{"id":114783,"date":"2024-12-29T11:40:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T16:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=114783"},"modified":"2024-12-29T11:40:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T16:40:53","slug":"toronto-raptors-rebounding-woes-highlight-veteran-importance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/29\/toronto-raptors-rebounding-woes-highlight-veteran-importance\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Raptors Rebounding Woes Highlight Veteran Importance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors were a premier rebounding team through the<\/span> first 28 games<\/span><\/a> of the season, ranking sixth in the league in rebounds per game. However, over the last three games, they have been outrebounded by a combined 39, an average of<\/a> 13 per game. Coinciding with this inability to close possessions, Toronto’s defense has gone from bad to embarrassing. What’s the solution to the Raptors’ recent rebounding woes, and do they already have the answers on the roster?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Toronto Raptors Rebounding Woes Highlight Veteran Jakob Poeltl’s Importance<\/h2>\n

Diving Deeper Into The Raptors Rebounding Woes<\/b><\/h3>\n

With Kelly Olynyk<\/a> starting following<\/a> Jakob Poeltl’s<\/a> injury, the Raptors’ tallest players coming off the bench are\u00a0Chris Boucher<\/a>, at 6-foot-9, and\u00a06-foot-9\u00a0Jonathan Mogbo<\/a>. While Boucher and Mogbo are solid rebounders, they are massively undersized at the four and five. Leading to the Raptors bench is giving up<\/span> 20 rebounds<\/span><\/a> over the last three games.<\/span><\/p>\n

This lack of size is felt throughout the entire roster<\/a>. Both Jamal Shead<\/a> and Davion Mitchell<\/a> are undersized guards. On the wings, Gradey Dick<\/a> and Ochai Agbaji<\/a> are giving up a ton of size compared to the average forward. Even Scottie Barnes<\/a> and RJ Barrett<\/a>, two of the team’s best rebounders, are undersized compared to most forwards. It’s not just height that the team lacks. Ja’Kobe Walter<\/a> is a tall guard but lacks the muscle to box out forwards and bigs. That is also true for Boucher and Mogbo, who struggle to box out with their thin frames. Without Poeltl to body up the opposing team center, the rest of the roster’s lack of size has been on full display. The team still needs to do a better job of gang rebounding in Poeltl’s absence, but the extra effort required has begun taking a toll.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Importance Of Jakob Poeltl For Toronto <\/b><\/h3>\n

Following the Raptors’ trading<\/a> of OG Anunoby<\/a> and Pascal Siakam<\/a>, speculation arose about Poeltl’s long-term future in Toronto. At 29, Poeltl is a bit old to keep around for a rebuild. However, this recent stretch of losses has reinstated Poeltl’s importance for the Raptors now and in the long term. Without Poeltl manning the boards, the rest of the roster is forced to expend considerable energy to keep opposing teams off the glass. In the game versus the Grizzlies, it was clear that Toronto was gassed by halftime from fighting so hard to keep Zach Edey<\/a> and Memphis off the glass. When a team is tried, mistakes happen, guys start looking for the easy way out, and bad habits form. For a rebuilding team, letting bad habits fester can be a death sentence for any hope of success. <\/span><\/p>\n

Without Poeltl to make up for the rest of the roster size difference, Toronto has been beaten up on the boards and has let their defense slip. Through the first 28 games, Toronto had a defensive rating<\/a> of 115.1. Over the last three games without Poeltl, the Raptors have a DRTG of 126.3, the league’s worst<\/a>. No good habits are formed when you give up over 125 points a night. The Raptors could move Poeltl and probably get more draft assets or another young player. However, having him on the roster, helping keep the team competitive, and building good habits is more valuable now and in the long term. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors were a premier rebounding team through the first 28 games of the season, ranking sixth in the league in rebounds per game. However, over the last three games, they have been outrebounded by a combined 39, an average of 13 per game. Coinciding with this inability to close possessions, Toronto’s defense has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5210,"featured_media":114801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1608,62],"tags":[906,4269,49324,968,49199,49467,517,1964,3852,4741],"class_list":["post-114783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-raptors","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-chris-boucher","tag-davion-mitchell","tag-jakobe-walter","tag-jakob-poeltl","tag-jamal-shead","tag-jonathan-mogbo","tag-kelly-olynyk","tag-rj-barrett","tag-scottie-barnes","tag-zach-edey"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114783"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114802,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114783\/revisions\/114802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}