Pascal Siakam showed off his improved skillset vs. Cavaliers

Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam was in the gym all offseason and it showed in the regular season opener vs. the Cavaliers. Listen to the full episode is on the ‘Raptors Over Everything’ podcast feed or watch on our YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

AMIT MANN: Another person who is very, very good, Pascal Siakam.

IMMAN ADAN: Oof.

AMIT MANN: Pascal Siakam. Hmm, go ahead.

IMMAN ADAN: Top five. He’s gunning for it. He’s gunning for it.

AMIT MANN: He had a 35% usage yesterday.

IMMAN ADAN: Oh boy.

AMIT MANN: It was heavy.

IMMAN ADAN: It was– like, I think a lot of the criticisms of Pascal’s game, at least in the past, and what people sort of wanted from him is like, they want to treat Pascal as if he’s a wing in this league, ask anybody– he is a wing in this league. But they want him to have the sort of face-up game. People want him to show the footwork and to show the face-up game. And he had some moments tonight.

That pivot spin that he had where he hit the turnaround fadeaway over Caris LeVert, oh my goodness, the space that he was able to create, the balance that that takes. It was an absolute beauty. I think I’ve watched it like 45 million times at this point. But he was so good in moments and just carrying the Raptors offense when they absolutely needed it to.

He was aggressive. He got to the line eight times, which is what you’d want from Pascal Siakam. If he wants to put himself into that top five, yeah, he needs that pull up 3, which we talked about a ton. But he also needs to get to the line. He needs to be able to get himself more offense, especially when it’s stagnant for the Raptors.

You look at the game that DeMar DeRozan had for the Bulls yesterday. What DeMar was able to do to put himself into that sort of lead guy is, one, get to the line, and get there a ton, and be incredibly– DeMar’s footwork is something that Kevin Durant talks about studying.

And you’re just watching Pascal Siakam’s, I mean, someone needs to put that in a textbook and get people to study that, because it was absolutely phenomenal. A pivot spin? Are you kidding me?

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AMIT MANN: I know. Those Rico Haynes highlights over the summer. Did that a couple of times and people are just like, oh, look at this. It looks so pretty, right? It just looks so, so elegant, so agile, and people talk about Pascal not having the prettiest game. That looked pretty damn pretty to me, man.

IMMAN ADAN: No, that was Pascal Tampa. We’re past that. We’re past that.

AMIT MANN: He should hit some free throws, though. He shot 4 of 8 yesterday. He mentioned it afterwards that he’s got to hit some free throws. Like, yeah, no kidding.

IMMAN ADAN: The whole team.

AMIT MANN: True, true, but if he wants to be a 25 points per game scorer, like, it’s right there for him. Two more free throws, six of eight. These kind of things very much matter.

Yeah, there was another play that stuck out to me. And I don’t know if you caught this. Third quarter, Evan Mobley’s on him, and he hit Evan with this crossover that gave me flashbacks to when– yeah, you know what I’m talking about. When Pascal dropped Anthony Davis a couple of years ago with like that burst of speed and then the crossover.

Like, his speed with his crossover seems like it’s a little bit better, a little bit of a tighter handle. Even with that final play towards the end of the game, Caris LeVert, he hit him with a crossover again. And that was on the inverted pick-and-roll that he ran with Fred and that led to a bucket too.

But it seems like he’s just got that poise with the ball now, and he’s very comfortable with the ball in his hands, and the handle is there. He’s not always picking up his dribble as much, right? He’s willing to dribble through the contact, dribble through the traffic, and then find his way, and get a bucket. I mean, it was a great game. Like, he shot 9 of 20. That’s OK.

A couple of those were just like him being so aggressive on the offensive glass. Like, that’s two possessions, a couple of tips, there you go, you’re 0-2. So that kind of stuff happens. But he’s going to have a terrific season, man. This is going to be the best Pascal Siakam season we’ve seen yet. No question.

IMMAN ADAN: I was thoroughly impressed.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, great stuff. And he hit a 3 too. Love that too.

IMMAN ADAN: Yeah, [INAUDIBLE].

AMIT MANN: He did as well.