Raptors 905 weekly preview: Greensboro and Westchester come to town

Welcome to the Raptors 905 weekly preview!

This is a piece that will drop every Sunday, previewing what is to come throughout the next seven days for the Raptors 905.

Let’s recap last week, however, where Mississauga’s team only played one game against the Maine Celtics. Coming into the game, one of the priorities had to have been stopping third-year guard JD Davison, who leads the G League in assists and is in the top five in scoring. The 905 did alright, holding the star to 18 points and nine assists on 4-for-13 shooting from the field.

The game would end up becoming the Drew Peterson show, however, as the Maine wing scored 33 points, six rebounds, and six assists, helping hand the 905 the 121-114 loss, dropping their record to 2-6.

For the junior Dinos, Quincy Guerrier was easily the team’s best player in his return from FIBA duty in Saskatchewan for the AmeriCup qualifiers. The 25-year-old finished with a team-high 27 points, nine rebounds, and one assist. The Montreal, Quebec native was also the primary defender on Davison throughout the game and was the main reason the 905 were able to keep him contained.

D.J. Carton also made his return to the lineup after a five-game absence due to ankle/foot injury. The 24-year-old guard had a bit of a rough go in his first game back, however, while on a minutes restriction (19 minutes). Carton put up 10 points and four assists while shooting 3-for-10 from the field and 1-for-4 from distance. He was a team worst -19 and ultimately struggled to get into the flow of the game.

Raptors 905 schedule for the week of December 1 to December 8:

The 905’s seven-game homestand concludes this week with a pair of games against both the Greensboro Swarm (7-1) and Westchester Knicks (4-3).

Starting with the Swarm, where one game will be played at Paramount Fine Foods Centre and the other will be played at Scotiabank Arena.

Greensboro sits at the top of the East thanks to their phenomenal defence to start the year. The Charlotte Hornets G League affiliate is near the top in every defensive statistical category, including defensive rating, where they are at the tippy top (99.7). They also sit top five in points off turnover allowed (16.1), second chance points allowed (12.6), fast break points allowed (10.9), and points in the paint allowed (43.4).

The Swarm are also one of the best rebounding teams in the G, sitting fifth in the league with 48.1 per game. On paper, this is a bad matchup for the 905, where rebounding and the half-court offence have been some of the main problems to start the season.

The Raps sit bottom five in rebounds per game (42.0) and second-chance points allowed (18.4), while the half-court offence has been stagnant, resulting in a bottom 10 offensive rating (106.7).

Greensboro boasts a familiar face on their team in the form of former 905er Reggie Perry. The 24-year-old leads the team in rebounds (9.7) and is second in field goal percentage (54.5) while adding 15.3 points, 1.3 steals, and 1.3 assists per game.

After those pair of games, the 905 will then welcome the Westchester Knicks to Mississauga, who is an even better rebounding team than the Swarm. In fact, they are the best team at gobbling up boards, leading the league in offensive rebounds (18.3), defensive rebounds (36.4) and second-chance points (21.6).

The junior Knicks also feature a notable name in T.J. Warren. The 31-year-old is currently fourth in the minors in points per game (of players who have played five games or more) with 25.9 while adding 8.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals. The veteran has also been launching from 3-point land, completing 34 percent on his 7.1 attempts per game.

Make sure to check back at Raptors Republic after every Raptors 905 game for the recap, and now every week for a preview.

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