Game 39: Raptors @ Pistons, Friday January 14th 2022, 7 pm, TSN

[The Claw Reborn]

The next evolution of Van Vleet as a player is understanding his limitations, if his shots are not there then let Siakam and OG take over.

Fwiw, Derozan took that next step under Popovich.

emptying the clip is so shortsighted

[Kagemusha]

The next evolution of Van Vleet as a player is understanding his limitations, if his shots are not there then let Siakam and OG take over.

Fwiw, Derozan took that next step under Popovich.

emptying the clip is so shortsighted

His motto is all about betting on himself.
Maybe deferring isn't in his DNA

[MixxAOR]

sigh....Fred is leading the team in assists. If Siakam and OG want to take over they need to go and show that ability.

[MixxAOR]

I'm all for Fred being in lesser role. But it needs to happen organically. There's nobody Fred can actually defer to. Maybe Barnes when he develops.

[The Claw Reborn]

His motto is all about betting on himself.
Maybe deferring isn't in his DNA

Unlike Siakam…VanVleet has the moxy and attitude of fearlessness….why he is can be so clutch on most nights….as I mentioned just a few posts back, he is a legit 3rd or 4th option to a championship team but believing that he is a no.1 option, the way he is racking up minutes and the volume of shots, that could be a major leap. That being said, the way they are utilizing him vs. the way they are utilizing Scottie Barnes will have a significant outcome down the road.

[Dvdvideo]

Yes, but that drives home the point how fragile the offense is game to game. The top 5 can play with anyone if they play near perfect defense but they can’t do that for 48 minutes. Once it goes to the bench they have no weapons at all. Some of it is the system and you can’t fix personnel all at once but it needs to be addressed this off-season.

I think that's unfair really, many good teams in the league lose games with one of their starters is out. The pistons game wasn't the best example, but look at how well the raps did shorthanded against the Suns and now beating the bucks.
I don't deny our bench needs improvement, but if we could just someone have our starters around for a bunch of games that would improve too, as would our win column.

[DanH]

Yuck. Stupid loss. Made it close-ish in spite of awful shooting but that just can't happen. Weird team.

[The Claw Reborn]

Yuck. Stupid loss. Made it close-ish in spite of awful shooting but that just can't happen. Weird team.

This is odd….you seem to have the rationale to anything but yet I have the impression, you seem to not being able to put a finger why they lose.

[DanH]

This is odd….you seem to have the rationale to anything but yet I have the impression, you seem to not being able to put a finger why they lose.

That Pistons loss? There wasn't really a reason except the team not really showing up to play (and the Casey curse). What reason did you attribute that loss to?

[The Claw Reborn]

That Pistons loss? There wasn't really a reason except the team not really showing up to play (and the Casey curse). What reason did you attribute that loss to?

Nah I’d rather hear yours

[DanH]

Nah I’d rather hear yours

Literally just typed it out. I'm not sure why I try...

The team didn't show up to play. This isn't a "they were not good and no match for the mighty Pistons" game, this was "they thought they could skate to a win and no one showed up as a result" game. Throw in being slightly shorthanded and a game they usually could actually skate to a win in turns into a loss because they couldn't be bothered until late.

[The Claw Reborn]

Literally just typed it out. I'm not sure why I try...

The team didn't show up to play. This isn't a "they were not good and no match for the mighty Pistons" game, this was "they thought they could skate to a win and no one showed up as a result" game. Throw in being slightly shorthanded and a game they usually could actually skate to a win in turns into a loss because they couldn't be bothered until late.

So all the losses to Casey’s team all this time, the simplest explanation is they did not show up?

[DanH]

So all the losses to Casey’s team all this time, the simplest explanation is they did not show up?

No? There's no direct correlation between those losses. It's not really a trend. They lost THIS game because they didn't show up.

Like, the Raps used to sweep the Cavs in the regular season in LeBron's time there. Didn't mean much when the games counted. You think the Pistons take more than 1 lucky game off us in a 7 game playoff series? It's one of 82. It happens to be Casey's championship, so his team always comes to play, and it's a nothing game for us, so we often don't. It's frustrating, but nothing beyond that.

[The Claw Reborn]

No? There's no direct correlation between those losses. It's not really a trend. They lost THIS game because they didn't show up.

Like, the Raps used to sweep the Cavs in the regular season in LeBron's time there. Didn't mean much when the games counted. You think the Pistons take more than 1 lucky game off us in a 7 game playoff series? It's one of 82. It happens to be Casey's championship, so his team always comes to play, and it's a nothing game for us, so we often don't. It's frustrating, but nothing beyond that.

Haha…classic DanH