Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeWorld‘It’s not too late.’ Raptors ignore trade rumours to put together best...

‘It’s not too late.’ Raptors ignore trade rumours to put together best stretch of NBA season


PHOENIX—Through all the disappointment of the first half of the season, the Raptors always maintained that the group never fractured.

The losses mounted, the injuries disrupted everything and slumps hit at the most inopportune times — yet they stayed connected, they said.

No sniping, no finger pointing and no blame being thrust upon teammates. They believed in the group, in the talent on the roster and that better times would come.

Now that some better times are here, what they were saying then seems now to be true.

“It’s the maturation process of a team,” Fred VanVleet said after Saturday’s 123-105 victory in Portland. “We absolutely have a lot of young guys on this roster. For better or for worse, you can’t really put a timer on that whenever, it’s going to happen.

“But I think in the last couple weeks, it’s been coming together and we’re growing and getting better. Like I said the other day, it’s not too late. I like the direction we’re going in. We’ve been playing better basketball, it seems like, day by day.”

It’s all relative, of course, but considering where the Raptors were, where they are isn’t too bad.

They are 2-1 on the seven-game road trip that continues here Monday against the Suns, they are 7-5 in their last dozen games. They may still be outside the Eastern Conference playoff bracket (one game behind Chicago and Washington for the 10th and final play-in berth before Sunday’s games) but there’s no doubt they are playing consistently better basketball than they were three weeks ago.

VanVleet is largely responsible for that, too. His fourth quarter here Saturday — five points, five assists, three rebounds, a steal and an emphatic blocked shot — rescued another game for the Raptors, who recovered in the final 12 minutes for an impressive road win.

There was just a good “feel” to the performance.

“It was very, very noticeable, the togetherness and connectivity tonight,” coach Nick Nurse said. “It’s a bounce back on a tough loss (to the Warriors), a back-to-back. You’re on the road in a pretty loud environment and they really banded together tonight very well.”

Precious Achiuwa, inserted into the starting lineup for the injured O.G. Anunoby, responded with his best game of the season, a career-high 27 points to go along with 13 rebounds and a couple of steals in 33 minutes.

He felt it, too.

“It’s all about rhythm and playing in the flow of the game and playing together as a team,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to get more wins and that’s how we know we’re playing basketball the right way and we’re just trying to get as many wins and we can right now.”

All of this comes against the backdrop of the Feb. 9 trade deadline with rumours swirling around many of the Raptors and with vice-chairman Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster along for the trip.

But as they shut out the noise around the bad start to the year, the Raptors are also disregarding — for the most part—– all the current trade chatter.

“There are guys that are thinking about where they’re living, where they’re moving, what their family situation is, kids in school,” Nurse said. “There’s the real life part of it that for sure guys are thinking about. But I also believe once you get here and once the ball goes up, they probably focus in and do the best they can on the night. Play the game and start worrying about it all over again, night to night. I think they can lose themselves in the game.”

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.



Source link

RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -

Most Popular

Recent Comments