S12 OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019
P
ascal Siakam is off to a
scorching-hot offensive
start this season. But don’t
expect Raptors coach Nick Nurse
to lighten his defensive respon-
sibilities to help save his energy
for scoring.
The Raptors’ fast-rising young
star from Cameroon will get one
of the most challenging defen-
sive assignments in the NBA on
Saturday night, when Toronto is
in Milwaukee to face the Bucks in
a rematch of last season’s Eastern
Conference final. He will be
asked to slow Greek superstar
Giannis Antetokoumpo. Nurse
said Siakam is young and ener-
getic enough to excel at both
ends of the floor, and there’s no
need to limit him.
“I think he can play defence,
and he can score 25 to 30 a night,”
Nurse said of Siakam.
The team’s expectations are
clearly sky high for the Raps’
power forward, to whom they
awarded a four-year, US$130-mil-
lion max-contract extension the
day before the season began.
His gaudy offensive numbers
are hogging the spotlight at the
moment. Through five games,
Siakam is averaging 28.0 points,
sixth among all scorers in the
NBA. He’s adding 9.2 rebounds
and 3.8 assists in 33.6 minutes,
shooting 51 per cent from the
field, and 44 per cent from three-
point range.
His 30 points in Wednesday’s
win over the Detroit Pistons in-
cluded a remarkable 19-point
third quarter.
His opening-night stat line of
34 points, 18 rebounds and five
assists against the New Orleans
Pelicans was so robust across
three categories that only three
other players in 35 NBA seasons
have matched it in a season
opener. Those were Charles Bar-
kley, Karl Malone and Anthony
Davis.
Siakam’s opening-night per-
formance caused Portland Trail-
blazers star CJ McCollum to tweet
“Pascal Siakam is a problem.”
The 6-foot-9 25-year-old has
been leaving that impression
with many around the NBA,
since playing a key role in the
Raptors’ championship run and
hoisting the league’s most-im-
proved-player award.
“I think he’s shooting the ball
a lot better this year,” said Jo-
nathan Isaac of the Orlando Mag-
ic, who defended him earlier this
week.
“He’s versatile, and he can use
his speed and his quickness, and
he has great body control. So I
just try my best to stay in front
and live with some of the stuff he
does.”
Now in his fourth season with
the Raps, Siakam has become the
premier focus of opposing teams’
scouting reports. He used to be a
player who could dazzle in one-
on-one situations. Now, he must
prepare to face double teams.
“Now I have to think about
other people or make quick
moves, split the defence, differ-
ent ways. Something that’s new,
but I’m always willing to learn
and evolve and it’s just some-
thing about that, that’s fun for
me and makes it exciting,” said
Siakam, noting that the doubleteams he has seen this season
haven’t been too complex.
“I’m expecting Milwaukee to
do something a little crazy be-
cause they always have – their
defence and how they guard – so
it’ll be exciting to see what hap-
pens.”
It’s been a big leap for Siakam,
who averaged 16.9 points last
season. He worked to add muscle
and strength over the summer.
He also added new scoring di-
mensions to his game, many at
the advice of Nurse and Raptors
assistant Jim Sann.
As he has in each off-season
during his pro career, Siakam
also spent time working with Ri-
co Hines, a popular development
coach who runs summer
sessions for NBA players at
UCLA.
Evidence of that work is show-
ing up. Siakam is handling theball sometimes in the pick and
roll. He’s shooting threes from
beyond the break – not just pre-
dominantly from the corners as
he did in the past. He is tinkering
with a turnaround jumper –
something to score over smaller
players so he doesn’t have to
spend so many possessions bul-
lying opposing players.
“I’m trying, just trying to find
ways to score,” Siakam said. “Us-
ing my length and things that I
was gifted with.”
Caron Butler, who played 16
seasons in the NBA and is now a
Turner Sports analyst, says Sia-
kam really impressed him during
a quick, casual conversation they
shared at Las Vegas summer
league shortly after the Raps won
the title.
“I was like, ‘What’s you’re
mindset right now?’ and he was
like, ‘Man, getting better, gettingbetter, always getting better,’ ”
Butler said in an interview.
“That’s not the thing that you
typically hear from reigning NBA
champions right after they won
in the summer. You usually hear,
‘I’m loving life right now, I’m par-
tying’. He was already zoned in,
getting better, like he really un-
derstood the importance of
keeping that momentum going.
This is just the first layer of the
talent he’s going to show us in
the next few years.”
Siakam’s finishing moves are
keeping defenders guessing.
Then there is the eye-popping
improvisational ability, too. Sia-
kam had the Scotiabank Arena
crowd gasping when he salvaged
a too-long pass from Fred VanV-
leet on Wednesday, tapped it to
himself, and then took it to the
hoop.
He will need to stay out of foul
trouble and control his turn-
overs. Always choosing the right
play is a process, too.
“His usage can be as high as we
want it to be. But he’s got to im-
prove on making the correct
plays,” Nurse said.
“Once you get two bodies on
you, you’ve done your job. Your
job isn’t necessarily to score any-
more. It’s to find the right next
play, and that should open things
up for other people.”
At the other end of the floor,
Siakam will be the primary de-
fender on Antetokounmpo on
Saturday, but Nurse said OG Anu-
noby, Serge Ibaka and others will
pitch in, too.
Facing the Bucks for the first
time since the Raps beat them in
the conference final brings back
memories for Siakam of their
bounce-back Game 3 victory after
the Raps had fallen 0-2 in the se-
ries. Siakam had missed some
pivotal late-game free throws
that night, which led to the game
going to overtime. Toronto’s
eventual dramatic OT win that
night was a signature moment in
the Raps run to the NBA Finals.
“I remember Kawhi blamed
me for having to play an extra
hour of basketball,” Siakam re-
called. “You know, after I missed
those free throws, I could have
just went back and not wanted to
play anymore, just feeling I’d
lost. But my teammates around
me kept me motivated. It was
definitely a great win.”
So did he have big, athletic
NBA stars such as Antetokounm-
po on his mind as he worked to
add weight and improve his skill
over the summer?
“I don’t know if that’s what I
was thinking when I was working
out, but I was trying to get better
overall,” Siakam said.
“I’m still skinny but I think I’m
a little stronger than I was last
year.”RaptorSiakamadjuststolifeinthespotlight
T
he Maple Leafs woke up Fri-
day morning and found
themselves in an uncom-
fortable position – on the outside
looking in.
Toronto was bumped from a
playoff position Thursday night
when the Montreal Canadiens
beat the Vegas Golden Knights in
overtime.
Despite a talent-rich roster, the
underperforming Leafs sit 6-5-3
on the season, with only 15 of a
possible 28 points and just four
victories in nine home games.
And while the players insist
panic isn’t setting in, they also
know the clock is starting to tick.
“There’s a lot of things we can
improve on and that we are im-
proving on,” Toronto centre Aus-
ton Matthews said after practice.
“We’re 14 games in and the world’s
like crashing down on us, but
we’re staying positive in this
room.”
The Leafs were called out by
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin be-
fore Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime set-
back for what he saw as their indi-
vidualistic style of play.
Head coach said Mike Babcock
said afterward there was truth in
the Washington captain’s obser-
vation, and that both he and his
team should take the critique
personally.
The schedule certainly hasn’t
helped Toronto up to this point,
but it’s also not an excuse for the
mental lapses, soft defensive
zone coverage, average goaltend-
ing and a disjointed, sluggish
power play.
The Leafs, who underwent a
roster overhaul this summer that
saw veterans such as Nazem Ka-
dri, Ron Hainsey, Patrick Marleau
and Connor Brown sent packing,
have already played four back-to-
backs and won’t go on a long road
trip that might assist with some
team bonding until the middle of
this month.
“We’ve got to get some trac-
tion,” Babcock said. “We’ve got to
know what we are. We’ve got to
know what we hang our hat on.”
So as of right now, what is that?
“Nothing. We’re still trying to
figure it out,” Babcock continued,
pointing to the 20-game mark as a
sign post. “You’ve got to try and
get yourself established ... and
you also want to be in a good posi-
tion so you’re not under duress.
“We’ve got to find a game that
we can bottle.”
Toronto goalie Frederik Ander-
sen, whose save percentage of
.901 sits 17 points lower than his
career average coming into 2019-
20, isn’t interested in dissecting
the team’s middling October.
“The only thing we’re worried
about is trying to get better,” he
said.
The Leafs could get a big boostwhen they visit the Philadelphia
Flyers on Saturday night with cap-
tain John Tavares inching toward
a return from a broken finger
that’s cost him the past six games.
The star centre would give
Toronto another elite option
down the middle and should re-
energize a power play that’s 2 for
21 over the past seven contests.
“You want to be out there com-
peting and playing, helping out
your teammates and doing every-
thing you can to be a part of it,” Ta-
vares said. “It’s not easy to watch.”
The Leafs showed some life
against the Capitals – they battled
against a physical opponent and
led in the third period – but it was
only a step in the right direction.
“We’re confident in the group
we have in here,” Toronto bluelin-
er Morgan Rielly said.
They would like to see plenty
more in the City of Brotherly
Love.THECANADIANPRESSMapleLeafsstillstrugglingtofindtraction
JOSHUA CLIPPERTONTORONTO
Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin scores on Maple Leafs goaltender
Frederik Andersen during Tuesday’s game. Ovechkin said Toronto was
playing as individuals, not a team.HANSDERYK/THECANADIANPRESSH
ockey on a Saturday night iswoven into Canada’s
cultural fabric.
Families gather in front of televisions, friends
meet at bars and fans make arena pilgrimages to
cheer on their favourite teams.
But an NHL scheduling quirk this weekend will provide
something rare – all seven Canadians franchises are in ac-
tion Saturday and not one of the games will be contested on
home soil.
Canada’s NHL teams have all played in the United States
on the same date three times since the Winnipeg Jets were
resurrected in 2011, but according to the league, it’s never
happened on a Saturday.
The Edmonton Oilers get things started south of the bor-
der when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at 1 p.m. ET,
followed by an evening slate featuring the Ottawa Senators
at the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Phila-
delphia Flyers, the Calgary
Flames at the Columbus Blue
Jackets and the Montreal Cana-
diens at the Dallas Stars. Then to
wrap things up at 10 p.m. ET, the
Winnipeg Jets are in Sin City to
meet the Vegas Golden Knights,
while the Vancouver Canucks
tangle with the San Jose Sharks.
Canadian teams finished 0-5-2
the last time each played states-
ide the same day – a Friday in
November, 2018, as part of the
U.S. Thanksgiving long weekend.
Two years ago on the Wednesday
before the same holiday, the Can-
adian clubs finished 3-1-3. Things
went a little better during the 2011-12 campaign when Ed-
monton, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg all picked up
victories.
Between 1992 and 1995 after Ottawa came into the league
and before the Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado, Cana-
da’s eight franchises never played in the United States on
the same day. That was also the case the following season
prior to the original Jets moved to Phoenix. And between
1996 and Winnipeg’s return 15 years later, Canada’s six re-
maining clubs all played south of the border on the same
day only three times – in 2007, 2009 and 2011 – but never on
a Saturday.THE CANADIAN PRESSIt’shockeynightintheU.S.
forallsevenCanadianteams
JOSHUA CLIPPERTONCanada’sNHLteams
haveallplayedin
theUnitedStates
onthesamedate
threetimessincethe
WinnipegJetswere
resurrectedin2011,
butaccordingto
theleague,it’snever
happenedon
aSaturday.UTSUNOMI<Ab APANCanada
hasbeenawardedaspotin
men’scompetitionatthe2020
3x3basketballOlympicqualify-
ingtournament.
Thefinal10berthsinthe
men’sandwomen’sevents
wereannouncedFriday.
Thequalifyingtournament
allowsmaximumof10teams
percontinentandaminimumof30differentcountriesrepre-
sentedoverthetwoevents.
Onlythetopsixteamsthat
qualifiedbasedonrankingcould
haveateaminbothevents.
Thelast10berthsineach
genderwereallocatedbyworld
rankingifacountrydidn’t
alreadyhaveateamqualifiedin
eithergender.
Canada’smen,ranked18th,advancedasaresultofhavinga
higherrankthanthewomen
(26th).
The20-teammen’stourna-
mentwilltakeplaceinMarch
andwillqualifythreecountries
forthe2020TokyoGames.
Canadaisinagroupwiththe
Netherlands,Latvia,Croatiaand
hostIndia.
THECANADIANPRESSCANADIAN MEN’S 3X3 BASKETBALL TEAM TO PLAY IN QUALIFIER FOR TOKYO GAMES| SPORTSExpectationsarehigh
forthepowerforward
asfriendsandfoes
takenoticeofhis
reachandagility
RACHEL BRADYTORONTO
Toronto Raptor Pascal Siakam had a remarkable third quarter against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday,
racking up 19 points. ‘I’m trying, just trying to find ways to score,’ the power forward says. ‘Using my length
and things that I was gifted with.’FRANKGUNN/THECANADIANPRESS