Title: Offensive growth for Raptors’ Valanciunas about variety not volume
Date: March 11, 2016
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: For my latest at Sportsnet, I wrote about the slow, subtle improvements in Jonas Valanciunas’ offensive game.
Jonas Valanciunas went to Old Reliable late in the first quarter of the Toronto Raptors’ win last week over the Utah Jazz. Catching the ball from 15 feet, he faced up and pump-faked Derrick Favors, drawing the defender closer, then took a first step toward the rim and drew a foul. How, after four years of this same slow, methodical move, are defenders still biting on it? Well, they are, and that could play a major role in Toronto’s success this season and beyond.
The Raptors are already keenly aware that Valanciunas can score on the low block, and it’s a big reason why the team handed him a $64 million extension last summer. But with two drive-oriented guards leading the offensive charge, there’s not much of a place to, as assistant coach Nick Nurse says, “Olajuwon it,” every time down the floor. That’s why the key for growing Valanciunas and increasing his share of the pie on offense is to increase the variety of ways in which he can contribute.
Continue reading at Sportsnet.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 