The Raptors Just Sent a Terrifying Message...

39 seconds. 39 seconds is how long it took for Kawhi Leonard to score his first bucket for the Toronto Raptors after 2,752 days. It felt surreal. It felt different seeing him actually on the court, actually in a game that matters for this Raptors squad. The braids were out, the headband was gone, but Kawhi was out there nonetheless, and I still feel giddy over And not only did we just get Kawhi Leonard's return, the Toronto Raptors came out and absolutely massacred the Chicago Bulls out there in the Scotiabank Arena for the team's home opener. They won 135-92, and there wasn't a second in this game where the Chicago Bulls had a lead on the Raptors. So in this video, we'll break down how Kawhi Leonard's debut or re-debut for the Toronto Raptors was historic, even though it was a game that you look at and you might be like, hey, Kawhi could play a thousand times better. And something that the big four of the Toronto Raptors just did, that's only happened nine times in the NBA. We'll break down how almost everything that we talked about in the preview to this game ended up coming true. And one thing from tonight that despite all the positives, despite all the things to just get excited about, there is a couple things one thing in particular that does have Raptors fans a little bit concerned but let's first talk about this game as this one was over early Toronto put 43 points up in the first quarter and led by 21 after the first intermission it ended up being 69 to 44 at the half and the lead got as big as 48 at one point in this game where the Raptors won all four quarters even with the starters with the bench and the third stringers now I touched on a couple things in the preview of this game. The first thing is how the Bulls were a team that loved to get out in the fast break and execute their offense in transition. The Raptors are a team that are one of the best in the NBA at defending the transition and forcing turnovers out there in these fast-paced plays. We also looked at Josh Giddey and Caleb Wilson as two young guys that are coming out handling the ball, and if they got sloppy, if things got, if the handle got a little bit loose, the Raptors are going to make them punish with Scotty Barnes, Collin Murray, Kawhi Leonard and all the dogs that they have out there on this roster chicago turned the ball over 27 times in this game caleb wilson had nine of those Josh Giddey had five and that's 14 turnovers from the two guys i brought up this morning in terms of who to watch out for i mean this is definitely not just on the chicago bulls if you watch this game it was horrifying i mean if you are a fan of this team if you're a player on this court i was joking in the live streams the poor kids that are chicago bulls fans it was a nightmare watching your team have to go up against all of the rabid defenders the raptors have on this squad and even though there were stretches where it led to a lot of fouls and that's something the raptors will definitely have to look at but i i couldn't imagine just as someone that's played basketball a ton like going up against a team that is as aggressive as this raptor squad and given how aggressive, this pace of play ended up being really fast when the referees weren't blowing the whistle down every single possession. And that led the Toronto Raptors to get out in the fast break a ton. They had 34 fast break points in this one, which nearly doubled their season average last season, which was already the tops in the NBA. Then another huge part of this one is the shooting. The Bulls went four for 36 from behind the three-point line, which is just 11% from behind the three point line. Since 1996 on 30 or more attempts, only one team has shot worse from three against the Toronto Raptors. And that is the New York Knicks on New Year's Eve in 2020. So not even the Raptors, the Tampa Raptors. So if you put it all together, this was the biggest opening night in Toronto Raptors history. Their best before tonight was just a 20 point victory last year in Atlanta. And since 1996, only one team, the whole NBA has won their opener by Moore. And that was Portland with a 48-point victory in Phoenix back in 2017. But you can look at the box score and understand the Raptors squashed the Chicago Bulls. People want to know how did Kawhi Leonard look in his re-debut? I mean, right from when this game started, you could feel his impact out there on the court. You can look at his just first three possessions. He assists RJ out there on a jump shot. Then he comes down, knocks down a three-pointer, and then he strips the ball away from rookie Caleb Wilson and feeds RJ once again. 75 seconds into his return to the Toronto Raptors, he had his hand in a 7-0 run for this Raptor squad. His total stats for this game, he ended up with 23 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, a block, and 0 turnovers and went 11 of 11 from the free throw line in 24 minutes. Now, if you want to get really niche with these weird stats since 1996 a player 35 or older has only had 20 points four steals no turnovers and a perfect night from the line on 10 or more free throw attempts exactly twice in the nba before tonight both times as john stockton at age 40 and 41 again we can get really really niche with these stats but obviously his shooting was a little bit hot and cold but the defense is really where you see his impact every single night and the offense as well it's Kawhi Leonard he was dominant but he had four steals in this one and this isn't new we've seen Kawhi Leonard play on this team before he is a menace offensive players try to stay away from him when he's on the defensive end he had four steals in this one and really took advantage of the young guys out there on the Bulls like Coby White two of his steals came off of him and it's tough I'm a big fan of Coby White I think he has a good shot at winning rookie of the year and today he only had 16 points on 7 of 21 shooting had all those nine turnovers that we discussed earlier which is the second most in anyone's NBA debut since 1997. Manu Mutu had more back in 2015. But if there's anything encouraging, I compared him to Scottie Barnes out there in the preview for this game. Scottie Barnes had six turnovers out there in his NBA debut as well. So I think Caleb Wilson will definitely be fine. I like some of the young talent that they have out there on the Chicago Bulls. Now Kawhi was super impactful on the defensive and offensive end, even on a night where his shot wasn't going down at the rate it usually does. He went 5 of 17 from the field, and 2 of 6 from behind the 3 point line. As the game went on, the jumpers started to come back, but the scary part of this is the Raptors didn't even need it in this game. And when you blow out a team, you have the benefit of being able to ease your top guy back into the lineup, as I predicted he'd be around 30 points at the start of the stream, but it ended up only being 24 minutes. In fact, Darko actually pulled him out of the game early in the 4th, and Kawhi asked to go back in because he wanted to get his legs underneath him, to start off this season here's how darko put it after the game the game was kind of at that point a little bit out of reach and he was like no i want to go back in darko says he's still building himself up and wants the reps in real nba minutes that's a 35 year old Kawhi Leonard, a 35 year old superstar that of course the organization is being careful with them as they should, he's such a valuable player out there for this team but he is dialed, he is locked in, he is ready to go he is motivated to get his legs underneath him to be effective for this Raptors team moving forward. Obviously, the Raptors were very successful their first time around, load managing Kawhi, other players stepping up in the games that he was out, but officially, all time, the Raptors are now 42-19 in the regular season games that Kawhi Leonard has played for this team. But Kawhi was only a piece of the big four of the Toronto Raptors that were really dominant in this game against the Bulls. Scottie Barnes had 23 points, 6 rebounds, five assists and was a plus 29 and 26 minutes of action, Emmanuel quickly had 23 points seven assists zero turnovers himself which is insane for a point guard and how much he had the basketball, went four from nine from the three-point line and if you watch the game you really felt how different Emmanuel Quickley felt in this game because he has a lot of moments especially over the past two years where momentum's building, someone else is playing really well and IQ just kind of sneaks his way in and takes an untimely shot puts up an untimely floater puts up a three-point shot from way too deep that kills the momentum for your team in this one even in a game where he was hot for a lot of stretches of it he just made some great decisions and that's what i'm most impressed about we've seen Emmanuel Quickley have big games, have big moments but it's the decision making especially when fitting in a team with so much talent like the Raptors have right now that's what I'm most interested in seeing Emmanuel Quickley's growth and development for entering this year then you also have RJ Barrett who had 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting and was a plus 34 in this game on just 26 minutes of action people had questions about fit how well these lineups would play together do they all make sense Kawhi, Scottie, RJ they're all slashers can IQ get the most out of his teammates and RJ Barrett played that complementary role perfectly he was the fourth option night with how hot Emmanuel quickly was and of course Kawhi and Scottie being those two top dogs that have to eat RJ Barrett picked his spots he had his moments where he was the lead option out there on the offensive end for stretches took over the offense and you know took advantage of some of these poor defenders bench defenders out there on the Bulls and that's what we want as our third fourth option out there on the squad and when they were on the court together there was a real chemistry there Scottie Barnes was setting up three of the four Emmanuel quickly three-point shots. Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes, they were out there on the bench, had some film out there looking giddy together. I think I've said giddy twice in this. You know, obviously the Bulls have Josh Giddey on their team, so it's stuck in my brain. But when your top four guys have 89 points between the four of them, it's a really good sign for how they're going to play together moving forward. Everybody was eating. No one was forcing up any of the shots that we were worried about heading into this season. And if that's the way it's going to be going forward, this is going to be a scary offense for anyone to face up against. Josh Lundberg also made a great point tonight that the 2019 Toronto Raptors that won an NBA championship didn't really rely on Kawhi Leonard that much over the course of the regular season. Of course, things changed out there in the playoffs, but other guys stepped up when he sat. And Kawhi, even though he did have a really good game, a historic game when you look at all the niche stat lines, but Kawhi went 5 of 17 shooting from the field and the Raptors still won by 43. points that's how we did in 2019 and we won an NBA championship that way so obviously that's the big news that's what everyone is excited about the core players the most important Toronto Raptors right now playing well together executing you know we have a lot of money tied up in the top half of this roster so making sure that they play well together is extremely important for this team but really everybody was playing well out there on the squad Jacoby Walter came off the bench had 10 points, four assists, three steals, was looking ready to fire up those shots. When he was in there, whether it was middies, whether it was three-pointers, whether they were deep three-pointers, Jacoby Walter was not afraid to fire away. Colin Murray-Boyles was the first guy off the bench, and even though he got blocked a little bit around the rim, wasn't finishing the same way we saw in the postseason. He still had eight rebounds, three assists in 20 minutes of action, and was a plus 28th in those limited reps and the man that i've been gassing up a lot in recent weeks and making a little bit of a case for to get some more minutes Jamison Battle looked fantastic once again he was moving his feet on defense he was two of two from the three-point line he was really good and also Trace Jackson-Davis a guy that's winning over a lot of Raptors fans with how he's performing in his limited option opportunities limited run he had nine points was four of five from the field and looked really really good we also saw the debut of rookie Allen Graves who regardless of the stat sheet because he did block three shots so that is one thing to bring up Allen Graves did everything out there on the basketball court in terms of hustle in terms of energy in terms of fight every 50 50 ball was owned by Allen Graves and you love to see that energy that dog in your rookie the only guy that had a little bit of a letdown game was Jamal Shead who in his own right was an absolute animal on the defensive end but he only had five he did have five assists but four turnovers on top of it and three of those came in the fourth quarter when the game was long over so that's one thing to bring up like he had a couple passes that i don't think were his fault the player didn't catch it but he wasn't wasn't fantastic he didn't take over and i've been waiting for Jamal Shead to take that leap either in his three-point shooting or his finishing ability and didn't really show much out there in this game and one interesting note as well is there's going to be a lot of talk about that ninth man in the rotation who's going to get those runs and I've been talking about Jameson Battle as a player that you know I really like I think he's a really effective guy with his three-point shooting and it's a need for the Toronto Raptors but who's Darko gonna bring off the bench first and it was Battle he was the ninth man tonight Allen Graves did come in basically right after so Graves and Battle seemed to share that ninth man ninth ten man spot in the rotation and there was Kyle Anderson who was the odd man out didn't really get his run didn't really get his opportunities till late in garbage time one thing to note as well we are currently at 44,580 subscribers we're on that mission to get to 45k I think from this video we can get to 45,600 I think that's doable so I appreciate every single one of you that tuned into the stream been watching the vids of late means absolute world to me we're happy to have Raptors basketball back and it means the world if you guys could hit that sub button okay I teased it at the beginning because this has been a mostly positive podcast I'm pretty hyped, I'm pretty amped up about how the Toronto Raptors played in their opener, and how could you be after such a massive W? But one of the points of contention this entire offseason has been how effective we're going to be on the front line. How trustworthy is Jakob Pörtl at that center spot? And in this game, the Bulls out-rebounded the Toronto Raptors 57-51, and they grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, all without Nick Claxton. Like, when you beat a team by 40-plus points or whatever, they're missing a lot more shots. You have a lot more opportunities for defensive rebounds. How on earth do you get out rebounded by the Chicago Bulls in that situation? In the preview, I said how Jakob Pörtl needs to own the glass against Jalen Smith. He didn't. Smith had 15 points, eight rebounds in 19 minutes of action, where Pirtle just had three points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. And there's also the fouls. Now, a bunch of these were Mickey Mouse, Chuck E. Cheese type fouls. I was saying it on the stream. It was getting annoying. But Nonetheless, the Raptors committed 29 fouls, and the Bulls went to the line 47 times. Buzelis alone made 13 of 16 from the free throw line, and against a better team, those are the free points that are going to keep a game close. So while the Raptors are playing aggressive defense outside they are pressuring ball handlers, it's going to lead to some more blow-bys, but you can't be fouling a ton, and you need to recover on the glass and not let teams punish you on that area of the court. and like that's the thing about Big Yak sure we can get away with him not being super mobile not being super switchable fine whatever but if you're going to be a big lumbering center that can't shoot threes you need to rebound like you have to what else are you out there on the court if you're not there to rebound i think Pirtle didn't do a horrible job as the help man because the Raptors did lead to some blow-bys on possessions where they weren't able to get the steal weren't able to fluster them enough to you know mess up on their possessions and that's been an effective style of defense for us for years I don't want to just bag on Pirtle he actually did a pretty good job at that but if you can't secure the boards there are numerous times where Pirtle had the ball in his hands it was a rebound coming his way again it was contested and stuff and then someone ended up poking it away they end up getting around his box out and whether they got the offensive rebound or knocked it away Pirtle wasn't able to secure it our guards and our wings they feel like animals out there hustling for every loose ball but we need our bigs to be able to finish the possession again it's only one game the raptors are playing a different style of defense that isn't optimal you know i guess for that defensive rebound all that type of stuff but it can't be that discrepancy especially in a game where you won by so many not something i'm tearing my hair out about but something to look for in the coming game but nonetheless what a way to start off this season what a way to come out and start this new era of toronto raptors basketball so shout out to the Toronto Raptors for coming out and getting such a big win even if it's against the Bulls some people are writing them off and saying oh this is a whatever win or whatever like this is a great way to start off your season no matter who you're facing up against and there's no team really in the NBA right now maybe the Brooklyn Nets but honestly there's a lot of really really good teams out there and a lot of talent on all these rosters very good win scrappy team the Bulls they're they'll be fine out there with their young players and growing in the future but next up we face off against the washington wizards out there on friday and following that you get the minnesota timberwolves on sunday which again should be two very very interesting matchups the wizards won tonight too they beat the milwaukee bucks uh 128 to 116 so both teams walk into friday undefeated but let me know what you guys think about game one i feel a different level of energy in this Toronto Raptors team i feel a different level of energy entering this season and i'm just very very excited as a fan of this squad but let me know what you guys think You guys the best. I'm signing out. Cheers.