Koloko, Barnes & Achiuwa stand out in Raptors' preseason win vs. Jazz

Amit Mann breaks down notable performances from the Toronto Raptors' 114-82 preseason win vs. the Utah Jazz.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: The Raptors are finally back playing basketball, man. Won 14-82 over the Utah Jazz in their preseason debut. Let's talk about all of it. But before we do all that, I got to get you to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Like I said, the Raptors are finally here. And we are going to be here preseason, regular season, playoffs, with video breakdowns, analysis, reacting to news, all that fun stuff. So do stay a while. Press the red button.

Now, let's start with Christian Koloko, the rookie. And the first thing we wanted to see from him, or at least what I want to see from him, can you do exactly what we saw do in summer league and translate it to preseason? And you know what? I think we did.

He did a really good job. I think what we want to see from him is activity on the defensive end. We want to see him play in that cat and mouse game [? in ?] drop coverage really well. And he showed off his spatial awareness when it comes to the ball handler and the roller. He was guarding in space very well.

Another low key thing that I really loved about Christian Koloko in this game is when it comes to rebounding, he was looking for someone to box out on the defensive end. He wasn't looking at the ball. A lot of dudes end up ball watching when a ball goes up and a shot is in the air. He was looking for someone to box out at all times. And the Raptors defense and rebounding was better when he was on the court, so that's all very good from this young man.

Offensively, It just it's about one play right here. Pascal Siakam, Christian Koloko, pick and roll, Pascal finds Christian, layup. No one else on the Raptors can do that, OK? This is the skills that he has that no one else has on the Raptors. Sure, he missed a couple of shots. And there are a couple of gimmes that he could have probably executed on, and that's OK.

But it's plays like that and also offensive rebounding on this play. He did a nice little putback on this one here. There are glimpses of him being a force on defense and also him being able to offer new skills to the Raptors halfcourt offense. So great debut for Christian.

Let's move to Scottie "I am the point guard" Barnes. And overall, pretty good performance from him. Again, early days, all that kind of stuff. But when it comes to the ball in his hands at 6'9" and being able to put pressure on the paint, pressure on the rim. Nick Nurse talked about this on media day. He wants more of that from the Raptors.

And outside of Pascal, Scottie Barnes is probably the guy who can do it best. And having that person be your point guard at the same time, it's a huge game changer for the Raptors. But he has to be able to do it consistently and also handle the ball with confidence. And he did that in game one.

There are moments, sure, where he's a little bit unsure of himself, and he made some errant passes. That is OK. But I love seeing him just, like, run down the court, in transition, or whatever, looking to just score the ball and put pressure on the paint. If he made this dunk here, it would have been crazy. But unfortunately, he missed it. That's OK. During the season, hopefully that goes in. But that was very good.

Also we want to see him make some shots. He had this turnaround shot here, which was really nice. He missed this corner 3 on some swing passes. This is a shot that we're hoping he makes this season.

Gary Trent Jr. is the only other starter I'm going to talk about. I'll leave Fred Pascal and OG until we have a bigger sample size. But for Gary, I'm calling him a starter until otherwise. Until we see something different, I'm saying Gary is a starter.

In the offseason, we wanted to see Gary develop in two areas. We wanted to see him become a better rim finisher. And we also wanted to see him become a better passer, a more willing passer. And in both cases, we saw that in game one. Again, it could change.

But this play right here, where he found OG Anunoby, he draws two defenders. The kickout pass, OG has a shot for the first basket of the game. That's a good sign. And also this one too. Here, Gary could have taken this shot. But instead, he pitched it over to Precious Achiuwa for a corner 3.

It's unfortunate that Christian Koloko got called for a moving screen. But in the end, that is a shot that Gary would have taken. But this season, hopefully that is the case where he's going to opt for a better shot instead of a good shot.

Let's move to Precious Achiuwa. And in this game, we just saw him make some really good decisions. Last season, he was faulted for, well, making bad decisions a lot. But as the season progressed, he got better and better with his decision making. And in this game, at the very least, we saw him push and isolate and look to score at the basket in the right situations when he does have an advantage, when angles are there, when there isn't a low man, when he's able to take Lauri Markkanen one on one, right?

These are the times where he has to look to score. His offensive big isn't huge right now. But at the very least, like, he's explosive. He can get to the rim. He can fly through the air, like in this transition layup here. It's all very good. And this dunk was absolutely beautiful, OK, so there is something there for him. But he just has to pick and choose when he decides to drive towards the rim so that way he's not getting himself into trouble.

Also here, Scottie Barnes finds him for a catch and shoot 3. This shot has to be there for him. It was there for him last season. He was making it at a pretty good clip actually. Above the break was one of his best spots on the court. So continue that, but a very good debut for Precious.

Moving to the [? tiredest ?] man probably on the Raptors, Juancho Hernangomez. Media day, he said that he had just returned from Europe, right? Then he goes to training camp in Victoria, which is a three-hour time difference. Then he comes to Alberta, which is again a different time zone.

So I'm sure that he's very tired. He must be physically exhausted. But a decent debut for him. What I loved about him is that when he shot 3's, the Raptors bench stood up. I guess they've seen during scrimmages and whatnot that this man is a lights-out shooter. So hopefully that continues. He hit it 3 today. Not too many, but that's OK.

Also defensively, that's probably the biggest question mark for him is how impactful can he be on that end of the court? And he made a couple of good plays. Right here as the low man, he offers some great help. And then here, he's very focused. He's structurally sound. That's how you got to do things with the Raptors.

It's a very complicated peel-switching system. But if you show you can be reliable and focus and be a real factor on this slinky style of defense that the Raptors play, he can get some minutes. And also, obviously, the shooting is there, and Lord knows the Raptors need that.

Moving to a guy who will be in the rotation, Chris Boucher, 16 points, 10 rebounds. The last time we saw him play, game six versus the 76ers, I said, hey, this is the best Chris Boucher game that we've ever seen. This is the epitome of what he needs to do off the bench.

And sure enough, in this game-- preseason, game one, I get it, but great start for him. He is vowing that he wants to be more consistent this season. And the cutting was there. The driving to the rim was there. The offensive rebounding was there. He had a couple of shots. That's all good. And then defensively, he did a good job on the perimeter and as a low man. So a good game for Chris Boucher, let's continue it.

Moving to Dalano Banton, who reportedly has an inside track on a few of those last roster spots on the Raptors. He had a great game. He was a standout at one point during training camp. Nick Nurse shouted him out, saying how well he was playing.

We don't know if the shooting is going to be there, right? We're hoping that he's able to be a catch-and-shoot threat from the perimeter. But at the very least, he's got to be able to score in transition.

What I loved about what he was doing in this game is that he was looking to score. When you have, like, your stride length, the ability to finish around the rim, you have to be looking to score and not [? deter ?] to your teammates because you are the guy who's probably in the best position to score the ball.

Within reason of course. You've got to see how the defense is reacting. But he is such a lethal weapon to have in transition. And he was looking to score. He was looking to keep the pace up with this Raptors offense.

And defensively, he had a couple of steals. It seems like he's really-- along with a few players actually. It seems like they're a little bit more comfortable in the Raptors defense because they did have a pretty decent game. Again, preseason, game one. I get it. But they were structurally sound. They knew where they had to be. And Delano was one of those guys as well.

A couple more for you. Khem Birch, essentially, he just looked healthy. It turns out, if you didn't see it that he had a torn meniscus in his knee. It wasn't just knee debris. He had a torn meniscus. And he played through that for a good portion of last season. So when we were questioning why is Khem Birch moving that way? Well, there it is.

And he looked much better. He had 5 points, five rebounds in 10 minutes. Small sample size. Whatever happens with Khem Birch and the Raptors, at the very least, it seems like he's going to be healthy this year. And that's a great sign.

Other great signs, Malachi Flynn. He had himself quite the offseason, scoring 60 points here, 70 points there in assorted [INAUDIBLE]. And it seems like it's translated to training camp. Nick Nurse also shouted him out at one point, saying he was a standout in one of the training camp days.

And in this game, we saw more poise with the ball. We saw him be decisive. He knew what he wanted to do. Collin Sexton was getting in his space quite a bit. And Malachi was confident with the ball. He was making smart decisions. He was looking to get into the lane. And the Raptors need that paint pressure. And if it didn't work out, he was still able to get a decent shot off.

Now, did they go in all the time? No, but he did step into two 3's with confidence. Those are the things that Malachi has to do. He's got to be a knockdown shooter. I've talked about it many times. This is how he's going to be able to get some minutes. But being more poised with the ball and confident and being a threat is a good thing for him to.

Wrapping up with Josh Jackson. And so if you want to assume that Dalano Banton is going to get one of the remaining roster spots, that means that essentially DJ Wilson, Justin Champagnie, and Josh Jackson are going to be battling it out for one spot, at least with the current roster, right? And it's going to be an interesting thing because Justin Champagnie unfortunately, he missed this game with an injury.

But Josh Jackson, he looked pretty good. I mean, there's some real skill there. There's a reason why he was a top pick in the NBA draft. He's got some scoring craft with the ball. He's able to finish around the rim, the jump shot. We'll see how that goes. But there is a real value to having him on your roster when it comes from a ball-handling perspective. And Justin Champagnie isn't that guy.

So what are the Raptors going to do? Are they going to opt to go with the five-year player who clearly has more experience than Justin Champagnie? Or do they go with Justin Champagnie, who's young, who's going to be able to fill a role, who's going to be a pretty decent probably catch-and-shoot player, a rebounder, who fits the ethos of the Raptors? Which one do they go with?

DJ Wilson, we'll see how things go. Maybe he finds his way into a roster spot. But at the moment, it seems like this is down to Josh Jackson and Justin Champagnie. Where do the Raptors go?

That's it from me. Like I said earlier, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Press that red button. Follow me on Twitter @Amit_Mann. We will talk to you again during preseason and as I said, of course, throughout the regular season.