Everything Valanciunas

[Mitch P]

I went into this season very worried about the eventual and inevitable decline of Lowry, figuring as he goes, we go. But demar and jv taking another step combined with the bench plethora of always improving pros has completely erased my worry for this year, next year, 2020 and perhaps beyond. Life after Lowry does not necessarily mean rebuild anymore and I'm all for that.

I agree. In the next year or two we'll probably know at what level FVV and Delon will max out. If that is something short of All Star or even star (which seems likely) Masai will need to find another top level PG. But the "three headed monster" that are the Raptors' PGs will be good enough for a bit longer. If we did get Yiannis or another dominant player we might not even need to upgrade. FVV can certainly run a team and is already a good secondary scorer. I think Delon can get there too.

[golden]

It seems to me we've been arguing about the defensive scheme for a long time w.r.t. JV and now we seem to have finally settled on something that makes sense.

Always figured that if he was at least acceptable in the PnR defence he would be a positive on the court. The improvements he's shown this year in the shooting and passing department make it even better.

The JV/Jakob platoon is maybe the best C rotation in the league.

Casey mentioned in another article in The Athletic that the biggest focus is simply containing the ball. If you do that, all the schemes become easier or not even necessary. So basically, Casey’s making our guards play defense finally, instead allowing them to rely on a super athletic, one dimensional guy like Biyombo to bail them out. This works, in part, because we’re asking a lot less of Kyle and Demar on offense.

[KHD]

Good article on the front page detailing JV's improvements on the defensive end this season.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2018...-improvements/

It seems to me we've been arguing about the defensive scheme for a long time w.r.t. JV and now we seem to have finally settled on something that makes sense.

Always figured that if he was at least acceptable in the PnR defence he would be a positive on the court. The improvements he's shown this year in the shooting and passing department make it even better.

The JV/Jakob platoon is maybe the best C rotation in the league.

[KeonClark]

DeMar has received a lot of well earned praise for reinventing his game this season. JV deserves it as well. To have two guys who play such big roles on your team change their games over the course of a season is pretty damn amazing.

I went into this season very worried about the eventual and inevitable decline of Lowry, figuring as he goes, we go. But demar and jv taking another step combined with the bench plethora of always improving pros has completely erased my worry for this year, next year, 2020 and perhaps beyond. Life after Lowry does not necessarily mean rebuild anymore and I'm all for that.

[LJ2]

DeMar has received a lot of well earned praise for reinventing his game this season. JV deserves it as well. To have two guys who play such big roles on your team change their games over the course of a season is pretty damn amazing.

[white men can't jump]

Not sure how much I like a fantastic Orebounder sitting outside the three point line. I love JV's shooting, but I think it would be a shame to turn him into a shooter like Cavs did to K. Love. So much value in hitting the offensive glass.

I doubt it will ever get to that extreme, but the shot is valuable. It also gives screen plays with JV an added dimension. For the most part it won't seriously hinder his impact inside around the rim and on the glass.

I feel like situationally, a lot of his attempts come on plays where he usually wouldn't have an ideal rebounding situation anyway. The kinds of plays where in the past he's just trying to stay out of the way of Demar driving, for example. Now he's an effective release valve and in a spot that makes it much harder to defend Demar in the post or help on him in the paint.

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[Maury]

On the other hand, when JV is standing above the 3 pt line, he's pulling his man high, opening up the paint. He's also in much better position to get back in transition in case of a miss.

The flaw in your logic here is that he doesn’t miss so he wouldn’t have to get back in transition that fast.

[3inthekeon]

Not sure how much I like a fantastic Orebounder sitting outside the three point line. I love JV's shooting, but I think it would be a shame to turn him into a shooter like Cavs did to K. Love. So much value in hitting the offensive glass.

On the other hand, when JV is standing above the 3 pt line, he's pulling his man high, opening up the paint. He's also in much better position to get back in transition in case of a miss.

[DogeLover1234]

Now that the "free JV" movement has been mostly satiated, is it time to think about a new movement..."free JV part 2"?. JV hit 2 three yesterday but there were several times where he got the ball in a good spot beyond the arc with little traffic around him. If he passed up a good shot to get a better shot that would be ok but he usually just passed it back into the handoff cycle. For a team eager to shoot the three but with inconsistent results doing so, might it be time for our "best" 3 point shooter to shoot a bit more?

Not sure how much I like a fantastic Orebounder sitting outside the three point line. I love JV's shooting, but I think it would be a shame to turn him into a shooter like Cavs did to K. Love. So much value in hitting the offensive glass.

[3inthekeon]

Good article on the front page detailing JV's improvements on the defensive end this season.

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2018...-improvements/

[planetmars]

Now that the "free JV" movement has been mostly satiated, is it time to think about a new movement..."free JV part 2"?. JV hit 2 three yesterday but there were several times where he got the ball in a good spot beyond the arc with little traffic around him. If he passed up a good shot to get a better shot that would be ok but he usually just passed it back into the handoff cycle. For a team eager to shoot the three but with inconsistent results doing so, might it be time for our "best" 3 point shooter to shoot a bit more?

A lot of those opportunities came in the clutch.. and I'm sure he felt that someone else could put up a better shot in those situations. He needs a little bit of that juice that CJ Miles keeps drinking. That guy has no fear.

[Jclaw]

Now that the "free JV" movement has been mostly satiated, is it time to think about a new movement..."free JV part 2"?. JV hit 2 three yesterday but there were several times where he got the ball in a good spot beyond the arc with little traffic around him. If he passed up a good shot to get a better shot that would be ok but he usually just passed it back into the handoff cycle. For a team eager to shoot the three but with inconsistent results doing so, might it be time for our "best" 3 point shooter to shoot a bit more?

[Cody73]

His name is Jonas

He's gonna carry the team

And once he'd done showing them

All the fans we'll scream

Come sit next to me

Enjoy some nachos & cheese

Just like we made

At home for free

Things were awful then

No playoffs for our men

We all hoped that we'd

Draft a superstar

Then came the man named Masai

A genius whose trades were so fine

He said "hey man, we'll make a trade"

And then we dealt Rudy Gay......

His name is Valanciunas

He gives us great joy

All the hate from Casey

Yet he still makes his plays

Makes those plays, yeah

Tell him what to do

He will listen with pride

He will rebound the ball

And you know what else

Guess what I just saw

From Jonas today?

He took a 3 ball & swished it, no contest.

The game's not going as planned

The bench mob is getting manned

Poeltl's screens will not clear that path

Freddy swears they'll feel his rath

The Raptors are marching on

The Raptors are marching on

The Raptors are marching on

The Raptors are marching on, YEAH!

His name is Jonasssss.....

[Nilanka]

I'm confident that Raps would beat Spurs in a 7 game series.....maybe even if they had Kawhi. The Rockets and Warriors are another matter but we'd be competitive.

I think Raps would have a legit shot against Rockets too. Especially with OG, the Harden stopper

[Mitch P]

We've hit a new level for a regular season team and part of that might be because of how bad the East (as predicted) has been, but I can't say this team is a contender or in the same tier as the Warriors, Spurs or Rockets just yet. I still maintain that talent trumps everything in this league and playoffs is when that comes to light. Beating up on weak teams does feel nice though

I'm confident that Raps would beat Spurs in a 7 game series.....maybe even if they had Kawhi. The Rockets and Warriors are another matter but we'd be competitive.