TORONTO – After 18 games a season ago – what turned out to be a quarter of the way through their abbreviated 2019-20 NBA campaign – the Raptors had a pretty good idea of who they were and what they could become.
That’s what happens when things aren’t going according to plan. A shortened training camp, a temporary relocation, a slow start, and uneven play from just about everyone on the roster – it all adds up and makes this team a difficult one to evaluate, even for those who get paid handsomely to do so. Although everybody has been getting accustomed to the new normal in the NBA – the many protocols that come with playing basketball during a global pandemic – the Raptors are the league’s only club that’s had to do it while also settling into their home away from home. The move to Tampa, combined with the rushed start to the season and the loss of their veteran centres –– had them playing catch-up from the get go, and they’ve been trying to dig themselves out of that hole ever since.
“It’s just we buried ourselves a little bit in a hole early here and we’ve dug some [of the] way out, we’re still digging, but I have every confidence that we will. I think the play and the attitude and the hustle and the effort shows me that we will play our way out of it.”