Everything VanVleet

[Mitch P]

ESPN projected award winners have Fred third for sixth man. He got no first place votes but still.....for a guy averaging 8 points a game it's great to see the recognition. Ironically during the past few weeks he might have slipped behind Pascal or Delon in the Raptors own 6th man ranking....but over the season he was the man.

[Jclaw]

From Blake's article on the Athletic. This quote from Freddy for what happened right after he got hit by that illegal screen in Miami is priceless.

“People thought it was a concussion. It's not a concussion,” VanVleet says. “I got hit, I got whacked, but I passed all my tests. I was pissed when I got up. They picked me up off my feet, and I'm little so my feet are fucking dangling."

[gorapsgo]

Couldn't agree more.

The starters are currently learning how you run a ball movement offence from Fred VanVleet. Need him around to continue to tutor Kyle and DeMar, not to mention the fact that the second unit minus VanVleet is useless. He makes that whole thing go, and if you want those young guys to continue to perform you need Fred there. Nobody on the team plays harder than Fred.

3rd highest Net Rating in the NBA!!!

Let's see how he does in the playoffs. My money is on him being this year's Norm.

Thank you very much. Now accepting praise and congratulations. If you have any other raptors related questions, please let me know.

[gorapsgo]

Couldn't agree more.

The starters are currently learning how you run a ball movement offence from Fred VanVleet. Need him around to continue to tutor Kyle and DeMar, not to mention the fact that the second unit minus VanVleet is useless. He makes that whole thing go, and if you want those young guys to continue to perform you need Fred there. Nobody on the team plays harder than Fred.

3rd highest Net Rating in the NBA!!!

Let's see how he does in the playoffs. My money is on him being this year's Norm.

Would have to disagree.

The best 5-man unit in terms of +/- in the NBA is the Raptor's bench, and Fred is the PG. That makes him among the most valuable PGs in the NBA. And keep in mind, lineups 2-5 on that list are Starting 5's from other teams!! Where are our starters on that list!!? Biggest mistake Casey made against Miami was putting the starters back in in the 4th Q...kind of sad really

If you look at the second unit when Fred isn't in, like when Norm is in or Demar is in with them instead, then it quickly turns into garbage half-court sets and they do in fact look lost. So yes, I would say the 2nd unit is useless without Fred to guide it.

Overall I would say more often than not, Fred has been the 1st or 2nd most important player on the court on any given night for the Raps, especially when you consider all the games that the 2nd unit has won for the Raps this season.

Uno Mas . Game 6, Fred was the second best Raptor on the court. He had a better game than Demar in terms of what a player means to whether their team wins or loses. Without Fred, we would have lost that game. I say second behind Kyle, because Kyle did have a great game and played more minutes.

Anyone who thinks Ibaka or JV are more important to this team than Fred needs a check-up.

[Puffer]

...Anyone who thinks Ibaka or JV are more important to this team than Fred needs a check-up.

Maybe without JV in Game 6, there is no need to put Fred in except for garbage time minutes

[Mitch P]

Anyone who underestimated the value of Fred to this team surely must be convinced by his return in game six. The players clearly know it from post game comments. Casey needed no convincing. I'm still worried that he could reinjure the shoulder later in the playoffs but if he did it wouldn't change anything long term. I'm glad this happened in a way because I can't see any way now that they will fail to resign him. I'm very fond of this team and I'd love to see Fred, Pascal, Delon and Jak grow up together as Raptors. Odd that JV is almost the same age as we've already watched him grow up. Fred is just such a strong person and natural leader; talk of him being an easily replaceable journeyman point guard is so misguided.

[JawsGT]

FVV is amazing and has been for most of the season, but I cannot put him ahead of JV...Ibaka yes, but not JV. JV strengthens the starting unit in a similar way that Fred does for the second unit.

[gorapsgo]

JV is interchangeable with a couple dozen other NBA centres who would give you an equivalent result. JV doesn't do anything that can't be replaced. He took steps this year, but he is still an average NBA centre at best. On most playoff teams he would not start, that's a reality. Offensively he is maybe even above average now, but defensively he's a liability because he's just slow. And that's his ceiling. He isn't all the sudden going to start running faster magically, or get quicker feet.

If the Raptors didn't have Kyle, Fred would be the starting PG every night and probably wouldn't miss a beat.

[S.R.]

"On most playoff teams he would not start."

The Toronto Raptors are the 2nd highest playoff seed in the entire NBA and he started + is arguably the team's 3rd best player.

[JawsGT]

JV is interchangeable with a couple dozen other NBA centres who would give you an equivalent result. JV doesn't do anything that can't be replaced. He took steps this year, but he is still an average NBA centre at best. On most playoff teams he would not start, that's a reality. Offensively he is maybe even above average now, but defensively he's a liability because he's just slow. And that's his ceiling. He isn't all the sudden going to start running faster magically, or get quicker feet.

If the Raptors didn't have Kyle, Fred would be the starting PG every night and probably wouldn't miss a beat.

Thats crazy talk Fred. And you don't give JV enough credit...I'd like to see that list of 24 other NBA centers that could replace JV without affecting the Raps.

[Abbas]

[/B]

Thats crazy talk Fred. And you don't give JV enough credit...I'd like to see that list of 24 other NBA centers that could replace JV without affecting the Raps.

Embiid, Cousins, Jokic, Gobert, Towns, Horford, Capela, Adams

Those are 8 centers who can either make raps better or remain the same.... JV is easily a top 10 center in the league and I'm hopeful he'll by top 5 center sooner than later

[JawsGT]

Embiid, Cousins, Jokic, Gobert, Towns, Horford, Capela, Adams

Those are 8 centers who can either make raps better or remain the same.... JV is easily a top 10 center in the league and I'm hopeful he'll by top 5 center sooner than later

Cousins...pass...dudes a bum. And neither Gobert, Capela or Adams can do for this team what JV does. We might be a little better defensively with those guys, but offensively I think we take a step back. JV actually spaces the floor.

[Superjudge]

Cousins is a bum?
haha

Got it.

[JawsGT]

Cousins is a bum?
haha

Got it.

yep, he's been judged lol. Whiner and a baby...ain't no pro!

[S.R.]

FVV takes this from a 6 or 7 man team to a 10 man team. Amazing.