Aside from that whole thing where the public address announcer was yelling “horn” during Game 1 of the 2014 playoffs, the first series of the Toronto Raptors’ recent run of success went pretty much as expected. The savvy, battle-tested Brooklyn Nets dominated early, with the young, unproven Raptors looking dazed and unsure of themselves. As the series progressed, the Raptors adapted and grew up, ultimately finishing just a point short of winning Game 7.
Terrence Ross, 23 at the time, was the best example of what the Raptors were missing. In just his second season and first playoffs, Ross was a non-factor for much of the Nets series. He wound up shooting just 14 for 47 from the field, and was not able to stick with Brooklyn’s bigger, bulkier wing players. The nadir came in Game 4, when the erstwhile starter took just one shot in only 14 minutes of play, with Greivis Vasquez and John Salmons devouring his minutes. He had a brief moment of salvation, sure, stealing an inbound pass that at least gave the Raptors their ill-fated chance to win at the buzzer in the final game. Still, it was a disappointing series for Ross.
Two years on and just six meaningless regular season games standing between him and his third trip to the post-season, Ross admits his introduction to playoff basketball was overwhelming.
“You’re never really ready until you’ve experienced something,” Ross said on Monday. “And then you’re ready for it after. The first one, it was difficult. We were playing veteran guys who had won championships and played in many, many playoffs. They weren’t shortcutting it, but they had tips and pointers that they were ready to use. We were just going in there hoping to play tough and stick through it.”
It is strange: Ross is sounding a bit like a veteran these days, a startling thing for a player who has always been so quiet in front of cameras and verging on emotionless on the court. Now he speaks of perspective and setting an example for the Raptors’ young players. Time flies.
Naturally, since that Brooklyn series ended two Mays ago, the context around Ross has changed. He is no longer a fixture next to Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in the starting lineup, even though the player who was supposed to replace him, DeMarre Carroll, has been injured for almost the whole season. The Raptors wanted Ross to come off the bench to be one of the second unit’s main scorers, and in all but seven of the games he has played in this season, he has been in that role.
It is not as if the role has transformed him — his per-minute statistics remain similar to the last two years, with his free-throw rate staying low — but he has come on strong as the Raptors have improved in 2016. Ross was one of the Raptors’ best players when they went on an 11-game win streak earlier in the calendar year.
Although it would be unwise to discount the importance of any of the other four players, he has been a part of the Raptors’ best lineup this season: the four-man bench mob of Ross, Cory Joseph, Patrick Patterson and Bismack Biyombo, propped up by Lowry. Like Patterson, Ross has put a slow start to the season behind him, shooting better than 39 per cent from three-point range in 2016. The Raptors are outscoring opponents by 7.6 points per 100 possessions with Ross on the floor, owing in large part to the success of that lineup.
Before the season, Ross said he was looking forward to the move to the bench.
“I’m playing freely and not thinking so much,” Ross said.
“I think what he’s meaning is the game is slower,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. “He understands the game. He’s not thinking. He’s playing, and not just going out there and jacking shots. He’s got a little bit of the green light: coming off screens, plays run for him. But (he’s taking) good shots, not just forcing shots.”
Casey, as he is wont to do (generally with cause), pointed out that Ross is not a finished product now. He mentioned pick-and-roll defence as a particular problem for Ross, and the swingman’s lapses on that end are still frustrating, given his athletic gifts. Regardless, Ross has been steadier than he has ever been over the last few months, a delight given the angst that followed his post-contract extension swoon in November.
It is the play of Lowry that will be the biggest factor in determining how far the Raptors can go in the playoffs; that is obvious, especially considering what happened last year when Lowry performed like a cut-rate version of himself. However, how the Raptors’ fourth-year players, Ross and Jonas Valanciunas, perform might have the biggest long-term impact on the team. Signing them both to contract extensions does not marry them to the team. Instead, it just guarantees them at a certain price. Both players have taken steps to justify the money they will earn this season, but you cannot really feel good about the investment until they both produce at this time of the year. If they have big springs, their value, to the Raptors and the other 29 teams, will certainly grow. Given the draft picks that are coming to the Raptors and the surprise emergence of Norman Powell, that would open up the world for Masai Ujiri.
They have both had their post-season moments with the Raptors — a few more for Valanciunas than for Ross. For his part, Ross thinks the old cliché about the third time will be proven correct.
“I don’t feel like I’m a super vet,” said Ross, still thinking of the Brooklyn series. “I just feel like I have an idea of what to expect now when we head in there.”