Time For Toronto Raptors To Insert Greivis Vasquez Into Starting Lineup.

[Bandit]

Am I the only one who approves of Vasquez's shot selection?

I generally see him taking open threes or trying to get to the basket. If those shots are there, you have to take them. Especially as the only weapon on the second unit.

I like the shot selection for the most part, but I think sometimes if he makes that one extra pass it would suit everyone better. He's a decent shooter but not a knock down guy.

I'd like to see recognition or an ability to get the rest of the team involved too, especially when he's gone 0/5 from deep or something. A guy who was able to boast 9 assists, should be able to get even mediocre players an easy bucket every now and then.

[BigCamB]

All for the open threes, obviously he has to take those. He does have delusions of grandeur moments though, and forces up some terrible stuff he is never going to make consistently. Although I guess with someone like him you've gotta take the good with the bad.

I dunno, I expected him to be some kind of PnR god who'd get a lot of easy baskets for Amir, Patterson and especially help JV, whilst also having some scoring ability. Guess I was misread him.

[JimiCliff]

Who's our backup PG then?

Chuck Hayes, obviously. ;-)

Technically he'd be a PC

[thead]

his D rating is 108 post all star break his plus minus is 7.1...his O rating is 101. I don't know what the league average is

[Sprechen]

Greivis Error

As much as I tried to give him a chance, I'm really not feeling Greivis. He's trying too hard to prove he's a starter in the league and as such the team dynamic is suffering. I thought he was supposed to be an excellent passer but I'm not seeing it; too eager to get his own. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it wasn't Casey's game plan to have GV take 13 shots and miss 9 of them. By the way, what the uff was he thinking on the last play of the game against Cleveland? Not like you can blame the game on one play, but there seems to be many more plays where GV hurts rather than helps. I don't see him being with the club after this season.

[ezz_bee]

Unless you're a 7 footer, position is only half the battle on defense, and GV needs to learn that other half.

Sincere questions, can you extrapolate on "that other half"?

[ezz_bee]

Starting Vasquez is a bad idea unless Lowry is sitting out to rest up for the playoffs.

Everyone has pointed this out, but you can increase his minutes without starting. Having him play at the end of games (which he often does) is one such way.

The second unit is DESPERATE for people who can create their own shot, and without Vasquez who can do that? Sometimes the best thing for a team is to NOT start their 5 best players.

[OldSkoolCool]

Sincere questions, can you extrapolate on "that other half"?

Please Bandit I was also wondering.

Personally defense is 100% positioning. Athleticism, hard work and knowledge are required to be in the right position to make the defensive play.

[JimiCliff]

Please Bandit I was also wondering.

Personally defense is 100% positioning. Athleticism, hard work and knowledge are required to be in the right position to make the defensive play.

I remember hearing that Thibs spends hours drilling his players on tiny positional elements of defending, like having toes pointed in the right direction based on what's happening in the play, etc

[Pill]

I don't even like when he finishes the game over Ross. The offense was stagnant as fuck at the end of that Cleveland game. No way in hell would I be on board with him Starting too.

[Bandit]

Please Bandit I was also wondering.

Personally defense is 100% positioning. Athleticism, hard work and knowledge are required to be in the right position to make the defensive play.

I remember hearing that Thibs spends hours drilling his players on tiny positional elements of defending, like having toes pointed in the right direction based on what's happening in the play, etc

I suppose what I'm referring to with position is where your body is, not the positioning JimiCliff is referencing. I suppose it could be argued that defense is mainly positioning but of many diferent parts working in cohesion. I would argue vassquez only has 1/5 (completely random number) parts in proper positioning.

Vasquez does a good job keeping himself in front of his assignment most time, but his feet arent in place and he loses stength and balance because of it, his hands aren't where they need to be and he's late getting a hand in the face or denying a pass because of it. Any contact and he instantly gives up ground without making the offense work or take a hit because he's off balance. He has no control, meaning he doesn't dictate where his player goes. He can't guide anyone into a double team and the timing on his hands is off resulting in fouls. I guess when I watch GV play defense I imagin a pylon that follows you around and just stays in front of you, easy to push around, pass around, and shoot over.

So while he does yes keep people in front of him, they still score on him. If he had better secondary skills (not really sure what to call them) you would see his rating go up, at least in my opinion.

[mountio]

Its been said many times .. but its such a bad idea, that I have to reiterate. Hell no - absolutely terrible idea.

[Mauro150611]

Continuous thinking Vasquez has to hold or play at least 30min per game, is necessary.

[Raptorsss]

Mauro are you that Vasquez fan that drove Sacramento fans crazy, when he was on their team?

[BigCamB]

Did you enjoy tonights game, Mauro?