Everything VanVleet

[RaptorsVictim]

its been 7 weeks or a knee bruise...last year embiid appeared to have suffered a worse bruise...sat for four weeks and when he came back appeared to not miss a beat....tehn dominated the playoffs with a slight tear in his minisucus....teh raptors have to secure the 6th so thy can give fvv a one week rest during the play-ins...that is how valuable flynn is rihgt now

I do not know why every one is not mentioning Banton, the guy is a PG and he showed some solidness in the games he played.

[RaptorsVictim]

If you think Fred being on the court is actively hurting the team, then you don't know basketball.

Fred is not hurting the team, we are afraid that he might be hurting himself.

[inthepaint]

I do not know why every one is not mentioning Banton, the guy is a PG and he showed some solidness in the games he played.

Banton is currently shrinking the floor: 40% from the field, 25% from 3, 59% from the line, as a point guard. That needs to improve a lot if he's to get consistent minutes, we need the paint unclogged for Pascal. When we don't have Fred or Flynn, we're better off having Scottie or Pascal himself run point with brooks backing it up (then backfill the frontcort minutes where Scottie/Pascal are playing point guard with achiuiwa and chris)

Only Banton's first year though. There's potential there; handle, court vision, drives, and defence are all reasonable, just need to bring the shooting to the nba level, need that as a point guard.

[slaw]

Banton is currently shrinking the floor: 40% from the field, 25% from 3, 59% from the line, as a point guard. That needs to improve a lot if he's to get consistent minutes, we need the paint unclogged for Pascal. When we don't have Fred or Flynn, we're better off having Scottie or Pascal himself run point with brooks backing it up (then backfill the frontcort minutes where Scottie/Pascal are playing point guard with achiuiwa and chris)

Only Banton's first year though. There's potential there; handle, court vision, drives, and defence are all reasonable, just need to bring the shooting to the nba level, need that as a point guard.

Banton kinda got ahead of schedule cause he does a lot of other things well and it's clear he has an interesting all-court game. The shooting is bad and the decision-making needs work but he's a rookie and he doesn't have the pedigree a lot of NBA rookies have. He just needs training and experience, which is he now getting. Give it a year or two. But he isn't a viable option right now.

[bertarapsfan]

Banton is currently shrinking the floor: 40% from the field, 25% from 3, 59% from the line, as a point guard. That needs to improve a lot if he's to get consistent minutes, we need the paint unclogged for Pascal. When we don't have Fred or Flynn, we're better off having Scottie or Pascal himself run point with brooks backing it up (then backfill the frontcort minutes where Scottie/Pascal are playing point guard with achiuiwa and chris)

Only Banton's first year though. There's potential there; handle, court vision, drives, and defence are all reasonable, just need to bring the shooting to the nba level, need that as a point guard.

Banton could still be used IMO with a bench unit if we want to get some guys a bit more rest going into the playoff. You could play him as a ball handling SF with a backcourt of Brooks and Trent and Precious and Boucher up front. All those guys will let it fly from 3 so he could attack the lanes. But yea he isnt going to be getting meaningful time this year, but you can see the potential.

[slaw]

Banton could still be used IMO with a bench unit if we want to get some guys a bit more rest going into the playoff. You could play him as a ball handling SF with a backcourt of Brooks and Trent and Precious and Boucher up front. All those guys will let it fly from 3 so he could attack the lanes. But yea he isnt going to be getting meaningful time this year, but you can see the potential.

That's Barnes' role with the second unit.

I think the rotation is pretty much set barring injury. Starters: FVV/Trent/Barnes/Siakam/OG ---- Bench (in no particularly order): Achiuwa/Boucher/Young/Birch. Brooks if FVV or Trent is out.

[golden]

That's Barnes' role with the second unit.

I think the rotation is pretty much set barring injury. Starters: FVV/Trent/Barnes/Siakam/OG ---- Bench (in no particularly order): Achiuwa/Boucher/Young/Birch. Brooks if FVV or Trent is out.

Yeah, and the second opposing coaches see Banton and Barnes in the backcourt... they go zone.

And they'd probably be on the floor with Boucher and Precious, so that's a big problem for floor spacing.

[planetmars]

Yeah, and the second opposing coaches see Banton and Barnes in the backcourt... they go zone.

And they'd probably be on the floor with Boucher and Precious, so that's a big problem for floor spacing.

Some how it worked against Denver that one time though lol

[golden]

Some how it worked against Denver that one time though lol

Yeah, the "all arms" lineups worked like a charm. We got points off turnovers & hustle that night, iirc, but I don't know how sustainable that is for the playoffs, when other teams amp up their hustle and take care of the ball. Precious also had a great game from 3, which is also hit-or-miss.

[inthepaint]

Yeah, the "all arms" lineups worked like a charm. We got points off turnovers & hustle that night, iirc, but I don't know how sustainable that is for the playoffs, when other teams amp up their hustle and take care of the ball. Precious also had a great game from 3, which is also hit-or-miss.

That was fun, but it was all about the surprise element. It was like the HomeAlone kid throwing a snowball at the bad guys to confuse them. You could see Denver didn't know who/how to guard so our guys just blitzed and ran. In a playoff setting that wouldn't work as well

[planetmars]

It depends on who the opposing coach is. A guy like Rivers or Bud could buckle and keep screwing up. Udoka or Spo would laugh at that and adjust properly.

[bertarapsfan]

That's Barnes' role with the second unit.

I think the rotation is pretty much set barring injury. Starters: FVV/Trent/Barnes/Siakam/OG ---- Bench (in no particularly order): Achiuwa/Boucher/Young/Birch. Brooks if FVV or Trent is out.

Yea im thinking more if we want to get guys less minutes these last few games or even sit some dude vs lower opponents. Banton could eat 15 to 20 mins playing the barnes role with the bench.. But come playoffs he done for the season

[golden]

That was fun, but it was all about the surprise element. It was like the HomeAlone kid throwing a snowball at the bad guys to confuse them. You could see Denver didn't know who/how to guard so our guys just blitzed and ran. In a playoff setting that wouldn't work as well

It depends on who the opposing coach is. A guy like Rivers or Bud could buckle and keep screwing up. Udoka or Spo would laugh at that and adjust properly.

But isn't that the whole point of Nurse's philosophy? To play a style & system that's built for the playoffs.

What are we saying here: that it's the exact opposite? I.E. our system only works when we catch certain teams and dumb coaches off guard in the regular season?

[inthepaint]

But isn't that the whole point of Nurse's philosophy? To play a style & system that's built for the playoffs.

What are we saying here: that it's the exact opposite? I.E. our system only works when we catch certain teams and dumb coaches off guard in the regular season?

That crazy lineup looked liked a surprise even to Nurse. It came to light because we had guys injured, and it was also just meant to be on the floor for a quick transition between late 3rd early 4th; they were doing well and icing the game though, so Nurse kept it rolling with them to close it out.

Nurse's system is focused on aggressively doubling the opposing star player (regardless of his position), then relying on fast, athletic wings to rotate and close out sharply on shooters. His secret sauce is getting guys to hone down on the rotations. It's not infallible - we've seen it fall apart before in the regular season with the random Mike Scotts and Ojeleyes of the world killing us with corner 3's - but it lends itself well to the playoffs because it forces secondary players to step up (which is harder in playoff settings), and it negates switches because you're not hiding anyone on defence. The other feature of his system is the frequency that he switches the defensive looks and the odd zone variations (box+1, triangle +2). These won't win games alone just by surprising opponents but they can drain star players mentally in grinding playoff series.

Offensively is just basically Jazz. He'll have sets, ATO plays and some neat off-ball screening actions but ultimately he'll rely on the brilliance of whoever is hot that day; that's not infallible either, but it's a step up from the ride-or-die systems where "the guy", whoever that is, starts iso'ing and forcing shots the whole 4th quarter (with everyone seeing it come).

[slaw]

But isn't that the whole point of Nurse's philosophy? To play a style & system that's built for the playoffs.

What are we saying here: that it's the exact opposite? I.E. our system only works when we catch certain teams and dumb coaches off guard in the regular season?

LOL. I don't think that was actually planned. It was necessitated by all the missing players and it just happened to catch lightning in a bottle. It looks like a brilliant tactic in retrospect but it was more just blind luck.

And this confuses tactics with strategy and fundamental values. I'm sure if Nurse could implement some tactic every game that would catch his opponents off guard he would absolutely do that but it doesn't mean his basic system or strategy would change game to game.

Also important to note that basketball isn't chess. If you misplace your bishop, it can't spontaneously break other pieces in half to free itself. In basketball, sometimes your players just play better than the other team and win games regardless of tactics, strategy, etc.