Toronto Raptors forward Jonas Valanciunas, left, battles for the ball against Milwaukee Bucks forward Johnny O'Bryant, right, during first half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Monday, February 2, 2015.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Late in pressure-filled fourth quarters with the game on the line, Jonas Valanciunas often finds himself sitting on the bench.
The Toronto Raptors' 7-foot starting centre isn't in the doghouse or lacking the trust of coach Dwane Casey. It's strictly about Casey creating the best possible matchups with opposing players and dictating the right pace of play. And the decision to take the physical big man out of the game isn't always easy.
In a lot of tight fourth quarters this season, opponents have been going small on the Raptors. Small, fast guards are a matchup problem for Valanciunas out on the perimeter because, while the 255-pound Lithuanian ranks 18th in the league with an average of 8.5 rebounds a game and scores 12.5 points a night, speed is an issue. Tyler Hansbrough and Patrick Patterson are simply better at defending the pick-and-roll and maintaining the up-tempo style the Raptors must play in crunch-time.
"If we're scrambling, double-teaming, trying to get back defensively, trying to play fast in those situations, JV is probably not in the game," said Casey, who noted that the Bucks went small in Toronto's 82-75 loss on Monday by moving Jared Dudley – who usually plays small forward – to the power-forward position. "We gave up a couple of threes because we were too slow from one of our bigs to get out to rotate … we needed to get faster in our rotations, and we did that with Tyler and Pat."
Valanciunas has started 48 of Toronto's 49 games this season, but has played more than 30 minutes in only 14 of them. He came out with four minutes left in the third quarter on Monday night, and never got back on the court, despite racking up 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Hansbrough, Patterson and the rest of the second unit made consistent stops and scored 15 straight points to overcome a 15-point deficit and tie the game 75-75 with 3:33 left in the fourth. They held the Bucks to 15-per-cent shooting in that quarter.
"Monday was one time I did question whether [Valanciunas] should be in there instead of Tyler, but I would argue that Tyler was a big reason our pick-and-roll defence was so good and our scramble defence was so good," said Casey. "That was a hard decision."
Valanciunas says he gets it, and it doesn't bother him, which is good because Toronto is likely to be in a lot more nail-biting final quarters. After Wednesday's contest against the 19-28 Brooklyn Nets, the 33-16 Raptors will play eight consecutive games against teams with above-.500 records, including the leaders of both conferences.
"A lot of teams go small on us, and coach has to match those players because, when they go small, they can shoot, and it's hard for me to go out on the three-point line and guard those shooters. I'm just doing my stuff, I'm not frustrated," scored more goals in the third period alanciunas said
In his third NBA season, Valenciunas – who worked with a running coach in the last off-season – said getting faster to defend guards stretching the floor is a big priority. Casey says few big men in the NBA have that skill, but he believes it's the next evolution for Valanciunas, something he can develop over summers by playing a lot of one-on-one with guards. He won't be on the bench in fourth quarters forever.
"Definitely, he can be in there. He's better this year than he was during his first years in the league at guarding perimeter guys, staying in front and down in the stance," Casey said. "He's going to be a great player in this league some day. We all want him to be the 20-15 guy right now, and he's not there yet. But I love the way he's competing."
Rachel Brady