Toronto Raptors: C.J. Miles could be more consistent
C.J. Miles is a key player for the Toronto Raptors, but he is not delivering enough on a consistent basis.
The Toronto Raptors seemed to have picked up a player that could fill a hole for them during this past offseason when they added C.J. Miles.
The 13-year veteran joined the Raptors after playing for three years in Indiana, but when the team saw Paul George leave, they saw Miles leave as well.
This is great for the Raptors because we have seen Miles deliver some big games during his career. Even taking a look at this season, he has done the same thing. However, there’s one problem, and that is Miles’ consistency. If he wants to be able to help the Raptors pick up wins, he needs to be able to deliver every night.
So far this season Miles has been able to average 10.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. These numbers are pretty similar compared to his overall career averages. However, his overall numbers for the season aren’t what we are going to spend the majority of the time analyzing. His game-by-game numbers is where we get the meat of the argument.
The first stat to point out is going to be his scoring. Going into his first season with the Raptors, he was seen as someone who could score the basketball. During some games, he has. During other games though, he has struggled to put any points on the board.
The first game of the season, and his first game as a Raptor, Miles was able to put up 22 points in the win. This was on 7-of-12 shooting (58.3 percent) and things were looking promising for Miles and his future in Toronto.
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His next game out, he only scored five points on 2-of-7 shooting (28.6 percent). This is where we saw a glimpse of his inconsistency this season.
The next few games we saw him put up 13 points and then 10 points, which was great considering that is why they brought him on the team in the first place. But after those two games, we saw him struggle again. He had a stretch of four games where he only averaged 4.7 points, which is too low for a player of his abilities.
Look, he is not DeMar DeRozan or Kyle Lowry, that is obvious. But he has a higher usage rate than Serge Ibaka and is still scoring less than him.
As the season progresses, we are seeing Miles start to come into it again. In the Raptors’ win against Houston on Nov. 14, Miles was able to put up 19 points. Since then, he has been able to score the ball consistently, but with each game, his numbers are going down.
Since the 19-point outing, he followed it up with games where he would score 17 points, 14 points, 12 points and 11 points. In his last two games, his numbers dropped even further to seven points in each contest. This could be concerning for Raptors fans because his inconsistency is showing yet again.
He is only 30 years old so we know he still has some gas in the tank, but the Raptors would like to see him score the ball more consistently.
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He can not be having these single-digit games that he has had this season. If he can score double-digits every night for the Raptors, then they will be in great shape this season.