All-Star Break Review: In Praise of Serge Ibaka
Time sure does fly! Here we are at the 55-game mark, and at the All-Star break, with our beloved Raptors fresh off a 15-game winning streak (as well as the third best record in the Association and second overall in the East). Not bad considering some “experts” thought we wouldn’t make the playoffs.
With the Raptors putting everyone on notice that they have every intention of not going quietly when it comes to their title defense, we here at Life In Repeat decided to take a closer look at each individual player on the roster to see just how we got here and what they did to bring us here.
We’ve already examined our starting line-up (Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and Marc Gasol); next up, we move to our second unit — and what better way to start than with Serge Ibaka.
SERGE IBAKA
I think it’s time that we acknowledge that Serge Ibaka has low-key been our Most Important Player this season. Hear me out.
Whatever role that has been required of him, he has done it — and he has done it like a true professional without complaint. If he’s asked to come off the bench, he’ll play that reserve role. If he’s needed in the starting line-up to go big with both him and Gasol, he does it and thrives. If we need him to space the floor, he’ll knock down his threes. If we need him to protect the paint, he’ll do so with aplomb (his thumbs-down celebration when he blocks a shot might be the best crowd-energizer gimmick going). When Gasol has been on the shelf (20 games missed) and we’ve needed Ibaka to start in order to hold things down, he has come through and shined.
Ibaka has responded to these various roles and their respective challenges by playing the best basketball of his career. This is not an exaggeration — the dude has been the best he’s ever been. He’s averaging a career-high in points (16.1) and he’s doing so in his age-31 season. Read that again: his age-31 season! He’s having the best season of his career in his eleventh year in the league.
He’s also turned into quite the marksman from downtown; for the season, he’s hitting 40.4% percent of his threes on 3.1 attempts per game. He’s also hitting 56.6% of his twos. Whatever we have needed from him on a game-to-game basis, he has delivered and then some. No matter what Coach Nurse asks of him, he has come through.
He’s come off the bench 23 times this season where he has averaged 13.4 points and 7.2 boards. When he’s been asked to start, he has come through even more. In 21 games as a starter, he’s averaging 19.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and raining fire from beyond the arc (46.6%).
And when Gasol has missed time (again, 20 games), Ibaka was often the lone reliable big in our rotation and he put up All-Star numbers. Check them out:
If Gasol hadn’t missed so much time, Ibaka would getting Sixth Man of the Year buzz. Hell, since the calendar flipped to 2020, he’s been putting up All-Star worthy numbers. Simply put: Ibaka has been balling and having the best season of his career. Without him, we would not be 40–15 and holding down the second spot in the East. He has put us in a position where we can defend the title.
Let’s also not forget his chemistry with Kyle Lowry. Whether it’s the pick-and-pop elbow jumper or whether he’s rolling to the rim, he and Lowry operate in lock-step. Ibaka also has that shot-put shot in the paint on lock.
On the business end of things, he is an unrestricted free agent this summer. How much is he going to cost? He’s probably looking for one final payday. But, would he come back on a team-friendly deal in the $10-$15 million per year range. Or, will he simply go to the highest bidder? Time will tell — but I have a funny feeling he would prefer to stay in Toronto. He seems to like the city and the organization, so the hope is that a deal could be done to keep Ibaka in the fold because he’s proven to be low-key very important to our success
Until next time…
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