Something Even Bigger is Going On...

Something even bigger is going on right now with the Toronto Raptors and we are witnessing happen right in front of our eyes as everyone's going to look at the box scores of the game stats for these preseason games and try to take away a bunch of takeaways about how the Raptors are going to play with Kawhi Leonard out there going into the season. And that's all well and good. That's super important to see how this team is going to gel, how they're going to look coming into this year. But there are a couple of things that have happened over the course of preseason that Darko Rajakovich has been tinkering with. A couple of things Kawhi Leonard is specifically doing with his teammates that should have Toronto Raptors fans even more excited that somehow they already are after how good this team has looked with Kawhi Leonard out there on the basketball court. So we'll break down everything that's going on with this squad, everything that's going on with this team, and how big stuff is happening right now with this squad. As, of course, we've witnessed over the course of these games, said in the intro Kawhi Leonard has been elevating this team in the one in the sample size the short stretch of play you see it visually out there on the basketball court right on the Toronto Raptors you take a look at what Kawhi Leonard did 21 points five rebounds six to 12 shooting and you might be like zero assists how is he elevating everyone how's this in 16 minutes of action the dude had 21 points it was a plus 28 in that game four of eight shooting from the three-point line and there's a lot of stuff and you can take a look at like the box score just for the entire team see how the whole roster how the whole contingent played well but you have Scottie Barnes' 19 points RJ Barrett 17 points and very very limited minutes for these guys Collin Murray Boylen 19 Jacoby Walter 14 Tyree Keith didn't share the floor a lot with what he had a very very good game there as well but Darko Rajovic is looking at these lineups and he is building something big as saying I tried to get those guys out there as much as possible on the court together so that they can figure out some chemistry and spacing and all of that kind of stuff which is going to be very important heading into this season as one of the big criticisms of this roster has been hey is there going to be a lot of spacing as they are the pieces there's talent here of course but are the pieces going to fit well together and look phenomenal and Darko said himself when Kawhi on the floor he attracts so much gravity they really complement each other well the different lineups the different players that are out there on the group and Kawhi Leonard is saying it himself in terms of how he felt in this first game and how things are looking you know with this new look Raptor squad saying the guys have been great everybody else has been helping me out and making it the and trying to make the transition super easy so chemistry's building you know the teammates they're coming together they're elevating each other and we're looking at how these lineups are rocking and it's very very interesting what's actually going on out there on the court as Josh Bloomberg put it uh Rajovic which has done a very nice job cycling through different lineups that we could and should see a lot in the coming weeks and months on the floor to close the the half there was quickly Barrett Kawhi Scottie Barnes and Colin Murray Boils and this is very important to take note of this is extremely important but this is the lineup they closed the half with this team you know they played till halftime Kawhi Leonard didn't play the second half out there that next game but this lineup that we saw has been the lineup some people are arguing you know Jacoby Walter for RJ Barrett you know some people are arguing different things but you know I'm standing on business I like RJ Barrett the movement we've all banded together to make sure this guy doesn't get dealt away and all that but nonetheless people especially want to see the front court of Scottie Barnes Kawhi Leonard and Colin Murray Bowles and see how it all plays out see how they work together how is the chemistry going to look with that what feels like our highest upside lineup can't run it every single game because one of those guys will have to guard centers and there's a risk of injury when you're guarding someone that's a lot bigger every single game but that is the lineup they look so nasty i made the full reaction to it yesterday but essentially these guys are just unlocked they're unlocked and of course Yakupov is going to get the start he's going to be the day in day out just center to deal with the the load the wear and tear of playing the five position out there at the you know the course of an NBA season but trying out different lineups inserting Jakoby inserting Jamal Shead inserting Allen Graves inserting Colin Murray Bowles into these different groups like even Kyle Anderson with Jamison Battle healthy he's going to be a player Elijah Martin I think he has a shot to you know knock on the rotation especially if there's guys in and out of the lineup this season there are a lot of different lineups that uh you know Darko's gonna run with and yesterday with Kawhi Leonard yeah we saw quickly Barrett Barnes and Pirtle we saw quickly Barrett Kawhi Barnes and CMB and Kawhi was a plus 28 in this game the knicks did rest their starters i noted that i threw that one out there that is very important but i don't know it's it's crazy people are talking about the eastern conference arms race right like look nobody else had made any trades yet they saw Kawhi's coming back to the East and then everyone made moves so there's now four other real contenders in the Eastern Conference just remember that other teams went trade crazy because Kawhi is coming back and that's from shaking the city 100% right and there's a reason the NBA is uh you know worried because it's not just the production boost you're getting from Kawhi Leonard you know the the insane level of production this guy can put in every single night it's how he is going to change the game for his teammates and we are witnessing that in real time and Kawhi is saying himself as He had some very kind words for Scottie Barnes as well as Colin Murray Boyle. So let's take a look at Kawhi's quotes. Basically, Scottie and CMB, they are very talented. They could play the small ball, five, the four, the one, whatever it is, that versatility is going to be huge playing alongside a superstar in the level of Kawhi Leonard. And went out and said, when you have guys like that, it makes it look easy. They make the game easier for myself and others. so people talking about Scottie CMB they're not elite shooters and now should be noted Al and Murray Bois was knocking down dribble pull up transition threes in the game yesterday i have to take that into account that does have to be discussed that ad does have to be you know brought up but with these guys the floor space when you have elite talent when you have guys that play the right way that are just that good at basketball it's going to unlock things for everyone and People need to keep that in mind when watching this team, when watching this group, and looking at how Darko Rajakovic is going to be executing these rotations. And he said, you know, I try to get the guys out there as much together, right? They want to see the spacing. I bring that quote up once again. We saw the impact. I made a whole rant about Colin Murray-Boyles' game yesterday, 19-9-2, 7-7 from the field, 2-2 from the three-point line. The dude was just next level. Next level was Colin Murray-Boyles out there in that game. And if he can start knocking down threes, that is going to be huge but with these lineups I'll pose a question to you before we get into the next bit of quotes who do you think should be closing games at center should it be Colin Murray-Boyles or should it be Jakob Purtle let me know in the comment section down below might get your comment featured on these videos you know they pop up out here every now and then we're sliding them in but this isn't the only development the only storyline that we're seeing from this one and why things are getting more and more elevated as Jacoby Walter is talking about how he is learning from Kawhi Leonard and this is just a huge indicator for the macro impact Kawhi Leonard is going to have on this team what's happening Jacoby Walter said I'm just trying to pick his brain defensively on the defensive end especially and you know you have a multi-time defensive player of the year not just all NBA defender multi-time defensive player of the year that's going to be huge for a raw athletic talent like Joe he's not raw he's very good on defense already very talented player Jacoby Walter is but a young player that's looking to be molded looking to have those skills looking to have that mindset to take his game from hey I'm good to I am amazing I am great I am that next level out there on that defensive end and he's picking Kawhi Leonard's brain which is exactly what you want to see I just asked him how he gets steals what he sees out there offensively and defensively what he works on in the summer just the little things and anyone that's tried to get good at anything whether it's basketball whether it's anything like that it's those micro habits it's the ability to just know the little things you can do every single day to improve to increase and those are the things when you trade for a guy like Kawhi Leonard, they're intangible, they're the things that a tanking team a team that's just built without those star level players already, it's why a lot of the good teams stay good, it's because they have the great players to teach the younger players how to actually develop how to actually take their game to the next level and they see it day in day out and that's what Jacoby Walter is taking from Kawhi Leonard right now and that is a huge huge positive for the Raptors moving forward, you know that defensive mindset Kawhi Leonard has, said it, we came in looked focused on defense and that was my intention, why is that guy multi-time Defensive Player of the Year for a reason, Jacoby Walter feeling the benefits, he had a good game out there in this game against the Knicks as well 14 points, one steal, one block, five of eight shooting from the field four six from the three-point line Jacoby Walter he has hot and cold shooting nights like any wing young wing out there in the NBA, but of course if he's able to knock down shots and play that elite defense he's going to be another dude that's going to be having some serious impacts out there on the court so Kawhi Leonard coming out showing the steal anticipation, defensive positioning, offense offseason development, that's what we want to see from our star and Kawhi explains his growth, how he's developed since the last time we've seen him because he like really really like, of course Kawhi Leonard is that guy, everyone knows how good he is, but he looks even better out there in uh you know this game at least he says, I think I got smarter, obviously I learned a lot over the years and one area that's going to be particularly important for the Raptors right now is I improved my off the dribble three-point shooting a higher value three-point shooter, the Raptors have talked about this entire offseason about this entire offseason preseason training camp whatever you want to call it, Darko Radovich has discussed the need to get more threes up to shoot more threes and knock them down at a higher rate, that's what we like to see out there from uh this squad and then Kawhi also talks about just overall i've gotten older just more intelligence and i'm not a manual quickly you know a basketball IQ the ability to make decisions on the basketball court that's what we want to see that's what's happening out there for Kawhi right now he's taking his game to the next level back in 2018 2019 average 26.6 points per game and shot 37% from three for the Raptors and then last season the Los Angeles Clippers boosted his stats up a little bit he had 28 points per game and close to 39% behind the three-point line so he's improved his dribble pull-up threes that's the biggest change in his game of course he's a few years older now at this point and the Clippers were an interesting team last year i'm excited to see this Kawhi Leonard in action especially in games that are meaningful I'll close it off with a little quote a little uh you know another little comment out there from Art VanGundy saying that Kawhi is obviously a great addition but still not enough three-point shooting to be a serious threat in the long run defense will be championship caliber but they have they need they but they're going to need more and god forbid if Leonard misses too many games so I don't mind this take i don't mind this stuff i wanted to put a little contradictory thing here at the end but essentially the the combat to this versus making moves making adjustments is how everyone else is going to be elevated have their games taken to the next level whether it's a shooting driving attacking unlocking other players and then we'll see how it all plays out but let me know what you guys think about Kawhi Leonard's debut, everything that's going on with this team right now it's a very very exciting time if you are a Toronto Raptors fan i don't want you to miss a single thing so you made it this far in the video, 12 minutes in, make you guys hit that subscribe button, it means the absolute world to me, i'm signing out, cheers