TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors aren’t the happiest bunch right now.
A day after getting bopped by 18 points in Game 1 of their second-round series with the Boston Celtics, the Raptors were back at practice and not feeling all too pleased with their performance on Sunday.
“I mean the mood’s not good. We’re not happy and we’re a little pissed off and we should be,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse on Monday afternoon. “We’re not proud of anything we did yesterday.”
Harsh, but fair words from the Raptors bench boss.
In Game 1, the Raptors only shot 36.9 per cent from the field and 25 per cent from three-point range as the Celtics defence came as suffocating as advertised in the lead-up to the series.
Still, as good as the Celtics’ defence is, it was still aided by an all-around dreadful performance by the Raptors, and they know it.
“We just didn’t play good. Sometimes it’s that simple,” said Raptors guard Fred VanVleet. “We didn’t really do anything good enough to win the game, and they did. They were the better team. We weren’t moving fast enough, weren’t playing hard enough, didn’t make enough shots, didn’t execute the game plan. Like, you name it, we didn’t do it.”
But is it really that simple?
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According to Nurse, while there are certainly adjustments that need to be made, the biggest one is likely just more energy.
“We didn’t bring it, man. We weren’t running hard,” said Nurse. “It was like we were playing uphill both directions. Right? We weren’t running hard back, we weren’t running hard forward. We weren’t cutting hard. There was a speed and energy problem that I think was — it was a physical problem, which I think was created by our mental state, which wasn’t right.”
Not being in the right mindset is understandable given the emotional nature of the week that was that preceded the Raptors’ second-round opener with the Celtics. But at the same time, Boston was dealing with it exactly the same, too, and it came out like a house on fire Sunday.
There are many valid concerns with the Raptors after Game 1, such as their inability to get out in transition and the poor job they did of defending the corner three – according to CleaningTheGlass.com, the Celtics were 10-of-15 on corner-three attempts alone.
Thankfully for the Raptors, however, bouncing back in the face of adversity is something they’ve gotten used to. This was a team that still managed to finish with the NBA’s second-best record despite being among the most injured teams in the league and went down 0-2 to the Milwaukee Bucks last year before recording four straight wins to reach the NBA Finals.
This group has proven before that it can fight its way out of a corner.
“I think that’s just when you draw on your experience a little bit. We’ve all been in these positions. We’ve been on the good side. We’ve been on the bad side. We understand the ups and downs that come with the playoffs,” said VanVleet. “A lot of our guys in the rotation have been battle-tested. You understand that there’s gonna be a game like that probably. You hope that it doesn’t come. But it did. Now it’s our job to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Added Nurse: “I’d much rather be holding hands and skipping rope after a win, but again, this is where we find ourselves…. I mean, listen, we’ve certainly been punched squarely in the nose and we’ve got to stand up and either start playing, playing better, or not, and that’s kind of where we are.”
Raptors’ jumbo lineup could be a key
Among the in-game adjustments Nurse attempted in Game 1 as he was searching for a way back into the game was to go with a bigger, so-called “jumbo” lineup that featured both Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka on the floor.
While seemingly not the best idea given the position-less nature of the way the Celtics play, going with the dual-centre look was actually pretty successful as the Raptors were only minus-4 in the nine minutes with the pair on the court together.
“I mean it was OK,” Nurse said of playing Ibaka and Gasol. “Obviously they had a nice run kind of when the game was, you know, everything was going wrong and the game was getting away from us early and we went to it and it kind of, it brought us back with a chance.”
It wasn’t exactly a huge sample size, but the success shown from going big like this could be something to look out for going forward.
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Post-up Pascal
Another interesting sight Sunday was the number of post-up looks Pascal Siakam was getting.
A clear focal point of Toronto’s offence in Game 1, if Siakam’s going to be matched up against Jaylen Brown as much as he was on Sunday, theoretically it makes sense to want Siakam to take advantage of his height advantage over Brown and operate inside and go hunting for high-percentage looks in the paint.
Siakam had been struggling with his shot in the Brooklyn series, after all, so trying to get him going from closer to the basket is logical.
Unfortunately, Siakam continued to struggle, going just 5-of-16 from the field for 13 points, including a 4-for-11 mark in the paint.
Those are all bad-looking numbers, obviously, especially because some of those misses were bunnies, but that’s also why the Raptors are going to go back to this post-heavy focus with Siakam in Game 2, because the all-star did manage to get inside where he can create problems for Boston, both as a scorer and as a guy willing to find his teammates.
“For the most part, they looked OK. You know,” said Nurse of Siakam’s post touches in Game 1. “And I think that we’re trying to get him going a little bit, so we were trying to get him some touches and that wasn’t a bad way to do it. I think we need to do a little bit more around it, a little bit. I think we need to cut a little bit more and have a little better spacing and relocation and things like that, possibly, if we go into him there.”
Though he wasn’t able to convert as much as he liked, there did appear to be some success found with tossing the ball to Siakam in the low block.
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Raptors reunited with their family
Monday was a big day for the Raptors in the bubble as it meant they could finally see their families who were allowed inside.
“Just excited, just excited. I miss my family. Family is huge for me. It’s been a while,” said VanVleet of the prospect of seeing his loved ones again. “I think the last time I saw them was Father’s Day. It’s been a while, but it will be good to see everybody. And right on time after getting our butts kicked yesterday. So that’ll kinda take my mind off of it for a little bit today, and then I’ll get prepared and get locked in for the game tomorrow.”
VanVleet had a rough Game 1 scoring just 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting including a 2-for-11 mark from three-point range.
It was well documented what happened the last time VanVleet got an addition to his family during the post-season last year, so who know what may happen with the Raptors guard now reunited with his family in Disney World.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
