TORONTO — All the Toronto Raptors have to do is trust the process.
At least, that’s what they’d make you want to believe after they fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, 100-93, Tuesday night, dropping them to 0-3 to start the season.
And contrary to how the team’s insatiable fanbase is feeling at the moment, there’s no panic to be had yet with these Raptors. Urgency? Sure. But panic? Not yet at least.
“I think there’s a little bit of unsettledness with the team,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said after the game. “I think it’s evident with a lot of the guys’ offensive play being so erratic. I think some of that is carrying over to the other end. We’ve got to stretch out our good moments. We’ve played some great moments in all the games.”
Added Kyle Lowry: “We’re definitely in a bad spot. We haven’t won a game but we could be 3-0. We were in a position to win all three games and unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us.”
Yes, for the third game straight the Raptors saw themselves up double-digits, looking to be in control, only to see an uncharacteristic dry spell rear its ugly head at an inopportune time, resulting in a blown game.
Another concern, of course, has been the poor play of Pascal Siakam. While looking great in the first half of games, Siakam has faltered in second halves and really looked out of sorts on Tuesday, picking up five of the six fouls that booted him from the game within about the last six-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter while scoring just two points on 1-for-4 shooting in that frame.
It’s clear the Raptors need more from him.
“I’d say he’s our closer. I think, again, he’s going to get the opportunities there and I think the increased reps will get him there,” said Nurse of Siakam. “He’s got to find his balance, he has to find his strength a little bit, he’s going to have to produce on a few more of those shots.”
But, as mentioned before, this is a process the Raptors are going through, and while the negatives are glaring and certainly can’t be ignored, there are positives to be found as they stumble as well.
Like, for example, the big performance of OG Anunoby Tuesday, who after looking timid offensively broke out against the 76ers to the tune of 20 points, six rebounds and five steals while going 7-for-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Or how about the fact the much-maligned Raptors defence looked much-improved Tuesday? Toronto held Philadelphia to just 38.1 per cent shooting, forcing them to turn the ball over 18 times. Sure, they ultimately couldn’t capitalize on it because their offence goes through droughts at poor times in contests, but when you’re in a tailspin like the Raptors are, finding small victories will be important if they aren’t going to just crash and burn.
“We kinda flew around a little bit more. We kinda were a little bit more active in the sense of us getting to spots and kinda making them take some tough shots,” said Lowry. “But at the same time we’ve gotta be a little bit better. We’ve gotta be a little bit better with how we finish our possessions and finishing them with rebounds. But it was a better effort tonight.”
The sight of the Raptors playing more Raptors-like defence was an encouraging sign as it seemed to indicate a return of the team’s missing identity to start the season. Something that was reinforced thanks to a little signature Nurse ingenuity.
Facing a Sixers squad that boasts a lot of size, Nurse decided to mix up his rotation Tuesday and played Stanley Johnson, the sparsely-used forward who only played a total of 150 minutes over 25 games last season.
A player who was almost exclusively used in garbage time a season ago — and for the majority of his NBA career — Johnson checked in at the 4:44 mark of the first quarter and ended up playing 22 impactful minutes, coming in as the main defensive matchup against Philadelphia star Ben Simmons when Anunoby was sitting for a rest.
Johnson finished Tuedsay’s game with seven points and eight rebounds with no two points cooler than when he slammed home a putback dunk off a free-throw miss midway in the fourth quarter.
Johnson managed to catch the Sixers napping and effortlessly swooped in from the three-point line to jam the free-throw miss home, thanks in part to some communication between himself and Lowry.
“Kyle had a heads-up play,” said Johnson. “I wanted to do it, and [the 76ers] kind of were keeping it out, and Kyle saw them keeping it out, so he told me to be quiet, and he went to the free-throw line, they thought I wasn’t going and then I went. A lot of guys don’t pay attention to stuff like that, but it’s always available.”
Added Lowry of the play, who claimed he doesn’t deserve any credit on it: “It was all Stanley, to be honest with you. He felt something and when my teammates feel something I say, ‘OK, cool.’ I was about to put him on the line and he was like, ‘That’s OK.’ Simple as that.
“When my teammates feel something I’m going to go with it. I try not to question my teammates and he made an incredible play and Stan played his butt off tonight and that’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for.”
Despite being so unevenly used, Johnson has stayed ready and he impressed enough Tuesday that there’s a chance he could see even more floor time in the future.
“He does a good job daily in his workouts. He really practices like a pro, etc.,” Nurse said of Johnson. “There was an opportunity for him tonight. The depth of the roster looks like there’s a need for a backup three, four, and he might take that over. I hope he can give us just what he gave us tonight. If he can, he’s got a shot in the rotation. That’s what it comes down to, some consistency.
“I think he’s gonna earn a lot of favour with the veteran guys if he’s gonna play that hard and defend like that.”
Seeing a relatively surprising move like using Johnson was a familiar sight from just a season ago. As you may remember, the Raptors were among the most injured teams in the league last season and managed to weather the storm in part because of the emergence of then-mostly-unknown players like Chris Boucher and Terence Davis II.
Toronto’s in a different situation this season, obviously, but finding more options — like Johnson — certainly can’t hurt Nurse and Co. as they try to navigate the waters they’re in now and right the good ship Raptors.
At 0-3 and with a multitude of problems plaguing them, the Raptors are going to need to take their time tackling each issue one-by-one. It’s hard to say for certain yet, but the pleasant surprise of Johnson Tuesday is a positive step forward and not one that should be dismissed.
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.
