Toronto Raptors: Searching For The Next Level

By Joshua Howe | Feb 27, 2015

Feb 24, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) falls to the floor during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Raptors 99-92. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

The Toronto Raptors‘ post-All-Star weekend schedule hasn’t been easy. They’re at the tail end of a brutal five-game stretch that has included the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks so far, with the Golden State Warriors as the next and final opponent before things taper off a bit and the schedule starts to wane.

Toronto demolished the Hawks in that first game, but since then have gone on to lose their last three. Perhaps most notable is the fact that they lost to the Pelicans when they didn’t have Anthony Davis, and held a commanding lead over New Orleans at halftime. But they let the game slip and slide until the fourth quarter came, and then they simply got outplayed.

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So what’s going on with the Raptors? Why can’t they seem to get back to playing the way they were at the beginning of the season, when they were crushing every single team that stood in their way? Well, the simple truth might be that the Raps aren’t actually that team when things boil down. That was a great run for them, but they aren’t going to do something like that all season long.

Still, they have played well enough to grab the second seed in the Eastern Conference. It’s not like they’re so inconsistent that they can’t win on a regular basis. But as this recent slide shows, they have trouble with other top tier clubs, especially those in the West.

There’s a few factors that are contributing to this.

1. Kyle Lowry Just Might Be Gassed

Lowry never seemed to fully recover from that stretch where he went insane with DeMar DeRozan going out due to injury. He went absolutely nuts when he was forced to take the helm, destroying every single team that came before him.

This was more than any fan could hope for since Lowry is known for being able to take over parts of games, but not entire ones. The extra effort may have simply pushed him over the edge.

Combined that with the fact that he participated in All-Star weekend, and Lowry still hasn’t got much rest since the game against the Trail Blazers where the Raptors’ season seemed to take an odd turn.

Lowry isn’t going to get much rest from now until the season ends, so hopefully he can do something to regain a bit of energy. Does Michael Jordan have any of that Secret Stuff left over?

2. Jonas Valanciunas Needs More Attention

Other than the mayhem surrounding Terrence Ross, Valanciunas and his place in the rotation via Dwane Casey has been the focus of fan love and hate this season. People love to say, “Why isn’t JV in the game?”, “Where’s JV?”, and “Casey won’t ever play JV in the fourth quarter!”

While their relationship has been strange, Jonas does still seem to be entirely buying in to whatever Casey is selling, despite how his minutes have been handled. There have been quite a few times (though this has changed somewhat during recent games) where Casey has opted against playing Valanciunas in fourth quarters because he says that he prefers the defensive flexibility of guys like Patrick Patterson.

But ignoring all of that, Jonas is turning into one heck of a young player. He’s learning how to use his strength correctly and has been rebounding better while taking more efficient shots.

When he’s on, he looks like the best player on the team. Yeah, I said it. When he’s on.

Point is, Casey, if you’re listening, don’t stunt the man’s growth. When he’s grabbing 12 boards in the first half and only getting three shots? That’s not a good thing. Take a look at that for me. Thanks.

3. DeMar DeRozan’s Shooting Woes

DeRozan is shooting a terrible 39.4 percent from the field this season. Even worse, he’s averaging 20.4 percent from three.

He takes 14.2 two-point shots per game and makes 5.9 of them. Even his free throw shooting, which is at 79.5 percent, is his lowest since his rookie year.

In other words, if you’re looking to build a brick house, DeMar’s the man to call. Heck, he could probably build you an entire village. At least then what he’s doing would be put to good use.

Maybe he could just start doing this with them?

DeRozan is a player who can elevate his game in the playoffs. He did so last year. But he was never shooting like this. Someone find this man a defibrillator and bring his game back to life, or at least save it for me for when spring arrives.

With the playoffs looming, the Raptors need to find a positive swing and quick, while staying as healthy as possible. It doesn’t seem like much to ask, but just look around the rest of the league and you’ll see that it’s a tougher job than it seems.

There are still plenty of games left for Toronto to get back to their winning ways, and it will be much easier with their schedule lightening up. Still, these losses are more than a little concerning because they come from things that have manifested themselves within the team over the course of the season.

When it’s all said and done, everything needs to be kicked up a notch, taken to the next level. We saw some of that last season in the playoffs and it will have to happen again (especially for DeRozan).

For now, all we can hope for is that the team finds a way to flip the capsized ship. That championship level squad hasn’t shown up just yet. And with under 30 games remaining, the question is: will it?

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