Everything Derozan

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I respect your opinion but you don't know how many games it would've went.

Maybe his teammates don't hit their shots.

Maybe his passing leads to more turnovers.

What we do know is that we won playing the way he normally plays.

Look - Had a very tough first round. Who on earth denies this??

But but.... You coming in here always telling us what you think he doesn't understand is no different than usual. We get it.... You think he's a dummy. It has nothing to do with how he's being guarded or the other team's schemes. It would be so easy for him to rack up assists..... Smh

You've completely missed the point.

The Pacers created a defensive game-plan to stop the hero-ball that DeRozan and Lowry typically play, doubling them practically as soon as they got inside the 3pt line.

It doesn't matter who the player is, you're not going to beat that defense by doing exactly what they planned for you to do. Yes, in this case DeRozan would still need to play his game and force some shots, just to keep the defense honest.

However, the Raptors (and I blame Casey first and foremost) should have adapted and used DeRozan as a decoy (to keep George off other players), to take advantage of other mismatches and/or to feed the teammate whose defender was doubling DeRozan.

Lowry started out the same as DeRozan, but figured out how to shoot less and contribute more, to the team's success. Unfortunately, DeRozan didn't do the same, as he continued to force his own game. I don't know how much of that is on him or on Casey, but it was definitely stupid and/or selfish to do exactly what the defense wanted him to do.

Either Casey's a bad coach, or DeRozan has an incredibly low BB-IQ, or some combination of both (that's where my bet would be placed).

[JawsGT]

Everybody understands that DeRozan had a tough assignment. His biggest critics don't even mind a low shooting %. The point is that given the circumstances, there's absolutely no reason he should have taken 32 shots in the deciding game of the series.

As to the underlined part, even the biggest DeRozan 'hater' would have embraced him (and his terrible shooting) had he better understood the situation he was in and played more of a facilitator role.

You're right that the defensive attention paid to DeRozan should have benefited his teammates, but it didn't, because DeRozan played right into the defense's hands by playing selfish, inefficient hero-ball.

Had DeRozan played a more team-oriented game, which he's perfectly capable of doing, then the series against the Pacers wouldn't have even gone 7 games.

See, I didn't get that sense when watching the game. I was actually surprised when I learned after the game was over that he had taken 32 shots. There were some obvious passes that he could have made but didn't, and certainly some questionable shots, but I really don't feel he was too egregious in this regard. Perhaps if I were to rewatch the game I would change my mind on that. Overall, I thought Demar was one of the better Raps on the court that game. And with Lowry's shot failing, what else was the team to do? We weren't gonna implement a motion offence in game 7.

Which brings me to my main point. This team would benefit greatly from off ball player movement. The team doesn't do enough to provide outlet passes. This may be a symptom of the drive and kick approach and a preference to park shooters in specific positions so that Lowry, Demar, and Cojo know where a player is when they drive and can just rifle a pass to that spot if they get in trouble. And that might be easier for them then actively looking for players when the shot isn't available on a drive. Well, I would say it's definitely easier for Demar at least, and his passing ability needs to improve for sure. But I'd like to see more cuts and guys moving one way or another to make them more available for a pass.

Demar was tasked with making really hard drives and being extremely aggressive going north-south. I thought he did a good job with that. And he needs more experience reacting to a top tier defence under those conditions in order to become a better facilitator. He's no Chris Paul, who sees the floor like chess board and knows whats going to happen multiple moves ahead.

[hotfuzz]

Haha

Good one there mr primitive.

Still didn't address the point.

Demar had Paul George guarding him the WHOLE time and the Pacer's defence keyed in him on. This benefitted his teammates who didn't get nearly the same amount of attention.

Do you understand now? It's a primitive sport like you say. Shouldn't be so hard.

That would have been a benefit had demar passed the ball, but he didn't. He just chucked and chucked and chucked and so on. Your argument falls apart there.

[Barolt]

Let me try to make this as simple as possible.

Points are good.

More points are better.

But, points require possessions.

Lots of points on lots of possessions is ok.

More points on less possessions is better.

DeMar scored lots of points on an extreme amount of possessions. His teammates scored a more points on less possessions as a whole.

DeMar using less possessions to get less points on a higher level of efficiency, and allowing his teammates to use their already higher efficiency to score even more points would've been better.

No one is arguing that DeMar didn't score some impressive buckets, or even some clutch buckets. But we might not have required those if his teammates had been part of the offense. It's much, much easier to stop one guy - no matter who that guy is - than it is to stop five guys.

[ball4life]

We won because nobody could throw a shot up and miss. So Demar decided to do it and he missed and our bigs cleaned up and we won. We obviously won because of him. That's an irreplaceable player right there Raptor fans. Ohhh, don't forget he only missed cuz he had a good defender on him...often times you dont see a wing defender like that on a playoff team in the NBA. Silly fans.

He could have easily racked up assist if he wants to. Its easy.... but he chooses to hold the ball instead. also, his defense only looked bad cuz they chose to specifically go at him in pick and rolls...I bet no other teams know they could do that. Also, Demar did a solid job on Solomon Hill (who?) and stopped Solomon Hill (again, who?) from going off.

Shake my Fucking Head.

Imbeciles. Be a fan and support your player but have an open mind to criticize when they have a negative impact on the team instead of completely changing the fundamentals of basketball to fit your damas narrative.

[hotfuzz]

Your boy Lowry told him to empty the clip.

JV and Biz said we'll clean up the shells.

We won. Simple.

If it's unacceptable in defeat, it should be unacceptable in victory.

[hotfuzz]

I wonder what special1 would have said had Ross shot 10/32 while being guarded by pg. He'd be calling for his head.

[Sinbad]

Imbeciles. Be a fan and support your player but have an open mind to criticize when they have a negative impact on the team instead of completely changing the fundamentals of basketball to fit your damas narrative.

This. What I can't stand is that the same people that are making excuses for him chucking to the tune of 10/32 in a closeout game and 44/138 for the series would be pointing the finger at every other Raptor had they lost to the Pacers. Its sickening. Chucking up bad shots under duress is not smart basketball.

[special1]

I wonder what special1 would have said had Ross shot 10/32 while being guarded by pg. He'd be calling for his head.

What would Casey say? lol. What about Lowry?

Would I rather Demar be more efficient? OBVIOUSLY.

Did I like his aggressiveness? Absolutely.

We have great rebounders at the C. An obvious advantage. He took the shots he's taken all year and we won. Well what do you know...

Personally, I don't want to talk about TRoss.

TRoss is a bench player losing minutes to a rookie. That's all I have to say about TRoss. Let's talk about Norman Powell. Love that guy! He showed up and we wouldn't of won without him either.

[hotfuzz]

What would Casey say? lol. What about Lowry?

Would I rather Demar be more efficient? OBVIOUSLY.

Did I like his aggressiveness? Absolutely.

We have great rebounders at the C. An obvious advantage. He took the shots he's taken all year and we won. Well what do you know...

Personally, I don't want to talk about TRoss.

TRoss is a bench player losing minutes to a rookie. That's all I have to say about TRoss. Let's talk about Norman Powell. Love that guy! He showed up and we wouldn't of won without him either.

In your world, being aggressive is being an inefficient chucker. Hell, I mean if all there's left to do is chuck, why not just replace him with an average NBA player? Anyone can chuck.

Let Demar go. Let Powell chuck 32 shots a game. Let our bigs rebound. Win. Simple.

[ball4life]

What would Casey say? lol. What about Lowry?

Would I rather Demar be more efficient? OBVIOUSLY.

Did I like his aggressiveness? Absolutely.

We have great rebounders at the C. An obvious advantage. He took the shots he's taken all year and we won. Well what do you know...

Personally, I don't want to talk about TRoss.

TRoss is a bench player losing minutes to a rookie. That's all I have to say about TRoss. Let's talk about Norman Powell. Love that guy! He showed up and we wouldn't of won without him either.

By aggressiveness you mean chucking and making sure to hide on the defensive end?

Let's be real dude. Demar had a forgettable series. I get that you are defending your favourite player here but don't draw pictures on the wall with your piss. The entire world was collectively cringing at that display he put on.

Oh and I agree. TRoss may be the worst player on the roster. But you said you don't wanna talk about and went on to talk about him. Just saying.

Go Raptors Go. Let's get this double u.

[Chr1s1anL]

Lets get this money #WeTheNorth

[Chr1s1anL]

Just needs to settle down

[Chr1s1anL]

Thats it JV!

[Chr1s1anL]

About time Ross. Keep it up!