GT #5 - Raptors (1-3) vs Rockets (1-2) - October 29th, 2025 - 6:30PM EST - TSN

[Troubadour]

I'm looking at these box scores around the league and it's ridiculous how many FT's some of these teams are shooting. Scoring is way up this season, so we aren't the only ones with defensive struggles right now.

The Raptors currently have the 29th ranked defence in the league. Scoring might be up overall, but it's way up in Toronto.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Last year, they draft an undersized 6'6" PF with their 1st second rounder instead of Flip. This season they draft Martin, who is an undersized 2 guard. The team is stacked with 2 guards & Martin isn't even all that good......probably never will be.

Their three 2 way contracts......guards and a SF. It makes absolutely no sense. On a team that completely lacks bigs, how do you not at least have a big on a 2 way?

May as well just cut Martin & sign a big to a 2 way. Martin may become a decent bench player one day, but it will be a long road for him to get there. There is nothing about him that impresses me right now..i liked him as a college player, but.....

They did. Chomche had a career threatening condition and was waived just before the end of training camp. I doubt keeping Sarr over Lawson was going to help us with Wemby or Sengun. Just have to weather the storm and hope Jak is not done for months.

Having Chomche wasn't an answer to anything. Even is he was healthy. The guy was still years away. You need some experienced bigs on the roster. Guys that are ORob's level or better.

Robinson's experience was all bad. He's not a helpful NBA player, and is on a 2 way. I just explained the fact that they had a 2 way given to a C up until the very end of pre-season. Now you're complaining 2 spots should have gone to Cs, who would be spending most of the season in the 905.

[JB7]

I'm looking at these box scores around the league and it's ridiculous how many FT's some of these teams are shooting. Scoring is way up this season, so we aren't the only ones with defensive struggles right now.

The Raptors currently have the 29th ranked defence in the league. Scoring might be up overall, but it's way up in Toronto.

It is also the competition the Raps have already faced. Lucky for them, they now get the Cavs after the Cavs **** the bed against the Celtics. So Cavs will be heavily motivated for a win.

[KG1585]

Raptors starting lineup has been a disaster defensively. CMB has been good shooting the ball, but his on/off numbers have been terrible through two games. If Jak cannot play on Friday, maybe need to start Mogbo with the first unit and play CMB and Mamu in the second unit together.

[PushDaRock]

I'm looking at these box scores around the league and it's ridiculous how many FT's some of these teams are shooting. Scoring is way up this season, so we aren't the only ones with defensive struggles right now.

The Raptors currently have the 29th ranked defence in the league. Scoring might be up overall, but it's way up in Toronto.

They were 20th before this last game, things change quickly on these small sample sizes.

We were 17th last year with largely the same players. Does adding Ingram and Mamu make them that much worse?

[PushDaRock]

We lost by 18 pts. How much would his impact be? 10 points, 12?. If he were able to impact the game by 19 points, then he should be the guy we build around. Because that is huge. Normally upper tier All-Stars have that kind of impact.

I don't know, but I would say losing the rebound battle 53-22 impacted things quite a bit. That probably doesn't happen with a healthy Jak.

Yes, how many more would he have had? 7? 8?. Lets say 10 more. It still ist 43 to 32 -> that is not enoug to overcome 18 points difference. We may lose by 6 or 7 instead.

The flow of the game goes differently when you aren't down double digits in a game. Not being able to get a defensive rebound when you get a stop is demoralizing. The 2 late quarter heaves they hit also spotted them 6 points as well.

[TheGeneral99]

Horrible sign that we are shooting the ball well from deep and still this bad defensively.

What happens when we stop shooting this well?

[Shakril]

I don't know, but I would say losing the rebound battle 53-22 impacted things quite a bit. That probably doesn't happen with a healthy Jak.

Yes, how many more would he have had? 7? 8?. Lets say 10 more. It still ist 43 to 32 -> that is not enoug to overcome 18 points difference. We may lose by 6 or 7 instead.

The flow of the game goes differently when you aren't down double digits in a game. Not being able to get a defensive rebound when you get a stop is demoralizing. The 2 late quarter heaves they hit also spotted them 6 points as well.

We will know soon enough i hope.

[Airmiess]

No reason they should be bad on defense, these are agile and athletic players. If a healthy Poetl is that important inside then these guys suck.

[Merit]

Not sure why we’re complaining about defense during this current stretch. Cmb is doing well.

Because we should be up 20 with our shooting right now.

60% 3pt shooting isn't sustainable....on average it will be half of that, so Raptors would actually be getting blown out

Agree with this. I just meant that 5 minute stretch. Not the whole game.

[Merit]

Because we should be up 20 with our shooting right now.

60% 3pt shooting isn't sustainable....on average it will be half of that, so Raptors would actually be getting blown out

And on average Houston isn’t grabbing 10 offensive boards or hitting a half court shot

Yeah this, too. The challenge for us multiplies when we don’t have Jak with a team as huge as Houston.

[links135]

I'm looking at these box scores around the league and it's ridiculous how many FT's some of these teams are shooting. Scoring is way up this season, so we aren't the only ones with defensive struggles right now.

The Raptors currently have the 29th ranked defence in the league. Scoring might be up overall, but it's way up in Toronto.

Good news is we only play 1 team from the west in November.

It was hilarious though despite the fact we were clearly small as ****, RJ would go for like a floater or something, which is fine, but then all other 4 players would crash the glass, not get the offensive rebound and it's just an easy **** fast break the other way. You'd think if we were that small we'd at least focus on transition defense.

[ash_k]

No reason they should be bad on defense, these are agile and athletic players. If a healthy Poetl is that important inside then these guys suck.

Bad coach, that's all!
The same coach that had OG, Scottie and Pascal and could not get any kind of defense going while yesterday's opposite coach would have turned those aforementioned 3 into a defensive juggernaut with or without Yak

[causal_fan]

How's that IQ contract looking?

[ItsDanger]

Team record since Garrett Temple has been on roster is abysmal. What leadership is he actually providing? I don't see any benefit, only waste of resources.

Josh Minott was signed as UFA for $2.5M as example. Maybe this front office just isn't good.

[Troubadour]

I'm looking at these box scores around the league and it's ridiculous how many FT's some of these teams are shooting. Scoring is way up this season, so we aren't the only ones with defensive struggles right now.

The Raptors currently have the 29th ranked defence in the league. Scoring might be up overall, but it's way up in Toronto.

Good news is we only play 1 team from the west in November.

It was hilarious though despite the fact we were clearly small as ****, RJ would go for like a floater or something, which is fine, but then all other 4 players would crash the glass, not get the offensive rebound and it's just an easy **** fast break the other way. You'd think if we were that small we'd at least focus on transition defense.

There's a five game stretch in November where we play Indiana, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington, and Brooklyn. If that is any worse than 3-2, major changes are needed for this group.

Thing is, I think LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Maxey are going to carve this group up. Real test will be how Alex Sarr looks against this frontcourt. If you can't handle a second-year stretch big in the paint, there's no team in the NBA you can defend.

[LoveMyRaps]

Team record since Garrett Temple has been on roster is abysmal. What leadership is he actually providing? I don't see any benefit, only waste of resources.

Josh Minott was signed as UFA for $2.5M as example. Maybe this front office just isn't good.

Yeah I'm not gonna lie it's pretty infuriating to see Temple taking up a roster spot at this point.

Just give him a role in the coaching staff if his "leadership" is that important to the squad.

Temple money could've been used to sign a backup center, or a player that could actually contribute on the court.

[Merit]

Team record since Garrett Temple has been on roster is abysmal. What leadership is he actually providing? I don't see any benefit, only waste of resources.

Josh Minott was signed as UFA for $2.5M as example. Maybe this front office just isn't good.

Yeah I'm not gonna lie it's pretty infuriating to see Temple taking up a roster spot at this point.

Just give him a role in the coaching staff if his "leadership" is that important to the squad.

Temple money could've been used to sign a backup center, or a player that could actually contribute on the court.

Nah. It’s still early. If you recall, it took us until the end of the season to gel last year. This year we’ve added BI and changed our system. I’m willing to be patient even as the losses continue as long as adjustments are being made. Scottie having a 3 on a consistent basis would be great.

[LoveMyRaps]

Team record since Garrett Temple has been on roster is abysmal. What leadership is he actually providing? I don't see any benefit, only waste of resources.

Josh Minott was signed as UFA for $2.5M as example. Maybe this front office just isn't good.

Yeah I'm not gonna lie it's pretty infuriating to see Temple taking up a roster spot at this point.

Just give him a role in the coaching staff if his "leadership" is that important to the squad.

Temple money could've been used to sign a backup center, or a player that could actually contribute on the court.

Nah. It’s still early. If you recall, it took us until the end of the season to gel last year. This year we’ve added BI and changed our system. I’m willing to be patient even as the losses continue as long as adjustments are being made. Scottie having a 3 on a consistent basis would be great.

Some positives for sure I agree, but mostly negatives.

I'm also willing to wait till the end of November before jumping to any conclusions about this team.

If things don't change by Nov 30th, and we fail to right the ship, Bobby has to start making calls.

[Merit]

Yeah I'm not gonna lie it's pretty infuriating to see Temple taking up a roster spot at this point.

Just give him a role in the coaching staff if his "leadership" is that important to the squad.

Temple money could've been used to sign a backup center, or a player that could actually contribute on the court.

Nah. It’s still early. If you recall, it took us until the end of the season to gel last year. This year we’ve added BI and changed our system. I’m willing to be patient even as the losses continue as long as adjustments are being made. Scottie having a 3 on a consistent basis would be great.

Some positives for sure I agree, but mostly negatives.

I'm also willing to wait till the end of November before jumping to any conclusions about this team.

If things don't change by Nov 30th, and we fail to right the ship, Bobby has to start making calls.

I’m just waiting until Jak is healthy. I hear you though.

I always think - it takes massive risk to try something new. You can win off doing the same things as others or push yourself and look a fool for a bit until people start copying you. This defensive philosophy and ball movement is important if we can get it right.

I do think that we need more structure and I think those adjustments will be coming. For example, BI>RJ>IQ,Scottie>Jak would make sense in terms of prioritizing touches. Similarly, zoning up more would make sense too. It’s still early, but given the challenges of the early season schedule I can see us having more of these fire the coach/blow it all up knee jerk reactions until it stabilizes a bit. I’m an optimist though - so ymmv.