Article content

What an indictment of this Raptors side when the most energetic and most engaged individual on the court isn’t taking a shot, isn’t taking a charge or isn’t even in a game uniform.

Article content

Darko Rajakovic must be at his wits’ end, even though the season is far from its end just as it’s beginning to look like the end.

Article content

After all, it’s only the first week of December and yet this Raptors season already has the feel and look of a lost cause.

Talk of some change to the team’s starting lineup, while it may generate some water-cooler conversation, amounts to nothing when looking at the options available to the rookie head coach.

His hands are tied and as hard as he tries to implore and cajole, getting off to good starts remains a concern.

Friday night in Charlotte, where fans only knew recently that an actual tip will be played following the results of the NBA’s in-season tournament, Rajakovic had no other recourse but to call the game’s first timeout, which has been quite common of late and a source of concern, when another listless and hopeless start played out.

Article content

Article content

Shots weren’t dropping, too many points were being surrendered and absolutely zero heaves from distance would find net.

Six turnovers would be committed, an opponent allowed to make 61% of its shots resulting in a double-digit lead being established.

Three minutes into the second quarter and Rajakovic was forced to use 10 players.

Ideally, a tight rotation would be in place, but finding the right pieces to play a certain style on both ends of the floor remain elusive.

Dennis Schroder was applauded in some parts for apologizing to his teammates for his poor play a few nights earlier in a loss to Miami, a Heat team that wasn’t even at full strength.

Schroder hasn’t shot the ball well, but the truth about the veteran point guard has not changed, which is to say he is not a starting point guard on a team with legitimate aspirations of making any kind of run.

Article content

The Raptors are far from being relevant and having Schroder in the starting unit makes things very redundant and difficult to manage.

In a world where Schroder is coming off the bench, players such as Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam serve as de facto point guards, roles each embraced under Nick Nurse.

It would be dramatic to have Schroder coming off the bench, but some kind of spark is required.

The Raptors have shown well when playing in transition in an uptempo game, which isn’t exactly in Jakob Poeltl’s wheelhouse.

The Charlotte Hornets are not a good team, a team the Raptors devoured last season in winning all four meetings by lop-sided margins.

Against a very disinterested Raptors team, the Hornets were transformed into a good team in taking a 35-22 lead after the game’s opening 12 minutes.

Article content

In the second quarter, the Hornets led by as many as 20 points.

Just to reiterate, the Hornets are not good, even with LaMelo Ball in the lineup whose presence makes Charlotte competitive.

He wasn’t in the lineup Friday because of an ankle injury, with word the Hornets will re-evaluate their franchise player in a week.

Predictably, the home side allowed the Raptors to end the second quarter on a 21-13 run.

Still, Charlotte took a 66-55 lead into the break on a night when the level of play was not good.

Article content

A snapshot of the evening’s putrid play would be provided on the final possession before intermission when shot after shot heaved by the Raptors had no chance of finding net.

Fittingly, the game’s first 24 minutes would end on a brick tossed by Schroder as the clock was about to expire.

The Raptors remained in the game when Siakam was able to go off in the second quarter by scoring 14 of his 16 first-half points.

Some much-needed energy would be summoned off the bench by Precious Achiuwa, whom Rajakovic can’t rely on given Achiuwa’s penchant for inconsistent play.

In nine minutes Friday night, Achiuwa poured in 12 points.

Against the Heat, his former team, Achiuwa saw the floor for a total of 13 minutes and 25 seconds.

Article content

In Schroder, Rajakovic has a point guard who isn’t making shots and is barely making an impact on most nights.

In Malachi Flynn, Rajakovic has a backup point guard whose effort level will never be questioned, but it’s unfortunate his skill level isn’t commensurate.

In a perfect world, Rajakovic would have a legitimate starting point guard capable of leading his unit to solid starts.

In the absence of a starter, the Raptors have decided to settle for a serviceable starter, which helps explain the team’s inability to start games on the right foot.

In basketball, it’s known as playing on your heels.

Playing from behind is never good, especially on the road against a quality team, bad team or a very elite team.

The first three-point shot that dropped from a member of Toronto’s starting group came from Barnes with 9:18 left in the third quarter.

He buried his second in a row on Toronto’s next possession as the Raptors trailed by single digits.

When the Raptors finally showed fight in the fourth quarter, Rajakovic went with a lineup featuring three bench players in Achiuwa, Flynn and Chris Boucher.

All five starters were asked to close out the game in the final four minutes.

In close-out time, the Raptors could not seal the deal.

The anatomy of this setback can be traced to the start and how three-fifths of Toronto’s starting group played poorly.

[email protected]

Article content