Everything Derozan

[The Great One]

So now the new argument is that we were all proven wrong?? lol

Probably better to admit that YOU were proven wrong. Its much more honorable.

We believed that Demar would get MUCH better. We saw his work ethic, saw the improvement and we believed. We took A LOT of heat for defending Demar not because we thought he was a finished product, but because we knew he wasn't......

Demar didnt shut up his fans......He made us proud!

This isn't a "both sides" were wrong situation.....That's ridiculous and appears to be an effort to cloud RR history.

Using words like erroneously and illogically defend makes me laugh. Who are you talking about? Who did that?

^ This

[special1]

Bahaha, who said "remember the arguments" and then who immediately resurrected one of the stalest arguments?

DeRozan backers always argued he was fine as he was, they argued directly against the criticisms at the time. None of them predicted "in 4 years his game will have improved in manners x, y, and z, therefore your criticisms are invalid." And no, the critics didn't argue for year-over-year improvement for several seasons, either. Nobody did. The arguments at the time were about DeRozan at the time.

This is a straight up lie. We argued about all things Demar and the arguments went on for years.

Many people argued that Demar wasn't a finished product. Actually, it was his critics that argued that he couldn't get better because of mins played/age compared to others. We argued that he could be an all-star.....even before he became an actual all-star.

Your argument fails right there.

[KHD]

christ some of you people are so full of shit.


The critics of Demar have almost universally focused on shot selection. 2015 was when this argument was near its peak. In that year he took 34% of his shots between 16 feet and the 3 point line (the contested ones of which I've termed the "demoron" variety).

There were absolutely people who defended the way derozan was playing at that time.


The next year that number dropped to 25% and all of that difference was re-distributed into shots within 10 feet. Shockingly, this was his most efficient offensive season since his rookie year.


People who were not fans of Demar's game were (CORRECTLY) calling for him to cut out the dumbass shots. Some of us didn't think he had the awareness to do that. Then he did and became a star. Glad I was wrong about that.

[The Great One]

"Mistakes are always forgiveable, if one has the courage to admit them" -Bruce Lee

[Scraptor]

I think it's very disingenuous to suggest that DeMar's supporters argued that he was fine just the way he was. His flaws were too glaring for them not to be acknowledged. We just believed he could improve--enough to the point where the things he did well outweighed the things he did not--and his critics did not.

What's more is that these arguments continued right through his all-star selections. It's not like he made the all star team and then the arguments stopped. In fact, the arguments are still basically the same, just less vehement. People still hate his shot selection and his lack of defense. DeMar's game isn't fundamentally different than it was three or four years ago.

Anyways it's a pointless argument. If people want to rewrite history and say they were right there is nothing anyone can do to convince them otherwise.

[tDotted]

Speak for yourselves I'm not done critiquing him yet

[Ball]

christ some of you people are so full of shit.


The critics of Demar have almost universally focused on shot selection. 2015 was when this argument was near its peak. In that year he took 34% of his shots between 16 feet and the 3 point line (the contested ones of which I've termed the "demoron" variety).

There were absolutely people who defended the way derozan was playing at that time.


The next year that number dropped to 25% and all of that difference was re-distributed into shots within 10 feet. Shockingly, this was his most efficient offensive season since his rookie year.


People who were not fans of Demar's game were (CORRECTLY) calling for him to cut out the dumbass shots. Some of us didn't think he had the awareness to do that. Then he did and became a star. Glad I was wrong about that.

Interestingly enough, I think his number of long-2s taken actually increased this year, but he somehow became significantly more efficient at them. I mean, I'd prefer for him to take less of those but hey, if he scores with long 2's efficiently, there's not much for me to say really other than maybe channeling some of those into more 3's? For him to leap from star to superstar is alot more plausible right now than say 4 years ago.

[MixxAOR]

[ogi]

Some of you guys really don't remember the endless arguments talking about how guys at his age and amount of NBA experience (3 years ago) typically don't improve much? Not that it's a bad argument but there definitely was a lot of talk about that in the forums.

[golden]

Deebo silenced all his critics

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

Probably need to pump the brakes on that one. Look at this post from 2014 from CalRaps, for example. Despite DD's improvements, the same criticisms of his game exist today, echoed by Masai:

This has been by far my biggest complaint about the series so far, having caused the most outbursts towards my TV. I applaud DeRozan for his passion and desire to lead/will this Raptors team to victory, but when he decides to carry the team on his shoulders single-handedly, it's actually the worst ball they play. I can't count how many times I've yelled "pass the f*cking ball" or "open your f*cking eyes, you have four teammates on the court with you" during the games. My even bigger complaint is aimed at DC, for allowing DeRozan to play like this, without any recourse (even worse if he actually called for the ISO-ball, a la Rudy Gay).

This team is at it's best when they share the ball and play as a team. For all my criticisms aimed at DeRozan, I felt the biggest desire to actually 'eat crow' when he was racking up 5-6 assists per game for a stretch. This team doesn't need DeRozan to take 20+ shots and score 30+ points, especially when it's all done inefficiently and at the expense of an actual inside game, to be successful and win games. Shoot less, score more efficiently, share the ball and play inside-out. In a nutshell, DeRozan needs to grow up and learn that leading the team doesn't necessarily mean that he has to dominate the ball/scoring - the two are mutually exclusive.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Yes, he started playing more like how his critics said he should play, instead of the way he used to play. It's astonishing how his critics stopped criticizing him after that.

I mean, no.

DeRozan has basically played the same way for years. He just got a lot better at it plus we started using him more in pick and rolls as his handle got better which allowed his game to open up even more. His shot distribution has basically remained about the same in terms of the areas of the floor he shoots the ball from. He just upgraded all his abilities: finishing, passing, footwork, dribbling, contested shooting, post-game, etc.

That increase in ability and his role within the team has allowed him to upgrade his usage without marginalizing his efficiency (in fact it's actually gradually gotten better), which has elevated him to star level and fringe all-NBA (he did make the all-NBA team last year, I'm just saying I think he's a top 10 guard not top 6).

To say he's drastically changed his style now is just not correct and it seems weird to try to like take credit for that or whatever it is you're doing.

However, I don't think DeRozan has actually silenced his critics entirely. A few things that have always been issues for him are still issues. Shooting the three, defense and he still plays a bit too much hero ball at times.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I mean, no.

DeRozan has basically played the same way for years. He just got a lot better at it plus we started using him more in pick and rolls as his handle got better which allowed his game to open up even more. His shot distribution has basically remained about the same in terms of the areas of the floor he shoots the ball from. He just upgraded all his abilities: finishing, passing, footwork, dribbling, contested shooting, post-game, etc.

That increase in ability and his role within the team has allowed him to upgrade his usage without marginalizing his efficiency (in fact it's actually gradually gotten better), which has elevated him to star level and fringe all-NBA (he did make the all-NBA team last year, I'm just saying I think he's a top 10 guard not top 6).

To say he's drastically changed his style now is just not correct and it seems weird to try to like take credit for that or whatever it is you're doing.

However, I don't think DeRozan has actually silenced his critics entirely. A few things that have always been issues for him are still issues. Shooting the three, defense and he still plays a bit too much hero ball at times.

top 10 for sure

everything you say is true except i do think he did change a bit more this past year. A major complain used to be that he didn't attack the rim enough and shied away from contact. I would say he looks for the contact more and knows how to get there. Watching the Bucks series I was afraid this would happen but he kept looking to dunk on the bucks... It was hard because of guys like Giannis but he didn't back down. I do agree there are times he plays too much hero ball and he could improve his shooting ability... I would prefer the defence over the shooting though.

I think he comes back with better defence and marginally better shooting of the 3. I also think his assist rate goes up because a lot of times last year guys like Demarre got open shots and just couldn't bury them. Take the shots you give demarre and give them to CJ Miles and it really does open up the floor and make spacing better and opens up a lot of different options. I bet he passes a lot more just because of that.

[Chr1s1anL]

Raps taking some heat

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk

[The Great One]

Now that's respect.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/902242821423325184

[Joey]

Now that's respect.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/902242821423325184

From the linked Article:

“Scoring the ball, I feel like I’ve mastered how to score from every area, how to make a shot from every spot on the floor,” Durant said.

“But now it’s about how many different combinations can I add? I’ve got a lot more to learn. … DeMar DeRozan’s probably got the best footwork I’ve seen in a long, long time. I’ve been trying to watch him to see how he does it.

“He’s just way more athletic than I am first of all, so his body can move a little different, but his pace is amazing. He’s a guy I’ve been studying lately just because of his footwork. Every time I see him I’m just looking at how his body, his footwork. I think that’s where I can get better.”

High praise indeed. Love it.

The tweet actually "misquotes" as well, since he never says (in the article anyway) that Demar has 'amazing' footwork; he does say the above though, which is almost more complimentary really.