Toronto Raptors forward OG Anunoby took his game to a new level in the 127-116 win over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.
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00:00 OG Anonobis is known for his defense, but it's the changes in his offense this season
00:04 that's making a huge difference towards the Toronto Raptors.
00:07 So what exactly is he doing differently that's allowing him to break out like this?
00:11 Let's get into it.
00:13 It's been a wonderful season so far from OG Anonobis on the defensive end, but we knew
00:18 that was going to be the case.
00:19 It's the offensive end where it feels as though OG is finally making the step.
00:24 But it's not quite the step that Raptors fans have been predicting for the last few years.
00:28 It's coming a little bit differently, and it's something to do with the way OG Anonobis
00:31 is changing the way he's trying to get his points on the offensive end, and it's part
00:35 of the way he's being used in this new offensive system by head coach Darko Rajakovic.
00:40 But the defensive side of the game, my goodness, is that still there?
00:43 And it was fully on display as the Raptors defeated the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic.
00:48 OG was provided the primary assignment to play against Doncic, and though Doncic had
00:53 a good night from a point standpoint, from an assist and rebound standpoint, that's just
00:57 something you're going to have to live with when it comes to a player of Luka Doncic's
01:00 caliber.
01:01 What do you hold him to?
01:02 11 of 26 shooting from the field.
01:05 When you make it an incredibly frustrating night for the player, that is a win for the
01:08 Raptors, and it was a victory for the Raptors in this game as well.
01:12 127-116.
01:13 If it wasn't for some maybe suspect calls going Dallas' way, the Raptors would have
01:18 absolutely blown the doors off the Mavericks.
01:20 It was a dominant display in the win, and OG Anonobis was rewarded with the performance
01:25 by getting the Raptors chained to signify from the head coach that he was the performer
01:30 of the night for the Raptors.
01:31 And yes, he put on an outstanding show on defense against Doncic and the Mavericks,
01:36 which highlights, once again, a possible Defensive Player of the Year candidacy for the forward.
01:41 But what was also impressive about this performance was his very efficient 26 points, and OG was
01:47 doing it all in so many different ways on offense, whether it be in the half court or
01:52 whether it be in the transition game where Darko and the Raptors put a much higher focus
01:56 on playing with an elevated pace.
01:59 That caters to a lot of people, including OG Anonobis, and certainly made the biggest
02:03 difference in the Raptors winning this game.
02:05 But OG as a whole on this season is producing some outrageous numbers.
02:09 We talked about Scottie Barnes and his individual statistics this season and how great they've
02:13 been.
02:14 Well, let's not ignore the numbers being displayed here by OG Anonobis.
02:18 So far this season, he's averaging just under 18 points per game at 17.6.
02:24 And what's even more impressive about these numbers is the shooting.
02:26 55.3% shooting from the field, just under 42% shooting from three, like just ridiculous
02:32 levels of efficiency for a player like OG Anonobis.
02:35 But on top of that, of course, you've got some defensive metrics as well.
02:38 OG Anonobis on the defensive end is averaging 1.1 steals per game, 0.7 blocks, and also,
02:45 hey, he's adding in 4.3 rebounds per game.
02:48 So the difference for OG this season has certainly been the efficiency and it has been the scoring.
02:52 And the efficiency comes down to certain decision making factors that I have been screaming
02:57 for from OG for years now at this point.
03:01 We're finally seeing them come into practice and it's making the change that this Raptors
03:05 offense need.
03:06 Because the Raptors, they need a player like OG.
03:08 This team, I've spoken about it already this season, the Raptors offense lacks floor spacing.
03:13 But where the floor spacing needs to come from is the specific players who are really
03:17 good at shooting.
03:18 One of those being OG Anonobis.
03:19 We always know he's been an incredible knockdown shooter, especially from the corners.
03:24 That's going to be massive for this team, but we're just leaning into it a little bit
03:27 more.
03:28 It feels as though OG threes aren't the product of a broken play where we have to kick out
03:33 and hope somebody can hit a three.
03:34 It feels as though these plays for OG on the outside are coming a lot more often by design
03:40 for this team.
03:41 That has added a little bit of a step to the team from an offensive standpoint.
03:45 The reason this is such a game-changing sort of player is because there's such a limited
03:48 amount of floor spacers here.
03:50 So if it's not OG hitting those threes this season, well, it feels like nobody is really
03:55 going to be hitting those threes.
03:56 So the fact that he has been dialed in from the outside has allowed just that additional
04:00 bit of space for the likes of Scottie Barnes and particularly in the game against the Mavericks,
04:05 Pascal Siakam, who is feasting in his one-on-one matchups on the inside and absolutely feasting
04:10 in his post-up opportunities.
04:11 OG and Nobis floor spacing, as much as the spacing lacks in this team, what he provides
04:17 is essential for the way the Raptors want to play offense.
04:20 And in games where he has an unfortunate or a tough night from three, you really see the
04:24 differences it makes towards the Raptors interior game and interior presence and just how much
04:29 more difficult that becomes.
04:30 But what's actually changed for OG here?
04:32 Because we knew he could play defense.
04:34 We knew he could shoot threes.
04:35 Well, I'll tell you what's changing.
04:37 It's OG getting downhill and getting to the rim.
04:40 And unfortunately, this is a bit of a part of OG's game where it's just not as strong.
04:44 It's the handles.
04:45 It's the shot creation, especially in those mid-range sort of spaces and getting to the
04:50 rim.
04:51 OG just isn't quite adept enough with his handles to consistently rely on it to get
04:55 himself his offensive game going.
04:58 So yes, there's a catch and shoot threes, but not as much off the dribble.
05:02 It's mostly standstill shooting from three and on the inside.
05:04 Well, the mid-range game still isn't quite there for the player.
05:07 And that's really the development and the leap people have been calling for for OG for
05:12 a number of years.
05:13 I'm kind of past the point of hoping for that leap to come.
05:17 And I'm more focused on the less is more approach for OG.
05:21 And that's exactly what we're getting this season.
05:23 He's taking on a much more selective amount of these three-point opportunities because
05:27 he can because the Raptors offense is catering to his three-point numbers a little bit more
05:32 this season, which isn't forcing him to find ways to get those shots.
05:37 Other players are finding ways to give him those shots, which has allowed for this great
05:41 efficiency from the start of the season from three, but shooting 55% from the field in
05:46 general, the big difference is he's getting to the rim.
05:50 OG is no longer just settling for that mid-range jumper.
05:54 He's no longer settling for that step back deep two.
05:57 He is getting to the rim and it's not by his handles.
06:00 It's not a player like Siakam or maybe even a player like Scottie Barnes who manufactures
06:05 a way to get themselves to the rim.
06:07 OG, it's just brute force.
06:10 He's big.
06:11 He's incredibly strong for his size and we're giving him downhill lanes to fight his way
06:17 to the rim, not even really fight his way to the rim.
06:20 Sometimes give him a full head of steam, get him going downhill.
06:24 And we're even employing this in the half court.
06:26 We did so very effectively against the Mavericks where he gets that full head of steam.
06:31 He gets the ball with that full head of steam and with him getting to going to the rim with
06:35 that size, that speed, that strength, it's going to be incredibly difficult to stop.
06:39 Like even on occasions going up against the opposition big, I mean big, we'll call it
06:44 the opposition big in Dwight Powell.
06:46 He got to the rim with ease, sometimes almost going through Dwight Powell to get there and
06:51 finding that easy two.
06:53 So the way in which the modern NBA offense remains efficient is with players like OG,
06:59 these like incredibly elite role players we'll call them.
07:03 Like it's tough and unfortunate that we have to label OG in such a way where maybe we're
07:08 calling him a role player, but it's just this elite role player.
07:11 It's this three and D plus type of player who is hyper efficient on the outside and
07:17 provides such game changing floor spacing to this team.
07:20 But also when it's not the three point shooting for OG and Anobi, he's become so much more
07:25 efficient with his interior game because he's no longer settling, using his athletic gifts,
07:32 his athletic traits to make that offense so much easier to come by.
07:37 And it's making a difference so far this season.
07:39 And it's certainly made a difference in that game against Dallas Mavericks.
07:42 So we'll give the coaching a lot of credit for making this change and we'll give OG and
07:47 Anobi a lot of credit as well for accepting this change and accepting this sort of role
07:51 here because OG and Anobi, as much as he's maybe not been satisfied with his role in
07:56 Toronto, it seems like it's been a year to two years at this point where we've had some
08:00 conversations about that.
08:02 OG has this understanding or is at least starting to develop this understanding that for him
08:07 to be at his most impactful to this Raptors offense, it's the less is more approach.
08:13 So even though he's not getting those individual isolation touches where sometimes he has to
08:18 settle for a mid range shot, he's getting the ball a whole lot more often and he's getting
08:24 it a whole lot more often in these very efficient scenarios where he's either getting to the
08:28 rim or more importantly, hitting those three point shots.
08:31 The most efficient shots you can take in the NBA.
08:34 Well, number one, it's free throws.
08:35 Number two is getting to the rim.
08:38 Number three is corner threes.
08:40 And OG seems to be a master of two of those things.
08:42 The free throws as well aren't a problem for the player at all either.
08:46 So OG turning into a game changing player for the Raptors on the offensive end.
08:50 We knew about the defense, but this new step on offense is massive for the player and pains
08:56 me to say is going to make him an incredibly lucrative player to bring back to the team
09:00 if he does become a free agent at the end of the season.