Masai Ujiri said "We need a culture reset"

[GLF]

Glf has come along way from that wide eyed worrier in his rookie year. Starting to become an impact poster

LOL thank you thank you

[GLF]

C'mon out and take a bow, GLF! The fans are anxiously waiting!

LMAO man yall kill me

[Mess]

There's no difference between losing in 4 games vs. 7 games. They're all sweeps!

[tDotted]

It's a forum, use the ignore feature if you don't like what I have to say. Don't you ever tell me to stop posting.

Can't seem to find that option on Tapatalk.

Lol, well yes of course it would. But is it realistic to expect Demar to go from a below average 3pt shooter to an above average 3pt shooter? Probably not, based on what we've seen from him so far. And given that Demar handles the ball as much as he does is it really that important that he be the one with the above average 3pt range? Sure it would be awesome, but shooting 3's off the dribble is much more difficult than shooting spot ups, and few players in the league can do it well enough to really affect a defence. Lowry is one of those guys. So, if Demar can shoot well enough from the corners, and get more attempts from there than that would be a step in the right direction. If he can hit spot ups above the break at an average or greater clip, then that would be incredible for the team. But I'm not holding my breath on that one. Stick him in the corner whenever you don't run the O through him, and do it more often than last season.

I think you misinterpreted my point. I don't want DeMar to be handling the ball as much. He wouldn't need to hit a bunch of shots off the dribble if he was more capable and more willing to play off the ball. We've seen it already this season with Westbrook and Harden where they had great regular season success by dominating the ball but quickly flamed out in the playoffs. If we're serious about a "culture change" at all, this is a good place to start.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

SN: Most of the talk this off-season is about other teams. Do you think the Raptors get slept on?

DW: I do. I do think the lack of playoff success kind of hurts us and our perception. Going back a few years even from before I got here we have struggled to play our best when everybody is paying attention. Another year in the playoffs and being dominant will change that.

From an interview of Delon Wright.

[Jclaw]

Speaking of "culture change" (and in my ongoing gripe about local coverage), doesn't TSN realize their parent company owns half of the Raptors? The first basketball story on their mainpage today has the headline "Higgins (ex Bobcats GM) on why NBA free agents don't choose Toronto". I'm ready for the usual excuses but instead, he says he hasn't heard of and can't really think of any reasons. He then proposes that the taxes may be a problem when compared to non state tax teams (Texas, Florida) but that applies to every team that doesn't play in those two states. I'm not saying that the headline should have read "Refreshingly, ex NBA GM can't think of any reason why players wouldn't want to come to Toronto"...but maybe something in the middle? Talk about re enforcing negative stereotypes for clicks. Dumb.

[Scraptor]

This made me laugh:



https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...s_ranked_from/

[MixxAOR]

This made me laugh:



https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...s_ranked_from/

everybody zigging and we're zagging lmao

[Double Helix]

Can't seem to find that option on Tapatalk.



I think you misinterpreted my point. I don't want DeMar to be handling the ball as much. He wouldn't need to hit a bunch of shots off the dribble if he was more capable and more willing to play off the ball. We've seen it already this season with Westbrook and Harden where they had great regular season success by dominating the ball but quickly flamed out in the playoffs. If we're serious about a "culture change" at all, this is a good place to start.

I see it differently.

I think the move will be more to initiate much of the action with Derozan in the high pick and roll where he likes to operate specifically to make better use of Lowry's superior off the ball shooting. Casey hinted as much in an interview on the Fan.

Derozan starts with the ball more. Ideally in more pick and pop situations for Ibaka. If the defence overplays penetration then we can live with a relatively open Ibaka 3. If they don't then Derozan slashes and Lowry and Norm react, creating passing lanes. If Derozan has a clear take he's proven to be terrific scorer via points per possession out of pick and rolls as a ball handler. If he kicks it out to Lowry then suddenly we've caused a defence to scramble a little bit and now the ball is in our smartest and most versatile offensive weapon so that he can shoot a 3, get somebody in the air and put it on the deck, swing it back over to Serge or swing it over to Norm in the corner. Making use of Derozan in a Harden-like initiation role puts him in the spot where he's most dangerous and surrounds him with capable 3 point shooters. It's s little known fact that Derozan had almost exactly the same amount of "potential assists" last year as Kevin Durant. Meaning that he was finding open guys who took shots but our guys missed them whereas Durant's stuck theirs.

I think Derozan is less likely to go hero mode if he touches the ball earlier and gets a chance to make a play. Especially if Casey sells it to him as him playing more "point" and needing to distribute more. Having a defence scrambling a bit when Lowry becomes either the second or third guy to touch the ball would be an incredible luxury given his decision-making, vision and shooting both on catch and shoots and on the move. The occasional 2 man game with he and Ibaka will frustrate defences too to pick their poison. We didn't run enough high pick and pop stuff for Ibaka. I'm hoping a training camp will help us figure out how to use him better and allow him to get more comfortable with Lowry and Derozan.

[S.R.]

This made me laugh:



https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...s_ranked_from/

Yeah, it is what it is for as long as we have this core + Casey. I've given up on wishing for something different.

[golden]

This made me laugh:



https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...s_ranked_from/

Sixers had the 3rd most modern approach, but they ranked last in offensive rating. Hmmm. So, the obvious explanation is that they lack talent, right? fwiw, I thought Embiid had far too high usage last year.

Anyway, it will be an interesting case study this season, especially since they added some character vets in addition to getting some talented rooks. If the so-called modern offensive system works, then Philly should take a reasonable step forward this year.

[Scraptor]

Sixers had the 3rd most modern approach, but they ranked last in offensive rating. Hmmm. So, the obvious explanation is that they lack talent, right? fwiw, I thought Embiid had far too high usage last year.

Anyway, it will be an interesting case study this season, especially since they added some character vets in addition to getting some talented rooks. If the so-called modern offensive system works, then Philly should take a reasonable step forward this year.

I'd say that's accurate. Embiid was by far their best player and only played 31 games. Their top guys in minutes played were Stauskas, Mcconnell, Saric, Covington, Henderson, and Rodriguez... Not one of those guys had a TS% over 54, and three were under 51%. The only returning starter in that group is Covington, surrounded by Fultz, Redick, Simmons, and Embiid.

They should theoretically wreck shit but rookies take time to get it. Not this season but next I'd expect them to be vying for a top seed, barring injury.

[c-troop]

I see it differently.

I think the move will be more to initiate much of the action with Derozan in the high pick and roll where he likes to operate specifically to make better use of Lowry's superior off the ball shooting. Casey hinted as much in an interview on the Fan.

Derozan starts with the ball more. Ideally in more pick and pop situations for Ibaka. If the defence overplays penetration then we can live with a relatively open Ibaka 3. If they don't then Derozan slashes and Lowry and Norm react, creating passing lanes. If Derozan has a clear take he's proven to be terrific scorer via points per possession out of pick and rolls as a ball handler. If he kicks it out to Lowry then suddenly we've caused a defence to scramble a little bit and now the ball is in our smartest and most versatile offensive weapon so that he can shoot a 3, get somebody in the air and put it on the deck, swing it back over to Serge or swing it over to Norm in the corner. Making use of Derozan in a Harden-like initiation role puts him in the spot where he's most dangerous and surrounds him with capable 3 point shooters. It's s little known fact that Derozan had almost exactly the same amount of "potential assists" last year as Kevin Durant. Meaning that he was finding open guys who took shots but our guys missed them whereas Durant's stuck theirs.

I think Derozan is less likely to go hero mode if he touches the ball earlier and gets a chance to make a play. Especially if Casey sells it to him as him playing more "point" and needing to distribute more. Having a defence scrambling a bit when Lowry becomes either the second or third guy to touch the ball would be an incredible luxury given his decision-making, vision and shooting both on catch and shoots and on the move. The occasional 2 man game with he and Ibaka will frustrate defences too to pick their poison. We didn't run enough high pick and pop stuff for Ibaka. I'm hoping a training camp will help us figure out how to use him better and allow him to get more comfortable with Lowry and Derozan.

I agree 100%.

DeRozan with the ball is a good thing. Especially surrounded in peremiter threats.