Toronto Raptors Defense

The Raptors rank high in a lot of the NBA defensive rankings. They have had an elite defense under Nick Nurse through an aggressive rotating scheme and long-versatile defenders. Although Nurse is widely considered to be an analytical coach, they break a lot of the modern defense rules.

Lets dive into the stats.

  • 1st in opponents Points per game
  • 2nd in defensive rating
  • 2nd in Field Goal% defense
  • 1st in 3pt% defense
  • 2nd in 2pt attempts
  • 5th in 2pt % defense
  • 2nd in Efg % defense
  • 2nd in Turnover %
  • 29th in opponent 3pt Attempts

It is interesting to see all the success they have with giving up so many 3’s to opponents. The general wisdom is that the best way to impact 3 point percentage defensively is to limit the opponents number of attempts. Adding to this strategy is that the Milwaukee Bucks rank 30th in opponent 3 point attempts but are first in defensive rating & field goal percentage defense. This could be a trend that others follow.

Watching the Raptors on defense is an experience. You will see 5 guys in a “Packline” type defense. You will see guys helping in and exploding out to shooters to run them off the line with a fly by closeout or a non traditional closeout into the shooter. I also think they also do a good job of scouting so they know how hard they need to closeout. A below average shooter taking a 3 is something they are ok with.Once the ball gets inside the arc, they rally to the ball and are working to protect the rim at all costs. They have some crazy rotations that are just players making plays.

This clip here shows the level of effort they play with. When the ball is driven, they swarm and surround the ball. They are not going to get beat at the basket.

Gap Help

The Raptors really shrink the floor defensively. They are in gaps early and show their length really well to make the gap appear even smaller. If you remember the playoffs from last year, Giannis would have the ball at the top of the key and they would have a guy on each elbow. Once the ball is driven at the defense they will swarm the ball and do anything possible to cut off the drive. They also do a great job of switching on the drive if the situation presents itself.

In this clip, the Raptors execute the switch on the ball. When McCaw gets beat, Siakam sells out to stopping the ball leaving the corner wide open. Here is where they are elite. Norman Powell helps down and then Siakam sprints out to contest the shot executing the X-Out.
You can see in this clips that Powell gets blown by and Hollis Jefferson sprints from the gap to take the ball. This is just a player being instinctive and making a play defensively.

Ballscreen Defense

The Raptors do switch up ballscreen coverages depending on who they are playing. They play in a drop a lot because it fits into their scheme of preventing paint and rim attacks. When the Raptors play in their drop, they will really work to stay below the roller and in front of the ball. The player getting screened goes over the top and works to get back in the play with a rearview contest or to a square position. Players in the gaps will be “in to get out” and are very active in helping to slow down the dribble. Sometimes it is just a swipe at the ball, and sometimes it is in the form of a stunt.

The standard drop here with Ibaka being very low to protect the basket. He never really impacts the ball handler but prevents that downhill drive. Lowry and Hollis Jefferson both take a hard step towards the ball on the drive and Hollis Jefferson is able to contest the shot.
This clip shows their normal drop. You can see how deep Ibaka is to protect against the roll from Gobert. Ibaka does a good job of being active with his hands and feet here to force a pickup. One of their trademarks with this defense is how they let their gap help get involved. You can see how Siakam stunts and swipes to close the gap. The Jazz do execute here and get into dominos but you can see the aggressive nature of the Raptors defense.
With Gasol they will be in a drop. He positions himself to keep the ball in front while Anunoby executes the high tag to eliminate the roller.
You can see in this clip that on the side ballscreen, they get 3 guys in the paint. Siakam is at the nail to take away the roll. He swipes at the ball and gets back while Anunoby protects the rim. Lowry takes the guard 2 position and takes first pass.

If the on ball defender gets screened hard they have 2 things they do very well. They will “next” and have the next perimeter defender jump onto the ball. The other tactic that they use is a veer back switch where the dropping big takes the guard and the on ball defender goes back to the roller.

Here on the drop, the Raptors utilize a “Next” type coverage. Lowry sees that McCaw got picked off so he jumps into take the ball handler. McCaw jumps to his man. The entire time, Ibaka is in a very deep drop to protect the rim

Against elite players like Steph Curry they will move the hedge higher to prevent the pullup 3. When this happens they work to use the Low man as the tag guy. Sometimes this means that they have to tag from the single side. When that happens, they tag and closeout hard like they normally do.

Playing special players means that you do things that are a little different. Here they put 2 on the ball to limit Steph Curry. Anunoby tags the roller and causes the bobble. Siakam scrambles back to get the ball. What impresses me on this play is Lowry sprinting out to cover Anunoby’s guy.

Something I think they do a good job of, is keeping their drop coverage on pin downs. The guy guarding the cutter chases hard and trusts that the big is in position to protect the rim. The only thing they can give up off this, is a tough midrange jumper.

The Jazz run a wide Pindown for Bogdonavic and Kyle Lowry chases hard. Even though he is behind the play, Ibaka positions himself like he would on a wing ballscreen. He is staying below the rolling Gobert and in front of the ball. Lowry is able to poke the ball from behind because of this defense.
The Veer pin concept is a hard cover, however with the way the Raptors position their big it is an easy cover. Anunoby gets caught by the screen but because of Ibaka’s positioning and Powell at the nail (and Anunoby’s angle) he is able to contest a midrange.

Rim Protection

Since their whole defense is based on protecting the paint, the last level of their elite defense is how well they protect the paint. This usually comes from the “Low Man”. The low man is the most important part of defense, especially at the NBA Level. They are responsible for tagging the roller, stopping any rim drives, and help on cuts. Some teams will call this position “MIG” for “Most important Guy”.

On a lot of teams that bottom guy, that weakside defender, is critical if something happens and you’re broken down off the dribble or you’re beat. That person has got to be there.”

Mike Budenholzer

Since this can be different players, one of the things that makes the Raptors elite is that they can get shot contesting out of this spot from multiple players. They also have players like Kyle Lowry that will step in and take the charge. You will see in these clips that the Raptors fly around and if the defense gets broken down then they have that last line of defense to come over and protect the rim.

This clip shows a couple of things I think they are really good at. The Raptors late switch on the elbow ballscreen because of the way Ingles gets downhill. Not sure if this is random or not, but its well done. At the end of the possession you see Rondae Hollis Jefferson protect the rim and go vertical. Even though the shot is still made, it was not an easy shot.
The Raptors protect the rim with multiple positions. Whoever is in the low position is responsible for getting over to protect. Here Siakam gets over from his position to deter the shot. The Suns run good offense to get another chance until it is blocked by Siakam from the weak side. The guy that makes this play is Boucher staying in position in front of the rim which buys time for Siakam to come over
With great transition defense they stop the initial attack. The switch prevents the second attack. Then as the Kings are setting the side ballscreen, you can see Kyle Lowry coming over to tag the roller. With the early slip against the show, he is in position to protect the rim by taking a charge. The Raptors do a good job of sinking behind the low help to get the steal.

To finish this post I found a quote that I think describes how the Raptors approach defense.

“It’s not always going to be perfect, but we’re going to scramble around and we believe in what we all do and we always have open minds as players and we understand what it’s for.

Marc Gasol