Siakam’s absence hurting offence

The answer to a lot of what ails the Toronto Raptors sits on their bench night after night.

Unfortunately Pascal Siakam does so in street clothes awaiting clearance from the medical staff that the surgically repaired labrum in his shoulder is good to go and he can return to the court and the No. 1 offensive option that opens up the Raptors offence in a way no other current Raptor can do.

The good news is Siakam is on the way back, just not right away.

He's likely a minimum of two weeks away from returning which would puts him back in the court somewhere around the second or third week of November.

That's the 15-game or 18game mark of the season.

In the interim the Raptors are going to be a team that tries to win games with its defence and before you throw up your hands in exasperation at that notion, recall Friday night's game in Boston, the lone win to the year, was won in exactly that fashion.

Without Siakam, Toronto's offence is challenged, particularly in the halfcourt.

Yes, it's only been three games, but in those three games they have scored

98, 115, and 93 points.

The two lower scoring games, both losses, came against Washington and Dallas, neither team considered a defensive juggernaut though admittedly off to a better start this season than in years past in that regard.

Siakam doesn't just require defensive attention, he demands a lot of it, and even when he gets it, he's a very capable scorer. But without him in the lineup right now and with no real threat from among their bigs to space things out, teams are staying home and protecting the paint, meaning even when a determined OG Anunoby is in attack mode, he's running into a crowded painted area with little room to operate.

It worked early in the Dallas game because Kristaps Porzingas avoids contact.

Siakam unlocks a lot for Anunoby just with his mere presence. Whether it's Anunoby making a drive or camped out at the three-point line, there is more space for Anunoby just because teams have to stay attached to some degree to Siakam.

The same applies to a lesser degree to Fred Vanvleet. How many times already this year have you seen Vanvleet beat his man above the painted area on his way to the basket only to see a wall of bodies waiting for him either forcing him to finish among the trees or reversing course and re-setting.

Until Siakam returns, the Raptors have to rely on running in transition and getting odd-man advantages, that way or figuring out how to create some space for the drivers like Anunoby, Vanvleet and Scottie Barnes.

On Barnes, Nurse has been consistently positive in his reviews of the rookie.

He has liked his effort, his composure and the results to date but he sees one area where things could get even better.

“When he's got the space and a one-on-one matchup he's got to put them in the rim until they stop him, right?” Nurse said.

“Put them in the rim until they stop and do it over and over and over and over and over again,” Nurse said. “And if they do stop him, if they do back off against him, then pull up for a 10 or 12 footer, that's fine too. But that's where we're gonna start seeing him pass, his passing will show. Once he starts drawing other defenders, and that's again, that's just him being aware. He needs to be more aggressive, like he needs to, you know all those layups he put up, we need to double that number of attempts, to triple it. Then he'll be in the paint, and we'll be firing them out to our open shooters.”

Barnes said he would have no issue following that advice.

“I'm a big player, I'm pretty strong for my size, I feel like I have the ability to be able to get to the rim and torch defences with being able to get to the rim, being able to (attract) that attention, being able to kick out if they react to it. I would say I'm totally capable of doing that.”

Anunoby was ultra aggressive in the first half Saturday night, punishing the Mavericks first inside and then outside, but foul trouble put him back on his heels a little in the third and he went from a 20point first half to just three in the second.

“Yeah. I've definitely got to be more aggressive with my shot more, be more involved,” Anunoby said.

Nurse has said it's on him and his coaching staff to open up the paint a little more when Anunoby and Vanvleet get in there.

All of that can help keep the Raptors afloat, but the reality of their situation is Siakam can't return fast enough.