Serious lack of inches among the Raptors

Last week, the Bucks beat the Raptors thanks to a mammoth performance Giannis Antetokounmpo: 31 points, as well as 20 rebounds. Last night against the Rockets, those same Raptors collectively grabbed… 22 rebounds.

When the opposing team takes more than 30 extras (53), it is difficult to imagine a victory. ” There, the whole match is here. I thought our guys were fighting, doing everything they could. They simply dominated us, and we had no answer to the rebound », states Darko Rajaković.

He doubted that such a scenario was likely to happen. His team was actually deprived of its usual starting pivot, Jakob Poeltl, whose inches would not be too much to fight against the giants opposite. Houston featured one of the greatest rotations in history. Even if Josh Okogie replaced Steven Adams in the Texas top five again last night.

The rookie who rocked Steven Adams!

Steven Adams still finished as the game’s top rebounder (12), crushing the Canadiens with his offensive rebounds (8), giving the Rockets too many second chances. The Raptors were therefore proficient all night (51% vs. 57.5%), even dominating their opponents in 3-point success (21/40 vs. 13/30), for nothing.

In place of Jakob Poltl, hampered by his back, newcomer Colin Murray-Boyles was sent to the coals. He brought a lot of energy with 13 points, but only grabbed one rebound. And especially felt the physical impact across the road.

« Adams is the strongest! It’s incredibly powerful. My wrists now hurt from trying to block him while parrying and fighting him. That is impossible. Her strength… I didn’t think she was that strong. We couldn’t move it. No one could get past their screens. I asked him what his mid-match weight training routine was like “, the newcomer openly delivers.

Continuing this dominance in rebounds, the Rockets did what they wanted in the Canadian racket: 30 points more than their opponents in this zone (66-36). The problem is that this isn’t the first time these questions have come up. That was already the case against the Mavs’ Anthony Davis and Derek Lively II, then against the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama.

Scottie Barnes calls for greater urgency

After five games, four of which they lost, Toronto is the weakest team in the league with only 36 rebounds. It is also one of the teams that receives the most points in its racket. So while they wait for Jakob Poltl’s return, which would be inevitable, the Raptors need to stick together.

« We have to be more urgent, we really have to want to. In certain moments of the game, even teams that are not particularly strong in transition managed to outrun us. I think they put, what, roughly (27) points in transition today? We have to do better in this area. It’s mostly our fault. We have to take a defensive position », claims Scotty Barnes.

The author of 31 points last night, he adds: “ Opponents have averaged 130 points per game in their last four games. It’s just terrible. In attack, however, we played quite well: we scored a goal, went in circles, took the ball out for threes. We do that pretty well. But in the end, it all comes down to one thing: how many defensive stops can you make? And lately we haven’t been doing enough. »