Inside the Raptors' defensive blueprint: What fuels them and who they look up to

New York Times

3 days ago

LAS VEGAS — If the Toronto Raptors are going to make a move up the Eastern Conference standings next year, their defence will give them the biggest nudge.
While there are plenty of questions about the Raptors' offence, as the team is short on 3-point shooters, there are reasons to be optimistic about the defence. From Jan. 1 through the end of the season, the Raptors finished as the seventh-best defence. If you only consider their 27 games after the All-Star break, they ranked second, behind only the Detroit Pistons.
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Now, the Raptors played a notably weaker schedule late in the season, and several key players were missing in the final month-plus. However, Scottie Barnes seemed to be playing at an All-Defense level, while several younger players helped make the Raptors difficult to play against. That was on display again to start the Las Vegas Summer League, as the Raptors turned their opponents over regularly.
With that in mind, The Athletic caught up with four Raptors who also have played in summer league: sophomores Jonathan Mogbo, Jamal Shead and Ja'Kobe Walter, as well as rookie Collin Murray-Boyles. If defence is going to be the Raptors' foundation, it seems reasonable to wonder what the players think matters most on that end, what types of plays they love to make, which opponents they admire and how good they think they can be when the real games start.
Mogbo: His instincts, his reactions. I feel like if you can see the ball, see the hips, read the defender well and if you have good hands, not just out there just reaching and not out there playing (randomly), your instinct is really important.
Murray-Boyles: The willingness to do it. Wanting to defend is the first step in being a defender and wanting to make an impact on that side of the ball. … I think just trying to find where I could stand out (allowed him to strive to be a good defender). That was the biggest thing for me. I was never the one to have highlight tapes. I was never one to wow people with my offensive game. I'm just gonna do the right thing, try to make the right plays. I was just trying to stick out as much as possible. And I put a lot of that on my defence.
Shead: I'd say his ability to stay in front of the ball. A good defender on ball is just not needing any help. A good defender off ball is just keeping his eyes on a swivel and seeing where there's help needed and being in the right position. So I think there's two really big parts to that, on and off the ball.
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Walter: I'd say active hands. Active hands, always mirroring the ball, always trying to make the offensive player worry about you. Length lets you dictate when he's doing that, not letting him dictate you, just getting to him, making him move the ball around, just pressure him.
Mogbo: Probably a passing lane steal, and now it's just fast break, showtime. You see your teammates jump on the bench and be like, 'Yeah, he's about to tear the rim off.' That's the best.
Murray-Boyles: Probably just getting a stop. I feel like that's the biggest thing that is attributed to play defence, getting a stop and being able to make a play on offence. Steal, block, (forcing a) bad shot, (forcing a) shot-clock violation. All of the above is good for me.
Shead: If I get a tipped pass or something on the floor and I get the loose ball and it leads to a bucket for us, that turns me up. I think that's that Houston Cougar in me. That turns me up.
Walter: When the opposing player, they turn their head, and I get to come behind and steal the ball. I love that. Just always seeing when they don't really realize that you're still locked in and guarding them, too, even though you're off the ball.
Mogbo: I think I had two of them: against Philly at home and Brooklyn, where I blocked the shot and I ended up either getting the ball off the blocked shot and throw a dunk or my teammate got it and passed to me. I think one was Kelly Oubre and the other was (Maxwell) Lewis.
Murray-Boyles: I think my freshman year I had probably the best block of my career against Vandy. That was probably the best chase-down (block) I've had in my life.
Shead: We were at Xavier (in college). I was having a terrible game. I subbed back in. It wasn't really a defensive play. It was off an offensive rebound. Ball was on the floor. I dive, get it, we get the ball and dunk and I'm slamming my hands on the floor. I literally hurt both of my hands. Hardwood is hard.
Walter: I had a couple during the end of the year where I got an open-court steal. There was one against Dennis Schröder on the Pistons, just 'cause we were on a comeback and it was flowing with the game. We were all turned up, and that just kept it going.
Mogbo: There are a lot. Davion (Mitchell) was pretty crazy in practice. We didn't match up often. But when I had the chance to, I was trying to get off the ball a little bit. He's a good defender, and his energy is contagious.
Murray-Boyles: Oh, he played in Alabama last year. Transferred to Kentucky. He was just an overall good defender, probably one of the best defenders in the SEC. I don't even think he was on the (All-Defense team). Mo — Mo Dioubate. He was the guy that shut me down. He was really good, very physical, almost a similar style to me. Physical, knows how to use his hands. He did a really good job.
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Shead: Marcus Sasser. Playing three years (in practices in college) against Marcus, he learned every move. I learned every one of his moves. We were just freaking destroying each other in practice until we got on the same team. I think my freshman year and sophomore year, the beginning of my sophomore year before we were both starters, man, we used to just terrorize each other. And it led to a lot of fights in practice. Marcus doesn't talk (trash). And then he just kind of will give you a 'Get out my way' or 'You suck.' A little something here and there. He doesn't really talk much, but when he does, it's annoying.
Walter: Jamal Shead. Jamal is strong and he has a low centre of gravity. He slides very well. He meets you with physicality. And then, he has active hands. People don't even know that he's fouling, it's that simple, because you can't call everything.
Mogbo: I'd probably say Herb Jones before he got hurt. His length, his ability to get (in) passing lanes, on-ball steals. Also, a little Dyson Daniels. I like the way he reads his opponent well. He gets a lot of pluck steals. I remember he got one in Memphis in clutch time and then he got a game-winning layup, too. Just seeing his eyes and just seeing how he reads his opponent very well, I kind of want to add it to my game.
Murray-Boyles: I watch a lot of basketball, so I like a lot of different players. I like Draymond (Green), how he hustles, how hard he plays. I feel that's something I want to get to, that level of intensity all the time, the intensity he plays at. That's something I want to get at. Toumani Camara, his hands. His IQ is through the roof. … Lu Dort. If I watch anybody (the most), it's Lu Dort. He's the best, I feel like, perimeter defender in the league. He can guard any position. He's probably the main guy I try to take cues from.
Shead: I wouldn't say just defensively, but defensively too: T.J. McConnell. That was my first (NBA) game where I was lost. He stopped everything. He is in the right place at every point in time. And on offence, even though he doesn't shoot 3s, he's still super hard to guard. I think everybody in the (NBA) Finals got a little bit of a taste of what I felt the entire time that I was guarding him.
Walter: I like Tony Allen. Avery Bradley. I studied them, watching their highlights, like I was saying, how they have active hands all the time, getting deflections (on the) help side, on ball, it didn't really matter. Those two players. Kawhi (Leonard) locks up. Y'all know that, Toronto. Kawhi locks up — especially when he was on the Spurs. That's when I really saw it. Those three are mainly my favourite to watch.
Mogbo: We've got a high ceiling. I feel like everyone can be very versatile, switch one through five, one through four. I feel like our talk and our (wingspans) definitely help a lot. It kind of crowds the paint a little bit. The offensive guys, they can't really see too much. They can't see over our defence because we got a lot of length and athleticism. Just bringing that to the table every game with our high motor and our talk, it is going to be a killer for us.
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Murray-Boyles: Top-three defensive team in the league, easily. What we did (against the Bulls in Summer League, causing 33 turnovers in a 40-minute game) is a really good taste of what we could be. With the guys that we already have, our vets, it's going to be very good to see. Very excited — especially for this franchise, really getting back to winning and getting back to the postseason.
Shead: Best defensive team in the league. I think you combine me, Scottie, Ja'Kobe, RJ (Barrett) can guard, Jak (Poeltl) is super smart. And if you get guys like (Immanuel Quickley), you get guys like Gradey (Dick), you get guys like (Brandon Ingram) to buy in — because everybody that's at this level can guard. It's just about if you want to. If we just follow Scottie's lead, because he's going to be super intense all the time, I think we got a good shot.
Walter: Number one in the NBA. You saw after the All-Star break last year, we were No. 1 in the NBA. I say now that we all know that mentality and how we all play together, the chemistry of what we are trying to do, I'm not (going to be) surprised if we're No. 1.