With Johnson in, the Raptors now lack that sort of long-range accuracy. With Johnson starting, the Raptors do not have a single player shooting above the league average of 35 per cent who takes those shots at a high frequency. (Amir Johnson has actually hit 49 per cent of his three-pointers this season, but he has taken only 29 of them.) Teams respect Lowry’s shot, even though he is hitting only 33 per cent of his team-high 281 attempts this season. Opponents will not be running out to contest the shots of either of the Johnsons nor DeRozan. And that will create issues as DeRozan and Lowry look to get to the rim, just as it did in that key possession against the Spurs. However, Johnson has something going for him in those instances. He might not be able to make defences pay by shooting over them, but he can take the ball right at them. “Just keep attacking,” Johnson said. “Because they’re backed up, that means I’m going to get closer to the basket. They’ll bring another guy to help pack paint and somebody’s going to be open.”
“You never know how many minutes you’re gonna get, when’s your next opportunity to play, so you just have to stay ready. Give a lot of credit to [assistant coach] Jama [Mahlalela], always coming up there, sacrificing some dinner times with me, coming up there at nighttime. It’s working out.” This has become part of Johnson’s regular post-game routine. Mahlalela has been working with him individually for weeks. “We’ll actually go up after the games,” Mahlalela told TSN.ca in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “He’ll literally just change out of his uniform and into practice clothes and we’ll go up and spend anywhere between 20 minutes and 30 minutes, it’s never that long. But really just honing his craft. “We’ve been doing that I think every game since he’s been back,” he continued. “And then also we come back in the evenings on an off-day, so a night like tonight and tomorrow night we’ll get him back in the gym. And then we’ll spend about 30-45 minutes and get a volume of three-point
Why James Johnson Is Starting To Shine In Toronto | Pro Bball Report
“I accepted (my role). I knew what my role was going to be before I signed that contract (with Toronto). You can’t come to a job expecting to get $5 and then want more because you work harder than everybody else. You know what you signed up for and that’s what I did. I signed up for the defensive part and I am an opportunity scorer, so I deal with that.”
Raptors defence stepping up | Toronto Sun
James Johnson is getting more minutes. The Raptors tried to go with offence over defence in using Greivis Vasquez rather than Johnson or even Terrence Ross, but the defensive drop-off was just too great. Athletically, Johnson can help a defence by just being on the floor. On top of that, he brings a physical presence that can intimidate and make an opponent think twice about going to the rim.
Raptors hold healthy edge over many NBA contenders | Toronto Star
It’s never a good time for a team to lose a star player, but this is the point when teams generally make their moves to solidify spots in the standings and being at full strength is paramount. An injury early in the year can be withstood, but there are times when teams need to be whole. Like the Raptors are now. They were able to tread water for the quarter of a season they were without DeMar DeRozan and the half-dozen or so games after his return, when he was just getting back to full speed. Now they have everyone and they know it’s time to keep moving forward. They took what they think was a giant step with Sunday’s stirring victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. “I think we set the bar high, and we’ve got to keep going to that standard,” James Johnson said after starring in the Spurs game. “We can’t go back to playing (like we did) in that little slump. We know what we’re capable of. We’ve got to keep playing that way.”
Raptors find their mojo | Toronto Sun
“That’s our goal,” Casey said at the time. “Right now, we’re working to get back there, whether we get there or not, we may be a different team. “We may face the reality that we are a different team, different style of play according to who we are this year. We’re going to strive to continue to get there and we’ve shown flashes of it but the reality is, we may be a different type of team. “I do know we’ve got to continue to work to get better if we’re serious about making a run in the playoffs,” Casey said. “Chicago’s going through the same thing, a lot of teams are more offensive, whether we want to admit it or not. I know that defence wins and that’s who we (were) and who we want to be but we’re probably slanting more to the offensive side right now.” Now, somewhere within the past two weeks, that ‘slant’ has become less pronounced. At the risk of putting too much emphasis on the past two games, the Raptors appear to have relocated some of that fight, some of that nastiness that had gone missing from their game and that leads directly to keeping opponents from scoring at the levels they have been of late.
Raptors’ Kyle Lowry flexes marketing clout with Sport Chek deal | Toronto Star
Whether the sponsorship is a function of great timing or of Lowry’s inherent appeal as a pitchman, George Brown College sports marketing professor Peter Widdis says the Lowry sponsorship embodies the kind of synergies that get sports marketers fired up. The Raptors’ We the North campaign inspired Sport Chek’s My North, and Adidas pitchman Lowry gets to bring those sponsorships together. “You connect those dots and it’s the perfect marriage,” Widdis says. “You have Sport Chek activating a campaign in pure harmony with our strategy, and you have a player brand in Kyle that has Canadian relevance. It brings a nice face to the label.”
Raptors’ Kyle Lowry embraces the North with Sport Chek sponsorship – The Globe and Mail
“It just shows I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” said the 28-year old veteran, who’s in his ninth NBA season. “I’m getting support from my country – the country of Canada – like getting voted into the all-star game and now striking a deal with Sport Chek. It’s a testament to me being excited to be back here.” The advertising campaign makes Lowry the face of Sport Chek’s grassroots #MyNorth campaign, launched in conjunction with the Raptors and MLSE to spotlight Toronto’s basketball culture. He also joins Sport Chek’s Jumpstart Charities, which help financially disadvantaged kids get involved in organized sports.
Sport Chek will be announcing a new sponsorship with Kyle Lowry. To celebrate this deal, Sport Chek will host a basketball practice through its grassroots #MyNorth program that will feature Sherman Hamilton and Kyle Lowry with players from Markham Unionville Minor Basketball Association. Launched in partnership with MLSE and the Toronto Raptors earlier in the year, the #MyNorth platform was created to celebrate the city’s rich, deep-rooted basketball culture, provide unique opportunities for young players and share the real stories of the city’s basketball scene – from the local heroes to the first-time ball players.
#NorthernNostalgia Week 12: Toronto Raptors Bench Bosses | Raptors Cage
Casey came aboard during the 2011-12 season after an impressive championship run as an assistant in Dallas. He was credited with designing a defense that brought out the best in Dirk Nowitzki and it was hoped he could do the same for Andrea Bargnani in Toronto. Casey came in preaching defense and used his mantra “Pound the Rock” to inspire consistency in his team. He definitely had his work cut out for him, both because of Bargnani’s lack of defensive ability and the fact that he inherited a rebuilding team with a roster full of question marks. The former Dallas assistant did not quite get the memo that the team was trying to rebuild and like other Raptor coaches before him, went about winning as many games as he could leading the team to a better than expected record and much lower draft choice than anticipated. This was an impressive feat especially considering the lack of obvious talent on the team, but certainly not what the front office wanted. There was a clear lack of communication between Casey and GM Bryan Colangelo.
Markham kids practice with NBA all-star Lowry | YorkRegion.com
The Markham players and coaches were at the centre of the action on the Toronto Raptors Practice Court at the Air Canada Centre on Bay Street in downtown Toronto. It appears getting the chance to meet Lowry was a surprise for the youthful basketball enthusiasts, who reacted accordingly. “Their reaction was priceless,” Lowry said. “Whenever you get the chance to have that kind of reaction from the kids, it’s always a good time.”
An Analytical Patrick Patterson Breaks Out With Raptors | Pro Bball Report
Patterson’s free throw attempts haven’t increased – yet, but with more shots in and around the painted area, that is something that should take care of itself. “It’s just all about what you do in the summertime,” Patterson said. “Each and every one of us changed our game in the summertime and you are seeing different aspects of it and you are seeing the improvements that we made.” The next step in Patterson’s game will be to simply take more shots when he is open and use his newly developed abilities to blow by defenders to get into the paint with and without the ball more often. It is starting to happen, but he could do more. It might take some careful observations to notice the improvements to Patterson’s offensive game, but on defense, it is becoming a lot easier to see just how much Head Coach Dwane Casey has come to rely on him.
BarDown: Toronto Raptors Rebranded | Bardown
It’s no secret that the Toronto Raptors will be undergoing a jersey redesign and rebranding this coming summer. And with the recent release of an alternate logo, and possible teaser for things to come, we thought we’d try our hand at some possible Raptors redesigns. BarDown artist blkoutln designed a few possible Raptors redesigns and a couple bonus redesigns just for fun.
I can haz yo linkz??! rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
