Raptors Defensive Issues Stem From An Inability To End Possessions

The Raptors are getting killed on the defensive glass this season and it's creating all sorts of defensive problems for Toronto

Things are getting pretty ugly for the Toronto Raptors right now. At 1-5, very little is going right for Toronto. The offence has been woeful, the defence has been shaky, and on the boards, Toronto is getting killed. 

The Raptors' offensive issues should come as no surprise. They were a middling offensive team in the half court last season, carried by a prolific transition offence. But now, with the defence struggling to get stops, it's impossible for the Raptors to get out and run in transition.

It hasn't just been defensive regression that's plaguing the Raptors. They rank 16th in the NBA in Defensive Rating, surrendering 111 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. The bigger problem for the Raptors this season is when they do get a defensive stop, they can't regain possession. That comes down to rebounding.

On the surface, the Raptors are just a bad rebounding team. They rank 23rd in the league in rebounds per game, snatching almost 43 boards per game. But when you dig a little deeper, Toronto's rebounding statistics become extremely concerning.

Through six games only the Minnesota Timberwolves surrender a higher percentage of offensive rebounds than the Raptors, according to Cleaning the Glass. Almost one-third of every Raptors defensive stop ends in an offensive rebound for Toronto's opponents. That means those "stops" really aren't stops. Instead opposing teams are getting second and third chances to score, prolonging possessions and killing the Raptors defensively.

"You know me, I don't know my stats very well, but we've given up something like 55 offensive rebounds," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said prior to Monday's loss to the Boston Celtics. "We just can't continue to get bashed on the glass like that because all the other good stuff you're gonna do just gets wiped out. So that's why. I'm looking for some rebounding help."

Things didn't get any better against the Celtics. Boston pulled down 12 offensive rebounds in the game, snagging rebounds on 34.2% of their non-garbage time misses, per Cleaning the Glass.

"It’s back to old school blocking out, tagging and perusing the ball," Nurse said. "It’s trying to play bigger. It’s, obviously, you know, 12 offensive rebounds is about what we’re giving up per game. That’s quite a few, makes it hard to survive that way. Kind of the more that we give up the more that teams are becoming aggressive. So just old school stuff. We’ve got to block out and we’ve got to get a little bit more size and strength in there to hold them off."

Part of it is just playing better, but the Raptors have a much bigger problem. Aron Baynes, who is traditionally a pretty good rebounder, hasn't provided Toronto with very much offensively. Chris Boucher, who has looked good in spurts offensively, is undersized and not a very good rebounder. And Alex Len, while defensively stout in the paint, can't switch very well on defence and doesn't provide much in terms of offensive firepower. In order to shore up Toronto's offensive issues, the Raptors have opted to go small this season, playing their most offensively explosive players.

It's a little bit like pick your poison. Go big to grab rebounds and you'll have problems elsewhere. Go small to create offensively and switch easier on defence and you'll get killed on the boards.

The solution: find better bigs.