OverDrive - Shepherd on Barrett's impactful role, the next man up mentality and the team's outlook

Episode Date: December 14, 2024

TSN Basketball Analyst Jevohn Shepherd joined OverDrive to discuss the Raptors' impressions against the Heat, RJ Barrett stepping up offensively with Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley out with injuries, Gradey Dick's elevated role, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's strong season and more.

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Own your home, need a loan? Alpine Credits can help. Alpine Credits, where homeowners get approved. Just for license 12-616. Javon Shepard, our TSN NBA analyst with the Raptors coming off of a loss last night to the Heat. What's going on, Javon? What's going on?

Doing well, doing well. Lots have happenings in the sports world. And last night, you know, flipping between the hockey game, the basketball game, the football game, a lot going on. At one point, things were looking good for the Raptors. They were up by double digits, and then you flip back. That lead had dissipated. What happened last night?

Yeah, you know, I think this is an interesting game. They're playing against a good-minded team. an interesting game. They're playing against a good-minded Heat team. And, you know, they've lost Scottie again, which hurts. And I think you want to have that next man up mentality. And I think the guys have done a great job of that thus far in the season. But at some point there's that emotional impact and that emotional hit where you're

slightly deflated, right? They came out, they had a good start, but in that second and third quarter, you could just see that they didn't have that next gear. They didn't have that next push to get them over the hump or, you know, try and make a late run. And when you're down and undermanned, you have to be the team that is a bit grittier, a bit tougher, or you may have to muck it up. But they didn't have that, right?

When you get a Miami shot, 17 more free throws in them, they out-rebounded. Miami out-rebounded the Raptors as well. And for the Raptors in a game like that, yeah, it may not be pretty. You may not have everybody. But those are some of the areas where you can kind of get a measure for energy and effort or where you have to be better than your opponent because you're under man. And I thought that's where the rappers kind of struggled. And you have the next man up mentality when you don't have a Scottie, when you don't have a Quickly,

who's going to shoulder that weight? And just based on how the season has gone, you would look for R.J. Barrett to be doing that, right, to do that. And he has done that for a good portion of the year, but last night obviously wasn't his night. Shot 5 for 18 from the floor, and, you know, the six turnovers that he had, kind of as the primary playmaker and primary, you know, offensive point, becomes a little bit disruptive to your offense. So he really wasn't able to get flow. Other than that, you know, he did do a good job, rebounded the basketball,

11 rebounds, a hit size, 10 assists. But when you're that guy shouldering the weight and, you know, you're undermanned, turnovers hurt, right? And, you know, on a whole, they did a great job. But sometimes there's a lot of pressure on those those those primary those feature guys yeah for sure javon you know you talk about barrett and we all know he's put up some really impressive numbers at times this season uh especially in times when scotty barnes has been out uh last night i thought also highlighted how sometimes you know he can be a defensive liability or certainly he has lapses that really aren't befitting a player of his stature.

We've heard members of the Raptors coaching staff talking about wanting more from RJ on the defensive side of the ball. What are you seeing from that perspective? I can see where that has been a conversation, and I appreciate that the coaches have challenged him, but I also appreciate that he's a guy that stepped up to the plate, stepped up to the challenges, and they've challenged him a number of ways. And we could talk about his improvements since coming to the Raptors

from New York. And this is just another area in his game where, you know, he's going to have to put in the – I don't want to say the word there, more of an effort to get better or showcase what he can do on that end because when he does do it, he's good, right? He has length. He has size. We all know how physical he is. he can do on that end because when he does do it he's good right he has length he has size we all

know how physically is it's it's changing the mindset from and he's a guy that's wired to score the basketball if you followed his career from high school on up to college into the pros he's wired to score now he's also we have to understand he's in a situation where guys have been hurt and again he's been the feature guy from for most of the year he's been the feature guy for most of the year. He's been the one to shoulder most of the responsibilities for this team. So even though you're challenging him, he's also still in that mode of, I've got to do things on the offensive side of the floor. And I think what's going to help him on the defensive side is when you have your full roster,

when everybody's healthy and he doesn't have to bear the weight of the offensive responsibilities, then you can now shift and put a bit more onus on the defensive side of the floor. Or from a coaching standpoint, if there's missed assignments or not enough attention to detail, not enough effort on the defensive side of the floor, now you have the bandwidth to pull him and you sit him. You have the conversation. You show him, you know, where he can be better on film. And I think the Raptors have done a good job of that.

It's just they've been shorthanded. And when you want to challenge guys real time in the game, it's a little tougher when you look down your bench and there's only about four guys there and not necessarily at the position that you need. Fortunately for him, he's one of the guys that is versatile. He has a tremendous amount of skill, and he can play up to four positions. So you kind of need him on the floor, especially if you're under man.

So it's really hard to challenge that if you don't have the full roster. But I do believe he's a sponge. Ever since he's come to Toronto, he's allowed this coaching staff to coach him. And I think it's just going to be a matter of time before everybody's healthy, and that can be a bigger focus of his own game. With Raptors and NBA analyst Javon Shepard, well, if it's not RJ, I guess it's Grady Dick would be maybe the next guy who the team's looking to be that next man up. And last night scored a team-high 22 points points but just three for 11 from three like what

do you want to see from him with this elevated role while scotty's out i i think you know what just continue to do more of what he has done right yes he didn't shoot the basketball exceptionally well from the three-point line but he's still at 22 points right and everybody has has you know labeled him just a a shooter a marksman and he has showed us so much more than that this season his ability to cut his ability to score off screens he's one of the best in the league in both areas both categories you're thinking this is a second year guy that people had had chalked up just a year ago so i look at him and i'm saying okay the lead that he's taken from last year this time time to now, I'm impressed.

What do you want to see more? I think you want to see more of what he's already done, but I think his body continues to get stronger. That's not something that's going to happen immediately. That's not going to happen right now, but him just continuing to understand how to impact the game, even when he's not

knocking down shots. At his size, his ability to get to the free throw line and getting a couple more points there, two, four more points, just getting to the line because he does such a good job of, other guys shooting the basketball, he's crashing to the boards. He does a good job of keeping basketballs alive, keeping balls alive for his team. But at his size, not just depending on his shot,

not just depending on slashing, but being hungry to score in a number of ways in a variety of ways, maybe you're flashing and you're getting a post touch. Maybe you're getting to the high, high post and, you know, making things happen there, but not being afraid to get physical and use his length. And I think sometimes he shies away from that right now because he doesn't have, you know, that strength, But that is a work in progress.

And you look at guys of his caliber, of his profile, and most of those guys would have been done two, three, four years in college. When you look at the J.J. Reddicks, you look at the Corvers, you look at the guys that, you know, even like Klay Thompson, that fit his mold of player, Herter as well, fit his mold of player. Those are typically guys that are three-, four-year guys in college. So for me, Grady is way ahead of where he's supposed to be right now, and I think he's in a great position.

The organization's in a great position with him. So, Javon, they're now 2-10 without Scottie Barnes in the lineup this season, and we've heard Darko Ryakovic, the head coach, talk about how, you know, you can't make up for Scottie by one guy stepping up. You need to make it up in pieces. One guy doing a little more of this, one guy doing a little more of that. When you look around that roster, who else can they reasonably expect

to contribute a significant portion of that void that Scottie leaves? Yeah, I just want to add to that as well, right? And Coach Darko is absolutely right. It is hard to just say one player is going to fill the role of Scottie Barnes. We call the games courtside. And I'm telling you, Scottie is so big that he covers so much real estate. A number of times I see him get a rebound, and he'll take two steps, two dribbles, and he's up the court.

He's getting you in a half-court set, beating everybody down the floor. And he looks like he's casually sauntering up the floor, but his athletic ability and his natural physical gifts are light years ahead of his competition, his teammates. Even on the defensive side of the floor, he can make up for so many mistakes of the other four guys on the floor because just one shuffle, one slide, and he's in the paint, or he's on the other side of the floor, he can make up for so many mistakes of the other four guys on the floor because just one shuffle, one slide, and he's in the paint or he's on the other side of the paint. And I think where, you know, just to coach Marco's sentiment, it takes two or three guys. Sometimes we underestimate how good Scottie is because he's not going out there trying to score 30 points a game.

He's not going out there and dominating the basketball. He's an extremely unselfish superstar. So for the guys that are coming in, right, there is so much opportunity to pick up in his absence. And I feel when I look at their roster, you know, Jacoby Walter is a guy where he's got to use these minutes, these opportunities really just to hone his craft, get accustomed, similar to Grady last year, get accustomed to the NBA speed,

get accustomed to the NBA physicality. He's shown flashes this season that he can make shots. He's shown flashes that he can get comfortable, put the basketball on the floor. And when guys are out, IQ's out, a guy that's a ball handler, Scottie's out, a guy that's a a hub a ball handler as well that's an opportunity for uh a guy like walter to really like okay i'm i'm going to take advantage of this i'm going to showcase what i can do but not just for myself but to gain the trust of my

teammates right so when they get back they see okay when i'm on the wing get me to basketball because i can create i can shoot i can you know, I can do a number of things. So it's not just about his numbers, but getting the interest and the attention of his teammates, get the attention of his teammates, excuse me, his teammates and the coaches. And I think Grady was a prime example of that this year where when Scotty was out and IQ was out and all these guys were on the sidelines, he was showing them like, wait, I'm not just a shooter. I actually, I'm a hooper.

I'm a flat-out hooper. And then you integrate those guys back into the lineup, and there's a bit more trust. And the coaching staff is now calling plays for you, and front office has to evaluate things a little bit more. So I look at those rookies where Shed, Walter, Mobile, and I want those guys to take advantage of the minutes of, you know, you're starting your top five guys out of the lineup.

Another guy that's taking advantage of that is Abaji, right? We didn't really know what you were going to get this season from him, but he's come out and established himself as I'm a knockdown guy. You know, corner three, get me to rock. I'm going to knock it down. You can see his teammates when they play with him, but he's come out and established himself as a, I'm a knockdown guy, you know, corner three, get me to rock. I'm going to knock it down. You can see his, his teammates, when they play with him, they're, they're searching for it. Like they're looking for him. If they know he's in the corner, they were getting that rock him and they trust that a good shot's going to go

off a good, they trust that it's going to drop, but they're also knowing that, okay, a body's in the corner, high percentage shot, but I can also get myself in rebounding position. So it's a domino effect. Really quickly, Javon, the NBA Cup this weekend, get the Final Four tomorrow, and then the final will be on Tuesday. How do you see it all playing out? I think it's going to be really tough in the East.

You have Atlanta and Milwaukee, and my gut is actually telling me Atlanta because they're playing some good basketball. They have a chip on their shoulder, and they have so much depth. Nobody's been talking about them. Nobody's been talking about them coming into the season, and I think that is where they can surprise Milwaukee a bit. Milwaukee's playing some really good basketball now,

but I've got to see it. We've been waiting for Milwaukee to figure it out for so long. We've got to see it. On the We've been waiting for Milwaukee to figure it out for so long that we've gotta see it on the west side. I think it's great for Canadian basketball. You have SGA, you have Dylan Brooks. They just got tied up a couple weeks ago and that is a rollover from Washington

training camp this summer where those two are always going at it. Nothing personal but just two fierce competitors. One is completely delusionally confident in Dylan Brooks. Or I should say rationally confident in Dylan Brooks. And one is SGN. He's playing like an MVP.

Absolutely. I wonder, too, you know, you show up well in this tournament. How much would that count towards the real big MVP at the end of the year? We'll see. Javon, appreciate it as always, pal. We'll chat again soon. Thank you. All righty.

All right. Javon Shepard, TSN, NBA, and Raptors analyst.