With the Omicron variant sweeping through the country, the Raptors may not have an audience to cheer them on right now, but we are always there to support our favorite (by default) Canadian basketball team. Now that the Raptors are nearly halfway through their first NBA season back at home during the COVID era, here’s a look at how the Raptors are faring this season.
Overview & the bench
The roster has changed so significantly that most of the Raptors this season have not played for the Raptors during the previous season. You could argue that this is the reason why the team did not play to their standards during the first half of the season, as the team needed to learn how to play with each other and learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Where in the past the Raptors could rely on their bench mob, they are currently trying to avoid playing their bench, as the Raptors arguably have the worst bench in the NBA right now as the vast majority of their bench would combine for less than 15 points per 60 minutes of play. Forcing the bench to play extended minutes without most of their starters in recent weeks only shows how little depth the Raptors truly have outside of their starting lineup. While the starters are doing their best to keep the Raptors in the game, it’s up to the bench and for the coaching team to find secondary scorers that the team can rely on to back up the starters. Assuming that Yuta Watanabe and Precious Achiuwa can keep up their scoring capabilities in the second half of the season, Toronto may be able to improve their chances to make the playoffs without overworking their starters.
Raptors and the COVID-19 pandemic
The Raptors have always been a resilient team, otherwise they wouldn’t have won a championship in 2019. Their even-keeled nature, strong sportsmanship, and resilient leadership allows this team to bounce back and turn things around. But when COVID protocols almost wiped out the entire team during the first half of the season, the Raptors looked like they were going to throw yet another season away and the outcome was never bleaker. With every starter and most of their bench out due to COVID protocols, the Raptors were unable to practice as a team and were forced to sign ten-day COVID-19 emergency contracts to even field an eligible NBA team. The losses kept accumulating and with a devastating 144-99 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Raptors looked as if they would not return to the promising form they demonstrated at the beginning of the season. But even with the losses, the Raptors have always shown that their belief in themselves and each other will guide them out of the difficult times and with all of the starters back in the game, it’s up to the Raptors to turn the tables around for the rest of the season.
VanVleet: An All-Star?
VanVleet is killing it as the new leader of the Toronto Raptors and is starting to build his case as a NBA All-Star. As the Raptors’ roster returned to its full strength in late December and into 2022, they are leaping up the NBA standings due largely in part to VanVleet’s stellar performances, not just during the winter break but also throughout the season. At the time of writing, VanVleet has averaged 31 points per game, 8.8 assists per game on 48.5 per cent shooting, and only 1.3 turnovers while posting 30 or more points in three games straight. The Raptors are a better team with him on the floor, with the Raptors having been a ridiculous 19.5 points per 100 possessions better than when he’s been off the floor. It is largely in part due to Fred VanVleet that the Raptors are back in the Eastern Conference playoff race sitting in seventh place (at the time of writing) and are 8-2 at home since 1 December 2021. VanVleet has seamlessly stepped into the role that Kyle Lowry left him and is becoming a reliable leader for the Raptors. All this suggests that Fred VanVleet should become an All-Star, but whether he makes the All-Star Game this season depends on how the fans vote. Nevertheless, VanVleet has my vote and he deserves to be an All-Star this season.