No Ibaka. No Gasol. The Raptors need more from Chris Boucher, now less ‘trigger happy’
Boucher #Boucher
Chris Boucher is no longer a low-paid third-stringer whose employment is anything but guaranteed, and he looks around the Raptors locker room and doesn’t see Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka — a couple of highly accomplished veterans who stood between him and regular usage in games that mattered.
He’s secure, comfortable, someone the team has bestowed great riches upon and it’s all added up to give the 27-year-old Montreal-raised St. Lucian a sense of true belonging for perhaps the first time in his career.
“It’s my third year here, so you can see that a lot of things are coming naturally: knowing the plays, knowing the sets, what we’re doing on defence,” Boucher said in a video conference call Monday morning.
“You kind of become like a leader off the bench … It helps a lot, trying to keep building on the last two years. I think I’ve gotten better every year, and the front office gave me a contract and they believe in me. It definitely helps with my confidence, and it also makes me want to do more, just to show that it wasn’t a lost cause.”
What Boucher does with the opportunities he will get and the responsibility he’ll be given is very much up to him. Coach Nick Nurse says he wants to carve out a consistent role for Boucher as the backup centre behind Aron Baynes, a far cry from last season when the presence of Gasol and Ibaka limited Boucher to mop-up duties or as a second-string fill-in when one of the veterans was out.
In a perfect world, Boucher will eat up the chance he gets because he’s going to get it.
“I think Chris would probably fall into the same role as (shooting guard Matt Thomas), where I think if he’s given a run to be the second-unit centre pretty much consistently, it’ll improve his game a lot as the season goes on,” Nurse said. “So he’s another one of those guys that now that we know him and he’s been with us, he’s made strides, he’s certainly produced in games and needs a role, a more defined role, rather than just dabbling in and out.”
When the Raptors were unable to come to terms on one-year deals with either Ibaka (who signed with the Clippers) or Gasol (now a Laker), Boucher became an obvious choice. Baynes may be the starter, but Toronto did not give Boucher a deal that will pay him about $7 million (U.S.) guaranteed this season, with a team option for roughly the same amount next year, not to use him.
He knows it. He’s got a job — a clearly defined job — and can play free and easy.
“You always are going to stay ready no matter what, but just knowing that you’re going to be playing,” he said, “I think it just builds a different mentality. When you get in a routine and you know what you’re going to get in the game for, and how many minutes you’re going to play, it definitely helps.”
Boucher will have to conduct himself well to keep his job, but at least it’s his to lose. Alex Len is another backup centre possibility whose skills are different; he’s a more traditional rim protector and pick-and-roll big man, where Boucher can run the floor more effectively and stretch defences.
The Raptors are also going to use a frontcourt of Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby at times, and that’ll rob Boucher of a bit of opportunity. But there remains clarity where it didn’t exist to the same degree the past two seasons.
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“You’ve got to come in the game, play defence, block shots, rebound, make the good reads,” Boucher said. “I think I was a little trigger happy before … We’ve got good shooters with me when I’m playing now, so I don’t really need to be taking those shots.
“Shoot it when it’s open, but set good screens and roll, play defence, communicate with the team. Just keep our bench going.”
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