Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Coach Nick Nurse Says He's Seen a Change In Precious Achiuwa Since the Rising Stars Game
You'd be forgiven if Precious Achiuwa's Rising Stars nomination caught you a little off guard earlier this month. I mean, of course, Scottie Barnes was going to make it to Cleveland for All-Star Weekend, but Achiuwa too? Nobody came into the game averaging fewer points and was seemingly less exciting than the Toronto Raptors' big man. And yet, not only did Achiuwa live up to the lofty honors, but the 22-year-old has returned from the break and shown exactly why he truly is one of the league's young rising stars.
There's been a new confidence emanating from Achiuwa since his trip to All-Star Weekend, said Raptors coach Nick Nurse who ventured down to Cleveland to watch his Raptors compete. It was clear Achiuwa made the trip with something to prove.
"You could see he had great energy pregame and really was anxious to go out there and take it seriously and play hard," Nurse said. "I think it did give him some confidence."
Since then — albeit in two blowout losses for Toronto — Achiuwa has played the best basketball of his season. He continues to show the kind of defensive skills that first put him on Toronto's radar ahead of the 2020 draft and drew the Raptors to him in a sign-and-trade this past summer. His quick feet allow Toronto to switch freely without concern that he'll be taken advantage of by opposing guards.
The Raptors have no problem asking him to step up and stay in front of guards like Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic, both of whom Achiuwa walled off on Saturday.
For the season, Toronto's defense is 4.4 points per 100 possessions stingier when Achiuwa is on the court, and opposing shooters are shooting 9.9% below their average within six feet of the rim when Achiuwa is the closest defender, per NBA Stats. Despite his relatively small 6-foot-8 frame for a big man, his ability to contest shots near the rim is coming along.
"That's a good sign because our bigs need to rim protect and even if they're not necessarily shot-blockers they still need to use their size and strength and body position to protect the rim," Nurse said.
Offensively, Achuiwa's game is still very raw, but Saturday showed flashes of what might be next with a little more development. He used his speed to blow by Onyeka Okongwu twice, taking him off the dribble for a one-handed slam with a decisive drive to the bucket. The shooting — two corner three-pointers and a tough floater — isn't going to be there every night, but being even passible as a corner shooter will create driving lanes inside, as it did against Atlanta.
There's still a long way to go for Achiuwa who is shooting just 57.2% in the restricted area and 36.8% in the paint outside of the restricted area, but the progress is there. He's making smarter cuts and learning to make quicker decisions when the ball is swung his way.
"Just figuring out the game, having a better understanding of time, place, and situation, taking advantage when I have a smaller guy and going around the basket, bigger guy I can take off the dribble," he said Saturday. "Basically just making reads as the game goes on. For me, that’s it right now. Just playing off of teammates. I think we’ve had the first 50 games, I was able to see the way a lot of my teammates play and I figured out how to play off them a lot better.”
Achiuwa has all the physical tools you could ask for. Now it's about refining his skills, making better decisions, and playing with the confidence he's shown lately. He's already come a long way since early in the year and with help from Toronto's coaching staff, that Rising Stars honor should look pretty understandable down the road.
Further Reading
Raptors have no answers for Trae Young & other takeaways from Toronto's loss to Atlanta
Paul Jones will call Raptors games as Matt Devlin recovers from COVID
