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Coming off a nightmare start, Raptors’ Boucher starting to turn a corner
The start Chris Boucher had to the 2020-21 season was a revelation, an ode to the most pleasant of statistical aberrations and one of the most joyous months for a player in Toronto Raptors history if you are the type to take pleasure in unlikely fortune landing on someone who had been skipped over more than once.
Through those magical 13 games just 12 months ago, the lanky, awkward Montrealer whose NBA career almost never happened on almost too many occasions to count was inarguably one of the most productive basketball players on the planet.
He had a higher field goal percentage that Nikola Jokic, twice as many blocked shots as Joel Embiid and was knocking down 47 per cent of his threes, just like Kevin Durant was at the time.
Coming off the bench for the Tampa Raptors, the six-foot-nine, 200-pound Boucher was averaging an astounding 16.1 points, seven rebounds and 2.5 blocks shots – in 23.8 minutes a game. His TS% was 72.9 and his net rating was +38. For context, the prolific Jokic went on to win the MVP award with a TS% of 64.7 and a net rating of +21 during a season he recorded some of the highest efficiency totals in NBA history.
It couldn’t last, but even with some predictable regression, Boucher averaged 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He was first in scoring, second in blocks and fourth in WinShares among players averaging less than 25 minutes a game.
It was a career year, and his teammates couldn’t have been more thrilled.
“You can’t be happier as a teammate, as a brother, as a friend to see him succeed and to see him play at the level that he’s been playing at,” said Fred VanVleet. “He’s been carrying his weight. He’s been playing great. I’m just super happy for him, I’m proud of him.”
There was optimism that Boucher, 28, would pick up where he left off last season and fit in perfectly as one of an army of rangy, switchable defenders the Raptors were planning to run out on the floor, with Boucher’s offensive pop a significant bonus.
But after a strong summer and good start in training camp, Boucher dislocated the ring finger on his left hand. He required surgery and when he returned on opening night, he looked like someone who hadn’t played in three weeks, and got worse from there.
Unlike a season ago, Boucher’s start was a nightmare. Through 10 games, he was shooting 33.3 per cent from the floor and 18.2 per cent from deep on a menu of ill-advised threes and unlikely dribble drives that turned into impossible fadeaway floaters. While Boucher has always been a bit of an adventure when it comes to executing schemes defensively, his fearlessness and energy allowed him to make plays that helped make up for. As his offence and playing time withered, doubts crept in on that side of the ball too.
He was a mess. The worse things got, the harder he tried to make his minutes count and the downward spiral accelerated.
“I was doing so good in training camp, and then you get hurt in preseason (and) the team gets chemistry (when) you’re out of it,” said Boucher, “you’ve got to find a way to introduce yourself to the team. … I’m sure a lot of people were disappointed in the way that I’ve been playing and what I’ve been giving this year. I have a good circle and they help me stay within myself and focus on the right things, knowing every day is a new day and coming in with the same energy and being ready to change some games.”
Raptors head coach Nick Nurse kept the message simple:
“He just needs to do what he does. Right? He needs to run, block shots, and get on the offensive glass and then score. You know he’s been a scorer in the system for a while now and he needs to get on track.”
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It finally happened on Thursday in Philadelphia. With the Raptors short-handed and on the second night of a back-to-back, Boucher came off the bench for 17 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 24 minutes. There were alley-oop dunks, put-back dunks and fastbreak dunks. His three-point attempts came in rhythm and trusted his instincts defensively.
It was like a weight had been lifted off his slender shoulders. He called his start to the season one of the most stressful experiences of his career, which is saying something given he tore his ACL in his draft year at Oregon, went undrafted and was waived by the Golden State Warriors after they signed him to a two-way contract for the 2017-18 season and was lucky to earn a Summer League tryout with the Raptors in 2018.
“Eventually, I had to get in a little groove,” he said after the Raptors win Thursday. “It’s just a mindset. I think the team did a good job of keeping me focussed and knowing it can’t always go down like that. I put in a lot of work in my game. It’s coming back. I came back from injury. There’s a lot of change, a lot of positions, a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things on this team. I’ve just got to find my role, where to take my shots, and find my confidence that I had last year. I think today was a big step for me in finding that confidence again and realizing the way that I have to play.
“(But) it felt good. I feel like I’ve been searching to get that feeling again, feeling like you’re doing the right thing and in the right spot. I’ve been missing that feeling. It felt good to get it back today. I’m not satisfied. These 10 games, I played like I couldn’t play or wasn’t the player I’m supposed to (be). Step by step, but I’m definitely happy about today and I’m gonna keep getting better at it.”
The challenges will continue. The Raptors are determined to find minutes for Precious Achiuwa, the young centre with oodles of athletic potential but who has largely struggled so far, and veteran Khem Birch has been positive influence in his minutes and is expected to be back in the lineup Saturday against the Detroit Pistons after missing two games with knee swelling. Pascal Siakam has returned and Yuta Watanabe is expected back imminently. Minutes and the four or five in any configuration are going to be tough to come by.
Boucher was at risk of falling out of the rotation all together – a disaster in a contract year. But as he’s done so many times before – going all the way back to his discovery as a completely unknown 19-year-old playing in a summer tournament in Montreal – Boucher found a way to put up a big game at the perfect moment.
The challenge now is to keep doing it. The Raptors might have plenty of bodies but not many with Boucher’s ability to block shots defensively and space the floor on offence.
There’s a role there for him if he can grab it. Don’t bet on him letting it slip through his fingers now. He’s come too far.
“And if there’s one thing I’ve learned (in) this tough stretch, it’s you can’t cheat the game,” he said. “You can just feel like you can come in a game and just do whatever you want. At the end of the day, I came back from injury and this is what I needed to realize.
“It takes time. It’s a new team, it’s got new players, it’s a new position and this is what I really needed to understand. It took more time than I would want and probably more than everybody wanted to, (but) it’s a good step for me and obviously I’m planning on getting better every game so people can see what I can do and what I’ve been doing.”
RALEIGH, N.C. — Sebastian Aho scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season with 2:26 remaining to rescue the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Aho’s goal came 32 seconds after Auston Matthews’ second goal for Toronto tied the game. Teuvo Teravainen added an empty-net goal.
Brent Burns, Jordan Staal and Stefan Noesen also scored for Carolina, which won for the fourth time in its last eight games to maintain in first place in Metropolitan Division. Jesper Fast and Martin Necas both two assists.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves for his first victory in his last three outings.
Calle Jarnkrok had Toronto’s first goal. Matt Murray made 23 saves. Matthews has 36 goals this season, including eight in the last nine games.
Jarnkrok and Matthews scored eight minutes apart in the second period as Toronto erased a 2-0 deficit.
Jarnkrok notched his 18th goal, including six this month. Matthews’ unassisted tally at 12:41 of the second period gave him his 35th goal of the season.
NOTES: Matthews registered nine shots on goal in the second period and 12 total entering the third period. He finished with 15 shots, tying the franchise single-game record. … Through two periods, Carolina had no player with more than three shots. … Toronto had 33 shots through two periods, marking the most for any Carolina opponent in a full game in the last 15 games.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: At Nashville on Sunday.
Hurricanes: Host Boston on Sunday.
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Rafael Harvey-Pinard electrified the Bell Centre with his first career hat trick as the Montreal Canadiens routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 8-2 on Saturday.
Nick Suzuki had one goal and three assists while Mike Hoffman scored one goal and added two assists. Jesse Ylonen and Brendan Gallagher both picked up one goal and one assist. Alex Belzile also scored for Montreal while Mike Matheson collected three helpers.
Sam Montembeault made 20 saves as the Canadiens (29-38-6) recorded back-to-back home wins.
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Lane Pederson and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets (23-42-7), who failed to record their first three-game win streak of the season.
Elvis Merzlikins made 16 saves before leaving the game with an injury with 2:58 remaining in the second period. In relief, Michael Hutchinson made five saves.
The Blue Jackets took only 1:32 to score the game’s first goal. Kent Johnson located Pederson in front of the net with a backhand pass and the forward completed the one-timer.
The Canadiens responded just over two minutes later. Hoffman, sporting a full-face visor after receiving a cross-check to the face from A.J. Greer in Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins, beat Merzlikins with a wrist shot.
Montreal took its first lead of the game at 9:43 of the first. Ylonen took advantage of Brendan Gallagher’s screen in front of the net to send a wrist shot from atop the left faceoff circle.
Marchenko took a shot from a tight angle over Montembeault’s shoulder to tie the game but the net was knocked loose in the process. After video review, it was determined that the puck had crossed the goal line before the net was dislodged and the goal was allowed.
Harvey-Pinard helped Montreal regain their lead with a second-period hat trick.
Immediately after the opening faceoff, Matheson rushed along the boards and drove to the net. Merzlikins made the save but Harvey-Pinard zoomed into the crease to tap in Montreal’s third goal.
Harvey-Pinard then bagged his second goal of the night with a wrister from the left faceoff circle.
Gallagher gave Montreal a 5-3 lead by finding his way in the slot amongst the five Jackets skaters. He accepted Ylonen’s pass from behind the net to notch the one-timer.
Harvey-Pinard completed his hat trick before the end of the second. The winger redirected Hoffman’s pass past Merzlikins and the hats rained on the ice for the Saguenay, Que., native’s first hat trick.
Montreal added a seventh goal in the final frame when Belzile’s pass for Chris Tierney on the rush deflected off Columbus defenceman Andrew Peeke and into the net.
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Suzuki completed his four-point night by piercing through Columbus’ zone and beating Hutchinson with a wrist shot from the slot.
INJURY REPORT
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins left the game with an injury in the second period. The Latvian appeared to have suffered the injury while attempting to make a save on the play resulting in Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s hat trick goal. Micheal Hutchinson took over in relief.
EMERGENCY RECALL
The Columbus Blue Jackets made two emergency recalls before Saturday’s game. Forward Trey Fix-Wolansky and defenceman Jake Christiansen were tapped in to replace the injured Mathieu Olivier and Erik Gudbranson, respectively. Fix-Wolansky played in his 11th NHL game while Christiansen skated in the 27th of his young career.
UP NEXT
The Canadiens head to Buffalo to play the Sabres on Monday.
The Blue Jackets visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
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The Calgary Flames are pushing hard to sign 2021 first-rounder Matt Coronato, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
“The full-court press is on from the Flames,” Friedman said during Saturday’s 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada. “They have indicated very clearly that they want Coronato to join them.”
Calgary selected the right winger 13th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He has spent the past two seasons playing for Harvard University, where he’s totalled 38 goals and 72 points over 68 games.
The 20-year-old native of Greenlawn, New York, tallied four goals and seven points while representing the United States at the 2022 world juniors.
“There still has to be a bit more conversation,” said Friedman. “The player has to make his choice but there is no doubt the Flames have let Coronato know that they are ready for him to come.”
Harvard was eliminated from the NCAA tournament following an 8-1 loss to Ohio State on Friday. With that, Coronato’s college teammate Sean Farrell is also garnering attention.
The defenceman, who was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2020 draft, is “strongly considering turning pro and joining the Canadiens, but nothing official at this time,” according to Friedman.
The 21-year-old Farrell potted 30 goals and 81 points across 58 games during his two seasons at Harvard.
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