Grading Some More Raptors

 Ah I love a nice long saga I can drag out, plus this one is fun. Before we get into some more Raptors grades, there were some fun games on last night! The Raptors smoked the Nets in what many were calling a must lose game for the reverse standings. Every win brings us closer to not having to care about tanking anymore! As of right now the Raptors are 5.5 games back of the Heat for the playin, they're 3 games up on the 6ers and Nets, the only teams they can potentially go below at this point, meaning they seem pretty locked in to the 7th best odds. People will cry and complain about this but the last time the Raptors had the 7th best odds they jumped to 4th and picked Scottie, so calm down. With 11 games left, I see them pulling out the "tank" stuff maybe 3-4 more times before they fully feel comfortable being locked in and just let the guys play. Just quickly on the game itself, Mogbo showed me a couple little hook shots last night that I was bashing him in his grade for not having, that was encouraging. The rookies are seriously too good to tank which also should be encouraging for the fans. One new draft pick isn't going to change the team we'll need others to step up as well, and it looks like we might have them.

The Lakers and Pacers was also a fun finish, but I have a bone to pick. Tyrese Haliburton in the 4th quarter absolutely cooked Luka Doncic on 3 straight possessions, ultimately leading to the Pacers going up 1 with a minute or so left. The Pacers opted to take out Hali for defense purposes when the Lakers got the ball, it worked and the Lakers missed the shot giving the Pacers the ball back. For whatever reason, they didn't call a timeout to get Haliburton back into the game. At this point Hali had 16 points and 18 assists, and was getting whatever he wanted in the 4th. Without Hali, the Pacers failed to create any kind of advantage and ended up not scoring giving the Lakers the ball back down 1 with about 8 seconds to go. Luka attempted a mid range shot, he missed but there was LeBron James to tip in the buzzer beater for the win. Strange coaching choice set up the buzzer beater, but how cool is it that LeBron can tip in the last shot instead of being the guy to take it now? Anyway, Pacers what are you doing man. Lets grade some Raps:

Jakob Poeltl: A+

14.4/9.6/2.8 on 63/33/67

The 33% from 3 is pretty funny to put up there, that's on 3 attempts this season, 2 of which I can't even remember seeing. Anyway, Jakob Poeltl may not be this team's best player, but he is arguably the team's most important and most consistent player on a night to night basis. After a full season of moaning and groaning from the fan base about trading a first round pick for Jak, he's showed up every night and proved he's as valuable as the front office thought. Poeltl has one of the softest touches in the league, his floater at this point is money and he knows he can get it off at almost any time at his height. Jak is shooting 70% from inside 5 feet this season and 52% from 5-10 feet. Jak has great hands and you rarely see him fumble a pass no matter where it's thrown. He's a smart passer and the Raptors in Darko's system use him as a hub frequently where he's shown he can be effective. On defense, Jak isn't jumping out of the gym, but he's always in the right position, moves his feet well on the perimeter and closes possessions with rebounds better than anyone on the team. The biggest reason Jak gets an A+ is he's proven to be the best tank lever the Raptors can pull. To lose games this year the Raptors have just sat Poeltl in the 4th or all together in a game, showing how big of a hole the Raptors are dealing with without him. Jak gets an A+ not because he's a superstar, but because he knows his role and plays within it perfectly, rarely making mistakes. He's a winning player and would be an asset on any team in the NBA. I heard on a podcast recently that Jak is probably a top 3 Raptors center of all time, which might be slightly hyperbolic but not totally insane. To me you have to put Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka at 1 and 2, but after that it depends on what you prefer between Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poeltl, Antonio Davis and 1 season of Marcus Camby. I'll end this section by saying that all of last year I had to defend Poeltl every single day against an onslaught of haters, this year I haven't had to go to bat for him even once. The fans have come around Jak, A+.

Scottie Barnes: C+

19.5/7.8/5.9 on 45/27/77 

Scottie has fallen victim this year to fan expectations and I think that's a little unfair. But then again, despite having a nice season here I am giving him just a C+ while Jakob Poeltl who obviously didn't have as good of a year as Scottie gets an A+, so expectations do factor into these things. After the Siakam trade, it was made clear that Scottie is the building block of the future for the franchise, so with that in mind fans, and myself were hoping to see a little more improvement in the shot creation category and that's where Scottie came up short this year. If you go back to my bull and bear cases for the Raptors starting 5 article from September, I said the bear case for Scottie this year is averaging 19/8/6 on 45/30/70, basically exactly what happened. I also mentioned in that article that this would mean Scottie doesn't take the extra step as a creator and instead just continues to be a high level jack of all trades type, that happened as well. While the 3 point shot left him and he showed he can't create for himself at the level you want from a number 1 option, Scottie still did show some great improvement this year. Defensively Scottie has made himself into one of the best defenders in the league full stop. He won't get credit for it this season with the Raptors having the record they do, but I'm here to tell you Scottie should be getting all defense buzz in a fair world. With Scottie on the court the Raptors have a defensive rating of 113.36, with him off the court it balloons to 117.65, elite impact. As a help defender Scottie is a menace blocking shots and getting in passing lanes. He uses his strength and speed effectively to guard 1-5 throughout a game and is always a clear positive on the floor whether his shot is falling or not. Another underrated part of Scottie's season is his leadership has taken a jump. Last year when games weren't going his way, Scottie would sulk and almost give up on the game, I haven't seen that even once this season and that says a lot. Despite losses piling up, Scottie is always encouraging his teammates and playing hard until the final whistle, this wasn't the case last season and he deserves a lot of credit for showing this maturity. Unless his handle or 3 point shot take a jump this off season, Scottie may never be a true number 1 scoring option, I don't think that means he can't be the best player on a good team though. His passing and vision are still awesome for his size, he's a great defender and he fills in and does the little things on offense while being able to chip in when needed with scoring. Scottie may not have had the season that we all hoped for, but he still put together a really good season and showed signs of growth in some under the radar ways. C+ may be harsh, but it's only because we wanted the world. At just 23 years old, there's no reason why he can't come through with an A+ next year.

Chris Boucher: A++

10.0/4.5/0.7 on 49/36/78 

This is the last report card, sorry if you wanted ones on the 10 days and 2 ways from the end of the season or one for Garrett Temple. Free Boucher man. This season, just like  every other, Boucher has done everything the team asks of him. Is he the smartest player? No, but he's improved drastically in that regard biting on far fewer pump fakes and taking far less stupid shots. Boucher comes off the bench and brings energy to the game every single night no matter what. Some nights he's hot from 3 and is a secret weapon on offense, some nights he can't hit the water if he was shooting from a boat, but that never changes his approach. He comes in, hustles hard for rebounds, comes out. Earlier in the season Boucher came into games and single handedly won for the Raptors. The game against the Warriors stands out where he came into the 4th quarter and straight up outplayed Steph Curry down the stretch to secure a tight Raptors victory. As the season got more and more tank focused, Boucher fell victim to being too good to give minutes to, but he never complained once. I hope Boucher is a Raptor for the rest of his career. As a role model for the young guys, Boucher knows what it's like to be on the fringes of the NBA and the work it takes to stick around. He understands the attitude you need to have, especially if you're not the most talented guy in the room. You could argue he's been the best bench player for the Raps this season and similar to Jakob Poeltl, I think the tanking absences show that. Boucher gets an A+ not because he blew away my expectations, but because he's now fully understood his game and has cut out a lot of the mistakes that made him such an inconsistent player. Boucher gets the extra + because his attitude and leadership, especially for the guys on the end of the bench has been exemplary and he deserves a bonus for the BONJOUR we get whenever he plays in a game called by Jack Armstrong. Boucher's on the last year of his contract, if this is it for his Raptors tenure I will always look back on it fondly. Whether he's back or not, I hope Boucher gets a fair chance to play next season, he's a positive contributor in the NBA and deserves a good home. The last remaining member of the 2019 championship, I'll always love Chris Boucher.

And that's that! Tomorrow I'll post a consolidated report card just so it's all in one place. As long as I'm still doing this next year it'll be fun to compare how these grades evolve from season to season! As always, go Raptors!