Raptors Face Reality of What Lies Ahead: 'It's Not Getting Any Easier'

The Toronto Raptors have lost their swagger and getting it back will be no easy task with such a daunting schedule ahead

Aaron Rose | Dec 15, 2022

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors are well aware of where they stand. Three straight losses to a pair of mediocre-to-bad teams has dropped them two games below .500 and things are only going to get tougher.

The upcoming schedule is daunting: 12 straight games against winning teams save for one outing on Sunday against the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors. They've blown their chance to bank some early season wins thanks to an offseason of continuity and now they're facing reality.

"It's not getting any easier," Thad Young said following Thursday's practice. "There’s a potential chance that we could not win a game until the begin of the new year if we don't come out and play the way we need to play."

If the mood Tuesday after a pair of losses to the Orlando Magic was relatively upbeat, a heartbreaking loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday killed that. This team isn't living up to expectations and it knows it. The problems are everywhere and far too often the same ones: defending the ball and shooting.

"We haven’t guarded the ball nearly well enough. And if I had to pick one thing out of it, I would say it’s physicality," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We are just not getting anywhere near into the ball enough at the start of drives. There’s just too much freedom there. ... We’ve got to get into the ball, that’s it."

Toronto has been exceptional forcing turnover this year, averaging 17.1 per game, the most in the league. The problems occur when those gambles don't pay off and teams start stringing together buckets against what's otherwise a lackluster Raptors defense when it's not forcing turnovers. Without anyone to protect the paint reliably and too many blown assignments, Toronto is allowing opposing teams to shoot 48.4% from the field, the fourth-worst in the league.

On the other side of the ball, confidence has become a growing concern. The Raptors attempted just 21 three-pointers on Wednesday, making just six, and Fred VanVleet admitted post-game that he's decided to start attacking the rim more in part because of his extended shooting slump.

"It’s impacting a lot of what we’re doing," Nurse said of the team's lack of confidence. "My message is we can’t let it impact our identity and doing the things that our philosophy demands and we are letting [that happen]."

So how do you fix that?

It's tough, is the short answer. You need the swagger, joy, and positivity to get out of the mental funk that's been plaguing this team but that can't start until the winning returns.

"Winning is the cure for everything. I always say people can hate you or whatever but winning just makes everybody smile and everybody be happy," said Pascal Siakam. "I think the harder thing is just trying to have a positive outlook on things when they’re not going right because, again, there’s nothing you can do to change that."

Well, there is. For Siakam, it means getting into the gym and keeping at it. To borrow an old saying from former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher David Price, "if you don't like it, pitch better." That's what Siakam is doing.

"What can I do now to change it? I have to go back and I have to work, I have to watch film, I have to see what I can do better, and then do them," he said. "Me being mad and sad and depressed is not going to help change what happened. What’s going to help me change what happened is me going back and watching what I didn’t do right and doing it right the next time. Put that foot forward every single time and that’s what I try to do."

One win isn't going to solve Toronto's problems. For a team that had second-round playoff aspirations, a 13-15 record and the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference isn't nearly good enough. But eventually, someone is going to have to stop the bleeding or things could get very ugly very soon.

"Once we get that first one and get off this skid, I think we'll be fine," said Young.

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