Everything Valanciunas

[DanH]

Shooting is expensive, defence is cheaper for FA's.. Probably have to trade for shooting.

Hopefully Bruno will be at least able to contribute at least somewhat on the offensive end next season.

There is certainly some hope from the youth. Powell has show flashes, DD has improved, Bruno could bring some spacing, Carroll coming back should provide more shooting. Lowry's shooting is always there.

[JWash]

Yeah would definitely be nice to get another wing off the bench who can shoot the 3 and defend. Really hoping that's going to be Bruno (or possible even Powell) next year. And then a star power forward who can really spread the floor would be ideal (but obviously difficult to acquire) or if even a top quality wing like Batum and play 4 perimeter players with JV down low.

[danno]

He got abused, just a bad game though I think. He's done pretty well against Brook in the past.

Ummmmm .... are you sure? Check the previous game.

[KeonClark]

Lopez took a shit on JV's chest last night. Can we talk about it?

Lopez didn't slow down one iota when Biyombo came in

[rocwell]

Lopez didn't slow down one iota when Biyombo came in

.iarrhea

[Axel]

JV has to win the trust of his teammates, until that happens, his touches will be limited, that people still somehow put that on the coach is pretty funny to me.

enough with the stats. watch the game. In the past he has had serious butter fingers. he misses a tonne of bunnies and thats not made up, you can see it. Has he been better, yep. Should they trust him? Hell yep. do they? maybe....

I find the first post hard to reconcile with the second. At what point does it stop being about JV proving he deserves their trust (which you admit he has) and start being an issue where the guards are being selfish? At that tipping point, is it not also on the coach to ensure that the ball is being put into the efficient scoring big who can "pound the rock" down low?

[LJ2]

Kevin Pelton and Chad Ford just did an Insider piece rating the 10 best players who entered the league in 2012 for future potential.

They both agreed on the top 4 - Davis, Green, Lilliard and Drummond.

From there, Pelton rated them 5. Middleton, 6. Crowder, 7. Beal 8. MKG 9.JV 10. Barnes

Ford had them 5.Beal 6. MKG 7. Middleton 8. Barnes 9. JV 10. Crowder

Pelton:

Ford:

How do they put MKG ahead of JV and Barnes?

[LJ2]

They aren't wrong. JV would be a much more impactful player in an offense that featured him more.

No question about that. Even Mike James for more impactful while he was being featured in the Raptors offence. My question has always been whether the Raptors would be a better team if JV was the main guy on offence or if it was our guards. It's one of those things which you wish they could do a test run on for a half season, lol.

[JimiCliff]

Lopez took a shit on JV's chest last night. Can we talk about it?

If we're going to go down this metaphorical road, more accurate would be to say that Lopez pulled a bunch of shots out of his ass. Against both JV and BB. There were a few bad defensive possessions, but for the most part, if Lopez is going to be making those kinds of shots, you live with it.

It's weird to me why he doesn't take more jumpers. It's extremely difficult to guard a 7 footer who can knock down midrange jumpers at will like Lopez, Gasol, Towns etc

It's the Dwane Casey school of coaching philosophy. Simplify simplify simplify. 'We don't have the personnel to pass', awful Lou Williams end-of-quarter isos, etc. The benefit of this approach is the simpler the plan, the easier it is to execute it. The drawback is it doesn't allow for a full leveraging of talent and ability.

[hotfuzz]

It's weird to me why he doesn't take more jumpers. It's extremely difficult to guard a 7 footer who can knock down midrange jumpers at will like Lopez, Gasol, Towns etc

JV himself struggles to guard those type of players why he doesn't use that same shot to make it difficult to guard him makes no sense.

Iirc Casey had a quote last season (I could be wrong) where he said he wants jv only taking shots on the paint and anything ooutside, he should pass it to the guards.

[Mess]

Iirc Casey had a quote last season (I could be wrong) where he said he wants jv only taking shots on the paint and anything ooutside, he should pass it to the guards.

Yeah I think that's been ingrained in him so much through his years in Toronto that it's going to take time to break the habit. He's been playing his role so much that the guards would get upset with him if he didn't shoot it right away on a deliberate and obvious kickout. Mostly talking about Lowry because he doesn't rarely plays with CoJo and DD won't pass it to him unless it's a dump off for a layup.

[Cody73]

I'm just writing out my feelings here about JV.


What I think the coaching staff has tried to do is turn JV into a Marc Gasol type player..... and honestly, I don't feel that kind of game fully fits him. He's always been a similar player, but he's never been a star defender.

[DanH]

I'm just writing out my feelings here about JV.


What I think the coaching staff has tried to do is turn JV into a Marc Gasol type player..... and honestly, I don't feel that kind of game fully fits him. He's always been a similar player, but he's never been a star defender.

Keep in mind, Marc Gasol didn't come to the NBA until age 24, and didn't really start posting elite defensive numbers until his third year, at 26 years old.

JV just turned 23 a few months ago.

[S.R.]

I'm just writing out my feelings here about JV.


What I think the coaching staff has tried to do is turn JV into a Marc Gasol type player..... and honestly, I don't feel that kind of game fully fits him. He's always been a similar player, but he's never been a star defender.

I agree, partly that but also partly the guards. These guards can barely hit a rolling big (save for Bebe, I guess), which was one of JV's strengths coming in. Jose could hit the exact same players for layups and dunks on the roll that Lowry couldn't, and still can't.

[Cody73]

Keep in mind, Marc Gasol didn't come to the NBA until age 24, and didn't really start posting elite defensive numbers until his third year, at 26 years old.

JV just turned 23 a few months ago.

That's a fair post.

I also feel centers take longer to come into their own... they're kinda like goalies in hockey. Some come in and do well straight from the get go, other guys take a while to mature and find that game.