How do we fix our defense?

[Lupe]

I disagree with almost everything you wrote.

This thread actually has lots of relevant critical discussion, not hate.
The defense is not about lack of desire, but as I showed, the removal of our rim protector.
Letting Lowry walk would be a disaster. I still don't get how Raptors fans can overlook everything he does for this team.
Yes our predictable offense could burn us, but removing Lowry from the equation isn't going to make us less predictable.

If Sullinger is our lifeline, we're fucked. What can he offer outside of gaudy rebounding? He shot an execrable 47.6% TS last year and doesn't protect the rim.

Lack of effort hasn't been the issue. It's more complex than not wanting it bad enough.

Preach. Sullinger is mediocre at best and not going to improve the team much if at all. And getting rid of Lowry is just crazy, would set us back so far.

[charlesnba23]

Well, if that's the way you see it...

But yeah, no, I don't agree with you.

[charlesnba23]

So you trade a young, useful wing on a long-term contract for 2 expiring contract wings who further crowd our wing rotation, making it even harder for Norm to get on the court, in a trade that doesn't make sense for either team?

Well, if that's the way you see it...

[Barolt]

They do this because Ross is younger and on a longer contract. And It's not because I don't like Ross, he's been our best player off the bench this year.

It's just that he is not a SF and that this deal would give us more space this summer while bringing something useful back.

So you trade a young, useful wing on a long-term contract for 2 expiring contract wings who further crowd our wing rotation, making it even harder for Norm to get on the court, in a trade that doesn't make sense for either team?

[charlesnba23]

But why trade two good wings for one good wing? It's a lateral move at best for them, and they're giving up a pick. I get that people want to get rid of Ross because they don't like him, but... this isn't really a reasonable trade.

They do this because Ross is younger and on a longer contract. And It's not because I don't like Ross, he's been our best player off the bench this year.

It's just that he is not a SF and that this deal would give us more space this summer while bringing something useful back.

[DanH]

Thanks for putting in the work. I still think the difference is Biz....he was a very smart defender and VERY vocal. Just think about it guys.....We don't have to make everything so complicated.

That would make perfect sense if our starting lineup was doing well but the bench had fallen apart, but that's not true. It's a drop across the board - with the smallest drop seemingly coming from the Biz to BeBe sub (as BeBe's on-court ratings are very good, and very similar to what Biz's were).

[special1]

Wow, I can't believe the RPM numbers have changed so dramatically. It doesn't even make sense, as the numbers I had for this year from ESPN are now showing up as last year's. And if I had simply misread the year... where did all of "this year's" numbers come from? They don't show anywhere now. I couldn't have imagined all of them, and I didn't misread the column, otherwise the numbers that I transcribed would show up in one of the other columns.

And we didn't play yesterday, and Jakob didn't even play Monday, so why would Jakob's number change over the last 24 hours?

I wonder if I caught them in the middle of some kind of update.

Anyways, I apologize for the misleading info. Thanks to 3inthekeon for the catch.

Fixed comparison of DRPM, last year vs this year
Kyle +1.70 vs +0.40 (regression)
CoJo -0.09 vs -1.93 (regression)
Norm +0.09 vs -0.02
DeMar -2.47 vs -1.53 (improvement)
Carroll +0.96 vs +0.49 (slight regression)
TRoss -1.41 vs -0.08 (improvement)
JJ +0.72
Patman -0.16 vs +0.87 (improvement)
Scola -0.01
Bismack +3.02
Jonas +0.64 vs +0.12 (slight regression)
Lucas +0.18 vs +1.36 (improvement)
Jakob not here last year vs +0.72
Pascal not here last year vs +0.72

Anyways I think the regression of Kyle/Cory and to a lesser extent DeMarre/Jonas is somewhat cancelled out by the improvement of the other playerslike DeMar/TRoss/Patterson and having Pascal replace Scola.

The biggest difference still looks like 1800 minutes of Bismack at +3.02.

Anyways, maybe it's time for me to step away from the numbers, I'm clearly on crazy pills.

Thanks for putting in the work. I still think the difference is Biz....he was a very smart defender and VERY vocal. Just think about it guys.....We don't have to make everything so complicated.

[BrydenB]

I think the Raptors can make minor adjustments that can help in a bunch of ways:
1) Start PPat
2) If JV is a plus offensive player then leverage him more on that end. It may even energize him on D a little more, although I do contend he isn't much of the problem
3) If Demar is spending so much energy on offense that he can't try on defense, then see point #2. Use JV on offense a little more, save some energy for defense and try a little harder.

[DanH]

Wow, I can't believe the RPM numbers have changed so dramatically. It doesn't even make sense, as the numbers I had for this year from ESPN are now showing up as last year's. And if I had simply misread the year... where did all of "this year's" numbers come from? They don't show anywhere now. I couldn't have imagined all of them, and I didn't misread the column, otherwise the numbers that I transcribed would show up in one of the other columns.

And we didn't play yesterday, and Jakob didn't even play Monday, so why would Jakob's number change over the last 24 hours?

I wonder if I caught them in the middle of some kind of update.

Anyways, I apologize for the misleading info. Thanks to 3inthekeon for the catch.

Fixed comparison of DRPM, last year vs this year
Kyle +1.70 vs +0.40 (regression)
CoJo -0.09 vs -1.93 (regression)
Norm +0.09 vs -0.02
DeMar -2.47 vs -1.53 (improvement)
Carroll +0.96 vs +0.49 (slight regression)
TRoss -1.41 vs -0.08 (improvement)
JJ +0.72
Patman -0.16 vs +0.87 (improvement)
Scola -0.01
Bismack +3.02
Jonas +0.64 vs +0.12 (slight regression)
Lucas +0.18 vs +1.36 (improvement)
Jakob not here last year vs +0.72
Pascal not here last year vs +0.72

Anyways I think the regression of Kyle/Cory and to a lesser extent DeMarre/Jonas is somewhat cancelled out by the improvement of the other playerslike DeMar/TRoss/Patterson and having Pascal replace Scola.

The biggest difference still looks like 1800 minutes of Bismack at +3.02.

Anyways, maybe it's time for me to step away from the numbers, I'm clearly on crazy pills.

It's just way too early to be looking at RPM numbers. They are barely trustworthy over a full season. Only reason BPM is more stable is because it's an approximation based on box score numbers, which normalize much faster than +/- data.

[KeonClark]

But why trade two good wings for one good wing? It's a lateral move at best for them, and they're giving up a pick. I get that people want to get rid of Ross because they don't like him, but... this isn't really a reasonable trade.

I don't think many people don't like ross this year. Seems carroll has fallen out of favor. There's redundancy with Ross and Powell both on the roster and both should be over 20 min a game, but that's not ross' fault. He's been bringing the heat. He SHOULD have had b2b game winner and game tying shots from deep.

[Scraptor]

Wow, I can't believe the RPM numbers have changed so dramatically. It doesn't even make sense, as the numbers I had for this year from ESPN are now showing up as last year's. And if I had simply misread the year... where did all of "this year's" numbers come from? They don't show anywhere now. I couldn't have imagined all of them, and I didn't misread the column, otherwise the numbers that I transcribed would show up in one of the other columns.

And we didn't play yesterday, and Jakob didn't even play Monday, so why would Jakob's number change over the last 24 hours?

I wonder if I caught them in the middle of some kind of update.

Anyways, I apologize for the misleading info. Thanks to 3inthekeon for the catch.

Fixed comparison of DRPM, last year vs this year
Kyle +1.70 vs +0.40 (regression)
CoJo -0.09 vs -1.93 (regression)
Norm +0.09 vs -0.02
DeMar -2.47 vs -1.53 (improvement)
Carroll +0.96 vs +0.49 (slight regression)
TRoss -1.41 vs -0.08 (improvement)
JJ +0.72
Patman -0.16 vs +0.87 (improvement)
Scola -0.01
Bismack +3.02
Jonas +0.64 vs +0.12 (slight regression)
Lucas +0.18 vs +1.36 (improvement)
Jakob not here last year vs +0.72
Pascal not here last year vs +0.72

Anyways I think the regression of Kyle/Cory and to a lesser extent DeMarre/Jonas is somewhat cancelled out by the improvement of the other playerslike DeMar/TRoss/Patterson and having Pascal replace Scola.

The biggest difference still looks like 1800 minutes of Bismack at +3.02.

Anyways, maybe it's time for me to step away from the numbers, I'm clearly on crazy pills.

[planetmars]

But why trade two good wings for one good wing? It's a lateral move at best for them, and they're giving up a pick. I get that people want to get rid of Ross because they don't like him, but... this isn't really a reasonable trade.

I don't think Atlanta would do that trade either (and neither would Masai).. Although Korver isn't the same guy he was 2 years ago. I like Thabo a lot but he and Ross play similar games and Ross is locked up to a very reasonable salary. Thabo could make twice as much in free agency. The pick is questionable. Not sure why Atlanta would throw that in.

[Barolt]

I suspect it's because Korver and Thabo are both UFA's and Ross is locked up for another 2 years after this one.

But why trade two good wings for one good wing? It's a lateral move at best for them, and they're giving up a pick. I get that people want to get rid of Ross because they don't like him, but... this isn't really a reasonable trade.

[planetmars]

Why does ATL trade Korver, Thabo and a pick for Ross? I'm high on Ross' value right now, but I have no idea why ATL does that trade.

I suspect it's because Korver and Thabo are both UFA's and Ross is locked up for another 2 years after this one.

[Barolt]

Trade Ross for Thabo, Korver and a pick. You trade a 3 and d player to get a real d player and a real 3 one, and cap space for summer, and another player.

You re-sign them if they want to at a cheap price, but first, you sign Ibaka.

JV/Nogueira/Poeltl
Ibaka/Siakam/Rookie
Carroll/Thabo/Caboclo
DeRozan/Powell/Korver
Lowry/Joseph/Wright

Why does ATL trade Korver, Thabo and a pick for Ross? I'm high on Ross' value right now, but I have no idea why ATL does that trade.