The Toronto Raptors have been one of the ten worst three point shooting teams for five years in a row. This is a real statistic that exists in the world, much like the fact that most people have never seen a baby pigeon. It makes you wonder what happens in the air between the player's hand and the rim at Scotiabank Arena.
We see promising young players arrive with beautiful jump shots, and then those shots slowly evaporate. It is as if the basketball hoop is a polite host who simply refuses to accept any gifts. We keep asking for a center in the offseason, but maybe we should be asking for a plumber to fix whatever is leaking out of the basketballs.
The Physical Toll of Being Near Average
We recently played the Spurs, a team that seems to be doing very well for themselves. We lost, but we had a chance to tie it at the end, which is a stressful way to spend a Tuesday evening. Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl were all playing at about seventy percent health, which is still better than how I feel after a long nap.
Chris Boucher also started while dealing with a thumb injury, which sounds difficult because thumbs are very important for holding things. The Spurs were healthy, of course. It must be nice to have all your fingers working at once while trying to perform at a professional level.
Apparel and Appetizers
Someone at the game wore what was described as the most basketball jersey ever seen. It is hard to know what that means exactly, but I assume it was very orange or perhaps had too many numbers on it. Sometimes you see a piece of clothing and you just have to acknowledge that it exists and is occupying space.
There is also a growing movement for free antijitos instead of free pizza when the team wins. Pizza is fine, but it is round and reminds me too much of the rim that the ball keeps rolling off of. An antijito feels more like a reward for the general struggle of being a person who watches sports in February.
Moving Forward Slightly
The priority for the offseason remains the same, even though we will probably talk ourselves into something else by June. We need people who can put the ball in the hole from a distance of twenty three feet. It seems like a simple request, but so is remembering to water a succulent, and we all know how that ends.
We are a resilient group of fans who find positivity in a close loss against a healthy team. My uncle says that a loss is just a win that hasn't finished loading yet. He also thinks the Raptors should play more games in Scarborough to confuse the opponents, which is an idea I am slowly starting to support.