The Canadian Press
Lori Ewing
TORONTO–The Toronto Raptors are about to find out if their culture reset has been successful.
A second-round sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers in last year’s playoffs painted a potentially-bleak future for the Raptors.
The NBA was trending toward a different style–fast-paced, free-flowing, three-point shooting–and the Raptors were being left behind.
But rather than overhaul the roster, the team revamped its offence.
Ideally, ball movement and three-point shooting will replace one-on-one play.
The Raptors showed glimpses of it in the pre-season–the ball whipping around through a free-flowing offence.
Perfected by teams such as Golden State and San Antonio, it’s a style that difficult to defend and tough to scout.
Teams can befuddle opponents with their offensive imagination.
“[If] I don’t know where the ball is going, damn sure the defence is not going to know where it’s going,” said coach Dwane Casey.
“[As] long as it doesn’t go in the third row up in the stands, we’ll be OK.”
The Raptors open the regular season tonight when they host the Chicago Bulls at the Air Canada Centre, then are home to Philadelphia on Saturday.
Then they head west for not only their longest road trip of the season, but an immediate test of their new style.
They face the Spurs and Warriors in their third and fourth games of the season.
The Raptors were last in the league in assists last season at 18.5 a game–barely half that of league-leading Warriors’ 30.4.
They also were in the bottom third in three-point shots attempted, at 24.3 per game.
The end result was a 51-win season but a second-round exit at the hands of Cleveland, which clobbered Toronto with a flurry of three-point shots.
It wasn’t nearly good enough for Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri, who spoke of the need for a “culture reset” when the team headed into the summer.
“It’s a fun way to play,” Casey said of the style makeover.
“That’s the way the game is going, it’s harder to scout,” he noted.
“This style, the way we want to go, is hard to prepare for,” Casey added. “[Opponents] can’t help on Kyle [Lowry], they can’t help on DeMar [DeRozan], they can’t double-team them as quickly.
“They’ll figure it out eventually, but it’ll take them a little while if they don’t know where the ball is going.”
Ujiri retained the team’s core, re-signing Lowry to a three-year deal in the off-season worth $100 million (U.S.) and Serge Ibaka to a three-year deal worth $65 million (U.S.)
The Raptors acquired Ibaka at last season’s trade deadline but the big man barely had time to develop any chemistry with Lowry before the playoffs.
Lowry missed 21 games after wrist surgery and returned just before the post-season.
“It’s going to be big,” DeRozan said on having time to work with Ibaka.
Gone from last season’s roster are Canadian point guard Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson, P.J. Tucker, and DeMarre Carroll.
The Raptors face a gruelling start to the season, playing nine of their first 14 games on the road.
