Make no mistake.聽The Raptors made a conscious decision to not use their best available players in the final minutes of a close game 鈥 against an opponent that still has something to play for聽鈥 because they didn鈥檛 entirely care if they would win or not.
Sure, they tried to win at some level with kids on the court because they designed good plays and made the right strategic decisions in the final few minutes. Had the unlikely duo of A.J. Lawson and Ja鈥橩obe Walter not risen to an occasion they would never have expected to be in, many would have been quite fine with a gallant effort and a narrow defeat.
That鈥檚 troubling to me. It鈥檚 messing with the game at some level and I have a hard time accepting, let alone condoning, it.
And, no, there is no cheering but, when the blatant decision to not use the best players takes a shot at some measure of respect for the game, I鈥檒l fully admit to smiling a bit when Walter鈥檚 three-pointer with less than a second left buried the Orlando Magic 114-113 on Tuesday in what was the most unlikely Raptors win in about as long as I can remember.
The scenario is etched in the minds of every diehard fan: With 9:43 left and 海角社区官网up nine points, coach Darko Rajakovic ended Immanuel Quickley鈥檚 night and replaced him with Jamal Shead. With 8:07 remaining and the Raptors up 10, Jakob Poeltl鈥檚 night was done when Orlando Robinson entered the game. Scottie Barnes was done with 7:39 left; Walter replaced Jared Rhoden with 6:40 left and Rhoden ended the game for RJ Barrett with 97 seconds to go and 海角社区官网up five.
So that’s Walter, Lawson, Robinson, Shead and Rhoden 鈥 respectively a rookie, a player on a two-way contract, a player one day removed from a two-way deal, another rookie, and a player on the first day of his two-way 鈥 to pull out the unlikely win.
鈥淚 think this is what we talked about, us an organization, it is very important 鈥 for young guys to be in those situations so they can learn,鈥 Rajakovic told reporters in Orlando after the game.
鈥淭here is no better school than this, for them to be on the court and play in close games and go through all of that. I thought they handled it well, I think they executed down the stretch really well.鈥
Good for them. The unbridled joy on Walter鈥檚 face after the game was priceless, seeing the starters acting like they had won a playoff series when they congratulated the kids will surely be a memory for them to cherish.
鈥淭hose are teammates of theirs on the court, and guys that are putting a lot in (work) every single day, so I think they handled it really well, they were cheering for them, they were looking for those guys to have that experience to close the game like that,鈥 Rajakovic told reporters in his post-game media session.
鈥淎nd I think everybody wins today with the attitude that we had.鈥
But make no mistake: The Raptors wanted to win but they didn鈥檛 need to, and they made the decision to leave the result to lesser players than their best talent.
Yeah, Rajakovic can couch it in terms of wanting to find out what his young players can handle in those circumstances and it鈥檚 a perfect cover. Trust me, his bosses were quite fine with what unfolded, too.
But what it was was screwing with the game, and I鈥檓 pretty glad the game screwed with them right back.
Look, I get the “losing is winning” mantra and what it means to lottery odds, and how catching or not catching the fast-fading Sixers and still-punching-above-their-weight Nets will affect the draft order when it is determined May 12.
And I recall the Ben Uzoh triple-double game at the end of the 2012 season, a win that dropped the Raptors from being tied for the sixth-worst record to the eighth-worst record. That played a large part in 海角社区官网choosing Terrence Ross in the draft聽instead of having a chance to take Damian Lillard.
But I caution again that nothing in sports truly linear. Ross was good enough to net the team Serge Ibaka in a trade that was the first springboard to the Raptors’ 2019 championship. Lillard has been really good for very long but he鈥檚 never sniffed the chance to win a championship.
One plus one doesn鈥檛 always equal two and maybe Tuesday鈥檚 result won鈥檛 matter a lick in how the draft order ends up. Maybe 海角社区官网ends up with the eighth- or ninth-worst record and wins the lottery anyway. Or maybe 海角社区官网makes an inspired pick with the eighth or ninth draft selection.
But tacitly agreeing to not put out the best possible group, trying to steer something some way, is just wrong. Or unseemly or shameful or something.
The Raptors didn鈥檛 exactly script their own demise in Orlando on Tuesday聽鈥 I would never suggest the players and coach do more than their聽best in every game they play聽鈥 but they did try to manage it a bit. Despite the glee at the result and the good feelings it engendered up and down the roster, it still feels less than it should.
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