The test will come early and it will be hard.
How the Raptors respond will speak volumes about where they are in the difficult process of becoming a team.
They have taken off on an arduous journey west, a nascent group still very much finding itself just two games into the NBA regular season, and how they handle the adversity that’s sure to arise will be telling.
“Teams are going to make tough shots, the crowd’s going to get excited when you’re away, when they make two three-pointers in a row even if you’ve done everything right,” coach Jay Triano said Saturday. “You can’t let that get into your head and deter from what you’re doing as a team.”
The trip begins Monday with a game against the Sacramento Kings and continues with dates in Utah on Wednesday, against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday and in Portland on Saturday — four imposing arenas and opponents, especially for a relatively new team that isn’t blessed with the greatest amount of talent.
Triano sounded as if he wasn’t sure what he’s going to get — and he really can’t be.
“Are you going to respond the same way when teams make a couple of tough shots against us or you going to hang your head?” he wondered. “It goes back to what we’ve talked about since the beginning. It goes back to the process and if you keep doing the right thing, you’ll find yourself climbing back into games if you do it that way, play hard every single possession.”
The one common thread from the team’s first two games that provides at least a modicum of optimism is that the Raptors have played hard in both a loss to the New York Knicks to open the season and Friday’s 101-81 thumping of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They shot the ball horribly against the Knicks and got a defence-driven win against the Cavs, both games marked by some aggressive play.
But the Cavs and Knicks are not the Kings — who will be playing their home opener before an expected sellout crowd — nor are they the Jazz, Lakers and Blazers.
“It’s tough,” said DeMar DeRozan. “Really tough, man. You can go on a West Coast road trip and come out 0-5, especially playing against the top-notch West Coast teams. We just have to go in there and be ready.”
Early-season trips like this — Toronto went 1-3 on a similar journey in mid-November a year ago — can be used as a sort of bonding agent sometimes. The Raptors haven’t changed the roster too dramatically compared to some seasons but there are still relationships that need to develop and personalities.
A week away — the Raptors left Saturday to add an extra day to the trip and acclimate themselves to West Coast time — might help in that regard.
It might also give them time to deconstruct a team party held Friday night to celebrate Jarrett Jack’s 27th birthday.
“We had a little birthday party and everybody came, we were all together, we all had fun and we enjoyed it,” said DeRozan.
If that camaraderie carries over to the court, the coach will be happy.
“This group’s been together a little bit. I think they’re a pretty close unit and they’re going to have to respond and rely on each other and that’s part of what being a team is,” said Triano.
