CLEVELAND \u2014 Things you learn when you\u2019re on the road, part 235: Brandon Ingram has an absolute bar about one of my favourite topics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sleep,\u201d Ingram told The Athletic just before his team\u2019s shootaround but after his individual morning shooting session Thursday. \u201cI don\u2019t nap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI sleep\/I don\u2019t nap.\u201d Put it on a T-shirt. I\u2019ll buy it.<\/p>\n
Due to NBA players\u2019 travel schedules, a midday snooze is more common than not. They produce a lot of adrenaline on game nights and often arrive in cities, home or away, early in the morning. Of course, they\u2019re looking to squeeze in a few extra hours of shut-eye during the day. As someone who has both had trouble sleeping at various points in my life and also loves to have a nap, this is my small talk of choice with players.<\/p>\n
Ingram is right to make the distinction. He\u2019s getting heavy into REM sleep<\/a>. His typical slumber between morning shootarounds and evening games is four hours, he said. Four hours! That\u2019s more than half of what many adults get on their average nights. But basketball players, like everyone else, crave routines. With most of Ingram\u2019s professional life on the new side right now, knowing what he can keep static is crucial.<\/p>\n After the Raptors\u2019 impressive Scottie Barnes-led win in Cleveland<\/a> on Thursday, Ingram has now played a dozen games with the Toronto Raptors (48 hours\u2019 worth of game-day sleeps?), the team he was traded to in February but didn\u2019t play for until this season because of an ankle injury. He remains unscathed, minus a $25,000 fine for a water bottle-related outburst<\/a>, and that is the most important thing \u2014 by far.<\/p>\n But while the Raptors are 7-5, the starting group composed of highly paid players has been merely fine, if occasionally rickety. In 106 minutes, the Raptors\u2019 starters are outscoring their opponents by just a bucket. The Raptors have been outscored by 17 points in 190 total minutes when their top four scorers, Barnes, Ingram, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, have shared the court. All of the Raptors\u2019 best lineups include a strong helping of the bench. That isn\u2019t bad, necessarily, but it is strange, especially for successful teams. Defence has been a much bigger issue than offence for the group, with Ingram taking a chunk of the responsibility.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019ll get better as I can pay more attention to detail and bring the intensity that Scottie (Barnes) does all the time and all the other guys do,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cI just have to come along on that side.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of our team has been here for a whole year, and they understand the system,\u201d Barrett added during a one-on-one conversation in Brooklyn earlier in the week. \u201cWhen the bench guys come in, they\u2019ve been here. They know what they\u2019re doing. They know the system. \u2026 I don\u2019t know how many games (Jakob Poeltl) has played. He didn\u2019t really play in the preseason.\u201d<\/p>\n The starters have now played eight games together \u2014 Poeltl missed four with a back injury \u2014 and things are gradually improving. To a man, the Raptors are waving off the early-season hiccups, given how early it is and Poeltl\u2019s injury. That is a reasonable response.<\/p>\n There is also a case to be concerned, if you\u2019re so disposed. Of the five starters, only Barnes is a top-notch defender at his position. Barrett and Ingram have faced major questions about their ability on that end on the wing, while Quickley is small enough to be picked on, despite generally strong awareness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had Jak in and out of the lineup,\u201d Ingram said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to rely more on one-on-one defence and try to help each other as guards try to stay in front of the basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n It might be that simple. If there is a quicker perimeter player on the floor, the Raptors don\u2019t have an answer in the starting unit. Tyrese Maxey had his way against them last weekend in Philadelphia, while Donovan Mitchell threatened to do it on Thursday, drawing fouls on Barrett and then two reserves who replaced him, Gradey Dick and Ja\u2019Kobe Walter, within 47 seconds in the first quarter.<\/p>\n That is part of the reason coach Darko Rajakovi\u0107 has taken to playing Jamal Shead next to Quickley lately \u2014 somebody with lateral quickness has to be out there. (As a bonus, Shead\u2019s presence allows Quickley to get off the ball on offence and focus on scoring, part of the reason the starting guard has gotten going after a rough start to the season.)<\/p>\n