Is Demar Derozan the real future of this franchise?

[Mr.Z]

In this shitty eastern conference DD is almost worth a second unit spot on the all star team if he continues to play at this level.

[lilmamba_]

I'm loving the fact that you guys love demar

[drunkmunky]

Everyone was bashing Demar and now he's gotten so much praise.
I still think his defence needs a lot of work....

[NoPropsneeded]

Funny how Rudy Gay is supposed to be the guy who is able to get us out of droughts with his "shot creation" ability. But DeMar does a way better job of it and actually makes his shots. Rudy Gay needs to learn a thing or two from DeMar

[tucas]

My biggest problem with DeMar is he's very one dimensional. If his shot isn't falling he's has nothing to fall back on. Thats something he should learn from Rudy. Even in games where Rudy's done shit all from the field this year he's still found other ways to help. He'll distribute more, he's a hell of a better rebounder, and when he's not doing too well, he's still a half decent defender. I feel like eventually(soon), DeMar will be better accounted for, his shot won't fall, he won't do anything else, and then everyone will go back to bashing him. People praise his work ethic and how he always comes back with something new in his game each season. When was the last time he improved something that didn't have to do with scoring?

[RaptorsFan4Life]

DeMar DeRozan 26.6 PT .515 of 18.6 FG .755 of 7.0 FT .469 of 4.6 3P 4.1/0.6 RB 2.6 AS 0.6 BL 0.6 ST 2.7 TO 1.6 PF 39.3 MN 7/7 GS (last 7 games)

[tucas]

DeMar DeRozan 26.6 PT .515 of 18.6 FG .755 of 7.0 FT .469 of 4.6 3P 4.1/0.6 RB 2.6 AS 0.6 BL 0.6 ST 2.7 TO 1.6 PF 39.3 MN 7/7 GS (last 7 games)

Again nothing to fall back on.

[Masai Ujiri]

I keep saying...he is dedicated off the court, he works in the offseason and has gotten better every single year. He might now be a mega star, but you want guys like this around. despite some deficiencies, people wanna squawk about "culture" on other threads, well lets remember that here too. DD is EXACTLY the type of guy you want if you trying to start a culture of hard work, effort, and players caring about the team.

So he is the top SG in the EAST. His 3 point game, which so many forget, DIDNT EVEN EXIST 2 years ago is near the tops, AFTER a rough start, he is aggressive, draws fouls, runs the floor, and gives a shit.


And you guys want him gone?

Who the FUCK do you want instead, because Kobe is in LA, and MJ is retired.

Slow down. The top SG in the East made minced meat out of the Raptors last night, his name's Dwyane Wade.

[Masai Ujiri]

Again nothing to fall back on.

What do you mean?

What's wrong with 4 boards and 3 assists from a starting 2 guard?

[tucas]

What do you mean?

What's wrong with 4 boards and 3 assists from a starting 2 guard?

I hope this is a joke. His rebounds are decent but certainly nothing to "fall back on" as I said. His assists and passing in general are just terrible. Compare his assists to all the top SG in the league.
Demar- 2.6
Kobe-6.0(last season)-Also can fall back on defence on the rare occasion his shot is off
Harden-5.5-Also rebounds
Wade-5.5-also defends
Ellis 5.5
Beal-3.6
Gordon 3.4
Afflalo 4.3 Also plays great man defence and rebounds.
For someone who doesn't play defence you have to be able to create for others. So yes there is something wrong with averaging 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists on the season for a starting SG playing close to 40 minutes a night. He won't be able to keep up his scoring production that he's had over the last 6 or 7 games and when it does fail, he will have nothing to fall back on unlike any of the other better SG's in the league.

[tucas]

Also I consider the wing positions very similar if I included SF's in that list as well DeMar would fall even more.

[white men can't jump]

What do you mean?

What's wrong with 4 boards and 3 assists from a starting 2 guard?

nothing wrong...except that DeMar has never averaged over 4 boards per game and is one of the biggest SGs in the league. This and his D are the things that are easy to get frustrated over in regards to DeMar. His D is pretty inconsistent, and often bad, and his rebounding is very unimpressive given his size and athleticism.

Not trying to nitpick, just honestly to me the rebounding has always been an issue. There's no reason a guy with his gifts can't average at least 4.5-5 boards.

Dude is still not a two-way player, but at least his offence is finally rounding out nicely.

[Masai Ujiri]

Ship him out for picks.

[p00ka]

My biggest problem with DeMar is he's very one dimensional. If his shot isn't falling he's has nothing to fall back on. Thats something he should learn from Rudy. Even in games where Rudy's done shit all from the field this year he's still found other ways to help. He'll distribute more, he's a hell of a better rebounder, and when he's not doing too well, he's still a half decent defender. I feel like eventually(soon), DeMar will be better accounted for, his shot won't fall, he won't do anything else, and then everyone will go back to bashing him. People praise his work ethic and how he always comes back with something new in his game each season. When was the last time he improved something that didn't have to do with scoring?

Do you watch the games,,,, and know what you're seeing,,,,, or just spout stats as "insight" to what he does? This "one dimensional" thing is now becoming mindless babble. You ask what else has he improved? EVERYTHING!! Court awareness, decision making, passing, rebounding, and defense. Thing is, for those digital insights to go up depends heavily upon his teammates and what is going on around him. For example, I've seen him make some great passes to bigs (JV and Amir, both everybody's dick ride) and they screw up the finish. But keep track of those numbers for us, hey.

[Shrub]

Do you watch the games,,,, and know what you're seeing,,,,, or just spout stats as "insight" to what he does? This "one dimensional" thing is now becoming mindless babble. You ask what else has he improved? EVERYTHING!! Court awareness, decision making, passing, rebounding, and defense. Thing is, for those digital insights to go up depends heavily upon his teammates and what is going on around him. For example, I've seen him make some great passes to bigs (JV and Amir, both everybody's dick ride) and they screw up the finish. But keep track of those numbers for us, hey.

Agree.
You have a point as well, Tucas, but here's where I think the outburst of optimism comes from:

DeMar's work ethic has always been good, but the lingering question was whether he could work his way towards being good.
Some can't. This was a big question concerning his 3 pointer, for example. I, for one, feel quite encouraged by what I'm seeing. He seems to be systematically addressing his short-comings, and the reasons to believe he can't are dwindling. His handles for example, while still not great, have improved drastically - something that doesn't get mentioned often. He hasn't regressed in one area, while progressing steadily in just about all of them.

That's why I'm a converted fan.
Also, he's making better decisions and I can't talk about that enough.