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p00ka wrote:
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We nearly agree!
Not sure on d though but do I ever hope you are right.
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P00ka!!
We nearly agree!
Not sure on d though but do I ever hope you are right. -
Very informative post. Just awesome!bobbybutler wrote: View Post
I never knew they had a statistic tracking rim protection since that essentially puts value on the importance of the "principle of verticality." This also goes to show why Roy Hibbert has a legitimate shot at the defensive player of the year. I've always had this idea that Jonas is very effective when he is in position to defend.
His problem right now is getting into position especially when the defense brings him out to guard the screen and roll. I'm confident that he will improve upon this with experience. I've always had this belief that a centers' value is measured on the defensive end. I'm pleased to see Jonas' defensive numbers. It's actually a lot better than what I had imagined.
I'm not so concerned about his offense for a number of reasons but the one that highlights it is the lack of pick and roll play.
(1) Coming from Europe where pick and roll is everyone's bread and butter play
(2) Calderon > Lowry -- in terms of pick and roll skills
(3) DeRozan & Gay -- high usage & not much pick and roll skills, if any
(4) Buycks, Stone & Augustine -- not much skill there although I still want to see more of Buycks
You can see the dramatic shift in situation, coming from Europe to Calderon to chuck masters. If you take that from Jonas, that's like 60% of his offense -- BAM GONE! His post up skills are no where near polished, so he has nothing else to fall back on except garbage buckets. It's amazing he still scores almost 10 per game. Imagine if you're a 3 point shooter yet they take away the 3 point line -- you're nothing.
I was starting to worry a little bit about Jonas, especially since he really gets exposed on the pick and roll defense. But after seeing these statistics, I'm a little less worried although the screen and roll defense is still a concern. I hope to God Masai finds a point guard or anyone who can actually use a pick and LOOK AT THE MAN ROLLING FOR A CHANGE.
Last thing. When Jonas posts up, does everyone see how there is no movement on the perimeter? The shooters are not shifting positions to give the post-up player a passing lane which makes passing out of the post virtually impossible. I was watching the Lakers highlights not long ago when Shaq was a dominant force. It helped that they utilized a corner post entry & a wing entry with movement after the entry pass to give Shaq the option to pass out then re-post with deeper position. So when he catches it, it's bang, bang, spin, dunk. Easy basketball & I feel like it's a necessity everytime you have a post presence on the team.
Again, awesome post & oh man, this is like my first post since who knows when.“I don’t create controversies. They’re there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention.”
-- Charles BarkleyComment
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Zach Lowe
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...leap-greatness
One reason is simple: This team belongs to Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan, for better or worse. Even sets that don't start with those guys — a Kyle Lowry–Valanciunas pick-and-roll, for instance — probably will end with one of them isolating, curling around a screen, or taking a dribble handoff before dribbling a bunch and heaving a midrange jumper. Lots of Toronto possessions look great for 12 seconds, before devolving into hero ball for the last eight or 10. "He's third on the food chain," Casey says, "and sometimes even fourth. Our offense is built around Rudy and DeMar." Valanciunas is often left to simply get out of the way and prepare for an offensive rebound.But it's not all on the wing "stars." The classic image of Valanciunas to this point is of him setting a pick, rolling down the lane, and raising both his arms in the air, convinced he's wide open — and then pouting when he doesn't get the ballBut Valanciunas often rolls to the hoop before making any contact on his pick, meaning he has provided Kyle Lowry, Gay, or DeRozan with no daylight — no space to penetrate, no clear angle to hit Valanciunas in the lane. "He feels like he's open," Casey says, "but he's not. He's just so far down there. He needs to learn the short roll."On defense, the Drakes employ a fairly aggressive pick-and-roll scheme that asks big men to jump out hard on ball handlers — or at least hang around the level of the pick. Valanciunas has the mobility to do that, and he's a hard worker. But the timing just isn't there. He'll often slide into help position just a beat late, leaving himself in no-man's-land — too late to cut off the ball handler or even get in the guy's way, but still far enough from his original mark that a dangerous passing lane is open.Comment
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The criticism about not setting the screen/rolling too early is legit.bobbybutler wrote: View Post
However an equal criticism is the guards leaving way too early, not allowing screen to be set, and usually ending up in a big foul (JV or whoever).
Also, that picture of JV standing with his arms up, throw it at the rim for the love of god.Comment
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I'm surprised that Casey is letting it slide (about JV leaving early on screens). It's good that he is picking his spots to come down on JV and not completely killing his confidence, but setting the screen is such a fundamental habit that needs to be developed that I would have thought this wouldn't be one of the those things.
JV is making the best of a bad situation now. If the team gave him the ball more often in situations where he could score (pick and roll, not pick and dribble out the clock!!) then his numbers would take an up-tick. Still hope for big things from the Big Lithuanian.Heir, Prince of Cambridge
If you see KeonClark in the wasteland, please share your food and water with him.Comment
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Funny.
He told in interview ( to eurobasket2013 guys ) that he'll never get twitter account. Fb is enough for him
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Jonas Valanciunas' development
There are often a lot of complaints in the post game articles and comments that Jonas is not getting enough touches and shots. I have been wondering if we a directing our vitriol in the wrong direction. Jonas is not a great offensive player (yet) and there is no reason to think he should be. His was never sold as an offensive piece when he was drafted and in fact most draft sites listed one of his biggest weaknessess as having no offensive game. Take this quote from NBADraft.net:
http://nbadraft.net/players/jonas-valanciunasCan't create his own offense yet ... Has a budding set of skills in the post, but needs teammates who can set him up ... No real perimeter game ... Almost all offense comes from around the hoop
While the article does praise his soft touch and developing hook shot, there is nothing to make you think he would be at all ready to be a post threat now. In fact I think he is well ahead of where we could reasonnably expect him to be. Forcing the ball into him for post ups more than a couple times a game is a stretch and could hurt his confidence and teach him bad habits (like fading to get the shot off or taking it from too far out because he didn't get good position). Post offense takes long hours in the gym to develop. Look at Amir Johnson, he has a soft touch too but it has taken him almost 6 years to develop any kind of an offensive game.
What I am starting to get concerned about is his lack of energy and cardio. One of the things that Jonas was sold as was a guy with a never ending motor who would play hard every posession. While we saw a lot of that last year, this year there has been a disturbing trend of him getting tired and looking lost out there. He's often way behind the play when teams are coming up the floor off a miss and there have been several games where he has looked visibly gassed. I'm not sure if it's a conditionning thing or if he put on too much muscle and hurt his cardio, but his defense and ability to run the floor, both big selling features when he was drafted, have been missing so far this season. I think that is what we should be worrying about, not how many shots he get's."Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
-ChurchillComment
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He apparently has the flu and was in bed all day prior to the game against the Spurs.Heir, Prince of Cambridge
If you see KeonClark in the wasteland, please share your food and water with him.Comment
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His defense feels like its regressing. Maybe its cause he's sick or somethin idk, but he just seems a bit lost on D at times.Comment
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Yeah, it's deifnitely the most worrisome thing about his season so far. Because his D was even good in the summer playing for Lithuania. He really made a difference for them when he was on the floor on that end. And that seemed like a continuation of how he was playing to finish last season. Since this season started he hasn't looked good there. Don't know what's going on.NoPropsneeded wrote: View Post
I'm not worried about his O though. A lot of his struggles have to do with how/where he's being used. When drafted his best offensive skill was rolling to the basket off the screen, with his hands high and able to finish well. That has virtually disappeared from the Raptors offence. It was there last year because with Jose you have to run the p'n'r. Now he's being used almost exclusively in post-up situations. He's not supposed to be that guy you dump it down to and hope he creates some buckets for you. He's developing it, but it shouldn't be the focus of his scoring game. They don't use him enough in the p'n'r. They don't set him up for nice little 12-15 foot jumpers that he can make. Anyway, as has been said many a time this season, it's also an issue in how the Raps use ALL their bigs.
Anyway, not to beat a dead horse, but Casey seems like he's not doing a lot of good for our players. I understand some tankers want him kept since he clearly is in over his head. But I hate to think of a whole season of poorly guided development for Jonas, Ross, and even our older guys.Comment
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That's where dumping Casey, and promoting one of our assistants (one who focuses on player development) on an interim basis could work.white men can't jump wrote: View PostComment
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Maybe he's trying to help Jonas develop a new skillset. Offenses in the league are heading towards initiating plays from the post to create open shots from the perimeterwhite men can't jump wrote: View Post"Bruno?
Heh, if he is in the D-league still in a few years I will be surprised.
He's terrible."
-Superjudge, 7/23
Hope you're wrong.Comment
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Oh I have no problem with them going to him in the post. I have a problem with it becoming basically his only type of usage. A few touches every game in the post are definitely a good thing, as long as it's not the only thing.stooley wrote: View Post
*Also, initiating plays from the post isn't new. It's what has dominated NBA ball since George Mikan.Comment
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The funny thing about this is that although that's not his suit, he's actually starting to experience some success down low. We saw it last night in the first quarter against Duncan.white men can't jump wrote: View Post
I've noticed that Lowry is starting to pass out of the PnR a little bit more in the two games post-Gay. Our only hope is that this continues.Twitter - @thekid_itComment
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