If there’s a lesson to take from the Toronto Raptors’ 97-93 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, other than that Giannis Antetokounmpo remains petrified of Scotiabank Arena, it is that Fred VanVleet may one day claim the throne of GROAT if he keeps playing like this (for six, seven more seasons straight). The man dueled champions Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday in the fourth quarter, coming up with the win on his own. He scored 26 points in the second half. But we’ve known that Fred VanVleet is a boss. Just as significant for Toronto’s long-term viability as a winning NBA program is a relatively new lesson: making long-term judgments without a whole lot of information can make you look foolish. As in, the idea that Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes aren’t complementary players: made to look foolish. Both the critics and the Bucks, for one night at least.
“It’s December 2nd,” said VanVleet, preemptively explaining why they’re only now starting to thrive together. “It takes time, man. I know it’s hard sometimes when we’re so used to winning, and we’re so spoiled, won a championship not that long ago. But these things take time. This group hasn’t played together much at all.”
Still, they’ve been improving together for several games now, they really made it work against Milwaukee, winning their minutes together. It helps, of course, when the two combine to shoot four of 10 from deep. Both hunted shots, as Barnes hit great possession-finishing triples after great team ball movement, and Siakam hit a faceup from the corner. But it wasn’t just shooting. They are starting to organically improve one another’s advantages both before and after the catch. Because of their abilities to get where they want to go and force rotations, more of their shots come against already compromised defenses; Barnes and Siakam are one and two on the team in the differential of two-pointers that are assisted when they’re playing versus on the bench.
“I thought Pascal, especially, I thought he made some good passes out of the paint, and then he made some good early ones, he got off it early when he started to drive and saw the help coming and he just got off it earlier,” said Nick Nurse. “I don’t know how many assists Pascal had but if guys would have made some shots he probably would have had… how many does [the box score] say he had? Four. He probably would have had at least double that, right?”
On one play, Barnes handled the ball on the wing with Siakam on the other side of the lane. VanVleet jetted over to set a brush screen for Barnes, and meanwhile back at the farm, Siakam switched to posting up on the strong side. With the defense distracted by VanVleet jetting away from the screen — VanVleet shot five of 10 on his own from deep on the night, constantly a menace without the ball in his hands — Barnes threw a picturesque floating entry pass over the fronting defender to Siakam for the layup.
Or Siakam was in the post, making quick decisions, drawing multiple defenders. Barnes, ostensibly the player off of whom Siakam’s helper should arrive, was left open and promptly hit the triple. Simple basketball, but an effective leverage of their strengths. Or Barnes, tipping away the ball from Jrue Holiday, and throwing a jumping touch pass to Siakam in transition for the layup. Or the first basket of the game, with Barnes and VanVleet playing the two-man game, hitting the paint, and Siakam catching the pass in the corner, attacking himself, and then swinging behind him to Svi Mykhailiuk for the open triple. Like iron, the shared abilities to catch, attack, and create sharpen one another.
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that the Bucks were without Antetokounmpo or Brook Lopez, meaning their back line of defense was far smaller than the Raptors are accustomed to seeing. And with Barnes a rookie and Siakam still working his way back from major surgery in the offseason, there will continue to be rough nights together. They won’t always hit their triples. But the outline of shared success is there.
It also helps that VanVleet went berserk in the fourth quarter against the Bucks. After getting blitzed for much of the game and having to give the ball up (and still creating an advantage by doing so!) VanVleet said yabba dabba fuck the Bucks in the fourth. After entering the game with nine minutes remaining, he hit a catch-and-shoot triple, back cut his defender for an inside-hand layup, stole the ball and no-look dimed Siakam for a layup (timeout called), and then drove for a layup of his own. Later he made a scoop layup, forcing yet another Bucks’ timeout, and circled to the middle of the court, raising his arms Gladiator style, willing the crowd to yell. It fucking yelled. After a ref-led run for the Bucks later in the fourth, VanVleet closed the game out with free throws. Frankly, this game turned into significantly more of a VanVleet story than a Siakam-and-Barnes one, but VanVleet has been an All-NBA caliber player for most of the season now. His success is old news. Siakam and Barnes working so well together is relatively new. Importantly, there’s still a whole lot of room for growth.
“I think one thing that will help both of those guys is getting Precious in the right spots,” said VanVleet after the game of Barnes and Siakam’s comfort with one another. “I know we’re sliding him in to play the five, and naturally it’s not really the way he plays. He’s one of those forward that kind of slashes, and you know, he can shoot it a little bit. I think if we get his spacing right, and get him down there where the five goes, in the dunker space, on the baseline, I think that will open the floor up for both Pascal and Scottie.”
And it’s not like Siakam and Barnes played so well because of VanVleet’s brilliance, though having successful guards is part of what allows similar forwards to share the court together. In fact, it’s another worthwhile lesson that if Siakam and Barnes are going to play well together going forward, they probably need to be alongside elite guard play. Well VanVleet gave them that and then some.
VanVleet was correct, as he usually is, when he said that these things take time. For all Siakam and Barnes’ theoretical ability to help one another, there are also theoretical drawbacks. They both like to handle the ball inside the arc. Neither is an elite shooter. (Unless Barnes, just, is already.) But they’re both brilliant offensive minds, and that most of all will mean it will work. What we saw against Milwaukee was just a glimpse, a beautiful snowflake buried by the avalanche of VanVleet’s dominance. Sometimes VanVleet won’t be able to do it all with such vicious effectiveness. On those nights, increasingly, the Raptors can trust that Siakam and Barnes can dominate. Together.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.
Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.
A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”
All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.
“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”
Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”
After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”
San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.
“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”
The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.
“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.
Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.
OTTAWA – Travis Green might not have liked the end result, but he’s counting on his team learning from the effort.
Green’s Ottawa Senators were handed a 3-1 loss by the New Jersey Devils Thursday night in a game that highlighted the importance of sticking with things.
“I thought both teams played pretty well,” said Green. “I thought we had a lot of the game that I liked, but I thought there’s a few moments where it got away. We got away from our game, and they stuck with their game a little longer.
“There’s always momentum back and forth for one team to create some chances. It’s a fine line between winning and losing in the league, especially when you’re playing, two good teams are playing.”
Jacob Markstrom’s 30 saves also played a part, with the Devils goaltender only getting beat with 65 seconds left in regulation as the Senators were on the power play with an empty net.
Brady Tkachuk tipped a Claude Giroux shot to spoil Markstrom’s shutout bid.
“Outstanding,” said Devils coach Sheldon Keefe of his goaltender. “Just terrible that he doesn’t get the shutout that he deserves in this one here.
“You feel for him when they make that (penalty) call. You can just kind of feel like it’s going to give them a little extra life. But he was outstanding for us, no question.”
The two teams were scoreless after the first period, where each had to fight for every opportunity. Noah Gregor rang a shot off the crossbar for the Senators, but otherwise, neither team was able to generate much offensively.
The Devils capitalized in the second as a power play expired with Erik Haula redirecting a Johnathan Kovacevic shot past Anton Forsberg, who made 32 saves.
Less than four minutes later, Nathan Bastian took advantage of a Giroux giveaway and beat Forsberg low blocker for his first of the season with the Devils short-handed.
“I liked our second period a lot,” Keefe said. “We took hold of the game and didn’t give up much, and when we did, I thought it was really from the perimeter, only a couple there.”
The Devils tightened up defensively in the third and were able to make it 3-0 when Paul Cotter was left alone in the slot.
“I think for stretches of the game we played the right way and kind of get in on the forecheck and play that way,” said Senators centre Nick Cousins. “It seems like when we get down a couple goals, we kind of change our game, which isn’t a recipe for success in this league.
“I think we’ve just got to keep doing the right things over and over again, even when it’s 2-0.”
With the Senators just four games in and still learning and adjusting to a new system, Green understands there will be growing pains along the way.
“We’re also trying to define our game,” he said. “I think we’re getting there. Both teams play fast. It was a fast skating game. There wasn’t a lot of room to move out there for either team.”
In his short tenure behind the Senators bench, Green has seen his team play very different styles of games and knows there will be nights like this along the way, but learning from them will be key.
“There’s going to be a lot of nights where you kind of got to earn everything you get,” admitted Green. “It’s not going to be freewheeling. Good teams don’t play freewheeling hockey.
“You learn when you win, you learn when you lose games that you don’t play well. You learn when you lose games that you had a pretty good game but you still lose and you’ve got to find a way. Good teams find a way to win those games.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens fell 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. They also lost their top minute-muncher in the process.
Matheson logged 7:35 in ice time during the first period but did not return for the second because of an upper-body injury. When or how Matheson sustained the injury was not clear. The Canadiens said he would be re-evaluated on Friday.
The game was tied at 1 before he exited, forcing the Canadiens to play with five defencemen for 40 minutes.
“Mike is one of the biggest parts of our D core, and I think losing him — he’s playing against top line, playing power play and we want him on the ice — definitely losing him was a big loss,” teammate David Savard said. “We got to figure out a way to get the two points, even if a player goes out.”
The 30-year-old Matheson of Pointe-Claire, Que., led all Canadiens defencemen with 62 points and a 25:33 average ice time last season.
With his absence, rookie sensation Lane Hutson played a whopping 30:05 in only his seventh NHL game. The next closest player? Kaiden Guhle at 23:09.
Head coach Martin St. Louis was impressed with how the 20-year-old Hutson handled the challenge.
“Lane doesn’t take a shift off,” head coach Martin St. Louis said. “I love the consistency of his compete level, and he drives possession. For a guy who played 30 minutes, I think he gave everything he could to try and help the team.
“I’m not surprised. I know it’s challenging at this level, losing Mike definitely made him play many minutes, chasing the game made him play many minutes, but I just love his compete level.”
Canadiens fans have been clamouring for Hutson — a five-foot-nine, 162-pound defenceman with world-class skill — to take Matheson’s spot on the No. 1 power play.
The Canadiens, however, went 0-for-3 with Hutson running the show after Matheson went down. In the first instance, Kirby Dach took a hooking penalty early in the man-advantage to end it. On the second, the Canadiens failed to generate any zone time.
The third came in the final minutes, but the Kings buried an empty-netter.
“It wasn’t a lack of opportunity, lots of ice time, lots of shifts,” Hutson said. “It was good, it was fun, but obviously you want to be on the other side of it, winning.
“Means a lot (to get that opportunity), but obviously, you want to get more out of that opportunity. It’s a lot of ice, and you want to keep taking steps in the right direction.”
‘IMMATURE EFFORT’
The Canadiens fell to a Kings team that had lost three straight games and was coming off a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
Under those circumstances, the Canadiens were brutally honest with themselves after the game.
“Definitely disappointed,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “It was an immature effort from us, especially with them playing yesterday and getting in late, so I think we gave them too much life, and let them feel comfortable in the game. It’s on us to be a lot better than that.”
Before the game, St. Louis stressed the need for a good first period against a fatigued Los Angeles side. That’s not what he saw Thursday night.
“I think we had 14 turnovers in the first period. It’s unacceptable. It gives them life,” he said. “Then you’re chasing the game for the second half of it — we didn’t play to our standard.
“I’m really disappointed. Really disappointed.”
BIG SAVE DAVE
Kings goalie David Rittich played his second game in two nights — an unusual occurrence in this day and age of the NHL. He made 25 saves after allowing four goals on 14 shots in Toronto.
“We always believe in him anyway, but he performed today pretty well and bounced back,” defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov said. “It’s probably like most important for himself, that’s huge, and for the team. He played outstanding today.”
LONG ROAD
The Kings are opening the season on a seven-game road trip because of renovations at Crypto.com Arena. They’ve collected six of a possible 10 points so far.
“Pretty much worse (than expected),” forward Phillip Danault said. “We’ve been on the road for three weeks … It’s good team-bonding, whether we should do it again I’m not sure, but it has turned out well let’s say with six points out of 10.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
