Lewenberg: Raptors won't 'rush the process' with Valanciunas Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas has played a combined total of 11 minutes in the second half of the team's last two games, including just 11 seconds in the fourth quarter, leaving many to wonder if the seven-footer's development has stalled early in his third NBA season. Understandably, some are left wanting more from the 22-year-old Lithuanian. Dwane Casey is not among them.

Josh Lewenberg TSN Raptors Reporter Follow|Archive

TORONTO - Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas has played a combined total of 11 minutes in the second half of the team's last two games, including just 11 seconds in the fourth quarter, leaving many to wonder if the seven-footer's development has stalled early in his third NBA season.

Overall, his playing time is down, logging a career-low 23 minutes through eight contests. His usage on the offensive end has been sporadic and his defensive impact remains modest, at best.

He continues to have moments of excellence, evident early in Thursday's loss to the Bulls. On the right night, in the right match-up, when active and engaged - and consciously utilized - Valanciunas's vast potential is hard to miss.

Understandably, some are left wanting more from the 22-year-old Lithuanian. Dwane Casey is not among them.

"It has nothing to do with his growth," Casey told TSN.ca and the Toronto Sun following a Friday afternoon practice session at the Air Canada Centre. "That's why I get perturbed when people say, 'Well, how come Jonas isn't...?' No!"

"Jonas is where he needs to be right now."

This is not a new or foreign approach Casey and the Raptors coaching staff are taking with their young centre. They have been preaching patience since he arrived in Toronto at the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

"He's a young kid," the Raptors coach continued. "He's a young kid. His curse is; two years ago when he first came in and everybody said he was the second coming. As a staff, we expect that he's going to grow at the right time, at the right place. He's going to be there, that's why I'm happy he's ours. But you can't rush the process."

At one point they may have and it's hard to blame them given the situation they found themselves in. He was thrown into the fire as rookie, starting 57 of the 62 games he appeared in, for a losing club. Now, as team expectations have changed, Casey faces a different challenge.

"We're not in the development stage," he rightly pointed out. "We're in the winning stage. So that's the hard thing right now."

Therein lies Toronto's double-edged sword. Masai Ujiri and company opted for continuity this summer, meaning they must rely heavily on internal growth in order to reach the next level as a team. Like fellow third-year player Terrence Ross, the Raptors need Valanciunas to grow and become a bigger piece of their puzzle. But as long as winning is the goal, they can't afford to loosen the leash and allow him to play through some of the mistakes he was afforded earlier in his young career.

At this stage, Valanciunas is still a fish out of water when the opposition turns to a smaller, quicker line-up, something the Magic did in the second half of Tuesday's game. Likewise, he's often the odd man out when the Raptors are in comeback mode, one of the reasons he didn't see much time late in Thursday's loss to the Bulls.

That's unlikely to change in the near future.

"There's going to be situations like the other night against Orlando," Casey said. "They brought [Channing] Frye in at the five, spaced out to the three-point line. And there are certain things [Valanciunas] can't physically do. We're going to adjust to them because we do have Amir [Johnson], who can play the five, [Patrick Patterson] has been playing the five and James [Johnson] at the four. That's how we got back into the game [Thursday] and that's how we won the game against Orlando. So there's certain situations that we adjust to that he's not included in. That doesn't mean he's done anything wrong or he's not growing in those situations."

Generally, a player becomes "match-up proof" when the reward or payoff associated with their strengths significantly outweighs the risk involved with their weaknesses. Valanciunas is an important part of Toronto's offence when it's at its best, but he's also not integral, not with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan handling the ball and taking the bulk of Toronto's shots. He's also not making the most of his opportunities around the rim to begin the new season. Valanciunas is shooting just 53 per cent inside five feet, down from 62 per cent a year ago.

There's not always enough incentive to keep him on the floor if and when the opponent is dictating a quicker pace or if and when he's not defending at the level that's needed from the centre position.

With Valanciunas on the floor this year, the Raptors are giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions, which would rank them 21st in the NBA, tied with Minnesota and New Orleans. Without him, they're allowing just 95.3, which would be the best defensive rating in the league.

Unlike years past, Casey has viable alternatives worth turning to. The Raptors have outscored teams by 34 with Patterson on the floor and by 52 with Tyler Hansbrough in the lineup. Valanciunas is a plus-13 on the young season. Good, but not great.

They need him to be great and, eventually, they believe he will be.

"Everybody wants to know, when is JV going to take over," Casey said. "When are you going to go to JV? That's going to come at the right time. I really want him to. There's no timeline. It's almost like a light bulb that comes on with some guys. Some guys get it quicker than others. Some big men get it quicker than others. So it just takes time and all he has to do is continue to work, continue to keep his confidence, which is difficult to do when the expectations are high. And that's where we have to manage where he is, who he is in his career."

"He's exactly where he needs to be," Casey continued. "He doesn't need to hang his head, he doesn't need to lose confidence in those situations. But everybody is waiting for him or wanting him to be more than what he's ready to be right now. Except he's where we need him to be."