Raps take camp west Injuries starting to mount already Yuta and Freddie stand out
Author of the article:
Mike Ganter
Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes controls the ball during a team scrimmage in London, Ont., on Saturday. Photo by Nicole Osborne /The Canadian Press Article content LONDON, ONT â€" The Raptors took the tail end of training camp on the road Saturday for a very particular purpose.
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Article contentThe destination was London, Ont., home to a malicious attack earlier this summer that left a Muslim family mourning four family members.
It was murder for the sole reason that the family was Muslim.
The Raptors wanted their voices heard on this tragedy so they packed up the whole operation and made the two-hour drive west to make their statement.
“We can only do so much and be so many places at once but I thought it was just a nice gesture to make our way, a short drive down to just show where we stand on things and just make it clear that we’re against all forms of hate,†Raptors guard Fred VanVleet said. “We definitely stand with the Muslim community â€" and all people but the Muslim community that was affected here in London â€" it was important for us to show that we stand for them and we stand against hatred and just make it clear, that clear distinction, this is who we are, this what we’re about.â€
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Head coach Nick Nurse took the mic before an entertaining scrimmage to tell the sellout crowd of 2,650 in attendance why his team made the journey.
“I always do a organizational-wide meeting before we kick off training camp,†Nurse said afterwards. “It’s always about things we’re planning on doing and the vision and on the basketball court, but we put way up there at the top that we would want to be world leaders for social justice. We think we’ve done some good things; we think we’re uniquely placed â€" we do have players from all over the world and coaches and staff from all over the world.
“We wanted to come here and again we think it gives us a chance, mainly to use our platform to talk about these issues and let everybody know they’re welcome, you know, we know we welcome everyone in the Raptors fan base. And it’s a good chance for us to talk about that.â€
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Article contentAND SO IT STARTS
Training camp rarely comes without some injuries and the current one for the Raptors is no exception.
Already down Pascal Siakam who is recovering following shoulder surgery and is not ready for contact yet, the Raptors announced three more players yesterday have joined Siakam on the sidelines.
Chris Boucher, who is coming off a standout season a year ago, suffered a dislocated middle finger on his left hand in practice Friday and was not with the team in London.
Gary Trent Jr. made the trip but he did not participate and is not expected to take part in Monday’s pre-season game against the 76ers as he deals with some left quad soreness.
Finally centre Khem Birch did not make the trek to London because he is in the league’s COVID health and safety protocols.
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Article contentAssistant coach Nate Mitchell is also suffered an early-camp injury. He was in a hard cast and walking only with the aid of crutches yesterday.
GAME STANDOUTS
You can start with Yuta Watanabe and Freddie Gillespie in this category.
It was obvious early on that Watanabe has benefited greatly from his summer with the Japanese national team at the Olympics and in the run-up to the Games.
Watanabe was the first option on the National team and with that came all kinds of added responsibilities from scoring to setting the offence to just about everything else in the handbook.
He was all over the court Saturday looking very comfortable both defensively and offensively where he along with Sam Dekker were two of the more proficient three-point shooters.
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Article content“I don’t know if it was the FIBA feel to the gym,†Fred VanVleet said when asked about Watanabe’s game yesterday. “I think it was a FIBA line, the scoreboard was a little lower but Yuta’s been balling, man. Hopefully we can get that out of him under the bright lights but he’s been playing on another level lately.â€
Gillespie, who came on like wild fire when he joined the team late in the year in Tampa, showed no hangover from what was not his best performance in summer league.
Saturday in London he was finishing everything at the rim and protecting his own basket like he was still in Tampa.
“He had a day; he was pretty much flawless you know?,†Nurse said of Gillespie. “He was on the offensive glasse, he never gives up at the rim to contest, even though he’s a bit undersized and doesn’t necessarily jump out of the gym but he he’ll be there and he’ll take a swat late and save some baskets on that stuff and it’ll get you some extra possessions. He had a good day, which was good, I think I think we’re going to need, you know, some depth at that position on certain nights for sure.â€
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ABOUT THAT GILLESPIE SUMMER LEAGUE
You’ve probably heard players from any number of sports after a particularly poor game talking about the need to just flush that particular performance. Summer league was no different for Gillespie.
“Getting to where you want in life, I mean I don’t know about your career, but I doubt to get to where you are was a straight path,†Gillespie began. “It never is one straight line. It’s ups and downs. One thing someone once told me was you never let any experience go to waste, good or bad. You learn from everything. So yeah, I’ve been doing this for a minute now, I know you just wake up and keep moving forward. As long as you are moving forward you’ll be alright.â€
Gillespie doesn’t know or chose not to share what he thought went wrong in Vegas.
“Sometimes things just happen,†he said. “I mean I’ve been a good finisher since I was in the G-League, college, Division three and I don’t look at three or four games and think ‘Man, what is going on now?’ I just say this isn’t happening and I keep working on what I do and I keep doing it and I get better.â€
There is no question that Gillespie was better Saturday than he showed in Vegas.
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