Title: The Oral History of the night Donyell Marshall hit 12 threes for the Raptors
Date: January 6, 2020
Original Source: The Athletic
Synopsis: In my latest for The Athletic Toronto, I wrote the oral history of Donyell Marshall’s record-setting 3-point shooting night for the Raptors in 2005.
On the heels of the Vince Carter trade, the Toronto Raptors are sputtering. First-year head coach Sam Mitchell has the Raptors playing a fun, up-tempo style of basketball, but it isn’t resulting in a lot of wins. The Raptors are 26-36, sitting 5 1/2 games out of the playoff picture with several teams to leapfrog. If there is a bright spot, it’s that the Raptors are learning to build an effective, spread-style offence around second-year star Chris Bosh.
Sam Mitchell, head coach: You know, the thing that’s weird to me about all this and the 3-point shooting, you know, nobody ever talks about those teams that I coached and all the 3-point shooting we did. No one ever gave us credit for that. It’s amazing. Everybody looks at me like I’m some kinda old-timey, grind-it-out coach. Well, when I was coaching the Raptors, we led the league in 3-point shooting.
Technically, the Raptors finished the year third in 3-point makes (20.5 per-game) and second in 3-point percentage (38.5). They also ranked 10th in pace and 11th in offensive rating.
Sam Mitchell: But you know what’s crazy, man? This is what’s crazy: We never talked about it from an analytical standpoint. Obviously, we understood that three meant more than two. But this was the thing that we felt was our advantage. The thing I remember about that team, in general, was that we played to our strengths. I realized, as a coach, to let us play to our strengths and just shut up.
Check it out on The Athletic.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 