Prospect Report: For the 905, it’s Miller time

The Raptors 905 played two games last week: one a loss against the Westchester Knicks, and the other, thankfully, a win against Erie BayHawks. Here’s how the team’s main men fared in the latest Prospect Report.

Alfonzo McKinnie

Age 25 Years, 4 Months

This Week: (1 Game vs Westchester Knicks) 6 PTS (2-7 FG - 28.6%), 1-2 3FG (50%), 11 REB, 1 AST, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -10 +/-

McKinnie only played one game last week, against Westchester Knicks, and he followed up a bad outing with another that’s just slightly better. McKinnie’s in a funk right now offensively, but he’s too good to have this kind of performance and should bounce back.

Good:

McKinnie’s board work. In a game where he pretty much had nothing offensively, McKinnie crashed the boards relentlessly, using his athleticism to his advantage. Another silver lining for McKinnie was how he came back from a bit of adversity. McKinnie earned a quick hook early in the first quarter as Nigel Hayes was cooking him in five straight possessions. When he came back against Hayes, McKinnie’s defensive intensity stepped up, getting into Hayes’ airspace and forcing a turnover taking an elbow in the face.

Bad:

McKinnie had a shaky start to the game, getting owned by Hayes on several plays on the defensive end, turning the ball over and bricking a shot before getting a quick hook. McKinnie pretty much did more of the same poor shooting display, mostly running into multiple defenders instead of trusting his jumper if he’s not turning the ball over.

Misc:

McKinnie raised some eyebrows when he got in the game during garbage time against the Portland Trail Blazers and hit a good looking 3-point shot. McKinnie made a very similar shot during his game against the Knicks two days prior. That particular area seems to be McKinnie’s favourite spot, as he’s shooting almost 58% there compared to 31% everywhere else in the perimeter.

Bruno Caboclo

Age 22 Years, 4 Months

This Week: 6 PPG (4-23 FG - 17.4%), 4-14 3FG (28.6%), 2 REB, 2 AST, 0.5 BLK, 0.5 TO, -4 +/-

Caboclo followed up what could arguably be his best week with one of his worst ones. If anything, Caboclo’s consistent at being inconsistent.

Good:

Caboclo’s transition defense is good. I mean, really good. Caboclo’s long strides enable him to catch-up or get in front to either get a block or a great contest. Bruno’s also shown flashes of playmaking ability — pretty much knowing where his teammates were, and who might be open, that is, when he doesn’t just put his head down for a drive. Caboclo had a freaky assist where he drove for the basket, but when the option to shoot was not there, used his long limbs extending his arm out while palming the ball to find Aaron Best across the court for a 3-pointer.

Bad:

Offensively, there’s nothing new with Caboclo. He’s still a train wreck trying to drive to the basket. He doesn’t have any offense outside of his 3-point shot, so when Caboclo is having an off-night from the perimeter, it’s automatic that he’s got nothing else to contribute offensively. What’s worse — this week, Caboclo’s hustle stats disappeared. Caboclo is too good to average two rebounds per game last week and has only one to show for blocks and steals combined.

Misc:

Caboclo must have seen DeMar DeRozan’s absurd over the shoulder pass against the Washington Wizards, so he pulled off the same move, this time in transition, hitting Negus Webster-Chan for a 3-point shot. I don’t know how Caboclo found him, as Webster-Chan was out of the picture when he was pushing for the fastbreak, and it looks like he was going for a layup.

Lorenzo Brown

Age 27 Years, 5 Months

This Week: 19 PPG (15-31 FG - 48.4%), 1-6 3FG (16.7%); 7-10 FT (70%); 10 REB, 8.5 AST, 2 STL, 4.5 TO +5 +/-

Brown followed up his great week with a couple of games that are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Brown had a monster game of 30/13/9 on a 60% shooting against Westchester Knicks but had a bad offensive outing against the Erie Bayhawks.

Good:

Brown’s arsenal was on full display again against the Knicks. Once Brown got into the midrange area, he’s pretty much unstoppable (when to shoot or to pass) and continuously getting better at making decisions in the pocket. It’s still a work in progress for Brown, but he’s adapting to that PG role nicely.

Bad:

Brown’s play as on-ball defender leaves a lot to be desired. Against the Knicks, he was getting blown by Xavier Rathan-Mayes, and was also getting caught on picks in both games last week.

Brown also came in for a few minutes against the Washington Wizards, and he was very passive, I can’t believe it was him playing out there and was not a factor at all (some might argue that he was a negative impact that game).

Misc:

Against the Knicks, Brown had a clutch shot from a well-designed SLOB play by Jerry Stackhouse, getting him around the perimeter with screens to get to a mid-range spot, where he hit a high arching shot, reminiscent of peak former Raptor Jarrett Jack.

Malcolm Miller

Age 24 Years, 11 Months

This Week: 19 PPG (10-21 FG - 47.6%), 5-8 3FG (62.5), 13-16 FT (81.3%), 7 REB, 1.5 STL, 0.5 BLK, 1.5 TO +5 +/-

Miller is starting to heat up. Keep getting this guy mo’ shats!

Good:

We know Miller can shoot that wide open three. A big revelation last week was Miller’s play as a slasher. I’ve made a point before that Miller would often park himself around the perimeter if the play does not involve him, and last week, Miller did a great job moving all over the place to be in a position to cut or receive the ball on a different spot around the perimeter (and quickly going for the drive if the 3 is not open).

Miller’s aggressiveness rewarded him with multiple trips to the line. He is looking better game after game, and we’re now slowly seeing what he’s capable of as a player. Miller is also turning it up on both sides of the floor, including aggressively crashing the boards. Against the Erie Bayhawks, we also got to see a Miller plus bench combination in the 2nd quarter, where they turned a -2 deficit into a +9 by the time the starters started coming back up.

Bad:

I’m still not sold on Miller’s ability to drive to the basket especially if his man can stay in front of him, as he hasn’t shown yet whether he can change direction using his dribble or euro-step his way to the basket. For a shooter of his caliber, it would be great if Miller can have that Bradley Beal type quick pull-up that he can use to mix up his attack on perimeter and layups.

Misc:

Against Erie Bayhawks, there was an insane play on the offensive end where Miller hustled for the loose ball against multiple defenders. Miller ended up on his behind with the ball — facing opposite the basket but with a presence of mind that Shevon Thompson was nearby, so he flipped the ball over his shoulder, the ball bounced off the glass and Thompson grabbed it for an easy putback.