Takeaways from Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick in preseason win vs. Kings

Amit Mann offers thoughts on the teams offence and defence within Darko Rajakovic's system. Also, the play of Scottie Barnes, Dennis Schroder, Gradey Dick among others in Toronto's preseason win vs. the Kings.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: Welcome, welcome, welcome. My name's Amit Mann. Welcome to our YouTube channel. I'm going to recap the Raptors' 112-99 win in their first preseason game. Yes, I am aware that it was a few days ago. But if you've been following our channel, you know that I was in BC for training camp over the past-- for four or five days. And I got back. It was Thanksgiving. Didn't actually watch the game, so I figured I may as well do a recap anyways because there's not another game until Sunday.

And also, things are pretty new and exciting with the Raptors right now. So why not talk about them because this was a fun game? As I said, they went 112-99. Oh. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, please. Thanks. Appreciate that. So, yes, the game. Raptors, 96.6 per 100 possessions in the half court. That is a slight uptick compared to their half court offense this past season-- 32 free throws along with 24 made, 30 assists on 39 made field goals, 34% from 3, 62.9 true shooting percentage, 29 turnovers, and 29 fouls.

Let's talk about the offense. And we'll get to the other parts as we go here. But overall, one third of their shots came from the rim. And they shot 16 to 24, 66% from there. 61% in the short, mid-range. They shot 11 of18. They were getting to the rim, which is a great sign because this team really struggled to get there this past season. Obviously, a lot of it was in transition. But as a whole, you could tell that the team-- they're buying into this Darko system. I think they're having a lot of fun with it.

I love the tempo they're playing with. They were cutting hard. They were passing fast. They were making quick decisions, and the tempo was really good to see. And with Darko, he wants the buy-in. And at training camp, you could tell that as soon as we left the mess of media day, the players, they're in their habitat. They're in the gym. They're working hard. They were smiling. They were having fun.

I think he's getting the buy-in that we're hoping for from a new coach, and that was obviously great to see. I love the pace that they're playing with. They're pushing off misses nonstop, and this is where the idea of having four ball handlers and then, obviously, a center comes into play. It doesn't matter who gets the rebound. It doesn't matter who's ahead. As long as it's not Jakob Poeltl, you pass it ahead. You get the ball down the floor. And that's a great sign for the Toronto Raptors.

29 turnovers. With that, when several different people are in new positions, uncomfortable positions-- they're having to use different skill sets-- the turnovers are going to come. So that's why you're going to see a Gary Trent Jr. With five turnovers. Chris Boucher is dribbling the ball down the floor. You got Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Dennis Schroder.

All these guys are acclimating on the fly to a new system. And also, they're learning about each other. So I'm not surprised that there are a lot of turnovers in this game. I think it's actually a good indication that they're trying to play a face pace. They're trying to make quick decisions. And with that, there's going to be some turnover as the Raptors-- they're one of the low turnover teams in the NBA last year.

And I don't think that's going to be the case this upcoming season, just because of their style of basketball. Which is OK because, if it's conducive to a better half-court offense, I think we'd all agree that's a good thing to have. But once they got past half court, especially if they were coming off of a make, I loved how fast they were getting into their half-court offense. It was a lot of drag screens. There was plays where you would have Gary Trent Jr. Seemingly just minding his own business on the end line. And all of a sudden, boom, he's flashing into the middle.

Thad Young is setting a screen for him. He's getting the ball, and he's getting the Raptors an advantage on the offense. And now, they're getting the kings in rotation. These are good, positive signs because you want to see them playing with more detail, more pace, obviously, but more focus on the offensive end. And I think we were seeing that. And going through some of the plays that they were running, it was a lot of empty side stuff, which, again, is great for Pascal Siakam, a Scottie Barnes, a OG Anunoby.

You want them going downhill in space. That wasn't always the case this past season. Nick, he did have moments where he was using empty corner stuff, empty side stuff. But it wasn't necessarily a principle within the offense. But I think it's going to be there with Darko this upcoming season. We saw the high post system. Jakob Poeltl, Thad Young, Chris Boucher, geez, Mouhamadou Gueye-- all these guys had the ball in their hands and the high post, and they had cutters going around them.

And the good thing about running a DHO style of offense is that it's less predictable. So if you're running a high pick and roll, everyone knows it's going to be high pick and roll. But with a dribble handoff, you could make it into a dribble handoff. It could be a pick and roll. You can make some decisions on the fly with it. And I think the Raptors need more options with their half-court offense, and we saw that in this preseason game. It wasn't just they ran one action and it was, all of a sudden, ISO basketball.

They were running more plays. It was multiple actions. They were trying new things. And if it resulted in nothing, OK, let's swing to the corner. And now, Jakob Poeltl goes screen for OG Anunoby on the wing. Or you know what? Jakob Poeltl, take the ball, dribble towards OG Anunoby. And now he's going to take the ball. He's going to head downhill. He's going to kick it out. And maybe there's a shot there.

They were constantly moving, and I like the three-man game they were running in a lot of cases. Because they would have guys in the corners but then, up top, they're running some horns, cross, screens. They were running some flares. They were running a lot of fun stuff between those three players at times. And again, it's just more options for this team. And we saw them run some Spain pick and roll. We saw them run some staggers, some pinch posts. We saw some delay and get actions with their bigs.

And also contributing to the pace that they're running, it's the drag screens in transition. It's fantastic way to keep teams on their heels, and the Raptors were doing that. And I just loved seeing it. These are positive signs for their offense, and it's confirming what we thought was going to be the case-- that this is going to be a very different-looking half-court offense. But let's look at some of the players specifically.

Jakob Poeltl. So his impact on the game wasn't robust. He had, what, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists. But I think, with him, he's ran DHOs and been a playmaker-- a playmaker hub already with the San Antonio Spurs. With the Raptors, along with learning this system, along with understanding how to use, how to advantages his teammates, it's going to take some time. But the playmaking chops are definitely there.

There was a case where he was running a pick and roll with Dennis Schroder and Jakob slipped. He's in space now around the free throw line. And Jalen McDaniels, he's curling around the baseline, and Jakob found him. And then there are other cases where-- actually, it was, again, Jalen McDaniels where he cuts backdoor, Jakob finds him, it draws a foul.

He's going to pick this up pretty quickly, and there's only growth going to happen from Jakob Poeltl and Dennis Schroder in the pick and roll. It's not perfect because we don't have the pull-up threat, necessarily, from Dennis Schroder-- although, I'll get to that in a second. But I think we'll see their chemistry improve. And when you have the smarts of a Jakob Poeltl and you have the smarts of a Dennis Schroder, along with his speed and his ability to cut backdoor, the Raptors, they, seemingly, are making an effort to keep the paint open, to keep under the basket open.

So when you have that, there's always an avenue for a Dennis Schroder to get downhill. And that's going to be a good release valve for this team and as we go in the season. But can Jakob Poeltl create some offense for himself? That's going to be another thing, too. As a DHO hub, you have to be able to be a scoring threat, too. And that's why we're seeing him take some shots from the elbow, some shots-- he's taking some drives towards the rim sometimes. He's going to need to do that to keep defenses honest.

Look at no further than what the Warriors did with Sabonis this past postseason. They just left him out there at the elbow, and he wasn't able to convert on these opportunities. And that just can't happen. It's going to get you caught at some point. Let's see what Jakob can do with it. Moving to Jalen McDaniels and Chris Boucher because I think they're almost like a yin and yang kind of situation here. I love the fit of Jalen McDaniels from the get go. And Chris Boucher, he's one of the best cutters on the team already.

But for both of them, the question is, are they going to be able to hit their 3's? Obviously. And also, can they just be that consistent source of energy? And during the scrimmage, I saw Chris Boucher. He was hitting a few 3's. He had three 3's. And also, in drills, he's working with Pascal Siakam, Jeff Dowtin Jr., Ron Harper Jr. And Chris is winning some of these 3-point drills.

So it seems like he got in the lab, and I'm hoping that he has a great 3-point shooting season. It may be an unorthodox stroke, but he's shooting at a pretty good clip right now. He made one in this game against the Kings. And as I said in the scrimmage, he was everywhere. He had a great scrimmage. I think he had two or three 3's, at least, and he was cutting. He was offensive rebounding. And Jalen McDaniels, he is an instant fit on this Raptors team.

He had a relocation-- three off the ball-- that I thought was really nice. And also, he's a great offensive rebounder. He's got a floater, which is really cool, that he's going to be able to use in some of those tight windows around the rim because he is able to get downhill a little bit. He's able to pass the ball. And so, if he isn't able to get to the rim in that short, mid-range area, that floater is going to become really handy for him.

I love his game. He had three offensive rebounds in this one. And it's different from how the Raptors attacked offensive rebounding last season because it seems like he's more watching the ball and he's looking at the trajectory. And he's pinpointing where it's going to go. And then he goes and gets it, and he's able to get a few easy baskets. I think he's going to be a constant off the bench. I think he's going to be a constant piece off the bench.

He's going to be a release for a few players-- in OG and Pascal. He's going to help them keep their minutes down because of how reliable he's going to be in his role. So I'm enjoying those two, definitely. The Raptors-- I've talked about it. They're going to have much better adept this upcoming season. And those two are going to be at the center of it off the bench.

Moving to OG and Anunoby. There isn't too much to say about OG. It's kind of similar to Pascal, too. Those are two guys who know what they're going to be offering the Raptors. And they're both pretty comfortable in their roles, and they've been around the league for a little while. As Pascal Siakam said, I'm a Hooper. I love watching basketball. I love playing basketball. They've seen a lot, done a lot. So I don't have any issues with how they're going to adapt to this system.

I think they're both extremely smart players, and they're going to find their way. OG had hit a nice sidestep 3 on the second quarter. That was good to see. He was on balance, and that's been one of his problems over his career, is can he maintain his balance on his shots? And when he's driving, can he pull up for two and be on an even playing field? And that was a good sign for OG.

But again, these are early, early stages for him. I don't doub that he's going to find cutting windows. I don't doubt that he's going to rebound. He was getting downhill a little bit, and he had a nice drive on Trey Lyles. And also, he was doing the early work. And Scottie Barnes, which we'll get to in a second, he was rewarding him. Early post ups, get a seal, and just get yourself an easy bucket. Good stuff.

And Pascal? I mean, 0.5 basketball. He knows how to do it, and he was making quick decisions. He did miss two 3's, which-- we'll see how his 3-point shot goes this season. But there's no doubt in my mind he's going to keep on making the right decision. And it was good to see him have some more energy on the defensive end. One thing that was talked about this past season-- the slippage in his defense.

And I think, because of the resume that he has, I think there's reason to believe that it was the reps that he was getting offensively, the hub he had to be. Often, star players do rest on the defensive end a little bit because of the toll that it takes for them to be an offensive hub. And considering how demanding the Raptors' system was, I think it took, again, a toll on Pascal Siakam. But I don't doubt we're going to see a much better season from him on the defensive end. And this was a good start for him.

Moving to Dennis Schroder. So Dennis-- I mean, people have their opinions on whether or not he should be the starting point guard. I felt like he should be because if the Raptors want to win games, I think he puts you in the best position to win games because you do need a game manager. Yes, there's a lack of shooting in the starting lineup as it currently stands, but you need a game manager. You need someone who's got a great feel for the game and also someone who can distribute the ball.

You want Scottie Barnes to improve his scoring ability. We know he has point guard tendencies. He calls himself-- his favorite player was Magic Johnson. I get it. He has that pedigree within him. Also, at the same time, if he wants to be the best version of himself-- which may be a point guard-- he's got to be able to score the ball better and more efficiently and from different spots on the court. And I think Dennis is going to help him do that.

He said, during one of his availabilities that training camp, that I'm going to push Scottie. But at the same time, I've been impressed with how he's worked in training camp. So you want someone that's going to help Scottie develop, get him to the right spots, help him be successful. And I think Dennis is going to do that because, from everything I'm seeing, he's a great communicator with the team. He's a willing passer. He's great in transition, which the Raptors are obviously going to be-- it's going to be one of the pillars of the Raptors' offense is getting out in transition, running off misses.

And you want Dennis with the ball in his hand so, that way, a Scottie, a Pascal, an OG, they can finish the ball. And I loved some of the passes that he was making. He had this cross-court pass to OG in semitransition. That was great. He saw that OG had a mismatch at one point, and he found him. And then there was another play where he saw Pascal had a mismatch, but he just wasn't able to get the ball to him. And then the clock was winding down.

And, again, this is another advantage of Dennis Schroder, is that he can get downhill anytime he wants, provided the spacing is there. And it was late shot clock, and he just beat his man. He drew a foul. But then, he went to Pascal afterwards and probably saying something to the effect of, I was trying to get the ball to you. Window wasn't there. They dabbed up, and they moved on. He's going to be a great addition for this team from a leadership perspective-- on court, off court.

The pick and roll with Jakob-- I think the chemistry is just going to get better and better. And it could be potent in some ways. I think his 3-point shot is going to be better than people are giving him credit for. Usually players that are more on ball, that got they got their hands on the ball more, they tend to do a little bit better with their 3-point shot just, because they got the feel, the flow. And he's going to be able to be a starting point guard. How many minutes he plays, it could be on the 30 minutes area, depending on game by game, but he's going to have the ball in his hands more.

And usually players do shoot the ball better when they got that feel. And I think he's going to have that feel, and I have no doubt that, Darko, when he was signed to the Raptors, that he told them we're going to need you to hit some 3's, and you got to hit them at a decent clip. And I think I'm confident that he's going to be able to hit the open shots at a fairly high efficiency this upcoming season. It may not have a lot of variety as 3-point shot, but can he just hit some of those 3's on unders on pick and rolls. Can he hit the open catch and shoot 3's, those kinds of things. I think he'll have a bit of a rebound 3-point shooting season, compared to his previous year with the Lakers.

Right, now Gary Trent Jr., this system is made for someone like him with his skill set. Your point 5 basketball, be able to pull up from anywhere inside the in the 3-point line. And he's going to be challenged with his ball handling skills, with his playmaking skills, I mentioned earlier, he had five turnovers. He was running pick and roll a little bit, he was hitting some floaters in the pick and roll, he was snaking a little bit, and getting the defender on his back, and then he was executing off of it.

He's going to be able to get his opportunities. If he's going to be in the sixth-man role, he's coming in. And when he did come in into this game, he was ready to shoot. They were running plays for him, and it seems like he's got a bit of a giddy up in his step right now. He was getting downhill a little bit, penetrating the basket.

The passing is where you want to see some improvement, being able to find his teammates, and just being aware of where his surroundings are, and having a spatial awareness of the court, and understanding plays at a different level, where it's not just where he should be, he knows where his teammates are going to be, and he's able to execute off of that. But five free throws, it's a good indication he had moments last season, where he was getting to the free throw line. And I think that's the best version of him, he shot what, it was 7 of 12, he had three 3's.

So he had four field goals made that weren't 3's. These are good indications for Gary Trent. And he shot really well in the scrimmage from 3. He had some really nice shots, really quick catch and shoots, and it seems like that's going to continue, at least hopefully. And he's going to need to do that too, he's going to have to have a great shooting season.

But these other skills too are going to help him be an even bigger factor in the offense. But if we're talking coming off pindowns, or coming off staggers, or running in transition, leaking out, filling in lanes along the 3-point line, all this stuff, this is stuff that he's going to have to do. And I hope that he has a rebound season, because we all know then that's contract year for him, he's got to be able to cut in and out of space really well, and relocate.

And if he does all these things, he could have a very impactful role this season with the Raptors, more so than he's already projected to have under this system, which is made for his skill set. Scottie Barnes now, let's move to Scottie. He's been great so far. I love that he shot seven free throws. The way he's pushing the ball, it's so good for the Raptors, it's so good for his play style.

When I was watching him, I was getting little vibes of Giannis in his early days, in the sense that, at some point you know, Giannis had teams backpedaling constantly. As soon as a miss happens, he's coming down the court, and he's coming down your throat. And you saw everyone on the other team, they're getting back, because he's just a load to deal with.

Now Scottie may not have the brute physicality that Giannis has, but I could see him getting to that point where he's so cerebral, that if you don't pick him up with two guys, or if you don't negate those edges he's trying to find, he's going to find the open man, or he's going to create positive offense for the Raptors in transition. And these have been great steps for him, he had that play against JaVale McGee, who was a pick and roll with York, and he just turned the corner, and he dunked it with his right hand on the left side. And that burst, I don't think we saw that as much this past season.

So the shape he's in, he says that he's in great shape, 240 pounds. He's running all the time, his cardio's right. It seems like he's stronger. I think these are really good signs for Scottie for his ability to just be a menace for the other team and transition.

And then he had a couple of 3's in the scrimmage, he had three, I believe. And there's some catch and shoots there from around the wing. This game he shot 0 of 2 from 3. But wherever that gets to is wherever it gets to. But we're going to see him with the ball in his hands a lot.

He's obviously still such a smart player. He's finding his teammates, he's making these very sweet dump-off passes and transition. But also he's finding an OG post up down low, or he's finding Pascal, or he's finding that cutter. And these are going to be great opportunities for him to expand his game.

We've been looking for that rebound year from Scottie, a big year three. We probably are going to get something to that effect, I think, because he's going to have the ball in his hands a lot. He was second on the team in usage in this game, and actually Gary Trent Jr. Was the highest usage player of all of them, interesting enough. And, yeah, I want to see him throw his weight around a little bit. Be a problem for teams in transition, and also in empty side stuff.

You have the talent to face up, and want to see him post up, face up, to show us all you can do on the offensive end. At the same time, be a playmaker and rebounder. And this is a great opportunity for him to just show off his massive skill set.

Wrapping up in a minute here. So Malachi Flynn, I don't have too much to say about him, but I just want to point out that he had 19 minutes, shot one of six, he had five assists, three turnovers, which is fine. But right now, he's getting backup point guard minutes, but also Scottie's getting point guard minutes, so we'll have to see how that shakes out as pre-season goes on. But I think he's going to get a legit opportunity to find himself a rotation spot.

And you got to factor in, that we can say that he's had a lot of chances under the Nick Nurse regime, and he has, but no management office wants to be wrong about a player they draft. So this is an opportunity for him to restart, and also for the Raptors to kind of restart with him too. a new coach, and let's see if he can make this stretch happen, where he's able to show what he can do under a different coach. how was going to go, it's going to vary. He spent a lot of his time in this game alongside Gary Trent Jr. and as I said, he was the highest usage player.

So Malachi wasn't looking for his offense by himself, necessarily, but right now, it's a lot about knowing the system and being a game manager. Like I said, with Dennis Schroder. Are you maintaining the pace of the offense, the tempo? Are you making smart decisions? Are you cutting hard to the basket? Are you making your shots?

He shot one of four, he made one off of Jalen McDaniels, found him off. He was coming off a stagger screen and he found Malachi, he relocated a little bit towards the wing and he had a shot, great shot. But he shot one of four. Can he stabilize that? He did hit a couple of nice shots in the scrimmage. So sometimes, shot goes in, sometimes doesn't. It is what it is. But this is a big moment for Malachi. I mean, I feel like we've been saying that the past few seasons. But it is a really big moment for Malachi Flynn to prove that he belongs in the NBA.

Wrapping up with Gradey Dick. So I loved his minutes. I thought they were really solid. Again, I said this during Summer League, too. That it's just about seeing him continue to evolve and show he belongs at different levels of basketball. So he showed it at Summer League, and in this game, he showed how dangerous he can be as a shooter. So he shot one of four, but that one shot he hit, I mean, it was like a very basic dribble handoff with, I believe, Markquis Nowell.

All Markquis did was walk in front, or run in front of Gradey's defender, and that's all it took for Gradey to get a shot off. Took that little time, and all the shots he took, they were very makeable. He shot two of six, he hit this shot coming off of a Thad Young screen above the break. And he came off a screen, he took one dribble, and he hit the shot. He was in the mid-range to over Alex Len.

He also had the same kind of shot previously, but they call it a double dribble, mysteriously. He wasn't really a double dribble, but the pace that he plays with is very good. His decision making is very good. He found Gary Trent Jr. with a nice pass along the wing as well for three, and I just like the intent that he comes off screens. He's ready to shoot at all times. He can get the shot off in a heartbeat. And if not, then he knows where the ball has to go next.

Like you can see why the Raptors are so high on him, and you can see why, as I observe, that in the drills during scrimmage with the starters, the guys that I'd mentioned-- OG, Pascal, Jakob, Scottie, and Dennis, sometimes Pascal was subbing out, and they're putting Gradey Dick in there to work with them.

They want him to be ready to go for this upcoming season. They want to see him have an impact at the NBA level. I wasn't sure how much time he was going to spend with the G-League, because obviously it's good for him, it's good reps and stuff like that. But if they're going to run the same kind of plays for him, but they're going to do it at the NBA level, then, I mean, maybe this is it. Maybe he's going to be staying with the big club.

We'll have to see how things go. I mean, the minute distribution in this one-- I mean, can't take everything from it but a lot of the guys-- Gradey, Mouhamadou, Garrett, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Markquis Nowell-- these guys are getting minutes late in the game. It seemed like it was like a 10-man rotation kind of for the most part throughout the game and then things kind of opened up a little bit as the game went on in the late third quarter and so forth.

But I think they want Gradey to be a rotation player because they need his 3-point shooting, and the plays that they're going to be running for him, pinch post, coming off double staggers, coming off pin downs, these kinds of things, like, he's done this stuff already at the college level. It's about acclimating to the NBA level. How fast he can get up to speed with it, that's going to dictate how many minutes he plays in the NBA.

Also, of course, his defense. Is he able to hold his own on defense and know the principles? Which we'll get to now. Right, the defense, because it is obviously very different from what we saw with Nick Nurse. So there isn't as much switching. Darko had mentioned that, that he feels like it's kind of a cop out with defense, that you should try and get through the screens and maintain position. It also keeps energy up for all the players in those moments.

But you know, I do worry a little bit about screen navigation for a Scottie Barnes, to Pascal Siakam. Usually screen navigation is reserved for some guards because it's easier for them to get around screens. But it could be a little bit trickier for those guys, but you can now also agree that if they are doing their job, you got Jakob Poeltl back there, or if not Jakob Poeltl, Christian Koloko hopefully at some point, or maybe it's the Precious Achiuwa. There's going to be-- it's going to be pretty hard for a player to get through those.

I think they're banking on some pretty solid drop coverage, and I think Jakob Poeltl, his footwork, his ability to stifle angles is going to be very useful. I see the vision with that. It seems like deflections are going to be, again, an emphasis for the Raptors, along with most team, actually. Like, most teams want to get a lot of deflections. Assistant Vin Bhavnani at halftime had mentioned that they had 13 deflections in the second quarter, 18 total in the first half.

So they want that, and I think it's a great indication of aggression, of stifling a team, of getting them out of their actions, their primary actions, and taking it to them in the right way. But at the same time, you could tell that with the Raptors stunting, they're recovering, they're tagging, they're making sure that they're forcing long passes and long finishes from the spot on the court that they want players shooting from.

The corner 3's, they were harder to come by. The weak side defender, he has a foot in the paint but as the ball is swinging around to the other corner, he's making his way over there, and it's going to be a point of emphasis for them, is that they don't want to allow too many corner 3's. With everything that they're doing, it's a much more composed system. They're relying on their length more than they did this past season.

They're going to be probably a better defensive rebounding team. Not that they weren't good once Jakob Poeltl got there, because they were, but it's going to be an easier way for them to run off misses. If they get the rebound, now they can just go. Now you have four players running out there, and they're able to get the ball up the floor really quickly.

So I think they're going to be a pretty damn good defensive team. I've got to say. I'm excited to see them on that the end of the court. It's really coming down to offensively, are they going to be able to be competent? Can they be a top 20 half court offense, or something of that nature? Because if they are, then they could be an interesting team as the season goes on.

But a lot of observations, we are only in one preseason game. We got another one on Sunday, and then there's another one on Tuesday, and then they wrap it up on Friday, I believe, against the Wizards, which will be their final preseason game next Friday. So hope you enjoy the recap. Thanks so much for listening, or watching, and my name is Amit Mann, rate, review, and subscribe. We'll talk to you soon.