{"id":291594,"date":"2025-11-18T19:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/291594\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T19:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:12:08","slug":"brandon-ingram-reshaping-raptors-offence-while-raising-teams-ceiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/291594\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Ingram reshaping Raptors\u2019 offence while raising team\u2019s ceiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 Brandon Ingram<\/a> had his \u201cthat\u2019s why they brought me here\u201d moment in Toronto on Monday, but it wasn\u2019t the type of moment you might have expected from one of the league\u2019s most prolific scorers.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t his posterization of rookie 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner<\/a>. In fact, it didn\u2019t come on any of his game-high 27 points. It wasn\u2019t a shot he took. It was the one he didn\u2019t take.<\/p>\n

With the score tied and the upstart Charlotte Hornets<\/a> threatening to steal the game from the red-hot Raptors, Ingram caught the ball on the low block. To little surprise, the Hornets immediately sent a second defender over to trap him in the corner. The 10-year vet waited and surveyed the floor before finding a cutting RJ Barrett<\/a> for what turned out to be the winning bucket.<\/p>\n

A year ago, the Raptors were one of the worst clutch teams in basketball. In games that were within five points or fewer inside of the final five minutes, they went 10-22. Only Utah fared worse in those situations. But they didn\u2019t have a player like Ingram to make the big play, even if it meant letting somebody else take the big shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to be that patient earlier in my career, even the year before last,\u201d Ingram said after the 110-108 win, Toronto\u2019s eighth victory over the last nine games. \u201cBut just seeing it over and over again, I took a few deep breaths, I knew I had to be patient because I knew they were going to send two [defenders] and I knew I didn\u2019t want to turn it over. If they didn\u2019t come, I was going to shoot a turnaround [jumper] on [Collin Sexton<\/a>], he\u2019s too small. Even [when] they sent two, I might have still shot it, but I was looking for the open play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cool because I was kinda waiting on that all night,\u201d said Barrett, who admitted that they probably wouldn\u2019t have been able to make that play a month ago; it\u2019s taken some time to build chemistry and get on the same page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept looking every time he would get doubled in the post or [Scottie Barnes<\/a>] would get doubled in the post. I was looking to cut every time but I didn\u2019t get one all game. And then lo and behold, right there at the end, right? So, just continuing to know he\u2019s going to command that attention, especially when he\u2019s playing like how he played tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to imagine a better start to Ingram\u2019s Raptors tenure. With Monday\u2019s win, the team improved to 9-5. They\u2019re four games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2021-22 season, and Ingram\u2019s fingerprints are all over their quick improvement \u2013 directly and indirectly.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s ingratiated himself with his teammates and coaches. The team\u2019s operational and support staff rave about him. He\u2019s mild but well-mannered and relatively low maintenance for a star player \u2013 \u201ca hooper\u2019s hooper,\u201d as general manager Bobby Webster calls him. He\u2019s been professional, polite, and thoughtful with the media. But most importantly, he\u2019s healthy and performing at a high level. <\/p>\n

The 28-year-old is averaging 20.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on an efficient 49 per cent shooting \u2013 numbers that are in line with his 2019-20 all-star campaign. He\u2019s scored between 20 and 29 points in nine of 14 games to begin his first season with Toronto.<\/p>\n

If anything, he\u2019s probably not getting enough credit for how impactful he\u2019s been. Ingram doesn\u2019t draw a lot of attention to himself, unless it\u2019s from the opposing defence. He\u2019s unassuming by nature. With the exception of Monday\u2019s jaw-dropping slam dunk, he generally plays below the rim and his mid-range mastery doesn\u2019t always qualify him for the highlight reel. He\u2019s surgical in his approach \u2013 an expert at getting to his spots on the floor, and once he does, he\u2019s as reliable and consistent as anybody in the game. You\u2019ll look down at a box score mid-way through the fourth quarter and wonder when and how he wound up with 20 points. He makes it look so easy.<\/p>\n

Those are the types of players that are easy to take for granted. Fortunately, Raptors fans know better. They\u2019ve experienced it before and have seen the impact a guy like that can make. Not since Kawhi Leonard<\/a> has a player reshaped Toronto\u2019s offence in that way.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re more than a month into the season and the Raptors are one of five teams to rank inside the top-10 in both offence and defence, joining four clubs that are widely considered championship contenders in the Thunder, Nuggets, Rockets, and Spurs. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re 10th in defence, a bit surprising given their bumpy start to the campaign, but less surprising when you consider they ranked second on that end of the floor after the all-star break last season. That they rank eighth in offensive efficiency, up from 26th last year, is something that very few people saw coming, especially this early.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just that Ingram has buoyed a half-court offence that has struggled since Leonard left for Los Angeles. It\u2019s not just that he leads the team in scoring or is shooting 52 per cent from the mid-range \u2013 tied for third in the NBA behind Donovan Mitchell<\/a> and Luka Doncic<\/a>. Those things help, but the indirect impact is how his presence makes the game easier for the players around him. <\/p>\n

While Ingram has hit just 28 per cent of his three-point attempts, the team is shooting 38 per cent from long range with him on the court, compared to 35 per cent when he\u2019s on the bench. <\/p>\n

Through 14 games, Ingram leads the team in minutes. Remarkably, the next seven guys in minutes played are all shooting career-best percentages from the field \u2013 Barnes (50 per cent), Barrett (50 per cent), Immanuel Quickley<\/a> (47 per cent), Jakob Poeltl<\/a> (72 per cent), Jamal Shead<\/a> (43 per cent), Gradey Dick<\/a> (43 per cent), and Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/a> (58 per cent). Call it the Ingram effect.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Other teams] know how dangerous he is,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cHe draws so much attention. He\u2019s so talented. Once he gets to his spots, it\u2019s unstoppable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s with us for a reason,\u201d said head coach Darko Rajakovic. \u201cWe love the guy. We love his game. I think he\u2019s continuously improving with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

After suffering a severe ankle sprain in what turned out to be his final game with New Orleans last December, an injury that led to a 10-month layoff, Ingram is starting to feel more like himself again. Monday\u2019s dunk over Kalkbrenner was a good indication of that, reassurance that he\u2019s getting his bounce back. <\/p>\n

After a full summer and training camp of accumulating reps together, in addition to these first 14 games, he\u2019s starting to feel more comfortable with his new teammates, and vice versa. Making the play to Barrett in crunch time was a good indication of that. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s only scratching the surface of what the Raptors believe he\u2019s capable of now that he\u2019s healthy, getting a much-needed fresh start, and entering his prime years. If they\u2019re right, if he can stay healthy, continue playing this way and elevate the play of those around him, we\u2019ll need to rethink what this team \u2013 currently the third seed in a wide-open Eastern Conference \u2013 is capable of.<\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 Brandon Ingram had his \u201cthat\u2019s why they brought me here\u201d moment in Toronto on Monday, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[712,121073,49,48,459,131767,106357,82,96661],"class_list":["post-291594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-apple-news","tag-brandon-ingram-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-887665","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-rj-barrett-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-1132031","tag-scottie-barnes-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-1251666","tag-sports","tag-toronto-raptors-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-28"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}