Everything Pascal Siakam

[The Great One]

when everyone is synced up it looks close to unbeatable.... but if there is a player who can get targeted and then you start getting additional break downs then you see major problems..

100%

[chris]

Nope. I was talking about 1 on 1 defense NOT team defense. Can a bad defender like James Harden suddenly become a good defender if he "works" on it? nope.

Of course team defense can be taught. You can hide bad defenders if you have a good system.

well that's a lot of words to infer from what you actually said, which anyone can read above, but regardless i already gave you examples of players who improved their individual defense in a previous post.

harden can and has been much better defensively at times in his career, depending on his effort, the offensive burden he's carrying, and how fat/old/out of shape he is at any given time. he was a plus defender before he left OKC and had his moments for the rockets.

[saints91]

and when did DeRozan start being a good passer? I'll help you out, it was his fifth season, DeMar averaged 1.57 assists a game prior to his fifth season.


Per 36 DeMAr average 1.875 assists in his first 4 years, Gary averaged 1.725, not that far off.

I just don't get why guys are writing a guy off when he has clearly shown skill in his first 4 years.

[JawsGT]

and when did DeRozan start being a good passer? I'll help you out, it was his fifth season, DeMar averaged 1.57 assists a game prior to his fifth season.

Derozan didn't become a " good" passer until Pop got his hands on him. I get your point though, his passing improved alot after his 5th season, which is about where Trent is now.

[planetmars]

the reason why I have been harsh is because you need everyone to be in sync for our defence to work no weakspots... its a high wire act... when everyone is synced up it looks close to unbeatable.... but if there is a player who can get targeted and then you start getting additional break downs then you see major problems..

I do think nurse will likely be more aggressive this year with it because he said as much in the interviews he has had right when koloko got drafted.. but I wouldn't mind him switching to a SLIGHTLY more conservative style.

That's not a great system if it can get exposed by one player not playing great. Other teams can still play good team defense when one or two of their players are poor defenders. Look at Miami for example. Kyle was in and out of their line up due to injury.. they have guys like Herro and Duncan with lots of guys they picked up in the scrap heap like Struss, Vincent and Martin that aren't great defensively. They had a top 5 defense.

Dallas traded their rim protector in Porzingis for two non-defenders in Dinwiddie and Bertans and didn't skip a beat defensively. They also had guys like Doncic and Brunson who are weak defenders and "weak spots".

Golden State is another example.. Poole is a terrible defender, yet they still had the 2nd best defense in the league. Weak spots should not derail a team's defense.

Ultimately I think bad offense fuels bad defense. Raptors going through those dry spells where they can't buy a bucket hurts them on the other end as they lose in transition. That's why it's important to always have a bucket getter on the team. Even if that bucket getter isn't a 2-way player. The rest of the team can pick up the slack on defense.

[saints91]

Does he have things to improve? yes... but he's 23 and not even close to a finished product. Does he work hard? From all accounts he's a gym rat...
So, it comes down to his physical tools? He's 6'-6" (in shoes), 6-9 wingspan, average athlete (he actually did well at the draft combine).

[Primer]

Basketball is played 5-on-5, not 1 v 1. The team result is all that matters.

Raptors have elite to all-NBA defense level individual defenders and a supposedly elite defensive coach…. and yet we gave up historic ORTGs to the Sixers in the opening games of the playoff series this year, effectively losing the series. How do explain that?

We had injuries to major players up and down the roster. Easy to explain if you actually watched the playoffs.

[golden]

We had injuries to major players up and down the roster. Easy to explain if you actually watched the playoffs.

Giannis was injured the year the Bucks won the chip. They held it together until he got back.

Still though, was listening to blogger, Samson Folk, and he said we gave up historic ORTGs vs. the Sixers. Historically bad playoff defense. That's exactly the opposite of the Raptors supposedly treating the regular season as merely a warm-up for the playoffs.

[Primer]

Giannis was injured the year the Bucks won the chip. They held it together until he got back.

Still though, was listening to blogger, Samson Folk, and he said we gave up historic ORTGs vs. the Sixers. Historically bad playoff defense. That's exactly the opposite of the Raptors supposedly treating the regular season as merely a warm-up for the playoffs.

How are you still dancing around the actual issue I just pointed out?

INJURIES.

We had bad playoff defense because several key guys were injured.

[Kagemusha]

yeah for all the energy I give gary I have never said he is lazy.. I think he has physical limitations that stop put a ceiling on his lateral quickness.

Physical limitations, this almost always comes up in discussions re defense.
Truth is, willingness trumps these physical limitations.
Gary Payton, Bruce Bowen, even John Starks, all small yet stud defenders.
Sometimes these physicals come back to haunt you (Bane).

[The Great One]

and when did DeRozan start being a good passer? I'll help you out, it was his fifth season, DeMar averaged 1.57 assists a game prior to his fifth season.


Per 36 DeMAr average 1.875 assists in his first 4 years, Gary averaged 1.725, not that far off.

I just don't get why guys are writing a guy off when he has clearly shown skill in his first 4 years.

JawsGT's right. DeRozan became a good playmaker when he got traded to the Spurs BUT nobody can deny that he got better EVERY year. Can't say the same about Trent.

Trent is the same player he was 5 years ago. He can always shoot the ball. He's a streaky shooter. That's it. 1 assist/game his first 3 years. 2 last year. Improvement! Can he average 4 assists/game next year? because DeRozan averaged 4 assists/game his 5th year.

Look, there's no comparison. Trent is the complete definition of a one trick phony. He's a jump shooter, that's it. When he's jump shot is not falling he's pretty much unplayable. When DeRozan's jump shot is not falling he can still give you 20+ a night because he's a great finisher and he gets to the line 8-10 times a game.

[golden]

How are you still dancing around the actual issue I just pointed out?

INJURIES.

We had bad playoff defense because several key guys were injured.

Because, even with injuries, we still had more elite defenders than any other team in the league. You can make an excuse for the offense to fall off a cliff, but not the defense.

[Kagemusha]

JawsGT's right. DeRozan became a good playmaker when he got traded to the Spurs BUT nobody can deny that he got better EVERY year. Can't say the same about Trent.

Trent is the same player he was 5 years ago. He can always shoot the ball. He's a streaky shooter. That's it. 1 assist/game his first 3 years. 2 last year. Improvement! Can he average 4 assists/game next year? because DeRozan averaged 4 assists/game his 5th year.

Look, there's no comparison. Trent is the complete definition of a one trick phony. He's a jump shooter, that's it. When he's jump shot is not falling he's pretty much unplayable. When DeRozan's jump shot is not falling he can still give you 20+ a night because he's a great finisher and he gets to the line 8-10 times a game.

Are we seriously comparing the BEST midrange player in the game to a 5th year player? Lol

[Primer]

Because, even with injuries, we still had more elite defenders than any other team in the league. You can make an excuse for the offense to fall off a cliff, but not the defense.

No we did not have more elite defenders than any other team in the league.

What the hell are you smoking?

Even before injuries we didn't have the most elite defenders, that's nonsense, and post injuries we had a pretty weak defensive team.

[saints91]

Let's be clear, I'm not expecting Gary to be as good as DeRozan, I was merely pointing out that players can develop after their 4th year in the league. We still don't know what Gary's ceiling is, TRex is convinced he is a finished product, I disagree.

Even if Gary ends up being the 4th, 5th option or a good 6th man, with average D....who cares, that's still valuable on a team. The key is when a player understands his role, plays within it, and his salary reflects his role. Is anyone arguing that Gary is a top 3 guy on this team? I don't think so...