Fred “Vleetwood Mac” VanVleet isn’t as good as last year, in terms of on-off numbers, but at least he’s still in the positives. Last year, the Raptors were good based on the strength of their bench, with VanVleet and Pascal Siakam leading the way. This year, they’re good because they have Danny Green and Kyle Lowry and Siakam in the starting lineup (along with some other dude who can’t even be bothered to play all the games), and that trio is dominating. Meanwhile, the bench, “led” by C.J. Miles, is bleeding points every time they get to play.
Man, I just love that basketball-reference added easily accessible on-off numbers for my enjoyment. Now I can see at a glance all the stuff I typed out in that over-long paragraph up there. I can say that with confidence that VanVleet and Jonas Valanciunas (the “Vee Bros”) are the most neutral players on the team and that Delon Wright is way, way worse than VanVleet. Also, I can be reminded that Patrick McCaw is on the Raptors, which I somehow forgot.
VanVleet had a nice game tonight, even if most of the scoring was concentrated in the first half. The duo PG starting lineup seemeed to work out, at least this game, but I don’t know if that’s a sustainable thing. Both VanVleet and Kyle Lowry are kinda midgety.