How the Raptors can operate around team shooting woes

While it won't be easy, the Raptors can still have good offensive process with Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl on the floor together. Amit Mann and Jevohn Shepherd discuss how. Full episode can be found on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: Massai was asked yesterday-- I forget the report or I would-- I would credit them if I could. He was asked about 3-point shooting in the Raptors. And how do you-- do you think it's important that you have that? Or do you think you can build around, you know, the fact that you're not a great 3-point shooter? [INAUDIBLE] he's like, no, we have to become a top 10, top 5 3-point shooting team. It's going to be a process.

And I'm mentioning this because the murky part of Jakob Poltl being on the court with, you know, Pascal, and Scottie, and stuff like that is that your 3-point shooting is going down the tank. Pascal has his moments as a catch-and-shoot player and also just a pull up shooter. Scottie has his moments. And Jakob, you know, he's shooting 60% from the free throw line. And that's a career high for him, that's good. But he's not a 3-point shooter either.

So how do you think you work around this? Let's get to the offensive side of things. Cause Jakob does offer a lot of things I think is gonna help the Raptors have a better flow and a better pace. But the 3-point shooting itself, when you have Jakob, and Pascal, and Scottie all on the court, how do you work around it?

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Well, I think, for one, where he helps there and from the 3-point shooting is you now give another dimension, right? Because this is somebody that you can throw the ball into the post and that commands some attention.

AMIT MANN: Sure.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Right? Because he has the ability to pass the basketball the way he does. If you watch how he played with the Spurs, there's nights where he's led them in assists, right?

AMIT MANN: Yeah, man.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: And we're talking 3, 4, 5, 6 assists. And over his career, he's passed the ball well. He can also put the ball in the hole. Is he gonna give you 20 a night? No. But he gives you something enough that you have to respect it.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Anybody that's shooting 60% from the floor, you have to be able to res-- you have to respect what he's doing, right? So that now, you know, commands some attention. And you can now kick out. Are you the greatest 3-point shooting team? No, but you have capable 3-point shooters. So if you're able to get cleaner looks, more open looks, guys are going to knock them down.

I think a lot of what was happening before is we're in a time in the NBA where everybody's switching everything, right? So if guys are trying to isolate and go one on one from the perimeter, or get in pick and roll actions, and teams are switching, there's no advantage, right? So you're not getting the cleaner looks. You're getting as open shots as you'd like. You're getting some of those tougher shots off of the dribble. You're getting some shots where guys are, you know, trying to beat the shot clock. And it becomes a hot potato, you're kicking out to somebody. And they're getting it up under duress, which aren't great shots, right?

AMIT MANN: Sure.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Especially for a team that's not in rhythm from the 3 point line.

AMIT MANN: Mm-hmm.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Well, now, you're not fighting that as much, you can actually dump it inside. Or you can run a pick and roll with a big and, you know, he gets that short roll. And he has the ability to make that little push shot, make that little floater, right? But I think it just changes up the idea, the concept of what you can do by just having that presence.

AMIT MANN: Mm.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Drop it down. He's shooting 60% from the floor.

AMIT MANN: Yep.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: So he knows-- he knows himself, right? He knows his-- what his strengths. He knows his weaknesses. And you stick to that.

AMIT MANN: He's averaging 3.1 assists per game, that's a career high, and a 16.6 assist percentage, which is, again, a career high for him, one of the best among centers. And the Raptors themselves are 24th in assists per game. Look, Jakob, I mean he's a next action big. He's honed in on that skill with San Antonio. You can see how he could help in their DHO, in their pick and roll.

Fred's needed a pick and roll partner, a reliable one. He's got one now, who's gonna actually set great screens. He's gonna roll the bucket. Fred himself is a good passer in his own right. And you are able to see ways in which those two could hopefully become a bit of a pick and roll duo that could really bend defenses and get them collapsing. And then you can get more open shots. Obviously, the more open the better, for any shooter, right, whether it's Pascal or Scottie.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Well, to add to that too, it's-- he's 7' 1", right?

AMIT MANN: Sight lines sight lines.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Right. So there's no, you know, defenses on the court level.

AMIT MANN: Yeah

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Right? But there's no defense when he puts his arms up in the air, and gives you a big target, and rolls to the basket as a big target. There's no defense there.

AMIT MANN: Sure.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: There's nobody can get up there. I think we've been on the opposing end of it a lot of times, where we've come up with these, you know, bigs that were giving up a couple inches to.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: And they're a big target. You know, the perimeter can get it into them. And they're just turning and dropping it in the basket, right? So now you can become that team where you can take advantage of that match-up, right?

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: 7' 1", 7-foot wingspan. OK, give me a big target. Fred, give me a big target. Get the ball and you just-- you're just [? inching ?] it.

AMIT MANN: They ought to start cutting a bit more too. I mean, with someone like Jakob. That's where he is gonna be best utilized, especially if you're not gonna be a great 3-point shooting team, then you probably have to have a bit more movement. And I like the idea of Gary and Fred, you know cutting off [INAUDIBLE]. They're doing DHO. Oh, wait, no, second, we're gonna cut back door and Jakob finds him. Or Jakob decides to keep the ball and he has an open lane to the rim. Or guess what, maybe off ball, you got Fred and Scottie doing some screening actions. And one of them flashes to the middle. And now you got a high-low thing happening.

This is how they're gonna have to think, and probably just being, like, really, really purposeful with their actions, and doing things with purpose, and making it fast, and being aware of the spacing is gonna be really important. Like, it's-- yeah, 3-point shooting's gonna be a problem. And teams are going try and make them have to make shots from there. But for the Raptors, you have to be able to overwhelm teams with your size and your movement. And they haven't been a great movement team, in terms of just, like, cutting off ball. They've been developing that. But now you have a big who can probably do it and help you just get better offense, overall.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: Yeah. I think that's also where-- you know, and Massai touched on it yesterday as well in his presser, in terms of, you know, some of the selfishness that we've seen from. And he didn't single out just one player, just across the board at times. And it's tough, right, when you're not making shots. And sometimes you're playing a little bit too much one on one.

The two or three possessions go by and nobody else has touched the ball. Then you finally get it and you're like, OK, it's my turn now, right? Well, now, when you have a post presence that is also a willing passer, I think that that helps everybody so much more because now you get to move off the ball and trust that you're gonna get it back, trust your cuts.

And the reality is, yeah, you cut that door, you get a dunk. Everybody wants to dunk. Everybody wants to get the fans involved and get that, so get that excitement going, get the juices flowing. So I think you get a bit more there.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: That 3-point shooting, again, if you get cleaner looks and you're not playing as perimeter oriented, then you start to get those wide-open shots. And you knock down one, then you feel comfortable knocking down two. You're not thinking about taking them.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

JEVOHN SHEPHERD: And that's where you start to roll a bit. So, you know, similar to what Masai said, you want to become a better 3-point shooting team, whether it be by development or evaluating later and seeing what you can get in the summer. But in today's game-- and it's not just about the analytics-- in today's game, the way defenses play, you have to be able to shoot that.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.