On February 8, Beijing time, the Raptors defeated the Hornets 116-101 to usher in six consecutive wins, and the record in the same period was only inferior to the second place in the Warriors League. Shooting + rising stars + five-front tactics, Coach Nas is the greatest achievement.
Trent scored 24 points, VanVleet scored 20 points and the Raptors beat the Hornets
Before entering 2022, the Raptors record was 14 wins and 17 losses, once falling to the "bottom" third class in the East, but since January, the Raptors have played 14 wins and 6 losses, thus jumping to the 6th place in the East.
First, the rise of Trent.
After being traded to the Raptors, Trent has averaged 18.1 points per game this season, and since his return from missing six games on January 22, he has ushered in an outbreak in the past 9 games, averaging 24.7 points per game with a shooting rate of 43.9% + 48.9%, and his blowout explosion has shared the pressure on VanVleet, thus giving the Raptors a new two-gun combination.
Trent hit three three-pointers in a row in the third quarter
Taking this game as an example, in the case of 11 points in the first half, when the Hornets launched a crazy counterattack in the third quarter, Trent contributed 11 points in the three-point single quarter of 3 of 4 in the quarter, and it was he who was able to respond to the three-point fire of Rozier and others on the outside line, and the Raptors could still maintain the lead at the end of the third quarter with 80-75.
Note that Trent was only a role player during the Blazers era, and after joining the Raptors, he has played a potential new star this season, comparing the previous vanVleet and Siakam's all-star journey, highlighting the ability of Coach Nas to cultivate new stars.
Second, throwing tactics.
After having the outside twin stars, Coach Nas created tactics for the team: VanVleet and Trent outside projection, Siakam, Anunoby and Barnes and other forwards, rushing to the offensive rebounds on the inside; in the half-court defense, the five people changed their defenses indefinitely, and also carried out crazy pressing, with the effect:
In the past 20 games, the Raptors have averaged 16.1 rebounds per game ranking 5th in the league; 9.1 steals ranking 2nd in the league; 5.4 blocking the league's 8th place, crazy shooting tactics, is one of the key points for the team to be able to play excellent offense and defense, reflected in this game:
The epitome of the Raptors' half-court defense
For example, in this half-court defensive position, Van Vliet ran between the inside and outside lines three times, eventually interfering with Smith's pass and causing the Hornets to make a mistake.
Boucher steals counter-attack dunks
What's more, can you imagine the Hornets sending a bottom line ball, Boucher going crazy to pounce on the rush, and finally stealing to complete the counter-attack dunk?
Throughout the game, the Raptors pressed the Hornets' shooting percentage to 41.1% + 22.5% and scored only 101 points, which is the cornerstone of their victory. Note that in the past 20 games, the Raptors have averaged 107.2 points per game, ranking 10th in the league, and are already a team of defensive mid-to-upper level.
Three-and-five tactics.
Coach Borrego is also doing his best to dismantle the Raptors' offense and defense, but Nas is a "ghost talent", and he used a "five-front tactic" at two key moments in this game.
Siakam counter-attacked the layup
1. In the first half, into the bench transition, Coach Nas sacrificed the lineup of Siakam, Anunoby, Barnes, Boucher and Banton, and the shortest Banton also had a 201 cm height, a pure five-strike lineup, the effect: at the beginning of the second quarter, when the team led by 12 points, the team's 17-6 small climax fixed the score at 52-39 to lead by 23 points.
2. The team led by only 5 points 80-75 in the third quarter, and in the final quarter, Nas once again sacrificed a five-forward lineup, with effects: Boucher basket, Siakam 2+1, Anunoby mid-range and two free throws, the 87-78 team stabilized; after Van Vlitt returned, the three-pointer of 5 consecutive 0 finally warmed up, and two three-pointers killed the suspense of the game.
So far in this game, the Raptors can easily beat the Hornets, Siakam 24 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists quasi-triple-doubles, VanVleet and Anunoby each output 20 points, Coach Nas has taught Trent to become the second core of the outside line (4 of 9 in this game contributed 24 points), as well as crazy shooting and five-forward tactics, which is the source of the Raptors' ability to play 15 wins and 6 losses since entering 2022, Nas's out-of-character teaching!