Everything Derozan

[mjt20mik]

“We do get a lot of in-between shots,” says Dwane Casey, a coach of the year candidate. “But what kills the analytics geniuses is the fact that we get fouled enough to compensate. We take care of the ball. We get enough buckets, even if they are unassisted.”

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/th...s-master-plan/

Pound the Rock

LMAO.. Clearly everything Indiana has taken away from us. Good job Case

[JimiCliff]

he doesnt need to be 'more assertive'. he needs to be smarter in shot selection. same with lowry.

“I’ve got to shoot the shots better,” said Lowry after a Sunday practice. “I’ve got to take more shots that I work on. I’ve got to be more balanced. I’ve got to be more in rhythm and more in tune to the shots. I think me and DeMar, we talked, and they’re playing defence on us and rushing us into things, making us speed up our shots, and the shots that we normally take with patience, we’re taking a little bit — if it takes us 0.9 seconds to usually shoot ’em, we’re shooting them in 0.4. It may not seem like a big difference, but that’s what they’ve done a good job of, speeding us up, and we as players, me and DeMar, have to do a better job of getting to the spots and being patient.”

i think this little interview tidbit speaks a little more about what they've hopefully learned about the past 4 terrible shooting games. they're not just saying "oh these are just shots we normally make" as they usually say after a post-game.

This is part of the truth, but not the whole truth. Were the pacers somehow rushing Lowry's free throws in game 1? Seems pretty clear to me that they just aren't reliable big game players.

[mjt20mik]

This is part of the truth, but not the whole truth. Were the pacers somehow rushing Lowry's free throws in game 1? Seems pretty clear to me that they just aren't reliable big game players.

We all know Lowry is injured. Demar isn't suffering from any ailments that is affecting his play.

[S.R.]

This is part of the truth, but not the whole truth. Were the pacers somehow rushing Lowry's free throws in game 1? Seems pretty clear to me that they just aren't reliable big game players.

Lowry's FT numbers over the last 3 months have been awful.

[slaw]

“We do get a lot of in-between shots,” says Dwane Casey, a coach of the year candidate. “But what kills the analytics geniuses is the fact that we get fouled enough to compensate. We take care of the ball. We get enough buckets, even if they are unassisted.”

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/th...s-master-plan/

That's from last season. Those habits are ingrained and they're getting exposed, just like those basement dwellers said they would.

Pound the Rock

Except they are taking a shit pile of threes in this series, so I'm not sure this is entirely correct anymore. And I'm not sure how not turning the ball over and shooting lots of free throws are bad habits or are "getting exposed". Those are really, really important things to get right in both the regular season and the playoffs. The fact they aren't getting them right isn't an indictment of playing low turnover basketball and getting to the line.

Everyone is losing their fucking minds around here.....

[LJ2]

We all know Lowry is injured. Demar isn't suffering from any ailments that is affecting his play.

Not making excuses for DeMar, his shot selection is just awful at times. However, DeMar needs to play off Lowry and if Lowry is struggling with his shot then it allows the opposing team to play better defence against Demar. Both guys need to play better, but Lowry is the key to everything.

[Nilanka]

Not making excuses for DeMar, his shot selection is just awful at times. However, DeMar needs to play off Lowry and if Lowry is struggling with his shot then it allows the opposing team to play better defence against Demar. Both guys need to play better, but Lowry is the key to everything.

Sad, but true. We go as Lowry goes.

[Chr1s1anL]

Not making excuses for DeMar, his shot selection is just awful at times. However, DeMar needs to play off Lowry and if Lowry is struggling with his shot then it allows the opposing team to play better defence against Demar. Both guys need to play better, but Lowry is the key to everything.

Team goes as Lowry goes. Nothing new.

[S.R.]

Team goes as Lowry goes. Nothing new.

The lack of "nothing new" is the biggest disappointment. We'd been hoping for progress this postseason. As it stands, Lowry and DeRozan are continuing their established trend of being two of the worst All-Star post-season shooters in the last 30 years.

At least Lowry gave us Game 3. DeMar needs to give something, anything. If he finishes like this and signs elsewhere, his Toronto legacy will be seriously damaged.

[Barolt]

[Bendit]

Is anyone giving credit to the Indiana defence and in particular PG & Hill? This is not absolve the abject lack of adjustment or returning the aggressiveness needed to mitigate Indy's tough approach. The Raps did that 3rd game.

Did anyone see the Boston-Atlanta game last night ...now thats controlled aggression on just about every play and how it is in the playoffs. For some reason the Raptors havent realized that playoff games are different (incl. how they are refereed). So what gives after 3 consecutive years. Anyway I hope they have seen the light and come out with a purpose off the opening tip. And no let up. Casey too needs to ensure this with substitutions and appropriate time outs.

[Scraptor]

Everyone is losing their fucking minds around here.....

What else would you expect from doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

[Barolt]

Is anyone giving credit to the Indiana defence and in particular PG & Hill? This is not absolve the abject lack of adjustment or returning the aggressiveness needed to mitigate Indy's tough approach. The Raps did that 3rd game.

Did anyone see the Boston-Atlanta game last night ...now thats controlled aggression on just about every play and how it is in the playoffs. For some reason the Raptors havent realized that playoff games are different (incl. how they are refereed). So what gives after 3 consecutive years. Anyway I hope they have seen the light and come out with a purpose off the opening tip. And no let up. Casey too needs to ensure this with substitutions and appropriate time outs.

Is Indiana's defense also responsible for DeMar running into George on ISO repeatedly, or stopping the ball, or not playing defense himself?

There are plenty of ways he could be more useful while shooting badly.

[slaw]

Is anyone giving credit to the Indiana defence and in particular PG & Hill? This is not absolve the abject lack of adjustment or returning the aggressiveness needed to mitigate Indy's tough approach. The Raps did that 3rd game.

Did anyone see the Boston-Atlanta game last night ...now thats controlled aggression on just about every play and how it is in the playoffs. For some reason the Raptors havent realized that playoff games are different (incl. how they are refereed). So what gives after 3 consecutive years. Anyway I hope they have seen the light and come out with a purpose off the opening tip. And no let up. Casey too needs to ensure this with substitutions and appropriate time outs.

No, Indy and George and Hill aren't getting enough credit for the work they are doing on DD and Lowry.

In terms of playoff intensity, Raps outplayed Indy by a mile in games 2 and 3 and Indy outplayed Toronto badly in game 4. Teams have bad games in the playoffs - no one is good 16 times in a row. Raps have raised their level but they haven't done it consistently. The only game that was really disconcerting to me was Game 1 where the Raps should have come out and rolled Indy at home and sent a message. Indy was always going to get at least one at home but losing game 1 let them into the series.

[golden]

Except they are taking a shit pile of threes in this series, so I'm not sure this is entirely correct anymore. And I'm not sure how not turning the ball over and shooting lots of free throws are bad habits or are "getting exposed". Those are really, really important things to get right in both the regular season and the playoffs. The fact they aren't getting them right isn't an indictment of playing low turnover basketball and getting to the line.

Everyone is losing their fucking minds around here.....

Relying on getting free throws as a key building block of your offensive system IS being exposed in this series. That's 10-20 points off the board per game and that's not an opinion - it's exactly what we're seeing out there. Demar can't get to the FT line, by design and Indiana might be the worst possible matchup in this regard. Frank Vogel is an elite defensive coach and Paul George is an elite defender. As Gavin on the RR front page said, they're forcing DD to make a 3pt shot, or make a smart pass - two things that he doesn't have a lot of reps doing in our offensive system. Pretty hard to change those habits on a brighter stage. Driving into the paint and drawing contact are the offensive "habits" that have been encouraged and rewarded in the regular season and over the past 2-3 seasons. That's our system and we have to live with that. But it's clear that approach isn't working in this playoff series even though the Raps are heavily favored and I still think they will win the series in 6 or 7.

Other "habits", like playing inside-out and ball-movement to setup shooters in-rhythm would be really helpful right about now, but our system is all about your-turn/my-turn DD & Lowry attacking the paint first and then making a decision, with the other guys shuffling around doing read-and-react off of DD & Lowry.