Locked On Raptors

In Episode 1509, Sean Woodley is joined by Katie Heindl (DIME, Basketball Feelings) to answer some Toronto Raptors mailbag questions from you, the listeners! Off the top, Sean and Katie dig into the generally joyful experience that has been watching Scottie Barnes play basketball season, and discuss what it might take for Barnes to take one more leap on top of what he's done between years two and three of his career. Next, they dig into some rapid fire questions on which Raptors could stand to have a Victor Wembanyama-like wingspan, whether Ron Harper Jr. or Javon Freeman-Liberty should get some run off the bench and more before rounding out the show with a discussion about how the Toronto Raptprs have handled the ongoing Pascal Siakam situation, whether they run the risk of Siakam forcing their hand and asking for a trade if his role remains suppressed, and whether or not they expect his slow start to the season to continue.Come join our Locked On Raptors community on Discord! It's the only way to get your m

In Episode 1508, Sean Woodley goes solo to discuss the state of the Toronto Raptors' bench through the first seven games of the 2023-24 NBA season, and discuss whether there should be some optimism about the team's struggling reserves turning the tide. Off the top, Sean details why he's general encouraged by Darko Rajakovic's usage of his bench players, even though the team ranks 27th in the league in nightly bench scoring and 28th in bench three-point shooting percentage. The nice thing is that the the Raptors' head coach is deplying groups in a way that doesn' ask too much from his bench pieces. Will some positive regression to the mean from deep start seeing some of the team's core transitional lineups take off? And what can be made of the Dennis Schroder-Pascal Siakam-Jakob Poeltl and Scottie Barnes-O.G. Anunoby duo that seemingly comprise the backbone of most of the team's reserve-heavy looks? Next, Sean runs through his tiers of trust when it comes to the Raptors' bench players. Otto Porter Jr. is as ad

In Episode 1507, Sean Woodley and Vivek Jacob (Yahoo!, Sportsnet) break down the Toronot Raptors' 123-116 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night that saw Scottie Barnes turn in the best performance of his breakout season to power a 19-point second half comeback for the Raptors. Off the top, Sean and Vivek gush about the unmistakable leap Barnes has taken after he posted a 30-11-6-3-3 line on 9/20 shooting and 5/10 from deep to power a massive second half comeback, what his steps forward mean for the franchise, and play another round of "Sounds We Made When Scottie Barnes Did Stuff." Next, Sean and Vivek chat about an awesome game from O.G. Anunoby, a poor performance by Pascal Siakam, and the uncertain dynamics at play as the team reorients its hierarchy around Scottie's new normal. Lastly, they run through the Good (Anunoby on Wemby, Jakob Poeltl hitting bunnies), the Bad (transition play, Jalen McDaniels) and the Hmmm (Otto Porter Jr.'s insertion into some core units, Darko Rajakovic's sub

In Episode 1506, Sean Woodley recaps the Toronto Raptors' 114-99 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night on the second night of a back-to-back. Off the top, Sean digs into why this felt like a scheduled loss for the Raptors playing their sixth game in nine nights to start the season, and why the matchup with the Sixers is a particularly tough one to have run into twice in the first six games as the team adjust to its new normal with Scottie Barnes ascending as the team's number one option ahead of Pascal Siakam. Next, Sean debuts the new segment that'll run after every Raptors loss: What Did Scottie & Gradey Do? Because talking about Scottie Barnes and Gradey Dick is fun no matter the result. Lastly, Sean runs throug The Good (the starters), The Bad (not being the team that flummoxes Joel Embiid anymore) and The Hmmm (looking ahead to the Raptors' first tilt with Victor Wembanyama) to round out the show.Come and join our very fun and very friendly listener community over on Discord! https://disco

In Episode 1505, Sean Woodley goes solo to react to the Toronto Raptors' 130-11 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night to move to 2-3 on the season. Off the top, Sean digs into how positive regression to the mean helped the Raptors finally break through with by far their best half court offensive performance of the season, which was buoyed further by an outstanding offensive rebounding effort and a killer night in transition. Next, Sean gushes about Scottie Barnes continuing his breakout season with a 21-10-5-1-2 line on 8/16 shooting and 4/6 from deep, all the while continuing his impressive leveling up on the defensive end. Lastly, Sean runs through the Good (Otto Porter Jr.!) the Bad (Gradey Dick missing threes while being awesome at everything else) and the Hmmm (a decent looking core lineup?) to round out the show. On to Philly.Join the Locked On Raptors Discord to be among sickos just like you! https://discord.gg/TeNVqsUmSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Parkview AdvanceFor more than 25 yea

In Episode 1504, Sean Woodley is joined by Katie Heindl (DIME, Basketball Feelings) to chat about some of the good elements of the Toronto Raptors' first four games, which have been less than what you want. Off the top, Sean makes an impassioned plea for people to care about defense, which the Raptors are currently exception at -- to a degree where it isn't going to take much improvement on the offensive end to start turning some of these narrow losses into victories, which Katie argues still has plenty of time to take place. Next, Katie details why she's been encouraged by the Raptors seemingly returning to their pesky nature, and not lying down in games that might have seen last year's version of the team fold up and concede. Plus, they discuss just how darn fun the Scottie Barnes leap has been so far. Lastly, Sean and Katie take a look ahead at tonight's game against Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on the first half of a back-to-back that will finish with a game in Philadelphi

In Episode 1503, Sean Woodley and Vivek Jacob react to an ugly, 99-91 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. Off the top, they chat about the offense reaching a new low, scoring just 91 points against what was the 29th-ranked defense in the NBA coming into the game, and hitting just 4-of-29 threes on the night. Is there any hope for this offense turning things around? And does its overall badness threaten to undo the defense, which so far is one thing this team actually does ar an elite level? Next, Sean and Vivek discuss whether losses like this threaten to undo all the good vibes groundwork that was laid in the preseason, and what the emergence of Scottie Barnes could do to keep the good times rolling even in the face of tough losses like Monday's. Lastly, they run through The Good (Gradey Dick, Scottie Barnes), The Bad (Gary Trent Jr.) and The Hmmmm (Will Darko Rajakovic have to revert some old Raptors schemes that have worked for this group in the past? Can the Raptors trade for Malcolm Brogd

In Episode 1502, Sean Woodley goes solo to recap an 0-2 weekend for the Toronto Raptors that featured a chaotic and maddening overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls, a hard-fought loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, and a whole of extremely promising signs out of Scottie Barnes. Off the top, Sean digs into why the biggest takeaway from this weekend isn't any of the bad stuff that led to the Raptors' dropping both their games and falling to 1-2 on the season, but rather the overwhelmingly positive play of Scottie Barnes, whose 21-9-7 line on 62.5% True Shooting has all sorts of indication that Barnes' star turn is very much underway. The fact that the Raptors' next most important young player, Gradey Dick, poured in 16 points on 4/6 shooting from deep over 28 minutes on Saturday against the Sixers is another big picture win for a team that has lots of smaller scale issues to clean up. Next, Sean digs into Pascal Siakam's strange role within the offense, and details why a simple switch in the offensive roles occupied b

In Episode 1501, Sean Woodley is joined by Jamar Hinds (Raptors Republic) to react to the Toronto Raptors' 97-94 opening night win over the Minnesota Timberwolves that saw Dennis Schröder go off for 22 points and 7 assists in his first game as a Raptor, while O.G. Anunoby chipped in 20 points and absolutely smothered Anthony Edwards on the other end to earn head coach Darko Rajakovic his first career win. Off the top, they dig into an impressive defensive showing for the very long, very athletic Raptors, as they held Anthony Edwards to an 8/27 shooting night, while Karl-Anthony Towns went 8/25 for just 19 points. Plus, a look at how the defense fueled all of the best offensive flourishes for the team, as will likely be the case all season long. Next, Sean and Jamar discuss the above-the-break three-point shooting that helped balance out an otherwise rough offensive night, as they canned 11 of their 25 non-corner threes, with Schröder, Anunoby and Pascal Siakam look particularly good on those looks. Lastly, th

In Episode 1500, Sean Woodley is joined by Katie Heindl (DIME, Basketball Feelings) to kick off a brand new Toronto Raptors season with one last temperature check on how they're feeling about the team going into the season before a deep dive into the hidden meaning behind the Toronto Raptors' Halloween costumes. Off the top, Sean and Katie discuss whether the 4-0 preseason full of good vibes and exciting player performances has sufficiently wiped away their offseason pessimism about the team, and dig into the most encouraging stories to come out of the preseason, from Darko Rajakovic's upbeat spirit, to Scottie Barnes looking primed for a leap, to the Raptors seemingly having a lot more lineup versatility than they had a year ago. Next, Sean and Katie attempt to determine which Raptor had the best costume at the team's Halloween part over the weekend, before then diving deeper and examining what each players' costume choice tells us about what we can expect from them on the court this coming season.Be sure to

In Episode 1499, Sean Woodley is joined by Joseph Casciaro (The Score, Pound the Rock) to share some of their boldest predictions about the 2023-24 Toronto Raptors season and discuss Precious Achiuwa not receiving an extension from the Toronto Raptors before the extension deadline. Off the top they quickly address the Achiuwa non-news and discuss what he has riding on this season before diving headlong into their bold predictions. Sean has some strong feelings on the potency of the Raptors' transition attack this coming season, while Joey Cash is betting big on a major breakout for Scottie Barnes. Plus, Sean has a scorcher of a take about Pascal Siakam's future in the unlikely event he gets traded before the deadline, Joe has Dennis Schroder making fans quickly forget about Fred VanVleet's work as a playmaker, Sean is bullish on an extremely specific and niche take about two of the Raptors' bench pieces, and Cash has the Raptors finishing surprisingly high in the standings. Let us know your bold predictions f

In Episode 1498, Sean Woodley, Vivek Jacob and Sahal Abid make their picks in the second part of this year's annual Locked On Raptors Over/Unders and Props Spectacular! In the second half, the trio make their picks for some team-based props and over/unders. Who will be the team's third-leading scorer? Who will lead the Raptors in dunks in 2023-24? Which player will be the team's most impactful player in his minutes on the floor? Where will the Raptors finish on both offense and defense? How will the Raptors fare against opposing teams with records above .500 after being awful in that department a year ago? What will their final win total be, and how many postseason wins will Toronto accrue between the play-in and the playoffs proper. Plus, will Pascal Siakam, O.G. Anunoby, Gradey Dick, Darko Rajakovic, Scottie Barnes or any other members of the Raptors win an end-of-season award? We discuss and debate it all as we make our picks!You can compete in this year's Over/Unders & Props Contest as well! Get your

In Episode 1497, Sean Woodley is joined by his pals Vivek Jacob and Sahal Abdi for the 7th edition of the show's annual Toronto Raptors Over/Unders and Props Season Preview Spectacluar! In the first of two episodes, the trio attempt to correctly pick the over/under on a number of individual player stats for the upcoming 2023-24 NBA seasons. What will Pascal Siakam's points + rebounds + assists total end being this year with a different role? Will O.G. Anunoby break the 18.5 points per game barrier? Will Scottie Barnes average north of six assists? What about Jakob Poeltl's nightly minutes allocation? Will Gary Trent Jr. find his way into the starting lineup more often than he doesn't? How many threes will Gradey Dick make as a rookie? How many triples will Dennis Schroeder attempt on a nightly basis? And will Scottie Barnes surpass his rookie season True Shooting percentage? We tackle all those questions in over/under form!You can compete in this year's Over/Unders & Props Contest as well! Get your entrie

In Episode 1496, Sean Woodley is joined by Crina Mustafa (Sport vs Media Charity Basketball Game) to dig into a round of What's More Likely about the possibilities that lie ahead for the Toronto Raptors in the new NBA season. Off the top, they discuss whether it's more likely that the Raptors surpass their Vegas over/under by 10 or more wins and end up with 47+ victories on the season, or come 10-or-more wins short of their Vegas expectations and finish with 27-or-fewer wins in 2023-24. Next, Sean and Crina dig into whether it's more likely that Scottie Barnes earns his first All-Star nod this seaosn, or that Gradey Dick will land on an All-Rookie team at season's end. Next, Sean and Crina discuss a couple of wildly unlikely outcomes and determine whether it's more likely that Jakob Poeltl will lead the Raptors in assists this season, or that O.G. Anunoby will lead the team in scoring.Crina is organizing the Sport vs. Media Charity Basketball Game on November 25th at Mattamy Athletic Centre. Learn more about

When will we know what these NBA are this year? Which questions will the Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Brooklyn Nets answer this season? Tenitra Batiste is joined by Sean Woodley (Locked On Raptors), Jake Madison (Locked On Pelicans), Nick Angstadt (Locked On Mavs), Doug Norris (Locked On Nets), and Joe Mullinax (Locked On Grizzlies). Can Luka Doncic & Kyrie Irving bounce back? Who else emerges with Pascal Siakam on the Raptors? Can Zion Williamson play an entire season? What will the Grizzlies do without Ja Morant? Can Ben Simmons return to form for the Nets? Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More

In Episode 1495, Sean Woodley goes solo in an attempt to tank the entire Toronto Raptors roster in order of importance to the team's chances of actually winning basketball games in the 2023-24 NBA season. Off the top, Sean sorts through the three most important players on the team: Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and O.G. Anunoby, who feel like the only three guys guaranteed to be on the floor in all of the Raptors' highest-leverage moments this season. Next, Sean runs through five players who could figure into some of the Raptors' closing lineups, and zeroes in on why Gary Trent Jr., while not the 4th-best player on the team, might be the 4th-most important player on the roster in terms of ensuring the team run smoothly on offense. Lastly, where to deeper bench pieces like Gradey Dick, Precious Achiuwa, Chris Boucher, Malachi Flynn and more fit into the team's hierarchy of importance this season? These rankings are unassailable, of course. Tell us how much you agree with them in the comments!Come hang out with

In Episode 1494, Sean Woodley is joined by Katie Heindl (DIME, Basketball Feelings) to chat about the Toronto Raptors' 106-102 preseason win over the Chicago Bulls in a contest that looked more or less like a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Off the top, Sean and Katie dig into Scottie Barnes' 22-6-3-2-4 outing on 8/14 shooting that saw him dominate as the nominal center in most lineups in which he played. His ability to score or playmake as a dive man is notable, his defense as the team's anchor was disruptive, and it's encouraging to see the Raptors use him in a way that amplifies his strengths, but how often will that look be in use when Jakob Poeltl is available? Next, they dive into Katie's thoughts on the Raptors' increased commitment to ball movement, and why it only portends good things to see the Raptors deviating from last years' ISO-heavy script, even if there are surely going to be growing pains along the way. Lastly, the run through the Good (Gary Trent Jr.'s playmaking, Jalen McDaniels' g

In Episode 1493, Sean Woodley is joined by Vivek Jacob (Raptors.com) to chat about the remaining roster and position battles for the Toronto Raptors in training camp and kick around some potential lineup combinations that could be productive for coach Darko Rajakovic this coming season. Off the top, they chat about Jeff Dowtin Jr.'s seemingly tenuous position within the team, and whether he or Malachi Flynn is more deserving of occupying a reserve guard spot on this year's team. Next, Sean and Vivek have some fun and look at some potential lineup combinations that could be positive units for the team this seaosn, including an all-length, plus shooting look of Pascal Siakam / Jalen McDaniels / O.G. Anunoby / Otto Porter Jr. / Scottie Barnes, a revised version of last season's starting unit featuring Dennis Schroder and Gary Trent Jr. alongside Siakam, Barnes and Anunoby, some spread pick-and-roll centred groups with shooting all around Schroder and Jakob Poeltl and more! End of the day, the takeaway seems to b

In Episode 1492, Sean Woodley goes solo to detail his biggest takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 134-93 win over the Cairns Taipans in NBA preseason action on Sunday. Off the top, Sean praises a strong performance by Chris Boucher on a night where, without Jakob Poeltl, the Raptors displayed some of the unorthodox but effective options they might have for the team's backup center minutes this season. Boucher's the running, cutting transition ace; Thad Young is the elbow-passing Jak understudy, and Scottie Barnes can do a little bit of everything as a small-ball five. Next, Sean talks about the apparent commitment to running off misses that this team is going to have this year, and how Dennis Schroder could be a swing factor between the Raptors' transition game being merely good, or at the top of the league's rankings. Lastly, Sean digs into the Good (Malachi Flynn), the Bad (preseason games against non-NBA teams) and the Hmm (Jeff Dowtin's murky future with Toronto) to round out the show.Come join our listen

In Episode 1491, Sean Woodley goes solo to outline his predictions for where the Toronto Raptors will finish in the league-wide offensive and defensive rankings in 2023-24. Off the top, Sean details why he is so bullish on the Raptors having an elite defense. Between a change of scheme, a prioritization on allowing a healthier opponent shot diet, and the overall talent in the team's rotation, this defense should have the juice to land within the league's Top-5. Next, Sean examines the offense, which is lacking obvious fallback sets by which they can produce easy offense, but figures to play a more aesthetic pleasing brand of basketball, even if the offense is a little worse on a per-possession basis. Can the transition attack be potent enough to buoy the Raptors to the offensive heights they reached last season, when they finished 13th in the league? Lastly, Sean attempts the impossible and predicts where the Raptors will slot into the league's overall NET Rating charts, and what that will mean for their over