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  • "Third of the way there" Report Cards

    We are now just over a third of the way through the season, and I figure it's a good time to step back and see where everyone's opinions lie on performance. This is my unofficial mark where you have to stop saying "it's early", as we have a good sample size now to take meaningful stock.

    That said, I will give my grades and a brief synopsis. You guys can do the same, synopsis optional, or change it a bit if you like. My grades are based on expectations vs performance, ie, I'm not judging Siakam on the same scale as Banton.

    Grades:
    A: Outstanding/Very Good
    B: Good/Pretty Good
    C: Medicore/Meh/OK
    D: Bad/Awful

    Fred VanVleet: B+ Outlined my thoughts in another thread. Shown great leadership skills, and done an amazing job in his "promotion". Debated A-, Consistency could use a little work, he's good for 30, then good for a awful shooting night. Needs to work on being a better quarterback in the coming year or 2 as Trent and Barnes increase their roles.

    Pascal Siakam: C+ Moving closer to the B's lately, but between slow start, up and down defense, and inconsistent offense, not there quite yet. On the right track the last couple weeks, but I'm judging him over his body of work so far.

    OG Anunoby: B+ This is strictly on his 15 GP. Showed great promise into taking a leap offensively. Very inefficient however, which hurts grade. Defense stellar as always, which settles him in at the high B's

    Gary Trent Jr: A- Huge fan of what junior has brought to the table. Shooting a very nice %, bring his brand of offense, but it's the defense that brings him an entire grade up. For the first time in his career he grades out as a plus defender, which makes him a 2 way player I'd be very comfortable counting in as part of my 5 year core.

    Scottie Barnes: A+ Nuff said. All hail Masai. Stay healthy, keep developing, work on that court vision to go along with that all world passing ability and sublime mid range game.

    Precious Achiuwa: D+ Was considering not being so harsh, because his rim protection is pretty good, but I can't stop staring at those efficiency numbers, they hurt my eyes when I look. Luckily he's a young center and there's hope for the kid yet.

    Khem Birch: B. Khem Birch will grade as a B for the rest of his boring ass yet solid 15 year career. Hopefully he gets healthy soon.

    Chris Boucher: D He's come around a bit lately. Not sure about his attitude. Needs to figure it out to keep a good rotation job in the NBA going forward.

    Delano Banton: A- Has certainly slowed down lately, but he wasn't expected to be nothing more than a G league project this year, so I'll throw him an A-

    Svi Mysomething: C- Not a big Svi fan. Nurse likes him. Or he's all we got? Has glimpses. Fun to say his name. SVEEEE!

    Yuta Wantanabe: C+ Some guys love him here, I'm more meh. Has energy. Can shoot. Has potential. Like him off the bench.

    Goran Dragic: D- We all hoped he'd be a good backup guard to either help make playoffs or get good return at deadline. Now he's just an expensive tab we picked up. Another failed big name coming North reminiscent of the dark days of Raps hoops.

    Malachi Flynn: D. This kid has done nothing to make me think he's come any bit further since last year. Strikes me as a little entitled.

    The rest: Too small sample.

    Team Grade: C+. I guess "they are who we thought they were", Because I call C+ "OK". Raps are wildly inconsistent, but the glimpses are there. To be fair, injuries a plenty. Where this season ends up is anyones guess, best (BEST) case scenario is maybe still first round upset against a beaten up 3rd seed, opposite end best case is a top 3 pick. Likely scenario is where we are right now, around 11th place, cheering for one more year of ping pong balls as we continue to craft a new young core.
    Last edited by KeonClark; Wed Dec 15, 2021, 03:39 PM.
    9 time first team all-RR, First Ballot Hall of Forum

  • #2
    Scottie Barnes: A+ He's performing better than we could all imagine. Sky is the limit is overused phrase but in this case it's warranted.
    Fred Van Vleet:A. I gotta keep expectations fair. I never thought he was All-Star point guard or the type of point guard to single handily lead the team to playoffs. He's not that guy and shouldn't be put in sitution he's in. But he embraced it and he's being a great vocal leader. For a guy who is 6 foot tall on a good day you can't ask for more.
    Pascal Siakam: B. Came back earlier than expected from injury. Took a while to adjust. It is what it is for Siakam. Could he perform better? Yes but its becoming to look abundantly clear that his hot shooting years from 3 were because of low volume and aberration. He needs to shoot 3s from corners more but that means moving him away from being a creator and more role-playing which i doubt will happen this year. His long two shooting looking good.
    Gary Trent Jr.: A. Potential is looking good. At 22 he's in long plans for this team. A better version of Terrence Ross when he was here. Fearless shooter.
    OG Anunoby: B. Disappointing that he got injured once again. Half court creation looks unbalanced and clumsy. He doesn't have the feel for scoring and will never be a pure scorer. His scoring came from opportunity and over abundance of touches. But he's still best perimiter defender on this team and a guy I can trust when he shoots from 3. This is development year so he can have all ISOs that he wants but I wonder if it'll ever translate to something meaningful in playoff-ready iteration of this team.
    Precious Achiuwa: C Don't really see a long-term project in him. Do we want to invest in undersized center? His future will depend on his ability to shoot and he's not really showing a lot. That one hot 3 point shooting night is intriguing but can't really take it seriously yet. Even if he reaches his potential I think he's bench big.

    Bench

    Dalano Banton: A.
    Second round pick getting consistent minutes. Can't ask for more.
    Khem Birch: C+ Hard to grade. He missed a lot of games and never really felt his impact on a team.
    Svi Mychaliuk(no google) D. Alex Wong brought a stat that he didn't make 3 threes in one game. Shooter who can't shoot.
    Yuta Watanabe: D+. Love the hustle, the heart but not consistent enough.
    Malachi Flynn: F. I mean he's struggling. But I think he's still young and it's ok for him to stay and develop. Not in the rush to dump him but him overtaking Fred is not happening EVER.
    Chris Boucher: F. He's a vet age but we treat him like a young guy. I can't trust him and trust is bare minimum for bench player. I don't know what I'm gonna get.

    Goran Dragic: DNP

    Only one thing matters: We The Champs.

    Comment


    • #3
      it's early


      FVV: A+ Is the best Raptor on the team, and took that mantle away from Pascal. He just has to do to much since our team sort of sucks. But without him we would be an all-time trash team. Just look at his on/off splits. He's a warrior. And hope he can stay healthy. If he goes down, we're definitely tanking. He's not a superstar, and may not be an all-star (and that'll be based on team record, not personal record), but deserves to make it.

      Pascal: B He started off poorly. Maybe was a conditioning issue. I root for him. During a good stretch there he was putting up similar stats to his all-nba season. But he's really regressed at 3pt shooting again. And cannot really be counted on like DeMar back in the day. Has really shown a lot in the mid range though. Becoming really efficient. Wish he didn't shy away from contact. He'd be an amazing player if he went up strong to the rim. Still a great defender (but sucked early on). I think he's on track to finish the season at an A. We'll see.

      OG: B+ The injury really derailed his great start to the season (outside the first couple of games which were dogs). Showed that he can be decent number one option. Get back soon buddy.

      Scottie: A+ I was a Suggs guy and really didn't want any part of Scottie. Been munching on crow every time I see him play. We have to be prepared to pay him a max/supermax because he'll have earned it. But we luckily have him on a rookie scale for the next little while. Best rookie we've had since Vince.. which is incredible.

      GTJR: B+ A lot better than I thought he was going to be. His nastiness on defense is awesome. He's one of our most consistent scorers. Would be crazy good off the bench. He's basically a young Beal right now (with better defense). Needs to learn to pass it some more though. And maybe try not to go for a steal on every play.. gets him out of position. I don't think he'll be on the team in 2-3 years though. Just a gut feeling. As such, I don't really root for him so hard.

      Precious: C+ I'm not as low on him as others. His offense is really bad (but he has a nice looking stroke which is weird). But his defense is excellent. No joke, but after OG I think he's our best defender. It's hard to score when he's defending you. And does a really good job grabbing boards despite his length issues. I like that he learned to pass it out to OG/Pascal when he's got the ball. More of that and he'll be fine. He's basically baby Biyombo right now.. but has the potential to be way more than he was.

      Birch: C I think he's solid, but I don't really remember seeing him play much. He's been on like a minute restriction all season, and then got hurt again. He's a good offensive rebounder. Really good on the short roll where Fred can pick up 5 assists by just dropping it to him in the paint. Just haven't seen him enough.

      Banton: B He may have a great career.. but he's got to learn how to shoot. You can't really be a PG in this league and not be able to shoot. It'll be a problem and he could become unplayable. But positives: love his energy. Love his playmaking skills. He uses his length to his advantage.

      Boucher: D He did great against the Kings.. but has been pretty terrible to the point where even a $7M, expiring contract would look like a bad contract and may likely be tough to trade.

      Svi: C I don't think he's as bad as people make him out to be. He always has one of those plays where he gets a steal and dunk/layup out of nowhere. Has a really nice stroke and it feels like he should be reliable from 3. I think he'll get more consistent there. His defense is pretty bad. Our bench overall stinks and is the biggest problem with our season this year, and he's a big part of it. But it's tough to give him a D. C- seems pretty harsh as well. So sticking with C.

      Flynn: D He's just not that great. Again he was fun to watch against the Kings. But yeah he sort of just sucks. He needs more development. Or a trade. Banton deserves to be ahead of him in the pecking order. His size is also a concern for me. He just needs so much help to get a clean look, and we don't have any PnR bigs for him to roll with. Our system isn't really well designed for what he brings to the table. I think he'll have a DJ Augustin type of career. He'll look good somewhere else for a bit, but that's fine.

      Watanabe: C+ Better than Svi. Nurse likes him as the first player off the bench which is fine. Love his energy. Really good defense at times. But if he's not shooting well, he's not adding anything else to the table on the offense. And that's a problem. Again worst bench in the league.

      Champagnie: C+ Need to see more of him. 4 missed wide open 3's were a bad sign yesterday. Leaving that OKC guy wide open for a 3 was bad.. but almost made that tip in on time which was good. Made the same mistake on Randle who missed. So plays like a rookie. Has a lot of potential.. he's pretty great on the boards.

      Goran: F I mean he isn't playing.. and when he did, he was pretty bad. I guess he's a pro, and a good friend to Scottie. So that's good, I guess? Hope we can get something back from him, but I suspect a buyout since nobody will want him at $19M.

      Comment


      • #4
        Scottie Barnes: A+. Can I add a few extra pluses? I don't mind repeating myself in this regard. Experts claimed Scottie wasn't ready offensively and here he is becoming a solid mid range shooter and a consistent 3pt shooter in less than 30 games. I took their word for it and figured he'd average 20 mins a game and less than 10 PPG and be where he is now in 2 or 3 year. He is averaging 35 mins, 16 PPG and has been nothing short of spectacular.

        Pascal Siakam: B. He got off to a slow start, but he has been solid overall. He is improving every year still. Playmaking improved last season and his mid range looks like it got a lot better this year.

        Fred VanVleet: A- First year without Kyle and he has been very good. Improved his FG% and 3P% from last year. He has mistakes but he has been very good.

        OG Anunoby: B+. He has shown flashes of shot creating ability in a development year. Has looked good at times and awkward at times. He can always fall back on his terrific 3&D game, so its fine seeing him try to expand his game. Too bad he has been injured.

        Gary Trent Jr.: A. He has been great. His defense has improved, his deflections and his ability to create shots off the dribble. Still pretty young, but he has a bright future.

        Precious Achiuwa: C. He is still pretty raw. His rim protection has been solid, but offensively, his touch isn't there and he still needs time to develop.

        Khem Birch: C+. In a perfect world, he'd be a quality backup C. He is a fine serviceable big though. Not impressed or any negative thing to say. Just like OG, too bad he is injured.

        Chris Boucher: D. His 3 has fallen off a cliff and he bites on every fake. He hasn't been good. I think he gets traded by the deadline.

        Dalano Banton: A. Only bench player that deserves a good grade. I didn't expect much from him being a 2nd rounder, but he has been solid. He has work to do on his jumpshot (I thought Scottie would be where Banton is). He has potential though and could be a steal in the second round. Also being a Toronto native, I'm gonna root for him.

        Svi Mykhailiuk: D+. He has had some games where he has been okay, but overall for a guy who just needs to hit shots, he has been inconsistent.

        Yuta Watanabe: D+. He plays with energy, but isn't consistent enough to be a 3&D guy, also doesn't help the rest of the bench stinks.

        Malachi Flynn: D+. He hasn't gotten many minutes, but outside of the Kings game, he hasn't been good in the minutes he has gotten. Basically got jumped by a 2nd round rookie in the rotation. Champagne might jump him too.

        Justin Champagne: C. I'll give him the default grade. Hasn't played much, but he had a nice clutch bucket and an almost gamewinner against OKC. Blew the defensive coverage on Muscala though.

        Isaac Bonga: C. Again default grade. Don't expect much from him, but he is young, so who knows.

        Goran Dragic: N/A. He isn't part of the roster. Front office probably gave him time to spend the holidays with his family until he gets traded or bought out.
        Last edited by A.I; Wed Dec 15, 2021, 06:46 PM.

        Comment


        • #5
          FVV - A+
          Barnes - A+
          Trent - A-
          OG - B
          Birch C+
          Siakam - C-
          Precious - C-
          Banton - C
          Champenny - C


          Yuta - F
          Boucher - F(what's worse than F?)
          Flynn - F
          Svi - F
          Bonga - F

          Dragic - N/A
          Mamba Mentality

          Comment


          • #6
            This should be the Scottie Barnes bell curve

            Comment


            • #7
              How about coaching?

              Comment


              • #8
                Main Guys

                Barnes - A
                FVV - B
                Trent - B
                Precious - C
                OG - C
                Siakam - C
                Birch- C

                Barnes has been way better than advertised and has been surprisingly consistent for a rookie. Fred has been great overall but his decision-making in key moments drops him to a B. Trent feels like a B even though he's had some big games. OG and Siakam have missed lots of games and neither has had much impact on winning games. Birch and Precious have both been okay but the injuries knock them down to a C. Some of these seem low but it feels right for a 13-15 team.

                The Rest

                Banton - C
                Svi - C
                Boucher - D
                Flynn - INC (lack of playing time caveat)
                Champenny - INC (barely played)
                Yuta - INC (injury, barely played)
                Bonga - INC (barely played)

                Banton probably deserves a B on a curve cause he really shouldn't be playing at all, let alone contributing, but he also hasn't been a consistent contributor. Svi has had some nice moments but he takes too much off the table. Boucher is a classic case of a player who can't keep up when expectations change. Flynn hasn't had a real chance and the other guys have barely played, so it's hard to give them grades.

                Coaching Staff - B. I'm not sold on the overall strategy in terms of the offense but they are 13-15 despite having a lot of key guys out at different times, so the staff deserves credit for treading water. I like how they've handled Barnes and getting Banton involved over Dragic and Flynn took some balls. Nurse has also dialed back the constant bitching and moaning like a four-year old which is a personal pet peeve of mine, so he gets bonus marks for doing better at maintaining his composure.
                Last edited by slaw; Thu Dec 16, 2021, 12:37 PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  So hard to judge guys. Getting tossed around into different roles with all the injuries, or being asked to do too much or play too much, but I'll give it a shot.

                  Fred VanVleet: A. Has essentially powered the Raps to every win they have, and most losses can be pinned on his rest minutes (the scant few he gets). Improving as a playmaker, seems engaged with Barnes as a teacher, has gotten to show off his off ball lethal attack a few times as Nurse starts to trust Pascal and Scottie to create more. Has also shown off his limitations trying to create for himself late in games, but his overall shot selection at the rim is dramatically better than last year (with an uptick in efficiency there as a result) and I expect as Scottie gets more comfortable for the team to spread that late game stuff around a bit. Defensively a menace, as ever. Give him an A, with room for improvement as he settles into a more comfortable role if the team gets healthy enough to truly spread the ball around.

                  Pascal Siakam: B. Has been working into form, and really looking great of late, but early season struggles keep this as "good" not "great." Defence has come around, and he's doing a lot of stuff offensively very well, even more varied in attack than he was over the past couple seasons. Playmaking still there. Stats looking real reminiscent of his all-NBA season. Really looking forward to more stuff with him and Scottie playing off each other, lots of fun glimpses of what could be already.

                  OG Anunoby: A. Great defence. Huge strides as an offensive weapon in Pascal's absence, even with an expected dip in efficiency on the learning curve. Still spaces the floor. He's a perfect player. Need him healthy.

                  Gary Trent Jr: B. Almost an A based on expectations. His defence has not been as good as his activity would indicate, but if you can't be truly good, be active, and he sure has been. Very happy with his efforts on that end. Astonishing shot maker including pull ups, something the team has really needed especially with their injuries. We'll see if the percentages hold up but great returns so far. Has even improved over the season at shot selection, now getting to the rim sometimes, even if he's still usually limited to a contested jumper on most attacks. Baby step improvement in that shot selection and a little passing and we'll be cooking with gas. Really interested to see if he can continue his success off the bench if we are ever healthy enough for him to be in that role.

                  Scottie Barnes: A+++. Breaks the scale. Way beyond anything I could have expected at the draft, even after digging deep after the Masai selection and finding reasons for optimism outside of the consensus evaluation. Has even seemed to break through the rookie wall this past stretch after a lull last month, and his improvement from game to game on both offence and defence is incredible to watch.

                  Precious Achiuwa: C. Wasn't expecting him to be immediately great, and he's been incredibly hot and cold (more cold, unfortunately). His finishing inside is a disaster, but he shows glimpses of good things to come. His defensive rebounding is helpful and his man defence is often quite good in our switch heavy style but he's also as hopeless as Boucher with knowing where to be in help situations or zone defences. Would look better against bench opposition for a season before getting the starting group promotion, but with Birch hurt early he got the early call and the results were predictably poor. Looking forward to continued improvements from him.

                  Khem Birch: B. Birch has been exactly what Birch always is. Solid. Tremendous finishing on the roll, decent defence, boxes out. Hasn't really built on the glimpses of floor spacing he was showing off late last year. Should be our starting C, but even as a bench stabilizer is very much missed right now.

                  Chris Boucher: D. Getting there with the production as a starter, but if he needs to start to be productive there's no place for him here. Need his scoring off the bench, and he's been brutal, and without it his defensive lapses and inability to ever box out make him impossible to play - unless literally everyone in front of him is injured, as it currently stands. Need to see way more from him.

                  Delano Banton: A. Struggled of late, but even his recent performance is way beyond what anyone would have expected.

                  Svi Mykhailiuk: B. Mostly built on low expectations. The defence has been bad, the shot has come and gone, but has been part of a few good stints. For a guy who is likely out of the rotation when we are fully healthy, has performed well. Just no fun having to watch him play so much.

                  Yuta Watanabe: B. Love him. Defence is tremendous, was much missed by the bench most of the year. Shooting starting to come around abit but still not there. Quality bench piece.

                  Goran Dragic: F. Barely tried when he did play, didn't fit well when he did, and clearly both he and the team feel better off away from each other. Grade could go up if they get value in a trade.

                  Malachi Flynn: C. Very little opportunity, has made some good plays and some questionable ones, but just can't hit a shot to save his life. Still, looking like trade bait right now, even with Banton hitting a wall of late.
                  twitter.com/dhackett1565

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I reserve A’s for all star level play plus we have a losing record i cant in good conscience grade anyone but barnes to B stats
                    FVV - C-
                    Barnes - B
                    Trent - C-
                    OG - C
                    Birch D
                    Siakam - C
                    Precious - D
                    Banton - C
                    Champenny - D


                    Yuta - C
                    Boucher - D
                    Flynn - F
                    Svi - D
                    Bonga - F

                    Dragic - N/A

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      grindhouse wrote: View Post
                      I reserve A’s for all star level play plus we have a losing record i cant in good conscience grade anyone but barnes to B stats
                      FVV - C-
                      Barnes - B
                      Trent - C-
                      OG - C
                      Birch D
                      Siakam - C
                      Precious - D
                      Banton - C
                      Champenny - D


                      Yuta - C
                      Boucher - D
                      Flynn - F
                      Svi - D
                      Bonga - F

                      Dragic - N/A
                      grindhouse, The Claw, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter:

                      9 time first team all-RR, First Ballot Hall of Forum

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        KeonClark wrote: View Post

                        grindhouse, The Claw, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter:

                        FVV - F - his trash, selfish... why i said trade this midget for someone who knows their limitations (marcus smart)
                        OG - F - his injury pron
                        scottie barnes - A+ - the future, should be starting point guard... needs more shots, give him the ball! my opinion.
                        siakam - F - his weak, mentally fragile. fail
                        precious - F - pass the ball to scottie f#c%in idiot
                        banton - A - should be starting point guard. size advantage, post him up nick!
                        nurse - F - his coaching trash, team sucks, win more games
                        masai - A - best GM in the league

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          The grades I'm giving out are based on my expectations for the player prior to the season.

                          Barnes - A+. His defense is so good as a rookie the anticipation of what it will look like after a few seasons has me pumped! His offense is way ahead of what anyone thought and with his vision I start to draw some comparison to LeBron as far as how he might be used on offense.

                          FVV - A. Best player on the team right now and some games it's not even close. He's taken on the role of the team leader, the locker room respects him, he's improved his shooting efficiency, creating well for others and the defense is still in the top percentile for his position.

                          Siakam - B+. Starting to round back into form, and bringing more effort on defense the last few games. Not a big fan of his when he makes up his mind to score. Not sure what the stats say about his ability to drive and kick, but I don't see enough of that from him which is a shame because he probably draws the most attention when he gets into the paint.

                          Trent Jr. - A-. He's become a consistent shooter and defender and to me that is the most important part about being a starter, you have to perform at or near expected levels every game. He's still really young and has a lot of room to grow. I see him as a 20 pt. per night scorer when he hits his prime.

                          OG - B+ - This grade should be higher, but I wasn't a fan of OG isolations early in the season. It's a down year so working on his offense in-game isn't the worst thing in the world but I just thought he's a bit slow, robotic and telegraphed his moves way too much. He's so good playing off ball as a catch and shoot guy though, I wish he'd work on that more sort of like Rip Hamilton in his prime.

                          Precious - C. I'm happy with the defense and he's been solid on the boards for a team that badly needs that. His decision making on offense though has been awful and he has shown zero touch around the rim. Unlike McCaw, I think force feeding Precious minutes will help him in the long run.

                          Birch - B-. He's looked really polished on offense even if not spectacular. He knows his limitations there. Decent defender, but he avoids contact which is a problem. Stop gap C.

                          Banton - B. Sometimes spectacular, sometimes out of control. More good than bad but he doesn't bring that consistency a coach needs in order to rely on them for steady minutes. Really makes me appreciate Barnes because Delano in every way is your typical rookie and Barnes performs like a guy that's been in the league for years. Delano's got a really unique skill set and lots of room to grow, so I'm excited about him.

                          Svi - C. Nice overall game but too inconsistent.

                          Boucher - C-. Wildly inconsistent on both side of the ball.

                          Flynn - C-. Giving Flynn a low grade because I was expecting a lot more from him this season. When it became apparent Lowry was on his way out I voiced that we would be in trouble with Flynn as the primary back to FVV. He was demoted before he was able to prove me right or wrong, and the raps have gone with a late SRP in his rookie season instead. Maybe the demotion is due to the type of long players the Raps are seeking for their schemes, but so far it's been a really disappointing season for Flynn.

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