Raptors getting huge boost from Precious Achiuwa's improvements
Precious Achiuwa has been opening eyes since his breakout Rising Stars performance and Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is loving what he's seeing.
"Whatever's gotten into him since the all-star break, he's certainly been more decisive out there," Nurse said on Saturday. "He's catching and shooting fairly quickly, which means he's feeling confident, and I'm good with it."
Unsurprisingly, Achiuwa’s actual numbers since the all-star break support the eye test we’re all witnessing.
Besides his trademark enthusiasm to drive directly to the basket when playing centre, and the increased willingness to shoot threes, the Precious Experience lately has made fans much more tolerant of his eager possessions and sophomore mistakes. Averaging 13 points, 6.2 total rebounds and 50 percent from three-point range on just over three attempts per game since the all-star break, it seems there has been a boost in confidence – or at least progression in development.
What does that look like on the court? For Achiuwa, it’s continual and determined decision-making. Considered a flaw with his play early in the season since it frequently resulted in turnovers and poor shotmaking, the ability to confidently dribble and drive toward the basket coupled with an improvement in his ball-handling skills in transition has translated into 35 percent of his finishes at the rim being unassisted – outside the rigid rules rollers typically follow.
Not only is Achiuwa finding some success catching on the roll with good coordination and chemistry with the team’s main playmakers, he’s also finding success creating his own offence around the elbow; an expected development considering he often finds himself with the upper hand when opposing teams task slower and larger players with defending him.
It’s been a long-held belief that Achiuwa’s defensive abilities made it so that acquiring even a single, reliable offensive skill would make him one of the more important players in the Raptors' rotation. But the steadily improved perimeter shooting makes him truly indispensable.
The team has found a lot of success with its more switchable offensive lineups usually featuring Pascal Siakam, Achiuwa, Dalano Banton, Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby. Although this lineup brings the defensive versatility in the second quarters the team has struggled with all season, there’s been the issue of shooting.
The only reliable long-range scorer in this switching lineup has been Anunoby, and the results have been a crowded court that emphasizes offence through complicated cuts, baseline drives and dump-off passes. Those are all offensive maneuvers requiring several steps that can be easily toppled by any experienced help defender. With Achiuwa’s improved three-point shooting, the Raptors' playmakers in these lineups have another, more reliable catch-and-shoot threat to relieve the offence.
And yes, we are talking about Achiuwa, a player who had quickly established during his rookie season on the Miami Heat that he is in no way a sniper from the line. But there’s no point in restricting a sophomore player to a Year 1 reputation in a win-now organization that didn’t have the bandwidth to prioritize his development – and understandably so. Either way, steadily improving one’s three-point shooting all year with increased reps and hitting 52 percent of your last 27 perimeter shots is worth noting for any player.
Achiuwa has managed to carve out a bit of an identity on a team with a collection of Swiss Army knife, off-beat producers – and there are still changes within the periphery he’ll undoubtedly look to polish. The easiest one to note after a glimpse of the stat sheet is his finishing. Average as of late but bench-worthy at its worst, Achiuwa has made strides in that department by finding familiar angles off the glass rather than relying on circus hook shots following 10+ seconds of aimless dribbling. More minutes alongside Anunoby may aid in continuing his recent tendency of using strength rather than length against the centres and large forwards that guard him.
Is that not one of the major benefits of fielding rosters composed of young players in their primes, or just outside of it? Players develop alongside one another, all while conjuring up chemistry in the process. Let’s see where it takes Toronto this year.
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