The Raptors are figuring out what they need

From Louis’ piece:

“There have been some truly awful losses in the history of this franchise. Heck, there has been a pretty bad one already this season. This wasn’t that. Barnes was exceptional, Quickley had fantastic moments, and Murray-Boyles had one of the best games of his young career. There is proof of concept for this team, a blueprint for winning. But over the course of the exceptional month of November, the team has slowly been starting to cut the corners when it comes to those guidelines. If anything, back-to-back losses is a reminder that Toronto knows how to win, but it isn’t good enough to skirt around what matters. It can be a good thing in the long run. But Toronto had a chance to respond to the Hornets’ loss, and it failed to do so. It had a chance to respond to an opponent finally hitting a whack of long bombs, and in the long run it failed to do that, too. 

This is Toronto’s second true test of the season. The first came after the 1-4 start, which saw the beginning of one of the best months of basketball ever played by this franchise. And now the Raptors have to start rolling the boulder up the hill all over again. The marathon of the NBA season is a constant churning of questions, no matter how many answers a team can come up with.

Now we get to see what Toronto does next.”

From Samson’s piece:

“These have been important games to show that the Raptors offense is an ecosystem with many different things motivating it. Since Barrett’s gone down, Ingram has taken 79 shots across 3 games. The field goal percentage has dropped continuously across these games. It’s too large a burden to carry. And it’s a sluggish, pained process. Even when Barnes plays great, the Raptors still find themselves looking for more. I’m looking forward to Barrett’s return.”

Enjoy the pod.