias, some of us see Lowry pass to DeMar then DeMar take his man one on one and find 2Pat in the corner, he makes the 3 and we think "good ball movement". Well no, really that's just what we've always been doing just that the shots are going in at a crazy high clip right now.
This is one of the reasons I'm really concerned by our now 22nd ranked defense because I don't think our guys can maintain these percentages in the playoffs. And when that happens our offense will fall off from the historic perch it's at right now and become much more containable.
EDIT: I think some people misunderstood my intention/message here. I'm not advocating for a change in our play style offensively. I'm actually saying it's fine but it's not this ultra ball-movement style that people think it is. It's simply that what we've been doing for the past 3 years now (playing through DeMar and Lowry) is working even better than it has in the past. The improved offense is not a result of more ball movement, in fact there's actually been less just the quality has increased because guys are playing and shooting better.
However this year, we have actually passed the ball less. A lot less. We're averaging 259.1 passes made per game over the last 10 (30th in the NBA) and 272.2 (2nd last in the NBA with OKC just behind us) on the season. So we're actually passing the ball less during this current insane run offensively. Last year we actually made way more passes per game with 305.4 which was right in the middle of the pack at 15th.
We're also near the bottom of the league in assists per game on the season, however in the last 10 games we're up to 13th with 22.6 assists per game (despite the team overall passing the ball significantly less times per game).
We aren't making quicker decisions with the ball either. We actually hold the ball more than any other team in the league with our guys averaging 3.00 seconds per touch and 2.53 dribbles per touch which actually lead the NBA.
I think there's a false narrative that we're suddenly moving the ball more or better. The numbers don't support it. It seems like the primary reason for the improved offense is better finishing and shooting on passes (we lead the NBA in points per touch at 0.284). We have not become some expert ball movement team, everything is still being created primarily by DeRozan, Lowry and CoJo to a lesser extent, however on the receiving end players are knocking down their shots at a higher rate.
This is again supported simply by looking at the shooting percentages of our guys. Lowry, Ross and Powell are all shooting 44% from the arc on the season. Carroll, CoJo and 2Pat struggled early but are shooting 43%, 47% and 49% from the arc in the last 10 games as well as 50%, 50% and 45% from the field.
Guys are knocking down shots at a higher clip leading to each touch and offensive possession being more efficient despite more or less the same style of play. It's an observation bias, some of us see Lowry pass to DeMar then DeMar take his man one on one and find 2Pat in the corner, he makes the 3 and we think "good ball movement". Well no, really that's just what we've always been doing just that the shots are going in at a crazy high clip right now.
This is one of the reasons I'm really concerned by our now 22nd ranked defense because I don't think our guys can maintain these percentages in the playoffs. And when that happens our offense will fall off from the historic perch it's at right now and become much more containable.
EDIT: I think some people misunderstood my intention/message here. I'm not advocating for a change in our play style offensively. I'm actually saying it's fine but it's not this ultra ball-movement style that people think it is. It's simply that what we've been doing for the past 3 years now (playing through DeMar and Lowry) is working even better than it has in the past. The improved offense is not a result of more ball movement, in fact there's actually been less just the quality has increased because guys are playing and shooting better.
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