Why is Anderson getting this much mins? questions, questions, questions....

[Rapstor4Life]

I cant tell you guys how huge it was that Casey gave Anderson the hook after his 2 bricks last night... PLEASE CASEY PULL THIS DUDE!!!! (Yank) YES! GTFO ANDERSON RIDE THE PINE!

[isaacthompson]

Let's review, shall we?

Anderson's line, last 8 games:

24.8 minutes
6.8 PPG
2.3 APG
2.6 RPG


Wait for it, wait for it....

19/65 FG (29%)!!
3/23 3PT (13%)!!!!!!
2.5 PF

YIKES.

[mcHAPPY]

So hes been playing inconsistently. What else is new in the raptors camp? In the celtics game, gays fg% was almost as bad as Anderson's.

Almost being key word.

Some of those missed shots came on offensive rebound put backs. I don't know about anyone else but that kind of skews the fga in my opinion.

Gay certainly didn't shoot well but he did also contribute 12 rebs, 3 asts, 4 stls, and 8 trips to the free throw line/knocking down 8.

[RepRaptorsintheUSA]

AA has cooled off. In the Boston game he played "The Truth" well. Don't forget, AA was covering Kyrie Irving after the heart breaker against Cleveland. I like him as a defensive option & think his shot will improve.

[Rapstor4Life]

I do understand the JV minutes issue hes just coming back from injury, JV himself said there is still pain in his hand from it and he isnt 100% Ross under Anderson though I dont get. Anderson when he first became a Raptor I saw him as a guy that has a lot of experience to buckle down and do the right plays for the team not rushing anything and he truly was doing that great guy for any team to have at the 3rd string spot. Now though Anderson completely forgets what he is taking shots like its his team and he leads them to Ws, maybe this is why he is a journeyman right now he is working too hard for his check when all we need from him is the minimum.

[planetmars]

AA is playing because Casey loves his vets. He has last year and he has again this year. If Bargnani didn't get injured, Ed would never have gotten the minutes he did.

Casey also likes AA's defense. They are not showcasing him to trade him. He's a journey man, and if the Raptors are out of the playoffs they will probably waive him so that he can go to a contender like they did with Carter and Butler last year.

[e_wheazhy_]

it's not so much his inconsistent shooting, its the poor shot choice. and not just from him, from gay, lowry, derozan. the team looks scared to drive against kg and the "big bad celtics". we end up hacking up some terrible contested shots from the worst spots.

i understand if the clock is winding down, but i swear, sometimes the shot choice, play calling, everything on the court leaves me questioning the tenacity and intesity of this team. with these wings, this team should be doing nothing but driving. post up against KG. even if you miss some shots, get JV, Aaron Gray, rudy, amir, any one to just post up and pound him. dude's 36, get physical with him. this is why we hate the celtics, every time the raptors play them, the celtics disrupt their game a little and they fold. they dont try to change it up, they dont try anything new. they just fold, almost like they accept that they're an inferior team that's ok with losing. we as fans can't put up with that.


hows that for a rant? :P

[iblastoff]

So hes been playing inconsistently. What else is new in the raptors camp? In the celtics game, gays fg% was almost as bad as Anderson's.

[Deadallus]

Anderson

When ever he goes into one of his "I think i'm MJ modes" this is how I feel.

[Dunk]

Ross and Big V need more mins. I want to see JV! screw Gray let JV play

This

[NoPropsneeded]

Ross and Big V need more mins. I want to see JV! screw Gray let JV play

[NoPropsneeded]

Anderson was on because your boy Derozan couldn't guard an 83 year-old, let alone Paul Pierce. As minks77 has suggested,

Just goes to show that most fans just don't see Defence beyond blocks and steals. Double A was playing tough as nails man D on PP the whole 4th q. Truth is known to be a late game player and when he started to look for his AA was right in his grill and wasn't bailing him out with fouls.


He's right...

Anderson didn't do shit. I'm not defending demar at all, he let courtney lee drive past him multiple times, his defense was shit. I don't know what defence your talking about on PP, i didn't see anything good from anderson last night. Ross needs to get more minutes off the bench.

[Dunk]

The whole thing with giving him more minutes to up his value is really doing the opposite. He has been absolutely dreadful over the past month or so. Should have traded him when we had the chance.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Any ESPN Insiders? I just saw this go up... http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/nba/rumors/post?id=1828

Insight into DC's playing time decisions concerning Ross & Valanciunas?!

[nottheendoftheworld]

It would be somewhat difficult....

We have serious rotation problems, and this is something which we couldn't really judge casey on last year for a bunch of reasons.

If you look at any championship team, playoff team, or even any functioning organization in any industry...there has to be a hierarchy. This is not debatable.

I can pick any team, but a good/easy example is OKC. Westbrook basically does whatever he wants on the court and clearly believes that he should be granted immunity as far as bad shots or any other bad decisions as the point guard of the team. But, because he is a top 10 player in the league he is actually allowed to do this on a nightly basis, so long as the team is winning. It doesn't matter how good Sefelosha, or Ibaka is feeling that night, they do not get to go up in the hierarchy. They stick to what they do defensively, and Westbrook does what he does.

BUT at the end of the game, or even during the game, if Durant wants the ball, he gets the ball. Westbrook won't say anything. Everyone knows he is a top two player on the planet and that not only is he the better player, but that the Team is better off if Durant takes the shot. If Westbrook does get to take it...it has to be ok with Durant first.

The problem with our team is that we need a 9 man rotation and DC is killing us with the inconsistent messages he is sending. It makes NO SENSE to start a guy like aaron gray, or at least give him more minutes than JVAL. It makes even less sense to play anderson over Ross.

so:
JVAL, Bargs, Amir, Gay, Derozan, Lowry, Ross, Lucas (by default as a backup pg) and Fields should be the ones playing every night, no questions asked.

By playing anyone else, he is sending mixed messages to the guys that should be playing.

Most importantly, by mixing up the rotations and allowing guys like anderson to take 10 shots a game, he is not allowing us to maintain a hierarchy where we actually have some consistency on a nightly basis.

I know it's early, but this has been a problem all season (cough cough starting mcguire) and he needs to settle on a rotation and move on

How exactly was Casey supposed to define a rotation with injuries to JVal, AB, Fields, Lowry, Pietrus, Kleiza, and the trade of Calderon and Davis? A bit difficult if not impossible. In addition if a line up wasn't working, sticking to it for the sake of player's psyches doesn't amount to a winning strategy in my opinion. I see Casey straddling the line of wins vs. young player development, and that's a franchise decision that needs to be made and moved forward with.

As far as hierarchies go, Durant does not 'want the ball' and 'get the ball' .... he receives the ball inside an offensive system that is built around his number of shots per game, that his teammates understand and buy into. If he's triple-teamed all game, the hierarchy doesn't mean shit ... he's not getting it, and there are other players able to score in his stead.

I will agree that the Raps need a defined rotation, but I see them moving towards that in the right way.