My biggest concern with DeRozan is that his failings this year have nothing to do with learning a new offense, or learning a new defensive system, or even improving an individual skill like shooting or man-to-man defense... his biggest problem is that he can't dribble! He can't dribble! He's an NBA starter, yet he can't dribble! This is a major problem, considering his scoring should be coming directly or indirectly from his ability to penetrate, which is dependent on - you guessed it - his ability to dribble! Nevermind the fact that he is a complete wuss when he actually does penetrate and a total crybaby when his wussiness results in a missed shot and the refs swallowing their whistles because he hasn't earned those iffy calls yet. He gets no respect from opponents or refs because of his utter inability to dribble at an acceptable NBA level! He's a 23 year old, third year NBA starting shooting guard who CAN'T DRIBBLE!
I would make him focus on absolutely nothing but dribbling for the rest of this season, the offseason, summer league and preseason. Dribble the ball at practice. Dribble the ball at home. Dribble the ball while sitting on the toilet. Dribble the ball in the shower. Forget about defense, forget about developing a 3-point shot, forget about dunk contests, forget about compton street games, forget about not getting the calls from the refs, dedicate your life to learning how to dribble.
Despite my rant, I would not give up on him. The only way I would even consider trading DeRozan is if we were including him in a deal to get a proven player as a direct replacement, ie: Gay, Mayo, etc...
I would make him focus on absolutely nothing but dribbling for the rest of this season, the offseason, summer league and preseason. Dribble the ball at practice. Dribble the ball at home. Dribble the ball while sitting on the toilet. Dribble the ball in the shower. Forget about defense, forget about developing a 3-point shot, forget about dunk contests, forget about compton street games, forget about not getting the calls from the refs, dedicate your life to learning how to dribble.
Despite my rant, I would not give up on him. The only way I would even consider trading DeRozan is if we were including him in a deal to get a proven player as a direct replacement, ie: Gay, Mayo, etc...
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