Toronto Raptors: Luis Scola Has No Place in the Starting Lineup

In the playoffs, where every possession is too precious, getting off to a bad start can be the difference in the Toronto Raptors winning or losing and Luis Scola is proving it.

Remember when Joey was a budding star on ‘Days of our Lives’ and had a new apartment? He had all these new things like the glass waterfall, new clothes and the chrome dog. He then had to move that chrome dog back to Chandler’s apartment when he lost his place and job.

Remember how that thing stuck out? It didn’t match anything in the apartment, there wasn’t really a place to put it and overall it was tacky and didn’t fit the motif of the apartment at all. Eventually the dog was thrust into the backdrop of the apartment and was a kind reminder of what things once were; Luis Scola is that chrome dog statue.

In the regular season he looked great, everything he brought in as a veteran was helping the team win. In the regular season (Joey’s new apartment) the Raptors had trouble with starting games, this was largely due to Scola’s ability to gum up the offense for Toronto. Dwayne Casey was able to rely on his bench to exceed that of the other team and claw the Raptors back into the game.

This is why Scola got moved to the bench during the playoffs, he wasn’t really effective during the regular season but it looked like Casey didn’t want to mess with the team’s continuity so he was content with coming back near the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second. In the playoffs (Chandler’s apartment) you can’t afford to do that, every possession is too precious, getting off to a bad start could be the difference in your team winning or losing and Scola is proving it.

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Casey had moved away from Scola during the Pacers series, first in the starting lineup and then completely. Scola then returned to the starting five in Game 2 against the Cavaliers, which was a mistake that severely hurt the Raptors.

I can understand Casey’s mindset in playing Scola though, he’s an intelligent defender although he doesn’t have the foot speed to keep pace with it. In addition, by putting Patrick Patterson back on the bench it provides a bit more of a punch to the backups.

There are several underlying problems with shifting Scola not only into the game, but also into the starting lineup. The first issue is the offense of the starting unit. Once again the Raptors have found themselves starved for points, they’ve yet to break 100 points in the series and with Kyle Lowry shooting as poorly as he is now, it’s hard to see them breaking the century mark. Inserting Scola into the starting lineup does not help the offensive woes at all, in fact he’s worsened them. You may see a mere five point increase in the total score by Toronto, but Scola is taking a lot more than he gives to the team.

Kevin Love is not a good pick and roll defender, its been evident his entire career but here’s an example. Look at how much effort Shumpert has to put in to get back to DeMar DeRozan. This is because K-Love made no effort to jump out and hedge, but he is still hovering in his space. DeRozan recognizes this as a non-contest from Love and just rises up for the shot.

So it makes sense for the Raps to exploit this horrendous defense as much as possible. When Patterson was on the floor in game 1, Lowry and DeRozan were apt to run the pick and pops with him. When running these pick n’ pops, Love continues to be unable to hedge and rotate fast enough to cover both men, without giving up a substantial advantage. This action leads to wide open looks for Patterson, all he has to do is knock these down.
Alright, now check this. Love inexplicably double-teamed DeMarre Carroll instead of keeping his head on a swivel, leading to Patterson being wide open. With Lowry struggling from behind the three point line like he was in game 2, Patterson needs to take this wide open shot.

Scola eliminates this lethal three-point weapon for the Cavs, because he isn’t capable of running this play. Scola is too slow to run these two simple plays. If he slips the screen, Love is fast enough to catch him. If they continue to hedge, Love has more than enough time to run back to Scola, because he isn’t a threat to drive the ball.

Scola is too immobile to be an active participant in the offense, so he finds himself planted in the corner most of the possession waiting for the pass. His lack of mobility also hurts Toronto on the break offensively, Scola has never been known to run well on the break nor is finishing ability something to be of note. All of these offensive flaws contribute to his 80.4 offensive rating when he is on the floor.

Now when Scola is on the floor, the only mobile big the Raptors have is Bismack Biyombo, which turns their offense primarily into a 1-5 pick and roll where Tristan Thompson is comfortable on the switch or simply icing the screen. Thompson is more than capable of staying in front of guards, due to his athleticism and long arms. With his excellent lateral quickness he doesn’t give much of an advantage to Toronto’s guards, as both Lowry and DeRozan like to attack the rim. Thompson is strong enough to absorb the contact and has become a master of the verticality rule which yields no benefits to the Raptors slashing attack.

Defensively, although Scola is a very smart player, he is best when defending players that are oriented around the basket. Love still has his back-to-the-basket game but its more of an ancillary weapon in his arsenal now, the three-point shot is his main threat. Love poses issues for Scola. He isn’t athletic enough to close out of Love unless he’s going full tilt and if Scola is moving as fast as he can, it makes him susceptible to fly-by’s. Or Scola simply won’t move to close out Love and he will get open threes from the wings and corners.

Having Scola on the floor also takes away another option of a person to defend Lebron James. In the post there is no person on this Raptors team that can stop James, but there are players that can slow him down. Carroll, Patterson and James Johnson have tried to make it harder on Lebron to score. However, with Scola on the floor instead of Patterson, it give more time for James to get settled on the floor, as he is able to wear down his defenders much more easily. Instead of spreading the defensive responsibility to three players, now only two can really shoulder the load.

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Casey needs to realize quickly that this Scola is experiment is a failure before continuing to invest more time in it. Scola sticks out and not in a good way, it feels like when he’s on the floor the Raptors struggle considerably and he’s the root of it. If Casey doesn’t recognize this and makes an adjustment, prepare for the games to be even more lopsided and even more demoralizing than ever before.