carries himself like he hit big with some dot.com stocks and has been running the bar, Gary’s, somewhere in Tulum for the last decade.
Were I to think of this team as I do Houston or Oklahoma City, I would be more forgiving.
I admit, though, that I get lost in the game-by-game minutia, forgetting the big picture about players’ long-term growth over the course of a season or over many years.
Last night, in Memphis I was, gleefully, reminded of their youth and their big-picture potential.
Against the Warriors, though, the Raptors decidedly removed Steph from the equation: Fred would climb into Steph’s shorts and when Steph, inevitably, got by, multiple Raptors would cut him off, forcing other Warriors to do the scoring.
Against, Memphis, Nurse elected to let Fred and whichever Raptor was involved in the pick & roll survive on their lonesome.
He, effectively, had 3 turnovers clumsily throwing away the ball out of a double team, running headlong into the Spaghetti Man, Jaren Jackson Jr., for a poke-away, and launching an early three that converted into a fastbreak lay-up for Memphis.
He was back to running up and down the court like Scottie of old, cramming and yelling, and flexing, and scoring with the confidence we’re used to.
He was the opposite of slow; he saw plays transpiring in 2x speed doubling posts and interceding drives just as they were unfolding.
He scored all 17 of his total points in the period and shot 3/3 from three.
When the opportunities did arise, they were within the flow of the game and he took advantage of them purposefully.
His 4 assists in the game were a pleasant surprise; he’s not known for looking at his teammates once he’s with ball.
Fred hit another clutch pull-up 3 late in the 4th and ended up with a quiet 23 points and 7 assists and playing primo defence along the way recording another 2 blocks and 2 steals.
Pascal played a more deferential role, taking only 12 shots in the game, but getting to the free-throw line a team-high 8 times.
