Dismal defence does in the Raptors in loss to Jazz

Another night where the opponent shoots a ridiculous percentage and the Raptors score enough to have a chance to win but don’t.

Nick says it’s not scheme and he’s probably right to a degree. They’ve shown they can fly around and protect the paint and harass shooters and be successful but they just aren’t doing it right now.

“You’ve seen us when we’re in and we’re out quickly and we’re flying around a little bit; (it’s) when we’re at our best and we’re just not having enough of that, we’re not quite getting out to make them miss enough,” he said after Thursday’s 119-103 loss in Salt Lake City.

“They’re just too… we need another step closer, we need a little harder challenge, we just need to anticipate when it’s going out and be on the move a little sooner.”

Other than that …

Seriously, it’s a tough ask but it can be done. It’s an effort thing and a bit of anticipation and, frankly, it’s getting games against teams that aren’t as good as the Utah Jazz because that’s a very, very good team stacked with shooters and playmakers with a stud in the middle.

All it added up to was loss No. 6 in seven games and with no OG for a while and who knows when Watanabe or Achuiwa will play, this may stay dark for a bit.

There were also these things:

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THREE POINTERS

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Fire ‘em up

A week ago or so, Nick was all about Scottie Barnes taking more shots, maybe 20 game and now the coach not only wants the rookie to take a lot, he wants more threes.

Unprompted, Nick told us before the game that he wants the rookie to start trying to extend his shooting range.

“While we’re on the subject I’m disappointed Scottie’s not taking three or four threes a game. He can do it. I mean listen, you guys see his free throw percentage just keeps going higher and higher and his 17-footer’s a good shot. And he needs to stretch out because it’s gonna be there. To me the sooner he starts attempting the sooner it will become part of his game. And what are we waiting for?”

Nick’s right. This season is about forcefeeding a very good rookie as much as he can handle and that’s ultimately going to be more three-point shooting so there is no time like the present to get going.

At least three times last night, Barnes was basically unguarded above the line and stepped in to drive or take a 17-footer. He’s got to at least take those threes to get used to it.

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