Masai Ujiri said "We need a culture reset"

[S.R.]

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/07/25...-style-derozan

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan has heard the talk and he wants to set the record straight.

According to the longest serving Raptor, anyone expecting huge changes to the way the Raptors play basketball is basically talking through their hat.

“I think the media kind of blow it out of proportion like it’s going to be something dramatic, like a complete dramatic 180-degree change,” DeRozan said, who was back in Toronto helping out with the Raptors’ Basketball Academy at Humber College on Monday. “It’s not that at all. It’s just moreso locking in and understanding what it takes to win from every single position. Everyone just know from our failures, guys stepping up and being better leaders, not just me and Kyle but everybody. I think once we lock in and everyone holds themselves accountable, everything else will come around perfect. That’s all it is.”

The talk of a “culture change” began when president Masai Ujiri took to the podium after the season and looking back suggested change was coming. He used that phrase “culture change” and the media jumped on it.

DeRozan didn’t disagree when it was suggested more ball movement might be demanded this season, but he did say the anticipated level of change by many outside the team is completely out of whack with the reality. The offence is still going to run through himself and Kyle Lowry.

[MixxAOR]

He wants that scoring title

[S.R.]

He wants that scoring title

Honestly, isn't he also firing back a bit at Carroll (and any other role player complainers)? The comment about everybody stepping up from every position and holding themselves accountable isn't an arbitrary one.

I know Casey/Lowry/DD have often sounded defensive in the media and we don't all love DD's playing style, but one thing his summers + work ethic shows is he is definitely a guy who holds himself accountable + takes the responsibility of getting better entirely upon himself. I wonder how much Carroll's parting shots pissed him off, the kind of mentality that showed (blame other guys after you failed to step up) is the opposite of DeMar.

His game has improved every year. Here's to hoping for another step forward this season.

[MixxAOR]

Honestly, isn't he also firing back a bit at Carroll (and any other role player complainers)? The comment about everybody stepping up from every position and holding themselves accountable isn't an arbitrary one.

I know Casey/Lowry/DD have often sounded defensive in the media and we don't all love DD's playing style, but one thing his summers + work ethic shows is he is definitely a guy who holds himself accountable + takes the responsibility of getting better entirely upon himself. I wonder how much Carroll's parting shots pissed him off, the kind of mentality that showed (blame other guys after you failed to step up) is the opposite of DeMar.

His game has improved every year. Here's to hoping for another step forward this season.

To his credit. Derozan never shun away from burden and responsibility of leading this franchise. He took the blame when they fail

[Jangles]

If those points are to be irrefutable, he would work on his defence. He doesn't seem to hold himself accountable on that side of the ball.

[KeonClark]

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/07/25...-style-derozan

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan has heard the talk and he wants to set the record straight.

According to the longest serving Raptor, anyone expecting huge changes to the way the Raptors play basketball is basically talking through their hat.

“I think the media kind of blow it out of proportion like it’s going to be something dramatic, like a complete dramatic 180-degree change,” DeRozan said, who was back in Toronto helping out with the Raptors’ Basketball Academy at Humber College on Monday. “It’s not that at all. It’s just moreso locking in and understanding what it takes to win from every single position. Everyone just know from our failures, guys stepping up and being better leaders, not just me and Kyle but everybody. I think once we lock in and everyone holds themselves accountable, everything else will come around perfect. That’s all it is.”

The talk of a “culture change” began when president Masai Ujiri took to the podium after the season and looking back suggested change was coming. He used that phrase “culture change” and the media jumped on it.

DeRozan didn’t disagree when it was suggested more ball movement might be demanded this season, but he did say the anticipated level of change by many outside the team is completely out of whack with the reality. The offence is still going to run through himself and Kyle Lowry.

Translation: We're still going to shoot tons and get ours

[golden]

Honestly, isn't he also firing back a bit at Carroll (and any other role player complainers)? The comment about everybody stepping up from every position and holding themselves accountable isn't an arbitrary one.

I know Casey/Lowry/DD have often sounded defensive in the media and we don't all love DD's playing style, but one thing his summers + work ethic shows is he is definitely a guy who holds himself accountable + takes the responsibility of getting better entirely upon himself. I wonder how much Carroll's parting shots pissed him off, the kind of mentality that showed (blame other guys after you failed to step up) is the opposite of DeMar.

His game has improved every year. Here's to hoping for another step forward this season.

The problem is that his game hasn't really improved in ways that help a team win in the playoffs in today's NBA: (1) 3-pt shooting to improve spacing, (2) moving the ball & (3) guarding multiple positions (especially for a guard/wing with his size).

The bigger problem is that his improvement has been relative to the low expectations that most had for him a 3-4 years ago, so the perception of progress is skewed. He's a max player, all-star now. The minimum expectations would be: (1) not to have such a drop-off between the regular season and playoffs, and (2) to improve his impact stats to leave no doubt that he contributes to winning at least as much as Lowry.

[Puffer]

The problem is that his game hasn't really improved in ways that help a team win in the playoffs in today's NBA: (1) 3-pt shooting to improve spacing, (2) moving the ball & (3) guarding multiple positions (especially for a guard/wing with his size).

The bigger problem is that his improvement has been relative to the low expectations that most had for him a 3-4 years ago, so the perception of progress is skewed. He's a max player, all-star now. The minimum expectations would be: (1) not to have such a drop-off between the regular season and playoffs, and (2) to improve his impact stats to leave no doubt that he contributes to winning at least as much as Lowry.

To be fair, it I much more Casey's responsibility to come up with offensive systems to counter opponents defense than it is DD's . As has been pointed out, the Raps are an easy team to defend.

[Scraptor]

The problem is that his game hasn't really improved in ways that help a team win in the playoffs in today's NBA: (1) 3-pt shooting to improve spacing, (2) moving the ball & (3) guarding multiple positions (especially for a guard/wing with his size).

The bigger problem is that his improvement has been relative to the low expectations that most had for him a 3-4 years ago, so the perception of progress is skewed. He's a max player, all-star now. The minimum expectations would be: (1) not to have such a drop-off between the regular season and playoffs, and (2) to improve his impact stats to leave no doubt that he contributes to winning at least as much as Lowry.

I think there's a different expectations problem.

DeRozan is basically a rich man's Rip Hamilton (whose best production was like 20/4/4 on 55%TS). We expect more from him--maybe too much--because we have no one else to fill that role.

Improving his 3 point shooting may be a mechanical problem. We've seen him work on it for multiple summers and it just doesn't improve significantly.

Not moving the ball is partly a function of wanting to carry the load and Casey's ride-or-die this-is-not-a-democracy approach which puts excessive usage on the stars.

As for guarding multiple positions, I don't think he has the lateral quicks to get there. It's one reason he relies on screens so much.

I agree that his playoff stats and impact stats should be a focus of improvement, but the guy turns 28 this October. At some point we are going to have to accept that this is who he is... An All-Star with flaws. And that's okay.

The way he's managed to continuously improve has meant the goalposts have continued to shift for him. He didn't design the CBA that gave him a giant near-max deal. If he does manage to reach another level, that would be great, but I'm not going to be disappointed if he doesn't. If this is as good as he gets, and as far as he can take us, that's a team-construction problem and not a DeMar DeRozan problem, imo.

[Chr1s1anL]

I'm confused Deebo had a bad showing in the playoffs? Pretty sure he was our most consistent/best player in the post season.

22.4 PPG, 4.9 REB, 3.4 AST on .434 FG.

23.5 PPG, 5.5 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.7 STL on .439 vs BUCKS

20.8, 4.0 REB, 4.0 AST, 1.0 STL on .426 vs CAVS

Lowry is the one that really disappointed in playoffs IMO. Didn't play bad but, we needed regular season Lowry. That guy wasn't there in April/May.

15.8 PPG, 5.9 AST, 3.1 REB 1.5 STL, on .462 FG, .342 3FG

14.3 PPG, 5.2 AST, 3.7 REB, 1.8 STL on .426 FG, .281 3FG vs BUCKS

20.0 PPG, 5.3 AST, 1.0 REB

Started to look like himself against the Cavs but, got hurt.



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[Ball]

I'm confused Deebo had a bad showing in the playoffs? Pretty sure he was our most consistent/best player in the post season.

22.4 PPG, 4.9 REB, 3.4 AST on .434 FG.

23.5 PPG, 5.5 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.7 STL on .439 vs BUCKS

20.8, 4.0 REB, 4.0 AST, 1.0 STL on .426 vs CAVS

Lowry is the one that really disappointed in playoffs IMO. Didn't play bad but, we needed regular season Lowry. That guy wasn't there in April/May.

15.8 PPG, 5.9 AST, 3.1 REB 1.5 STL, on .462 FG, .342 3FG

14.3 PPG, 5.2 AST, 3.7 REB, 1.8 STL on .426 FG, .281 3FG vs BUCKS

20.0 PPG, 5.3 AST, 1.0 REB

Started to look like himself against the Cavs but, got hurt.



Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

I don't think he had a bad showing in the playoffs either, but I guess people are comparing his production relative to his regular season averages which I can understand. If we played both series the way we played Game 5 vs the Bucks (ball movement, players not standing around ball-watching, players actually making 3's...) then I'd guarantee Derozan would've produced close to his regular season averages.

[Mess]

I think there's a different expectations problem.

DeRozan is basically a rich man's Rip Hamilton (whose best production was like 20/4/4 on 55%TS). We expect more from him--maybe too much--because we have no one else to fill that role.

Improving his 3 point shooting may be a mechanical problem. We've seen him work on it for multiple summers and it just doesn't improve significantly.

Not moving the ball is partly a function of wanting to carry the load and Casey's ride-or-die this-is-not-a-democracy approach which puts excessive usage on the stars.

I'm probably placing to much faith in my memory, but as far as 3 point shooting goes, he also needs to be more willing. I seem to recall too many times where DeMar will get a kick out and be wide open, but because there's, say, 10 seconds on the shot, he won't take the shot. He'll let the defender close out - which if it's a good defender means he would close out short and play him for the drive - and then DeMar would proceed to break him down one on one and most times he ends up taking a contested two.

I know that's his bread and butter but he needs to swallow his pride and realize he's not taking some easy way out and just shoot the wiiide open 3. He might be amazed what that could do to his average.

[LJ2]

Yeah but if he takes that shot and misses the complaint will be that the 3pt shot is not his game and he needs to stick to what he does best. I think the Raptors are maximizing his game because he's a damn workhorse who rarely gets injured and can handle a big workload unlike Lowry. Unless there is someone better to build around they will stick with what works best.

[golden]

I'm confused Deebo had a bad showing in the playoffs? Pretty sure he was our most consistent/best player in the post season.

22.4 PPG, 4.9 REB, 3.4 AST on .434 FG.

23.5 PPG, 5.5 REB, 3.0 AST, 1.7 STL on .439 vs BUCKS

20.8, 4.0 REB, 4.0 AST, 1.0 STL on .426 vs CAVS

Lowry is the one that really disappointed in playoffs IMO. Didn't play bad but, we needed regular season Lowry. That guy wasn't there in April/May.

15.8 PPG, 5.9 AST, 3.1 REB 1.5 STL, on .462 FG, .342 3FG

14.3 PPG, 5.2 AST, 3.7 REB, 1.8 STL on .426 FG, .281 3FG vs BUCKS

20.0 PPG, 5.3 AST, 1.0 REB

Started to look like himself against the Cavs but, got hurt.



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Just a few advanced stats for DeMar: 104 ORTG, 16.6 PER, 0.062 WS. These are all meh to bad numbers. This is not what you're supposed to be getting from a 3-time all-star, max player.

And yes, there was a system-wide failure of the offense in the playoffs, which also points to Casey and Lowry.

[Jclaw]

There's so much about DeMar not having much success with the three but why can't we be happy with a guy who was the fifth best scorer in the league last year regardless of how he gets it? Don't bite. It's a rhetorical question. I know the answer. It's DeMar. But that said, maybe it's not on DeMar to hit threes. Think of how many times he drove to the hoop, was closed off and fired it out to the perimeter for someone else to take an open three? Clank...brick...Maybe the culture change is getting people who are legitimate 3pt threats on the perimeter to just do their job. That will help the outside game. That will help the inside game. That puts a lot of pressure on Miles, Powell etc but I think that's the thin margin we have.