The Toronto Raptors were victorious in their preseason opener against the Sacramento Kings in Vancouver 112-99. One of the biggest takeaways from this game was that the Raptors offense looked a lot better.
Leading the way for Toronto was Gary Trent Jr. who scored 22 points from off the bench. Scottie Barnes looked solid chipping in with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. While O.G. Anunoby had 14 points.
Darko Rajakovic appeared in an interview during the Raptors preseason game broadcast talking about his “0.5 offense” and how it operates:
“0.5 offense means making quick decisions. Every time a player catches the ball he needs to be ready to attack, shoot, dribble, or pass the ball. We want to make quick decisions. We want to be able to play with the ball very quickly. Want to be able to execute in the half court offense and to play an unselfish style of basketball.”
This offense was in full effect during Toronto’s preseason win. The Raptors did a great job of moving the ball around and their offense didn’t look stagnant. They were sharing the ball early and often:
Raptors have assisted on 18 of 23 made field goals, including on all 6 of their threes in the first half tonight.
— Keerthika Uthayakumar (@keerthikau) October 9, 2023
The Raptors finished the night with 30 assists on 39 made baskets. It’s one preseason game but this was encouraging to see. If Toronto continues to play an unselfish brand of basketball, their offense will improve drastically this season.
Rajakovic is trying to not only change the culture with this team but he’s also trying to change their philosophy as well. The Raptors’ new-look offense will be in action once again on Oct. 15 against Cairns Taipans.
Dennis Schroder starting point guard
Another big thing that was revealed during the Raptors first preseason game is that Dennis Schroder will be the team’s starting point guard, at least for now.
Rajakovic has great familiarity with Schroder and in his Raptors preseason debut Schroder finished with 6 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
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