The Toronto Raptors will have a new award to hand out postgame for the rest of the season.
The Raptors unveiled its player-of-the-game chain last season. Every time the Raptors won a game, the player or person who had a standout performance and exemplified the team’s culture got awarded with a gold chain.
Now there’s a new prize as the Raptors unveiled the “lockdown king” crown earlier this week. The crown will be awarded to the player who brings the best defensive effort, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic told reporters.
The crown won’t be handed out every game, but only when someone displays a noteworthy defensive performance.
The idea stemmed from the offseason when the coaching staff wanted to prioritize defense. Then assistant coach Mery Andrade ran away with it and came up with the concept.
Garrett Temple received the crown following his performance against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 18. He had 2 steals and 1 block in 10 minutes of action from off the bench.
“He was in the right spot every time. He was disciplined to know personnel. He was engaged, dive on the ball, like everything that he did for in that game for us, he really deserved it,” Rajakovic said.
Toronto has struggled this season on the defensive end, ranking 27th in defensive rating.
Perhaps this added incentive will spark better team defense moving forward.
Scottie Barnes could return from injury against Timberwolves
Scottie Barnes is nearing a return to action.
The 23-year-old is questionable to play on Nov. 21 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy.
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