Why is Pascal Siakam struggling?

Amit Mann and Savanna Hamilton discuss the struggles of Pascal Siakam and what is contributing to the All-Star's slump. Listen to the full episode on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: They get Pascal Siakam back to being his All-Star self. And it hasn't been there for a little while now. Last 13 games, 20 points, 43% shooting, 31.5% from 3-8 rebounds, five assists. He was operating in a phone booth the entire season. And now, that phone booth has actually collapsed a little bit more.

But now, he's also not in the spots on the court that are the best for him. So what are you seeing from Pascal? And I guess, do think this is how it's going to be for the rest of the season, or is there reason to believe that he's going to be able to turn it around as we head down the stretch?

SAVANNA HAMILTON: It's really hard for me. If you think of even the probability game, right? It's really hard for me to picture any player, let alone Pascal of all people, to have, what, there's 10 more games left in the season, really, like 10?

AMIT MANN: Uh-huh.

SAVANNA HAMILTON: To have 10 bad games, no, that's just not going to happen. And right now, players, they go through ebbs and flows and dips in their career. Like, we know that. And it happens in the season. And it happens to some people sooner. It happens to some people later. Pascal had a great [AUDIO OUT] at the start of the season. And then he had that tweak when they were playing against Dallas with Luka.

And then he was out for a few weeks there. And that kind of took him out of rhythm, I think. But he still had glimpses of playing very well, even when he was finding back his rhythm. You could look at Gary Trent Jr, where he was not shooting well at all. And he'll be the first one to tell you that in the beginning of the season. And he was getting all those extra shots up at the end of a game, just to get back his shot. And now, he's one of the most consistent shooters on the team.

And we've seen OG. We've seen Fred. Every single player has had their struggles. And so right now, what we're seeing is just a little bit of a struggle with Pascal. I'm sure it doesn't help in terms of morale, and he even spoke to it himself, that sometimes-- this is last week, he spoke, that sometimes, he goes through things where, it's almost like his love for the game is a little tested. He still loves the game. He wakes up. He always wants to work hard and everything.

But sometimes, when you're losing, you're not in the best mental space. However, the team has been winning, despite the fact that he's not even playing at his optimal self. And to be honest, I know it's kind of a moral victory against the Bucks. The Bucks, you're right. I totally agree with you. They have 1,001 ways to like, get to you. And they are truly the best team in the league.

And so when I think about the fact that the Raptors were able to come back from their shooting streak right off the top of the game-- they were shooting around 60% from 3. They got them down to 39% by the half time. So that's an adjustment right there. And they were only down by 2 at half. And then, as you said, Lopez, he just decided to go off by the end of the game. And that was really hard to contain.

Not to mention, the Raptors, they had a lot of turnovers. So when you go back to the original question of Pascal-- and yeah, so he's going to come back because it's just a probability game of, he's not going to suck for the next 10 games or nothing. He doesn't even-- he's not even that bad right now. I think we also just have a certain level of expectation from him. And we just need to see it probably made up a little bit more in the offensive end.

But at the same time, we should be looking out to see if he's doing more hustle plays. What is he making up for on the defensive end as well that he could potentially be contributing to the team that way because at the end of the day, the Raptors still have so many great offensive threats, right? OG is shooting about 40% from 3. You see Fred taking his shots. He's finding his rhythm again.

And Gary, of course, as I mentioned. Gary's going to be plugged into that starting lineup soon, well, most likely, with Scottie being questionable as it was just confirmed today at practice that he is day-to-day. So yeah, so anyway, the team as a whole is in an interesting position-- and the fact that they're good but their ebbs and flows can be steep sometimes. And Pascal will get out of it, for sure.

AMIT MANN: It's a tricky one for him. I think teams are guarding him differently throughout the season. And you just see the amount of attention that he gathers. And it's been like that all year. And the Raptors, they've struggled to counter just simply because of the lack of shooting on the court, players going up and down, injuries, and so forth. And so he's been dealing with that already.

And then you add in this wrinkle of the Jakob Poeltl and Fred VanVleet, that pick and roll that's been really potent. We're going to get to that in a second. But there's no reason not to spam that because it's advantageous for your offense. And at the same time now, Pascal is working from different spots on the court. He's had to rely on his jump shot a little bit more. He's more of a spot-up shooter. And these are good things for his career at the same time.

And also, being able to operate from different spots on the court and being able to execute and be a threat from there, again, that's very good for him if he wants to be a true top five player. But it's also OK to question that maybe it's just not going to be there for the rest of the season. Or maybe he's still unhealthy. Maybe he just doesn't have that burst because I haven't seen him blow by too many players lately. And that was something that was just happening constantly throughout the year.

And also, you know what? His defense hasn't been there either of late. And it's minutes. It's usage. It's all these things combined, I'm sure. But in the end, the Raptors need him to be close to his All-Star self if they want to make any kind of noise. And even on the play end, too, if we're getting into a one game, winner take all kind of scenario, you still need Pascal Siakam. You need him to be elite. You need him to be lit.

SAVANNA HAMILTON: Well, yeah, lit, yeah. Listen, we would rather have him having a bit of a struggle moment now, right now, than in a play-in tournament or in a situation where it's truly a must win. I'd rather him play the way he's playing and he knows that he could do better right now. And maybe the Raptors fall into an eighth seed, potentially maybe a ninth seed.

But then he's playing like his All-Star self in that play-in tournament. And that gets them to another round. That's what gets-- it's the give and take, just being realistic about it. But like I said, I truly do think he could bounce back. He could bounce back as soon as next game. And then all the worries in the world are gone all of a sudden.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, just like that. And even yesterday against the Bucks, he shot 5 of 14. There were two pretty open layups that he missed. All of a sudden,

He's 7 of 14-- not so bad at all, right? And then he had 12 rebounds, seven assists. He's having to pass from different spots on the court now, too, as teams are saying that, OK, if you're going to operate from the top of the court, we're going to just put all of our pressure on you to make those long range passes to the corners and so to speak because they know that if he gets in the paint, that's where he's going to be abusing you, right?

That's where he's going to make things so hard on you. He's going to find the passing angles to Jakob. And he even did that late in the fourth quarter against the Bucks, where he had a couple of those chip shots to Jakob for a few layups. And obviously, in the end, things didn't go the way that they wanted it to. But yeah, this is part of the process, too.

And when you think about, OK, so can this certain player become a true number one, a bona fide number one, this is part of the process. Even OG Anunoby, who we're going to get to in a second, he's being successful now. But he's just making the shots that he's normally shooting anyways, you know?

SAVANNA HAMILTON: Yeah.

AMIT MANN: What happens when he's actually being guarded in different ways and teams are scouting for him and stuff like that? That's where it's going to be like, OK, now you have to have a counter to the counter. Right now, Pascal has to have a counter to the counter to the counter to the counter to the counter, right? That's what the elite players have, right?

And this is part of it. But it's just not a great time for him to be going through that because you think, man, the Raptors have this Fred and Jak pick and roll. And we have this All-Star right here? How cool would that be? But we're not there yet.

SAVANNA HAMILTON: Well, here's hoping, for one. I'm an optimist. And two--

AMIT MANN: Love it.

SAVANNA HAMILTON: Like, you're right. I do like your point about some of the top players in the league. They have their move and their countermove and then a countermove probably to that countermove. And honestly, you probably really only need three or four. You don't need crazy amounts. But that's also what makes the difference between a LeBron-- you can't leave LeBron open in any situation.

Even if the whole team's guarding him solo, he'll have a move for everybody that will get them. So yeah, so to your point-- I like your point. It's like what we see in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander right now, actually, because it's unfolding. Yeah, I know. It's unfolding before our own eyes. How beautiful is his game? Like, insane. Anyways, but he has a move, a countermove.

And then sometimes, he'll go back to the original move. It's like, he has a stop, start, change directions. And then he can change directions again. And let me tell you how difficult that is. So you've got to give it to those guys who are that elite. That's not every player. And I think Pascal still has another level that I'm excited to see. If it's not this year, then it's probably next year. Like--