Raptors Players Have Lots to Say as In-Season Tournament Arrives in Toronto

The Toronto Raptors have seen a 'playoff mentality' in these in-season tournament games so far with $500,000 on the line

The In-Season Tournament has finally come to Toronto!

Excited?

It’s OK if you’re still confused. So, what exactly is this thing? Well, the short answer is it’s a way to spruce up some otherwise boring November basketball games. Think of it as regular November basketball games with lipstick.

Essentially the NBA has divided the league into six equally talented groups based on last year’s records. The Toronto Raptors sit in East Group C alongside the Boston Celtics, who visit Toronto on Friday night, the Brooklyn Nets, the Chicago Bulls, and the Orlando Magic. The top team from each group along with two “wild card” teams from each conference, based on record and point differential, will advance to a single-elimination playoff before a champion is crowned in Las Vegas on Dec. 9. Winners earn $500,000 per player, the exciting new NBA Cup, and bragging rights, or something like that.

Got it?

That’s the best I could do. Otherwise, take Scottie Barnes’ suggestion for those in need of an explanation:

“They can go on Google and look it up.”

What’s this all for?

Money, of course. The NBA is hoping to build more excitement around these games ahead of their next TV rights negotiations with broadcast partners. Essentially, better ratings for these games means more money in the pockets of the league and, therefore, the players. It also incentivizes star players to play in these games and, depending on who you ask, makes those players play harder in specified games.

“It's kind of like playoff mentality,” Precious Achiuwa said earlier this week.” Guys are out there trying to win every possession, kind of like the playoffs. So it's very, very intense and I'm looking forward to it, of course.”

Varying Opinions

As for the players, the jury is still out on exactly what it means.

“I think it means something to us now, I guess,” Barnes said. “I don’t really know but it means something.”

But $500,000 isn’t insignificant, even to multi-millionaires.

“If you know there’s $500K on the table for the winner, do you have motivation?” Dennis Schröder asked a reporter. “There you go.”

“It’s a lot of money to me as well,” said Garrett Temple.

That said, is a player really going to try harder than normal with half a million dollars on the line? Shouldn’t players already be giving maximum effort every time they touch the court?

“If a guy is gonna go all out in a regular season game, then he's gonna go all out in the regular season game,” Temple said. “I don't think this will necessarily incentivize guys when they're playing to go all out because the guys that are in this league that play at a high level when they're playing, they go all out on the court.”

Take Toronto’s highest-paid player Pascal Siakam, for example. Half a million dollars doesn’t “move the needle” when it comes to his effort because for him it’s just a regular season basketball game that he’s already going all-out for.

“It's my opportunity to play and compete,” he said. “To me, (that) is always exciting. I don't think the money makes me like, ‘Oh my God, I have to kill myself.’ I have to kill myself every night because I want to be great. It's not like those games don't count. All those games are important.”

Controversy

If there is one aspect of the tournament that has received less-than-stellar reviews so far it’s the courts. Put simply, they’re far too much. Every team has a brand new fully-painted court often with overly bright colors. The courts come with new city uniforms that are specially designed for the in-season tournament.

“The jerseys are interesting. I like a few jerseys. I think they’re cool. Just the contrast between the court and the jerseys sometimes is a little off,” Achiuwa said. “I think sometimes it’s harder to watch the games. The courts – there just seems to be a lot going on.”

Toronto’s court will be all black with a grey strip horizontally down the middle and the NBA cup painted at center court. As for the jerseys, they’re gold and black with inspiration from Drake’s OVO brand.

“I like them. I like new things, especially when you have those traditional jerseys everyone is used to and then to kind of flip it,” Gradey Dick said. “I think it’s cool and adds some style.”

Added Intensity

The biggest difference between these in-season tournament games compared to regular season games is that point differential will matter. That, in theory, incentivizes teams to keep playing their best players even in blowouts.

As you may recall, Boston challenged a call late in the fourth quarter of a blowout victory against Toronto last weekend much to the chagrin of the Raptors. In these tournament games, that kind of sportsmanship is fair game because a blowout victory could make or break a team’s playoff chances.

“Absolutely,” said Raptors coach Darko Rajaković when asked if running up the score is acceptable in these games. “It’s one of those that you gotta play your guys the full 48 minutes and try to get the best score you can get.”

If that is what transpires and star players are playing more minutes in more games earlier in the season, this in-season tournament will be a resounding success. It may take some time to get used to the rules and whatever value it holds to the players and fans, but for now, you can’t knock the league for at least trying something new even if there are a few wrinkles that still need to be ironed out.