I was watching the hard to watch Atlanta Hawks game when it came to me. The culture change is real. 30+ games into the season and there were the Raptors, still passing the ball. Not only passing, but passing it to Pascal as he set himself up for a 3pt shot at the top of the arc; passing it to Norm in the corner during one of the coldest slumps of his career; passing it to JV (twice) for a three pointer. The whole game was drive and kick, drive and kick.
Sure there are still moments of regression. But these guys see each other in practice. They know what each other is capable of. They are also aware of Siakim's terrible record at the 3pt line, but they recognize that he CAN make them, and the regular season is the time to build up confidence and entrain muscle memory into their process.
I believe they are fully onboard. More importantly, so is Casey. I think Casey is constantly harping on them in practice to do the right thing. He sure isn't keeping anyone on a short leash for following the program. He pulls Norm for offensive fouls while running over guys on the way to the basket, but not for corner threes.
I mentioned in the Hawks game thread, only two players in that game didn't make a three ball, Jakob and Lucas. That tells me something.
Sure there are still moments of regression. But these guys see each other in practice. They know what each other is capable of. They are also aware of Siakim's terrible record at the 3pt line, but they recognize that he CAN make them, and the regular season is the time to build up confidence and entrain muscle memory into their process.
I believe they are fully onboard. More importantly, so is Casey. I think Casey is constantly harping on them in practice to do the right thing. He sure isn't keeping anyone on a short leash for following the program. He pulls Norm for offensive fouls while running over guys on the way to the basket, but not for corner threes.
I mentioned in the Hawks game thread, only two players in that game didn't make a three ball, Jakob and Lucas. That tells me something.
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