This Completely CHANGES how we view the Raptors…

This Completely CHANGES how we view the Raptors…

This completely changes how we view the Toronto Raptors as a lot of eyes have been on this summer league team over two games and watching the young guys develop. How are the second round picks playing? How are these undrafted free agents playing? The Raptors have done well with them. We had a lottery pick this year. How is CMBB looking in his first performance? And of course, we are going to dive into all of that. But there is one thing that not only changes how we view the young guys, the summer league team, but the Toronto Raptors as a whole. And it’s one development that frankly has me way more excited to watch this Toronto Raptor team. And I’m a Raptors homer. I love this squad. But this has taken my anticipation, my excitement for this upcoming season to another level. And no, I don’t know if this Toronto Raptors team is going to be, you know, a top team in the Eastern Conference. It’s going to shock everyone in terms of the win loss column. But this Raptors team has completely flipped their identity upside down. This team is playing with energy. This team is playing with fight. This team is playing with a level of defensive intensity that cannot be ignored. It cannot be something you push to the side. Be like, “Oh, it’s just summer league, Ben. You’re overreacting. All fans that care about this are overreacting.” whatever the heck it is, there are seven, eight guys out here on this Raptors team in summer league that are going to be on this roster and they maybe more and they make up the identity of this squad. Yes, watching these games, the offensive end can get a bit ugly, but on the actual NBA team, we have Scotty Barts, we have Brandon Ingram coming in, one of the most smooth offensive players in the entire NBA. We have RJ Bear, who averaged 21 points per game. IQ we haven’t really got to see yet play on this Raptor squad in terms of you know being healthy for a long stretch of time offense will come together but defensively the bench the intensity you got guys like Jameson Battle now who watching him in summer league last year you would be like okay well he can knock down the three but he’s never going to be a defensive back Jame Battle’s picking up people you know full court getting into their grill making defensive impact plays The script has been flipped. We are looking at a completely different Toronto Raptors team than we’ve seen in the past. I mean, we take a look at the stats. We can dive into the stat lines. We can dive into what’s going on with the squad, right? And there’s so much to get excited about with this team, but literally everyone out there on the basketball court that’s playing and we’ll talk about the offensive floor, but Jacobe Walter looks like he is on another level defensively with the added muscle to his team. You know, the shed heads, there might be some questions. I’ll talk about some of the concerns from this game because it wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. And Jamal Shed offensively, the the jump shot, he had some nice ones for sure, but there’s still some question marks regarding jump shooting. Jamal Shed is into everyone every single possession and it feels like even more so than he was last year. So, Shed is playing with a level intensity. It’s carrying over to everyone. CMBB, you know, you this was an up and down roller coaster game for CMBB. I want to dive into him a lot in this video, but defensively another level. You know, there’s a bunch of videos, there’s a bunch of stuff, you regards to uh uh Bryant, you know, Carter Bryant out there for the San Antonio Spurs, you know, saying, “Oh, yeah, he’s elite defensive. He’s this.” There’s a bunch of those plays you could take from CMBB and a lot of these Toronto Raptors guys this entire game. Like the the Toronto Raptors have the most elite on ball defense I’ve ever seen out of a summer league team here right now. And it’s back-to-back games, right? Right. If we look at the stat lines, the box scores, yes, it was an ugly game both ways, but the Raptors once again forced 29 turnovers. 29 turnovers in this game. Th this Raptors team, the calling card, the identity, how this team is, what what Bobby Webster is putting together in the draft and all the signings and everything he’s trying to do. We are a defensive nightmare. We are a nightmare. Teams are horrified to go against the Char Raptors. What? 34 and then 29 turnovers in back-to-back games. That that is a level of defensive production that is unheard of out there in the NBA. So, you know, all these guys playing off the bench, you know, Elijah Martin, you know, not didn’t knock down his threes tonight, but you see his impact on the defensive end. Like, you know, when a guy is going one for seven from the field, but it’s a plus 14 for the game, that’s a signal in terms of the little things they’re doing out there on the basketball court. Ola Shamsh is going to be playing with the big club. I know Colin Castleton and we’ll probably get in some roster decisions there, but Shamshay stole the show in terms of minutes, in terms of production out there on the summer league team from Colin Castleton and I don’t expect him to be in that mix for, you know, that final roster spot. Chucky Heburn, the confidence is is on another level with this guy. But defensively, I’m starting this all off with defensive impact. Like He lost it all everyone. Jonathan Bobo, who randomly came off the bench in this game, but all of these dudes, all of them, every single one of them came out and played with some defensive intensity. That’s what we want to see. That’s what you want to see from this Raptor squad because everyone’s, “Oh, everyone’s overpaid on the Toronto Raptors. What are they doing? They don’t have an identity. I don’t know.” If we can build around the fact that, you know, in our certain because Scotty Barnes and Yaka Pearl are already elite defensive players. We know this. We have Brandon giving quotes which I’ll probably cover tomorrow but saying he needs to match this level of intensity the Raptors are playing with. We don’t know what’s going to happen with IQ and RJ Barrett. When the next president of basketball operations come in, that’s what decisions will be made, but you know, IQ, RJ Bar, if one of those guys aren’t playing with that intensity, I mean, literally anyone that’s played in this summer league can come in and step in and break things down, right? Jacobe Walter intense on defense right now, right? Elijah Martin, Chucky Heard, Jabal Shed, all of these dudes can come out and just give you minutes and hound the other team. And then you know you complement that with the offensive firepower of you know Scotty Bars of uh Brandon Ingram of an RJ Bear all these dudes like there is going to be some really really impactful moments out there on the squad. Grady Dick as well. I am just elated with this style of basketball. It’s so fun to watch. It’s so fun to watch and the refs aren’t blowing whistles every single second. But dive into the specifics. The first guy everyone wants to talk about is going to be uh CB. You know the player specific stuff. And tonight, you know, stat line wasn’t absolutely all over the place. But, uh, you know, had eight points, had eight fouls, and five turnovers, which is concerning, but seven rebounds, uh, eight points, one assist, three steals. He was playing a level of defensive intensity. It was great. There were some weird fouls that were going on. There was a couple tough air balls. Now, he did knock down a three, but his foot was out of bounds, so it didn’t count. So, uh, that’s one thing to be encouraged about, but the jump shot is it’s as advertised, right? We knew with CMBB he’s going to be an elite defensive player, but a guy that’s going to need some polish, need some work out there on the offensive end. Not too stressed. Not too stressed about uh any of the negatives and stuff. You probably like to see the turnover style down, but makes sense. You know, rookie coming in high expectations playing with the level of intensity energy. It’s a little bit beyond himself. So, the fouls and turnovers were an indication of that in tonight’s game. But, uh, you know, Jacobe Walter I thought had a smooth outing. you know, was hot for stretches, cold for stretches, but the entire time playing intense, driving to the rim. Didn’t make all of his buckets around the rim the same way he did in uh you know, the the early game, you know, the the first game with the Toronto Raptors in summer league, but you know, he’s looking more confident around the basket. So, that’s a positive there, especially with the Toronto Raptors. Like, you know, the Raptors have an interesting style right now. One mid-range jump shot, one mid-range jump shot made for this Raptors team, you know, in this game here today. It’s it’s a wild shot chart. So, you know, everything’s either inside the paint or beyond the three-point line. And one of the medas wasas from Jamal Shed. Jacobe Walter, I wouldn’t mind getting some touches, getting some shots around that mid-range area to get his game going, right? And this is the one thing everyone forgets about, you know, the analytics and the numbers of basketball. Hotand is a legit thing. The hot hand theory being debunked was proven undebunked. It was double debunked. You know, that paper in terms of the hot theory is legit. It is a thing. And Jacobe Walter is just one of those guys. We see it in this game. gets into rhythms, gets out of rhythms and stuff like most, you know, microwave scores out there in the NBA. If he could just take some of those minis, man, he’s got a smooth jumper, right? I I think that might be an asset of his game that could be utilized. But, uh, you know, it’s it’s a different direction of the NBA, but we’ll talk about that more as the season goes along. You know, Shed in this one again is the the biggest Jamal Shed, apologist, lover, whatever the heck you want to call fanboy. You know, the shed ads, hey, you press the button correctly. I spam a pretty video. But uh tonight had some you know there’s from the eye test of these games right there’s misses and tonight you know the the stats don’t show uh great great numbers there for shed five of nine from the free throw line two of seven from the field uh from the field. You could look at that be like oh it’s an off night. He had some close shots. A lot of these were like front rim like the outside of the front rim not like oh in and out in and out which you usually see from the more elite shooters out there in the game. And for Jamal Shed to really take his game, to really be in contention, to steal that starting spot away from Emanuel quickly is just for him to be able to knock down shots. And I’m a believer in Jamal Shed. I believe he can get there. And some of his jumpers do look smooth, but the misses are still a little bit ugly right now. So, you want to see him still improve and progress in that area. Jameson Bell didn’t get really any clean looks tonight. A lot of his shots were off the dribble. One of the weaker offensive games we’ve seen from him in any summer league performance, but you know, brought it defensively, which I’m encouraged by. off the bench. Mo I thought really played a good game. You know, 12 points in this one, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal. He’s looking a lot more smooth out there on the basketball court. Last season, Mobo had a lot of stretches where, you know, and I say this consistently because he gets the precious AUA comparison a ton, but like Jonathan Mo has a great feel for the game in terms of basketball IQ, in terms of making the right passes. He’s just a really intelligent basketball player, but sometimes he plays a little bit beyond himself. He’s a little bit too fast for his own good. So tonight or tonight and like over the course of the two summer league games, he’s a lot smoother with his handle. He’s slashing the rim a little bit. He’s doing a lot of just nice things out there on the basketball court. Of course, it’s not perfect. We knew Mo was going to be a little bit of a project to come into his own as a basketball player, but I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen from the two games summer league, especially with him coming off the bench in this one. So that was good to see. As well as uh you know, Elijah Barton’s defense didn’t knock down a ton of threes. It was whatever. But the guy that really, you know, is stapling his spot in the Toronto Raptors team right now is AJ Lawson, who five from the field, two from the free throw from the three-point line, nine of 13 from the free throw stripe, 21 points, two steals, two really nice, two blocks, and uh you know, three assists, five boards, like uh you our our guy out there in terms of AJ Lawson. I was impressed with him the back half last season. The jumper wasn’t super consistent, but it was he’s knocking it down in summer league. He’s playing with poise. He’s playing with confidence. He’s coming off the bench in the summer league team and just being able to be a give a spark of offense to the squad. He deserves that final roster spot. I know we have Rody, I know we have Castleton, I know we have a bunch of guys fighting for that position. You know, we can take a look at the depth chart here right now. I got a like spike going out there at this vid. But, uh, you know, in terms of fight for that spot, like you have Rody Castleton that are the two main guys out there in the mix. Like, AJ Lawson deserves it. He deserves it. He’s playing at a level. I think he can actually be an impact player for this team, especially if this team’s dealing with some injuries. So, you know, or if trades happen or whatever the heck’s on the go. So, very very impressed with AJ Lawson, impressed with this Toronto Raptors team. Nice to get another win again in uh this this summer league here right now. Let me know what you guys thought of the game in the comment section down below. You guys best make it make it this far. Subscribe to the channel if you guys haven’t already. We are on that road. I mean, if you made it this far, we are so so close to 39,000 subscribers. The big goal is 40, but we are so close to 39,000 subscribers. If you’ve made it here and you’re not subscribed, hit that button down below. It’s free and it helps us out a ton. So anyways, you guys the best. I’m signing out.

The Toronto Raptors have completely changed their identity over the past couple of seasons and now we are really seeing this culture shift in action. Ben Rogers breaks down the Raptors second win in Summer League against the Orlando Magic and the debut of Collin Murray-Boyles.

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