A Eulogy for The 2014-15 Toronto Raptors
Dearly beloved,
We have gathered here today to reminisce on what could’ve been, and put to rest a team that began the season with the best record in the NBA at 13-2, and then stumbled their way into mediocrity by falling to the 4th seed in a weak Eastern Conference and getting swept in the first round of the playoffs, your 2014-15 Toronto Raptors.
Their future seemed so bright at the beginning of the year as they continued the success they had at the end of the 2014 season, with a 24-8 start. Kyle Lowry was playing like a man possessed, leading to a much publicized all-star campaign. DeMar DeRozan couldn’t be contained either, and likely also had a shot at making the All-Star team as a reserve if he didn’t his groin. Lou Williams’ career was resurrected and Drake wrote a song about him. The Vintage Purple Jerseys were back for the team’s 20th season. All was right in Raptor land.
But once 2014 ended and 2015 began, everything changed. The Raptors went .500 over their final 50 games with a 25-25 finish, and struggled to win any games against teams with a winning record. The biggest problem with Dwane Casey’s team, a defensive-minded coach, was clearly their Defense. DeRozan’s injury forced Lowry to carry the brunt of the offensive load, and may have played a factor in Lowry’s back issues which turned him into a shell of the player he was earlier in the year. Terrence Ross continued to be terribly inconsistent and Valanciunas’ development stunted. Greivis Vasquez was still Greivis Vasquez. Despite all of this, the Raptors still handily won the Atlantic Division, the weakest division in the league, and earned their second consecutive playoff berth.
Then the Washington Wizards came into town, and Paul Pierce proclaimed that the Raptors don’t have the “it” factor teams need to win in the playoffs. Since Pierce is nicknamed “The Truth” the Raptors proceeded to roll over and play dead for every game of the series, as Pierce became the King in the North. A fitting conclusion to a disappointing 2nd half of the regular season that was culminated in an embarrassing 1st round sweep by a team they went 3-0 against during the regular season.
This playoff series was incredibly painful to watch, like a car wreck in slow motion. You can get an idea of how lopsided it was just by looking at the numbers.
TORONTO VS WASHINGTON GAMES 1-4 (AVERAGE PER GAME/ RANKINGS OUT OF 16 TEAMS)
TOR WSH
FG% 41.6 (13th) 48.2 (1st)
3P% 30.0 (14th) 43.3 (1st)
FTA 21.3 (15th) 28.5 (3rd)
O-REB 8.8 (15th) 11.0 (7th)
D-REB 29.8 (16th) 37.3 (3rd)
REB 38.5 (16th) 48.3 (3rd)
AST 19.5 (12th) 26.3 (1st)*
PF 25.0 (14th) 20.5 (7th)
PTS 96.3 (11th) 110.3 (3rd)*
*John Wall is currently leading the NBA for assists per game these playoffs with 12.5. The next closest player is James Harden with 7.8. Wall also became the first player since Steve Nash in 2010 to have 15 or more assists in back-to-back playoff games.
*Also the Wizards won each game by an average of 14 points, the largest differential of any first round series. That shouldn’t be a surprise, because as you can clearly see, the Raptors were dominated in nearly every facet of the game for the duration of the series.
If anything this series confirmed two ideas about this team. First, they’re absolutely horrendous defensively and can’t rebound worth a lick.
The Raptors made Randy Wittman look like a mastermind, which is nearly impossible to do.
The Wizards were able to find the openings in the porous Raptors Defense by spreading the ball around to get clean, open looks and knock down shots.
They got to the free throw line by driving to the basket and forcing the Raptors to commit stupid fouls.
Marcin Gortat completely owned the paint and the Wiz out-rebounded the Raps every night.
The Wizards came into this series as a below average offensive team, and yet they’ve come out of it looking like they have an unlimited amount of weapons. Otto Porter and Drew Gooden, now look like dynamic bench players that can completely change the outcome of a game. Just complete domination across the board.
Second, the Raptors are completely one-dimensional on Offense. The same three players seem to take all of the Raptors shot attempts, Lowry, DeRozan, and Williams, and teams are figuring out the Raptors simple offensive gameplay rather quickly. The three of them took far too many ill-advised, low percentage shots, something that happens more often than most people seem to notice.
Lowry’s injury problems certainly didn’t help his play, but my goodness he was terrible. In the first three games, Lowry shot 10/42 from the field, which amounts to just under 24%. Combined with his immature play which consistently got him into foul trouble, Lowry played his worst basketball as a Raptor in this series.
You could see in stretches of this series DeRozan trying to put the team on his back, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. He often had great starts to each game, but once Wittman stuck Otto Porter on him, he had no answers, and virtually disappeared for the rest of the game.
Then Lou Williams started to suddenly go cold, and when he’s not doing anything on Offense, he’s not really doing anything. His ineptitude on Defense cost the team dearly, especially when he was left on the court with Greivis Vasquez, who gave John Wall his best impersonation of a revolving door.
The Raptors need to do a lot more than just put the ball in the hands of these 3, tell them to chuck up a prayer, and hope it goes in. At the very least get the big men more involved. Sure Jonas Valanciunas, Amir Johnson, and Patrick Patterson didn’t put up much of a fight on Defense in the series either, but all 3 had True Shooting Percentages north of 50% so at least they’re contributing when they get the chance the shoot.
People may say I am overreacting a little bit here,
“But the Raptors set the Franchise-record wins with 49!”
“But they won the Atlantic Division for the Second Year in a row!”
“But Kyle Lowry was a Starter in the All-Star Game!”
“But Lou Williams won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year!”
Whoop-dee-doo.
These are all hollow titles; they are irrelevant. At the end of the day, they mean absolutely nothing.
Do you think the San Antonio Spurs care about things like that? Do you believe Tim Duncan desperately wants to receive those individual accolades or Gregg Popovich wants to say they’re a better team than they were last year because they got one more win in the regular season? Of course not, they know what their goal is, to get into the playoffs and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season.
Now by no stretch of the imagination am I saying that the Raptors are like the Spurs, they have a LONG way to go if they want to get anywhere near that franchise’s level of excellence, but the Spurs are the benchmark which every other NBA organization strives to be like, and they know that your success in the post-season is the only thing that really counts. It would’ve been nice for the Raptors to at least show up for the playoffs this season, something their undying fan base had waited all year for after the heartbreaking loss to Brooklyn last year.
No one expected the Raptors to get to the playoffs in 2014; most fans were ecstatic just to be there and see the series get pushed to seven games.
This season, the goal was to win at least one playoff series. They didn’t even win a game. There was no progression, if anything there was only regression. Changes have to be made, both to the roster, as well as the coaching staff, if this franchise wishes to take the next step. GM Masai Ujiri needs to back up what he’s been saying to the fans.
The ball is in your court, Mr. Ujiri, go find what “it” is that this team needs.
nolancattell 
