Everything Derozan

[DanH]

The point is.....You have NO IDEA what caused his struggles to start the 2014-15 season. There could've been underlining issues from having to play HARD all summer for the first time in 2014-2015. It could be something as simple as fatigue.

We all know that growth is real and that players tend to get better when they put in the hard work year after year.

Emphasizing his earlier years to the great years he's had more recently as he's matured is quite silly in my opinion. Demar has just entered into his prime. Players can mature and get better. That is the difference that you seem to be searching for. That is the reason that seems to elude you.

There is no anomaly.....Demar worked hard to get better. Its as simple as that. It was foolish for people to write him off then and they seem to be consistently trying to find ways to justify their feelings back then.

Better to just get over it. Don't pick 2014-15 as if it means anything. He had a great 2013-14 season (especially compared to the seasons before that - he made the all-star team that year). Therefore, he was great compared to his peers.

He's gotten better and better every year since (except the outlier in early 2014-15 season in which he had an uncharacteristically busy summer trying out and working with Team USA). He got injured in 2014-15 before he could really bounce back from his slow start and played much better after the injury as everyone knows.

He didn't play much better after the injury. He played about the same, slightly better. His post-injury play would still have been a dramatic drop off from his prior season.

2014-15:
DD pre-injury: 49% TS%, 13% AST%, 8.3% TOV%, 29% USG%
DD post-injury: 51% TS%, 19% AST%, 9.2% TOV%, 29% USG%

Like, his passing improved, though his turnovers went up as well, but otherwise he was posting a similarly useless offensive season all year long.

But every player has all sorts of off-season commitments. JV plays for his national team every year. DD had a bad year. It's not a big deal, because he bounced back and made dramatic improvements over even his better prior season. Just like his single year (partial year, really) of improvement the year before was great, but not a significant shift in his game so much as in the pieces around him and his opportunity. His real leap, within a system that supported his best use, came over the past two years where he shifted from borderline all-star, volume producer, to legitimate 2nd piece on a very good team, purely because he made material changes to his game.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

DanH, you keep going on about "changed approach". But DeMar still shot 55% of his shots from mid range last year, which is almost identical to his percentage in 2012-13 of 56%.

I'm just wondering, was it really your position in 2013 or so that for DeMar to improve, he needed to increase his usage by 5-10% and essentially shoot from the exact same areas? And why not throw in more ball handling responsibilities too from someone who had no proven track record as a playmaker prior to 2013-14 when he jumped from 12% to 19% AST%?

I think it's fairly obvious that the new era of DeMar started in 2013-14 and has continued to now with 2014-15 being an outlier.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Idk how I've managed to spend now 3 pages defending DeRozan. Smh.

[Chr1s1anL]

And posted better stats after his injury than before it. We've been over this a thousand times. His injury was not the reason he took a step back that year. His injury was the reason he played fewer games that year, but that's it.

Unless your a Doctor there is no way of knowing this. Just cause you want it to be so, doesn't mean it is. Only Deebo and his doctors know if it bothered him throughout the season.

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[SkywalkerAC]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...dia-challenge/

[DanH]

Unless your a Doctor there is no way of knowing this. Just cause you want it to be so, doesn't mean it is. Only Deebo and his doctors know if it bothered him throughout the season.

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Well, come on, this is silly. He suffered the injury halfway through the year. There was zero indication he was hurt prior to that. Sure, when any player ever has a bad game we can assume they are injured and we just don't know about it. Seems like a silly thing to do.

[DanH]

DanH, you keep going on about "changed approach". But DeMar still shot 55% of his shots from mid range last year, which is almost identical to his percentage in 2012-13 of 56%.

I'm just wondering, was it really your position in 2013 or so that for DeMar to improve, he needed to increase his usage by 5-10% and essentially shoot from the exact same areas? And why not throw in more ball handling responsibilities too from someone who had no proven track record as a playmaker prior to 2013-14 when he jumped from 12% to 19% AST%?

I think it's fairly obvious that the new era of DeMar started in 2013-14 and has continued to now with 2014-15 being an outlier.

I think I was pretty steadfast that DeRozan needed to start more of his offence heading towards the rim instead of away from it. He curled off too many screens to receive the ball with his momentum all wrong, and settled too often for contested jumpers that he fell back on after the defence had already caught up to him. The past two seasons, he's started his attacks in the right direction, and his drive numbers have gone way up because of it. His jumpers tend to be aggressive shot choices, getting to his spots and shooting, rather than just being what he's left with after some half hearted dribbling. More screens being set for him is a big part of it, he's being used better, but his aggressiveness and assertiveness is radically different from back then. Simple shot distribution by distance doesn't tell the whole story. Heck, he's even become much smarter using his post up game to get better position to start possessions, even if he reverts to a jumper from there.

[Puffer]

I think I was pretty steadfast that DeRozan needed to start more of his offence heading towards the rim instead of away from it. He curled off too many screens to receive the ball with his momentum all wrong, and settled too often for contested jumpers that he fell back on after the defence had already caught up to him. The past two seasons, he's started his attacks in the right direction, and his drive numbers have gone way up because of it. His jumpers tend to be aggressive shot choices, getting to his spots and shooting, rather than just being what he's left with after some half hearted dribbling. More screens being set for him is a big part of it, he's being used better, but his aggressiveness and assertiveness is radically different from back then. Simple shot distribution by distance doesn't tell the whole story. Heck, he's even become much smarter using his post up game to get better position to start possessions, even if he reverts to a jumper from there.

Great explanation of the difference Dan. I knew his attack had changed but I couldn't put my finger on just what it was.

[The Great One]

Just read an article where it says: Is this the year DeRozan adds a 3pt shot?

I'm hopeful but he should've added a 3pt shot his game a LONG, LONG time ago. And i'm not talking about spot up 3. That is EASY. I'm talking about off the dribble 3, catch and shoot...

[Mess]

Just read an article where it says: Is this the year DeRozan adds a 3pt shot?

I'm hopeful but he should've added a 3pt shot his game a LONG, LONG time ago. And i'm not talking about spot up 3. That is EASY. I'm talking about off the dribble 3, catch and shoot...

I'm being finicky but....spot up = catch and shoot

[Mess]

Great explanation of the difference Dan. I knew his attack had changed but I couldn't put my finger on just what it was.

When did his post up game really blossom? 2 seasons ago? That could have been the biggest change.

[The Great One]

I'm being finicky but....spot up = catch and shoot

There's a HUGE difference between a catch and shoot 3 and a spot up 3.

Spot up 3

Catch and shoot

[Mess]

Hm I suppose I should have realized that's what you meant - or that's what it refers to.

[DanH]

There's a HUGE difference between a catch and shoot 3 and a spot up 3.

Spot up 3

Catch and shoot

You are drawing a funny line. The real comparison is a catch and shoot versus an off-the-dribble (pull up) shot. How you get to the shot can be any number of plays, such as Allen's off-screen play, or Frye's spot up shot. The confusion comes from all spot up shots being catch and shoot.

[tDotted]

Just read an article where it says: Is this the year DeRozan adds a 3pt shot?

I'm hopeful but he should've added a 3pt shot his game a LONG, LONG time ago. And i'm not talking about spot up 3. That is EASY. I'm talking about off the dribble 3, catch and shoot...

Three to four spot up 3s a game is enough for me, you can't expect him to develop into an elite three point threat in one season. Goal for 2017-18 is to keep defenses honest with his range.