Anunoby's defence, Koloko among highlights of Raptors' pre-season

Montreal -- The pre-season is over. The Toronto Raptors were in five cities, three provinces, and two countries, ending with an outing against Atlantic Division rival Boston Celtics in front of crowd of a crowd of 22,000 at the Bell Centre that perhaps surpassed the gathering in Edmonton for its passion and intensity, which is saying something.

The Raptors came back to win 137-134 in overtime after a sluggish start. Leading all scorers was O.G. Anunoby who scored 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three in his 29 minutes. Scottie Barnes added 25 on 10-of-20 shooting and looked good running the team at point guard in the second half, while rookie Christian Koloko was outstanding, with 12 points (on 6-of-6 shooting), two blocks and four rebounds in his 16 minutes. Pascal Siakam (rest), Gary Trent Jr. (IT band tightness), Chris Boucher (hamstring) and Otto Porter Jr. (hamstring) were all unavailable.

The Raptors finalized their last roster spot after the game, with incumbent Justin Champagnie getting the nod over Josh Jackson, DJ Wilson and Gabe Brown, as first reported by Sportsnet. The criteria? “I think we’ll probably go with either a) the best player or b) someone we think has the biggest upside, a young guy we might be able to develop in a couple of years,” said Nurse before the game. Champagnie is the youngest of the four at 21. Getting his contract guaranteed for the season is a nice progression for the undrafted forward out of St. John’s. He was on a two-way contract with the team last season and did very well in the G-League, but was injured most of the summer and hurt in camp which initially seemed to be working against him. But he was the only one of the four to appear in the first half against Boston, or at all until Jackson subbed in with five minutes to play. Both played all of the overtime period. Champagnie made some strong takes to the basket in the extra period and got himself to the line too. Jackson made some nice hustle plays, but it was the younger Champagnie who will have a chance to build on what he started last season. 

Anyway, with the regular season set to start Wednesday when the Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers, here are some things I like and don’t like after three weeks of Raptors watching:

Like: OG Anunoby’s defence – An odd choice on a night when he exploded offensively but stick with me: Anunoby had some great sequences during exhibition play (consecutive blocks on the Bulls Zack Lavine, for example) and was at it again against the Celtics. He came out of nowhere for a block against Derrick White, broke up a play by shooting the gap on the weak side a moment later and disrupted a drive by Jayson Tatum – all in the game’s first three minutes. Like every Raptor regular, other than maybe Gary Trent Jr., Anunoby’s offence had been lagging before Friday,  though his 20-point first quarter was a pretty strong indicator he’s coming around. But his ability to lock down elite perimeter players has not been affected. His most spectacular play was when he recovered from trapping the ball near half-court and sprinted all the way to the corner to block an otherwise open three by Al Horford. Anunoby’s offence will continue to be up-and-down as long as he’s determined to push beyond a catch-and-shoot role, and the Raptors are willing to encourage him. The upside is real, but it won’t always be as smooth as it was Friday, but his defence earns him the right to try new things.

Don’t like: Scottie Barnes’ offensive game (until halftime!) -- There are some valid reasons for Barnes to start slowly in his second NBA exhibition season, the main one being that it was revealed he missed three weeks of training prior to training camp due to a sprained right ankle (not the ankle he sprained during the playoffs last season). So, any criticism here is offered with a massive grain of salt. But the notion that the reigning rookie-of-the-year would simply flow into his second season and seamlessly with an expanded offensive arsenal is proving to be wishful. Barnes has struggled to shoot (36.4 per cent before Friday, and just 9-of-18 from the free throw line) and has looked indecisive in his 1-on-1 attacks as his 12 turnovers in his first four games suggest. He knows it too. When he hit the Celtics' Tatum with a crossover and step back late in the second half, he ran back on defence and gave his hands a hard clap in what looked like a ‘finally’. He hit a three over Horford a moment later, suggesting the lid is coming off the basket for him a little bit. This isn’t time to be concerned: Barnes is too good and too well-rounded player to not impact games at a high level, but his showing through five exhibition games suggest that he’s still got a way to go to work through all the offensive options he has on his plate.

On the bright side? The Raptors put the ball in his hands in the third quarter and some good things began to happen in his role as an over-sized point guard: he found Birch at the rim for what should have been a dunk; he beat Tatum for a lay-up and a foul and then pulled up for short jumper a moment later. In the fourth quarter he beat Grant Williams cleanly late in the shot clock with a crossover dribble. More of that please.

Like: Christian Koloko’s everything --  From the moment he took the floor and addressed the Montreal crowd in his native French to a huge roar through nearly all of his 16 minutes of playing time, the second-round pick from Cameroon looked every inch an NBA player. He sprints into his screen which keeps the pace of the offence high, is more physical than his slender frame would suggest when he’s trying to pin someone on a roll and works tirelessly on the offensive glass, even when out of position, and was rewarded with a couple of tap outs for extra possessions. Defensively, he showed how well he can move his feet when he denied Celtics guard Derrick White the ball on an inbounds play. His tip-in on a pass from VanVleet that was at the top of the square was impressive, and his steal and one-man fast break and dunk later in the quarter was just plain fun, while indicating the kind of athletic tools Koloko is bringing to his on-going job interview. He finished in the lane with power off a nice feed from Thaddeus Young and sprinted back to block the Celtics' Grant Williams at the rim on the next play. An outstanding night to finish what has been a very encouraging exhibition season for the second-round pick out of Arizona. Koloko and Dalano Banton have been the best stories out of the pre-season. We’ll see what translates when the lights come on for real.

Like: Khem Birch’s energy -- The Montreal big man got the start in his first professional game at the Bell Centre as Pascal Siakam sat out for rest. He’s been a different player than he was a year ago when he was battling a knee injury among other ailments. “I think my pre-season has been pretty solid. I haven’t been playing much, but I’m just taking it day by day … last year I was hurt, I wasn’t really focused on personal goals … I don’t want to make the knee an excuse, but it was. Reason why I wasn’t aggressive last year.” Birch had a nice first stint, challenging shots at the rim and making a nice play to pick up a loose ball in transition for the dunk. He’s even started to spot up in the corner for threes again. He’s a good screen, passes well out of the short roll and knows how to keep an offence moving. “He wasn’t himself last year and that was all due to injury,” said Nurse. “So, my first meeting with him after the season I said, ‘somehow, somewhere somebody’s got to be able to get it fixed, right? Spend your whole summer getting it fixed so that you’re able to use some of your abilities and he’s done that.

“I think he’s played hard (in camp) and he’s a little mad at me it’s been for limited minutes, and he’s gone out there and played like it, and that’s okay. But we’re going to need him.”

He certainly looked healthy and fit for all of his minutes Friday, including when he sprinted the length of the floor to break up a Celtics 2-on-0 fast break early in the third quarter.

Don’t like: The Raptors half-court offence --  It’s perhaps not fair to judge too much based on how they performed against Boston given Toronto was without two starters and two more projected rotation players in Chris Boucher and Otto Porter Jr., but it really felt like more of a continuation of theme when the Raptors were down 25-17 early in the first quarter. Shots need to be made for assists to count, granted, but – particularly when the Raptors were facing the Celtics starters – a big problem is Toronto simply didn’t get Boston’s defence moving enough early in the shot clock, either with dribble penetration or side-to-side ball movement or just running consistent pick-and-roll action. The outcome was a lot of 1-on-1 basketball where the Raptors big wings would try to exploit a mismatch. It’s a nice option to have but a steady diet of it simply won’t work, unless one of your wings is named Michael Jordan. The Raptors came into the game averaging 18 assists per game, four less than last season when they averaged 22 a game, which was 29^th in the league. The second half – with Barnes at the point and more pick-and-roll action, it seemed – was an improvement.

And… the jury is out on Fred VanVleet’s shooting: The Raptors guard is a career 38 per cent three-point shooter and the Raptors record holder for threes made in a single season, so we’re not going to panic or anything, but VanVleet came in the Raptors final exhibition game shooting 5-of-20 from deep and was 0-for-3 in the first half. But – and let’s not lose the plot here – he played 30 hard minutes through three quarters and got through the exhibition season unhurt. The shooting will come, I’m willing to bet.