Frustrations Grow For Raptors After Loss to Grizzlies: Effort Level Was 'Pretty Unacceptable'

The Toronto Raptors couldn't hang with the Memphis Grizzlies in transition or on the offensive glass, falling in another blowout Thursday night

Aaron Rose | Dec 29, 2022

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

In theory, the Toronto Raptors' offense should work.

The half-court offense was never supposed to be good, but the idea was Toronto could make do with elite offensive rebounding and a ton of transition opportunities. The formula for victory has never been that complicated: create chaos, run in transition, and win the possession battle. It's a philosophy that proved successful for large swaths of last season and has been the foundation of everything the Memphis Grizzlies have done this season.

It's not the strategy that's problematic, it's the roster.

Take Thursday night's 119-106 loss to the Grizzlies for example. The Grizzlies aren't a particularly effective half-court team. They came into Thursday ranked 25th in half-court scoring, only slightly better than the Raptors at 28. The difference is Memphis' talent: An other-worldly point guard in Ja Morant who gets everything started in transition with his blazing speed. He's flanked by a pair of uber-talented 3-and-D wings in Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks who can defend multiple positions and make teams pay from behind the arc. And if that's not enough, the Grizzlies roll out a pair of gigantic rim protectors, Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr., who dominate on the glass.

Memphis wasn't doing anything revolutionary Thursday night, they simply beat Toronto at its own game.

"That's pretty unacceptable with the effort we gave. I thought the loose ball count was all in their favor. I'm not talking about 50-50 balls either. I'm talking about ones where we had huge advantages to get and we just [didn't]," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "That's our identity of who we are. When we're tipping balls away, we're the first ones to the floor to get them, and we weren't close to that tonight."

Twice in the second quarter, Memphis grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds, creating second and third-chance opportunities before finally cashing in. Even when the Raptors went on their fourth-quarter run, it was an Adams offensive rebound and kick-out three for Jackson that put Memphis back up 13.

As if that wasn't troubling enough, Toronto's vaunted transition defense that's supposed to be buoyed by all these long and athletic wings couldn't seem to slow Morant and the Grizzlies' transition offense. There were nearly a half dozen full-court passes to Grizzlies players who had already beat Toronto down the court despite the Raptors' supposed edge in that area.

At one point, even the 265-pound Adams beat the Raptors down the court, lumbering into the paint for two of Memphis' 21 fastbreak points.

"It was about as bad as it could get," Nurse said. "Plays that can happen, they can happen maybe once every seven years. Like seriously. So we’ve got to get focused and connected and get serious about playing harder."

Nurse is running out of ideas. He's publicly criticized players, limited playing time, given opportunities to virtually every player on the roster and still, the same problems persist.

What's the solution?

"It's also just gonna have to be just good old fashioned hard work, I think," Nurse said. "They should get tired of this pretty soon and start playing."

Starting Lineup Woes

It took less than four minutes for Raptors coach Nick Nurse to realize he'd made a mistake starting Koloko and Juancho Hernangomez alongside Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, and Scottie Barnes. Five straight misses on the offensive end and little-to-no resistance at the defensive end let Memphis jump up 13-4 before anyone broke a sweat. By the time the second half rolled around, Nurse decided to make a permanent change, going with Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch while stapling Koloko and Hernangomez to the bench for most of the second half.

Trent Provides a Spark

If there was one bright spot Thursday it was Trent who has continued to flourish off the bench. He provided the offensive lift for Toronto when Siakam went to the bench, nailing five of his seven three-pointers for 20 points.