Casey has fixed the defense

[Primer]

The bold is just wrong. While Lowry has been out, Lou has seen spent lots of time running the point with GV on the bench. Who is allegedly accumulating the PG minutes in those situations?

Sorry, 82games only shows the top 20 most played lineups, and Lou is the PG in zero of them. If Lowry is out for long enough maybe one of the Lou PG lineups will creep into the top 20. So to make my statement correct, Lou has played zero PG minutes while Lowry was healthy.

Also, just from the eye test, it seems more like Demar is running the point than Lou when they're both on the floor and GV isn't.

[golden]

I'm a huge fan of when Demar initiates the offense, I think he does it better than almost anyone on the team including Lowry some nights. JJ sees the floor as well as anyone on our team, I don't know if I would want to turn him into a pure point forward but I think he does it well enough already to play alongside a single guard

If DD would work on his passing, decision-making and 3-pt shot, within the structure of a true ball movement offense then he could be an extremely valuable asset. Some of those things are dependent on coaching and team philosophy, which is why I have a hard time jumping too hard onto the anti-DD bandwagon (i.e. shot selection, ball-hogging, BBIQ, drawing fouls, etc...). With his work ethic, you could easily envision him reaching a higher level of efficiency with another team and system, not unlike Rudy Gay. Problem is, in the current system his trade value isn't as high as it should be.

Player development is another issue. Hard to know if he's been specifically instructed to work on his "handles", but those are usually the clips he tweets out in the off-season. If DD is smart, he would realize that 3-pt shooters are the ones getting paid these days. Again, with his supposedly legendary work ethic, there should be no reason why an "all-star" shooting guard can't develop at least an average 3-pt shot. You would think that the Raps coaching staff would be paying for DD to work with a high-end shooting coach, in addition to these "insane handles" gurus and Hakeem Olajuwon post moves sessions.

[MACK11]

The bold is just wrong. While Lowry has been out, Lou has seen spent lots of time running the point with GV on the bench. Who is allegedly accumulating the PG minutes in those situations?

Salmons

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Lou has played 0 minutes at PG this year. He's always playing with either Lowry or Vasquez. He even has 4% of our SF minutes due to Casey super duper small lineup.

The bold is just wrong. While Lowry has been out, Lou has seen spent lots of time running the point with GV on the bench. Who is allegedly accumulating the PG minutes in those situations?

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Am I the only one who thinks DD and JJ handle and pass well enough to initiate sets? I don't get why this "we need two ball handlers" mantra is such a strong narrative. When I see GV dribble up the floor and go left to right on JV's screens four times while KL stands in the corner and the clock runs down...is that why they need two PGs on the floor?

For the sake of development I'd actually like to see JJ and Ross take turns at it more often. JJ has the tools to be a bit of a point-forward, if you can help him develop the decision making.

I think DD, JJ and Ross all have decent enough handles to be a secondary ball-handler.

During the Lakers game, I was actually doing some outside-the-box thinking, regarding DeRozan becoming a PG. When he plays the role of facilitator and doesn't try to force his own offensive game (missing Lowry and having a cold 1/10 shooting night will do that to you), he can be quite effective. I was really impressed with the way he changed his approach during that game, contributing 7 assists and 10 rebounds. Matching up against smaller PGs would also enable him to utilize his post-up game more effectively (defensively they could still play with the SF/SG/PG spots to effectively hide him). I don't expect it to happen, especially under DC, given his 'scorer' role card. However, I thought that playing PG could force him to change his approach more often, maximizing his overall contribution while limiting the inefficient things that cause the greatest backlash.

At the very least, I figured that he'd be no worse than GV or Lou as a backup PG, should his time be split across multiple positions.

[Primer]

Something else to note is that while JJ averages 20 minutes per game, he also has 11 DNPCD's, which is fucking retarded. He should be our starting SF, as he's the only true SF on the roster. The fact he can effectively play PF as well tells me that 20 minutes isn't enough, and he should be getting closer to 30 minutes per game.

Did you know, Vasquez has played 19% of the SG minutes on our team? Take all those minutes, give them to Ross, DD, or Lou and get JJ in at the 3. If defense is a priority, then GV should only play PG, period.

Also of note:
Lou has played 0 minutes at PG this year. He's always playing with either Lowry or Vasquez. He even has 4% of our SF minutes due to Casey super duper small lineup.

[Bandit]

Am I the only one who thinks DD and JJ handle and pass well enough to initiate sets? I don't get why this "we need two ball handlers" mantra is such a strong narrative. When I see GV dribble up the floor and go left to right on JV's screens four times while KL stands in the corner and the clock runs down...is that why they need two PGs on the floor?

For the sake of development I'd actually like to see JJ and Ross take turns at it more often. JJ has the tools to be a bit of a point-forward, if you can help him develop the decision making.

I'm a huge fan of when Demar initiates the offense, I think he does it better than almost anyone on the team including Lowry some nights. JJ sees the floor as well as anyone on our team, I don't know if I would want to turn him into a pure point forward but I think he does it well enough already to play alongside a single guard

[raptors999]

Am I the only one who thinks DD and JJ handle and pass well enough to initiate sets? I don't get why this "we need two ball handlers" mantra is such a strong narrative. When I see GV dribble up the floor and go left to right on JV's screens four times while KL stands in the corner and the clock runs down...is that why they need two PGs on the floor?

For the sake of development I'd actually like to see JJ and Ross take turns at it more often. JJ has the tools to be a bit of a point-forward, if you can help him develop the decision making.

DD is a SG or he isn't. If he isn't capable of shooting then he needs to ball handle. A non-shooting, non-ball handling SG isn't a thing. JJ is pretty good and probably better than Gay in areas not related to shooting.

[S.R.]

Am I the only one who thinks DD and JJ handle and pass well enough to initiate sets? I don't get why this "we need two ball handlers" mantra is such a strong narrative. When I see GV dribble up the floor and go left to right on JV's screens four times while KL stands in the corner and the clock runs down...is that why they need two PGs on the floor?

For the sake of development I'd actually like to see JJ and Ross take turns at it more often. JJ has the tools to be a bit of a point-forward, if you can help him develop the decision making.

[OldSkoolCool]

First of all, I don't understand why JJ is being publicly scapegoated, when the Raps are notoriously great at keeping things in house.

Secondly, if JJ is overhelping, then how about equally focussing on the root cause requiring that help situation.

This just smells really bad.

JJ seems like the guy who speaks his mind.

Personally that is a great trait for making a team better.

Casey is a my way or the highway coach, so like last time, JJ has ended up in the doghouse...when more likely than not JJ has probably been right.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

But is it really a problem? He's still the best defender, despite this notion, which I'm not fully convinced exists at this point. Casey might just be cutting off his own nose to spite his face at this point.

I remember it being a problem during his first stint with the Raptors and have seen him cheating a little more lately, but I don't think it's been a problem - certainly not a regular one. I am fine with DC's approach, but there are so many other players and other problems that should be taking a priority, in terms of DC's attention to detail and holding players accountable.

[Mediumcore]

Ummmm...that kind of describes our offence pretty well. Just add in "dribble the clock down" and you're bang on.

Ok, but we aren't talking about playoffs, we are talking about right now, and can you honestly remember the last time you saw a trap in the NBA? I seriously can't.

If that is the best justification that exists for why JJ is 9th on the team in MPG, then clearly something is wrong.

As I said it my previous post, that is one small example. Being handicapped with only one ball handler on the floor is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't think anyone here is projecting the issues which will be created by reducing GV and Lou's minutes and adding to JJ's. The Raptors have an entire staff that do that (and things like that) for a living.

[Bandit]

But is it really a problem? He's still the best defender, despite this notion, which I'm not fully convinced exists at this point. Casey might just be cutting off his own nose to spite his face at this point.

Nah, Just found a new way to pound the rock

[S.R.]

I don't think this has anything to do with it. I really don't know if Masai meddles, but I really don't get the impression that he interferes in any way, and that he wants the coach to feel free to coach the way they see fit.

I think Casey values ballhandling and shooting more than anything, and also vets over youngsters. So Greivis ends up getting lots of minutes, as does Lou, even though they're both streaky players who offer little in terms of all-around 2-way game. And guys like Ross and JJ get jerked around...basically because they're not vets and because their game isn't as suited to hero-ball.

Definitely.

For whatever reason, Casey always has a core group who are "his guys" who just get minutes regardless of performance. Last year that included Salmons, which drove everybody nuts. This year it's Lowry, DD, Lou, GV, Amir, PP and to a lesser extent Ross and Hansbrough.

But at the core of it is the fact that Casey loves those guards and needs good spacing for them - especially for DeMar. Hasn't he said that's one of the problems with playing JJ over PP or Amir? The media has certainly commented on it, and I think I've heard it from team sources. Basically giving DeMar space to dribble into three defenders and pump fake four times is a higher priority than getting the team's defence out of the bottom third of the league.

I'm exaggerating, obviously, but I've got the same basic beef as many of you. Certain guys on the roster have a limitless leash while other guys get sporadic minutes and regular benchings for not pleasing the coach. It would be one thing if the guys with the leash were All-NBA, but they aren't, and the guys who are getting benched are strong in some of the areas that this team is the weakest (rebounding, defence), while the guys with the limitless leash are the key contributors to some of this team's most glaring weaknesses (minimal ball movement, low FG%, bad defence, poor rebounding).

[Axel]

I definitely agree on the bold. I argued the same approach for JV and Ross going back to last season.

All I was saying is that I totally understand DC wanting to resolve a problem that has consistently been an issue going back to JJ's first time with the Raptors.

I wasn't commenting on the approach taken to resolve the problem, or JJ's overall defensive abilities/results, or comparing JJ and other players, etc... I was really just commenting on a particular issue in a vacuum.

But is it really a problem? He's still the best defender, despite this notion, which I'm not fully convinced exists at this point. Casey might just be cutting off his own nose to spite his face at this point.