Good, bad and ugly of Toronto Raptors at NBA all-star break

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As the NBA’s all-star break arrives, it isn’t easy to get a handle on just what these Toronto Raptors are or what they might be capable of moving forward.

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They rank sixth in the NBA defensively, are nine games over .500, fifth in the Eastern Conference and three games up on Orlando in a bid to avoid having to compete in a play-in game to reach the post-season.

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After no playoffs at all in four of the past five seasons, that seems pretty good, especially when you consider starters Jakob Poeltl and RJ Barrett each have missed plenty of time and that they haven’t gotten much from their reserves.

But a deeper dive after an ugly 113-95 loss to Detroit Wednesday reveals a rough 4-13 record against the league’s 10 best teams, with three of the victories coming against potential first-round opponent Cleveland — albeit that as before the Cavaliers acquired James Harden, who has averaged 25 points per game against Toronto over his career, plus 19 and 10 assists in the most recent Raptors playoff series, a six-game loss to Philadelphia.

They haven’t shown an ability to compete effectively against good to great squads.

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Still, after 25- and 30-win seasons, there’s no question the franchise has made progress. Will it be enough at the end of the season? That’s going to depend how they do against tough opposition.

Remaining Raptors opponents currently have a .504 winning percentage and there are two more dates against conference-leading Detroit and a New York team that has dominated Toronto in recent seasons, plus one each against other powerhouses like Oklahoma City, Denver, Boston and San Antonio. The playoffs (or play-in) will also show a lot.

Not surprisingly, head coach Darko Rajakovic and his players are accentuating the positives of a strong first half while also admitting there is more improvement needed.

“I think overall we can be happy with our progress,” Poeltl said after his first game in months. “We’re also aware that there’s much more room for growth, individually and as a team. We have such a long way to go still.

“Games like tonight show that for us, that we’re still not where we want to be. I keep coming back to this, but I think just consistently being able to bring those high-energy performances where we dominate teams, and being able to get to that even against really good teams, I think is going to be an important step for us.”

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Rajakovic said his team “made big strides compared to last season” through the first 55 games, especially compared to expectations heading in.

“Unfortunately, we had the injuries that slowed us down. I thought the start of the year was really, really good for us, offensively and defensively, and I thought there was a lot of development going on for us from that point, hopefully following the all-star break, have everybody healthy so we’re going to be able to make next step for us,” Rajakovic said.

“I believe that our best basketball is ahead of us and not behind us. But overall, I think winning 32 games out of first 55 I think it’s really good for us and something that gives us a lot of encouragement to continue building on it.”

The coach is heading to Los Angeles to helm Team World this weekend and other Raptors — Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Collin Murray-Boyles, Alijah Martin and A.J. Lawson — also will be part of the festivities. They’ll get a shorter break after, but Rajakovic hopes those not there will take advantage of the chance to rest.

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“I told players they should recharge their batteries, disconnect for a moment, mentally and physically, and then all of us are really excited to come back and to continue building what we have going on, but it’s gonna be a really good refreshment for us,” Rajakovic said.

What has gone right for the Raptors?

Barnes has played at a defensive player of the year and All-NBA team level.

Ingram has barely missed any time and has rescued a middling offence on many occasions while also delivering the best defence of his career.

Murray-Boyles is way ahead of schedule, especially defensively for a rookie.

Barrett was playing some of his best basketball before his initial injury.

They beat up on bad/mediocre teams the way better teams should.

Sandro Mamukelashvili has been excellent, already looking like one of the best free-agent signings in franchise history.

The NBA’s third-best three-point defence so far.

What has gone wrong for the Raptors?

The aforementioned poor play and lack of fight against the cream of the crop.

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An inability to protect home court (just 16-13 at Scotiabank Arena. Only seven teams in the conference have won fewer home games).

Poeltl’s non-stop back woes.

A lack of development from Gradey Dick.

Too often the team’s point guards, Immanuel Quickley and Jamal Shead, have been outplayed by the competition.

Dreadful shooting (26th in three-point accuracy, 25th in three-point makes per game).

Ja’Kobe Walter has shown flashes, but none of the young wings have taken the next step and one (Ochai Agbaji) had to be attached to a second-round pick to be salary-dumped.

@WolstatSun

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