Raptors Discuss Biggest Areas of Improvement Following Game 1 Victory

The Toronto Raptors see their half-court attack as the biggest area of growth this season following an opening night victory

The Toronto Raptors are well aware that Game 1 wasn’t pretty.

Yes, it was a win. At this point in the year, with so much change in the offseason, they’ll happily take wins any way they can. But it’s clear this team is a long way from where it wants to be.

“There was a really good teaching session for us this morning,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković following practice Thursday. “We had the jitters and we just wanted to win that game and get it out of our way. We found a way. And there was a lot of a lot of things for us to improve on and learn from.”

The biggest of those is going to be Toronto’s half-court offense which generated just 72 points per 100 possessions against Minnesota. For comparison, Toronto’s 25th-ranked half-court offense sat at 94.5 points per 100 possessions last year, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Raptors Clinch Darko Rajaković 1st NBA Victory in Ugly Win vs. Timberwolves

Part of that was Minnesota’s defense, led by Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns who make up one of the biggest frontcourts in the NBA. But a lot of it was also errors by the Raptors who are still figuring out how to navigate and gel in this new system.

“I just thought there were moments we did not have force, that we slowed down, and then when we were attacking the paint, there were chances for us to find open teammates, we did not do it,” Rajaković said of the team’s lackluster half-court attack.

Even with room to grow, the increased ball movement was clear for the Raptors. Toronto assisted on 27 of 36 made field goals Wednesday and limited turnovers to a modest 14. Dennis Schröder, in particular, did a good job keeping Toronto organized as best he could in the half-court, using that veteran savviness to help his adjusting teammates.

Raptors Discuss Gradey Dick's Development & The Road Ahead for the Rookie Shooter

“We’re still just growing,” Scottie Barnes said of Toronto’s offense. “We're still trying to find that, fix some things, tweak some things. We've just got to be better. Keep taking those open shots and we're gonna be confident in taking those shots.”

An above-average half-court attack for Toronto likely isn’t a realistic goal for this group considering their lack of three-point shooters and one-on-one advantage creators. But the hope is the Raptors can take steps toward being closer to average while riding what they hope will be one of the league’s fiercest defensive units and a lethal transition attack.