#FireCasey

[S.R.]

And that's why when the Masai-ah says that a lot of success in the NBA comes down to luck, I'm starting to believe him. Injuries, salary cap, free agency, the draft, player motivation, and coaching all have to line up perfectly. Makes the whole tank vs. anti-tank debate laughable, in a way. Forget talent, forget smart basketball. Luck matters more.

There can be a lot of luck in an individual season, but from the team building perspective there's also the scarcity problem - the FA and trade opportunities are actually really limited at any given time. Fans like to toss around what it would mean to acquire a given top 10 player, but these guys are hardly ever available and when they are they certainly aren't equally available to all 29 other teams - probably only 1 or 2 out of those 29 have a legit chance of acquiring a guy. What are the other 29 GM's supposed to do? Lots of teams would have loved Wiggins, but how many had a Kevin Love to give back? A bunch of GM's at any given time are left trying to get something done by building around 2nd or 3rd tier stars in two or three seasons a.k.a. before they lose their jobs.

[Mediumcore]

I badly want to believe in Fields, like he's our Shane Battier, minus the 3pt shot (which doesn't leave much); but having a hard time getting on that bandwagon. The things he does well, like moving the ball and cutting smartly, just aren't valued in our system, so I'm not sure if it matters anyway. And opposing D's knows he's not going to shoot, so they can load up even more on KL & DD isos.

Rotation-wise, if we simply started the People's Lineup (KL/DD/JJ/PP/JV) from here on in, just to see if that unit can gel, then I'd be pretty happy with Casey.

The only thing I don't like about that line up is that the spacing would be so bad without Ross. Even if he is having a down year he is a threat to shoot the 3. You'd have DD, JJ and JV all in the paint and if PP is on the perimeter with KL then there goes an opportunity to crash the board for points in the paint. Plus as much as I like what JJ brings defensively I don't know if asking him to guard a quicker perimeter player out at the perimeter for the bulk of the game is wise. Ross has a better chance of staying in front of his man if he could get his head back in the game. Even PP starting over Amir is a bit concerning for me because he's not the defender Amir is...that's a lot of pressure on JV to anchor the D.

[golden]

The only thing I don't like about that line up is that the spacing would be so bad without Ross. Even if he is having a down year he is a threat to shoot the 3. You'd have DD, JJ and JV all in the paint and if PP is on the perimeter with KL then there goes an opportunity to crash the board for points in the paint. Plus as much as I like what JJ brings defensively I don't know if asking him to guard a quicker perimeter player out at the perimeter for the bulk of the game is wise. Ross has a better chance of staying in front of his man if he could get his head back in the game. Even PP starting over Amir is a bit concerning for me because he's not the defender Amir is...that's a lot of pressure on JV to anchor the D.

I think the Ross "spacing threat" is vastly over-rated. We saw exactly what happens in the playoffs last year against Brooklyn, didn't we? By about mid-way through the series, Ross was just sitting in the corner doing nothing, while his man played off him like 10ft to double team Lowry and DD ISOs. And then Casey threw him under the bus on the final play, where the whole spacing/helping problem was magnified. Unless Ross is hitting his 3's consistently AND getting plays run for him, I feel like the spacing threat doesn't amount to much in our system, IMHO.

[S.R.]

I think the Ross "spacing threat" is vastly over-rated. We saw exactly what happens in the playoffs last year against Brooklyn, didn't we? By about mid-way through the series, Ross was just sitting in the corner doing nothing, while his man played off him like 10ft to double team Lowry and DD ISOs. And then Casey threw him under the bus on the final play, where the whole spacing/helping problem was magnified. Unless Ross is hitting his 3's consistently AND getting plays run for him, I feel like the spacing threat doesn't amount to much in our system, IMHO.

If the match-ups can handle it, KL-LW-DD-PP-JV or KL-DD-PP-AJ-JV improve the spacing. Ross keeps getting burn because they keep hoping he gets better....seems more and more like a pipe dream every day.

[Cody73]

If the match-ups can handle it, KL-LW-DD-PP-JV or KL-DD-PP-AJ-JV improve the spacing. Ross keeps getting burn because they keep hoping he gets better....seems more and more like a pipe dream every day.

I feel he has more success as a 2. But alas, we keep playing him elsewhere.

[Mr.Z]

I think it was Doug Smith who recently mentioned that Casey is trying to trim his rotation down to 9 players.
- The 5 starters
- Vasquez
- Patterson
- Lou
- Either Hansbro or JJ (depending on the game).

Looks like he's relying more on Hansbro for that final spot. JJ seems to be the odd man out for the rest of the season.

Bunch of bullshit. Why only 9 guys? What advantage does it give you to cut a guy like JJ out of the rotation?

[Nilanka]

Bunch of bullshit. Why only 9 guys? What advantage does it give you to cut a guy like JJ out of the rotation?

None that I can think of, which is exactly why Casey would do it

[raptors999]

I think the Ross "spacing threat" is vastly over-rated. We saw exactly what happens in the playoffs last year against Brooklyn, didn't we? By about mid-way through the series, Ross was just sitting in the corner doing nothing, while his man played off him like 10ft to double team Lowry and DD ISOs. And then Casey threw him under the bus on the final play, where the whole spacing/helping problem was magnified. Unless Ross is hitting his 3's consistently AND getting plays run for him, I feel like the spacing threat doesn't amount to much in our system, IMHO.

Guys standing around on the perimeter is Casey's offense. Salmons providing spacing was overrated because teams will leave him regardless of % and without any ability to score off the dribble he isn't hard to defend even open. Team will live with Salmon's shooting. Casey uses spacing to provide more lanes for Demar and Lowry when DD was injured.

JJ is needed with Lou and GV. He should always switch on ball and have Lou and GV cut off passes. Even if the switch is bad it leads to fewer blow bye then GV straight up.

[Mediumcore]

I think the Ross "spacing threat" is vastly over-rated. We saw exactly what happens in the playoffs last year against Brooklyn, didn't we? By about mid-way through the series, Ross was just sitting in the corner doing nothing, while his man played off him like 10ft to double team Lowry and DD ISOs. And then Casey threw him under the bus on the final play, where the whole spacing/helping problem was magnified. Unless Ross is hitting his 3's consistently AND getting plays run for him, I feel like the spacing threat doesn't amount to much in our system, IMHO.

The way he shot the ball in the playoffs and through this season definitely doesn't help his or the Raptors cause.

This really comes down to whether you are playing for the moment or the future. You play for the now then you put in the more effective JJ, but if you're playing for the future with the goal of developing Ross then you continue to force feed him minutes. Reason being that any angle you look at this roster, it looks much, much better with Ross giving you all the things he can bring to the table as opposed to with JJ and all of the things he brings.

[JimiCliff]

Bunch of bullshit. Why only 9 guys? What advantage does it give you to cut a guy like JJ out of the rotation?

I hate this because it's setting us up for the exact same scenario we went through last year with Fields. We're going to need Johnson's defence at some point, and then he's going to be rusty.

[Nilanka]

I hate this because it's setting us up for the exact same scenario we went through last year with Fields. We're going to need Johnson's defence at some point, and then he's going to be rusty.

We can only hope that between now and mid April, JJ supplants Hansbro in the rotation.

[Mediumcore]

We can only hope that between now and mid April, JJ supplants Hansbro in the rotation.

If we're hoping for things to happen between now and the playoffs, how about hoping Ross starts playing like Ross. Defense, and a jump shot gets us much further than just defense alone.

[JimiCliff]

We can only hope that between now and mid April, JJ supplants Hansbro in the rotation.

I actually really like what Handsbrough's been bringing to the table lately. I think we should stick to a 10 man rotation and cut down GV's minutes. As someone else mentioned, he should ONLY be coming in to give Lowry a blow. 10-15 mins per game max.

[Cody73]

I actually really like what Handsbrough's been bringing to the table lately. I think we should stick to a 10 man rotation and cut down GV's minutes. As someone else mentioned, he should ONLY be coming in to give Lowry a blow. 10-15 mins per game max.

I wonder if cutting Lou down would make GV pass more? But I do agree here that a 10 man rotation is whats needed.

[JimiCliff]

I wonder if cutting Lou down would make GV pass more? But I do agree here that a 10 man rotation is whats needed.

One of the major strengths of this team is it's depth. It's why the second unit numbers are so good. May as well lean on it a little.