TORONTO -- Hello, Toronto sports fans. How are you feeling?
Horribly? Like you would prefer to skip to the part where you can appreciate the Toronto Blue Jays' unbelievable, from-out-of-nowhere season that ended up one agonizing win (two outs!) shy of a championship, but you cannot stop reliving one of the 346 chances they had to put away the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series? Like, rationally, you understand that this will hurt less someday, but that day is not today, and it feels like it will never be that day?
Yeah, me too. The Blue Jays are the team I grew up cheering for that have battled off the perils of professional obligation, adulthood and general world weariness, still allowing for unfettered fandom. And somewhere between the Blue Jays sweeping the New York Yankees over Canada Day weekend and taking a 3-2 in the World Series, I started to believe they might win the whole thing. Hope: It'll get you every time, except when it doesn't. See: 1992 and 1993. Also, 2019, for a different team
Hope is the whole gambit when it comes to professional sports. With their 117-104 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, the day after Blue Saturday in Toronto, the Raptors moved to 3-4 in their young season. With that said, the same overriding questions that predated the season still linger, even after two wins over injury-ravaged teams. There is a defence that sounds better in theory than is working in practice, and a half-court offence that is choppy. If the players really complement one another, we haven't seen it yet -- not fully.
The Raptors have to provide a baseline of hope for this city to truly buy in, and they haven't come out by making a statement of undeniable intent. As much as hope can lead to emotional devastation, it is a prerequisite for getting past apathy and closer to caring. After the last few seasons, and the transactions that have this team pointed in an uncertain direction, skepticism is natural. Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković, who had a very "There's always next year" answer when asked to console Jays fans, was glad to get hopeful about his team.
"We showed flashes of how we can be aggressive offensively, how we can score in transition," Rajaković said before the Grizzlies game. "We saw flashes that we could be really good running on makes and misses. We did a really good job of touching the paint (on Friday against Cleveland), being aggressive and scoring in the paint. One thing that's (true) of today is we're second in sharing the ball. All of those are good and positive things. Everything else, from playmaking, organization, spacing and making shots and all of that, is something that's part of the process."
The eternal optimist, Rajaković is not wrong about any of that. Against the Grizzlies, the Raptors racked up another 32 assists on 45 buckets. Alas, basketball is not baseball. Last year's Indiana Pacers were one of the most glorious underdog stories in recent memory, and they were coming off a trip to the conference final the previous year. It's a sport with much less variance than baseball, so you generally have at least a hint that something good is coming.
And so, sooner rather than later, this team is going to show it can excel on both ends in the half court. Offensively, that will largely be up to the struggling Immanuel Quickley and Brandon Ingram. Defensively, Scottie Barnes will need to up his overall impact, which he did against Memphis. Unlike in baseball, there is no real hope in basketball if your best players are not your best players. While the Raptors must develop players behind and in support of their stars, this version of the team doesn't work without those stars figuring this out.
In this team's defence, there will be nothing definitive this early in the season. There are some worrisome trends, but they are just trends for now. Rajaković pointed out that the injured Jakob Poeltl is particularly important for Quickley's offence, given how he is the best screen-setter on the team. True -- to a point. Quickley scored just nine points against the Grizzlies, not seeking out the 3s that the Raptors need him to in order to beat better teams.
As for the team's three wings, Barnes, Ingram and RJ Barrett, their individual numbers have been fine. Against the Grizzlies, they had 19, 26 and 27 points, respectively. Barrett threw a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Barnes on a screen that, eventually, resulted in a Barrett 3.
"Scott and I just look for each other," Barrett said.
Ingram still seems to be going to work on his own more often than not, which is fine: The Raptors need some of that. He kicks out dishes when the situation calls for it. It just doesn't feel all that connected to everything else right now. The defence comes in fits and starts.
There are no shortcuts here. The Raptors have to string good efforts together. Eventually, they're going to have to beat some good, healthy teams. That's how you build hope. Against Memphis, there were some cautious "Let's go Raptors" chants. You've got to start somewhere.
Hope is a dangerous thing. It beats its absence, even if it doesn't always feel like that.
* Hope doesn't have to end in sports devastation or ecstasy. The Grizzlies were playing without Ja Morant, who the team suspended for a game for criticizing coach Tuomas Iisalo after a loss. Once upon a time, Morant was both an unfathomably exciting and productive young player, capable of leading the Grizzlies to contention. With every passing season, Morant and the Grizzlies' relationship seems more tenuous.
* Collin Murray-Boyles is already throwing dimes from the top of the key. That is fun. He also tossed a few beautiful passes that the Raptors couldn't turn into baskets. He is impressive. He had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Sunday.
"I don't think he's playing like a rookie right now. ... He's playing very well," Barrett said. He's having some big minutes, especially in these first couple games. I remember being a rookie, it was hard to figure it out, but he is playing physical. He's not afraid. He's doing the right stuff."
* Ochai Agbaji has easy athleticism. Look at him glide.
* Barnes had some monster blocks in the second half to help the Raptors to create separation. He looked as impactful around the rim as Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., which is saying something. Barnes finished with five blocks. The Raptors need his presence at the rim. Ingram also had a big weak-side block late.
* If you are interested in Canada Basketball, my colleague Oren Weisfeld's book, The Golden Generation, comes out on Tuesday.