Everything Valanciunas

[Apollo]

Or they could pull a trade to retool on the fly...Things rarely need to be all or nothing.

[big boi]

I think this is why some posters continue to feel the Casey/DeRozan/Lowry core will never be better than a 2nd tier contender, that doesn't really have a legitimate shot at the NBA championship. Unfortunately, as Lowry ages into his thirties and the team becomes even more cap-strapped, this concern will only increase. That's the problem when your two key players are such liabilities on the defensive end of the court.

When you surround those two players with role players to makeup for the deficiencies of the star players (ie: Biyombo), all it takes is a single defender to shut down one of the stars, and suddenly the one benefit they bring to the team is completely negated, and the team is left struggling for success on either end of the court. We've witnessed this in the playoffs the past several seasons. Surround Lowry & DeRozan will all the defenders possible, but suddenly there's no real third offensive option to bail them out; not that Casey ever coaches in a manner that would attempt to establish a third option(s) during the regular season.

Good post

[KeonClark]

I feel like we've been having this same discussion for over a thousand days now. Oh yeah..cause we have

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I feel like we've been having this same discussion for over a thousand days now. Oh yeah..cause we have

Ever since Paul Pearce blocked Lowry's layup...

[Puffer]

Nice look at JV's role in the article on the front page. I particularly noted the numbers that the Raptors are 11-2 when JV gets 10+ shots a game and 13-10 when he doesn't. That may be an indication that they win more when the ball is moving around.

[DanH]

Casey seems to hold JV to a higher expectation than anyone else on the team. I wouldn't blame JV if he bolted next contract negotiations.

Meh. We said the same thing about this past summer, but not only did JV re-sign, he did so a year in advance for what was obviously at the time and even more obviously in hindsight a significant discount. He's a team player. I'd be shocked if he bolted given similar offers here and elsewhere.

[KHD]

I feel like we've been having this same discussion for over a thousand days now. Oh yeah..cause we have

because casey is still fucking it up.

He should have been fired after the nets series, definitely after the wizards debacle.

JV probably saved Casey's job. Probably not his best career move tbh.

you can call me a hater or a jv fanboy or whatever you like but it's ridiculous that we have such an incompetent head coach and our success is basically a testament to how good our players actually are, because we're playing the hardest way.

[Lupe]

Unless jv significantly improves his iq on the defensive end and becomes more versatile offensively in terms of being able to pass well and be confident in his jumpshot he's going to be a liability at center. All evidence shows hes in the same group as monroe, kanter, vucevic, and to a lesser extent al Jefferson. All of those guys have become more of specialists in the modern nba than foundations of a contending team.

Honestly the same thing wouldve happened to DeMar if he didn't become one of the best pick and roll players and slashers in the league. Despite not being a good shooter his style of play suits the modern nba well because of the significant strides he made in this area in year 5 and continued improvement thereafter. As a guard who isn't a good defender you either need to be a master of the pick and roll or a deadly shooter or you're a 6th man at best.

[Puffer]

Unless jv significantly improves his iq on the defensive end and becomes more versatile offensively in terms of being able to pass well and be confident in his jumpshot he's going to be a liability at center. All evidence shows hes in the same group as monroe, kanter, vucevic, and to a lesser extent al Jefferson...

Actually, very little evidence shows he is in the same group as those guys. Oh yeah. I forgot that your opinion is what you are basing your evidence on... as well as some cherry picked stats.

[golden]

because casey is still fucking it up.

He should have been fired after the nets series, definitely after the wizards debacle.

JV probably saved Casey's job. Probably not his best career move tbh.

you can call me a hater or a jv fanboy or whatever you like but it's ridiculous that we have such an incompetent head coach and our success is basically a testament to how good our players actually are, because we're playing the hardest way.

The irony of this is hilarious and yet true.

JV also saved Lowry and DD's professional reputation. Imagine DeMar having to go through the summer being thoroughly humiliated by Paul George as the lasting impression in a round 1 flameout.

[Just Is]

Unless jv significantly improves his iq on the defensive end and becomes more versatile offensively in terms of being able to pass well and be confident in his jumpshot he's going to be a liability at center. All evidence shows hes in the same group as monroe, kanter, vucevic, and to a lesser extent al Jefferson. All of those guys have become more of specialists in the modern nba than foundations of a contending team.

Honestly the same thing wouldve happened to DeMar if he didn't become one of the best pick and roll players and slashers in the league. Despite not being a good shooter his style of play suits the modern nba well because of the significant strides he made in this area in year 5 and continued improvement thereafter. As a guard who isn't a good defender you either need to be a master of the pick and roll or a deadly shooter or you're a 6th man at best.

You keep repeating this but it keeps remaining untrue in spite of the actual evidence being brought up quite a fair bit.

[Apollo]

Meh. We said the same thing about this past summer, but not only did JV re-sign, he did so a year in advance for what was obviously at the time and even more obviously in hindsight a significant discount. He's a team player. I'd be shocked if he bolted given similar offers here and elsewhere.

I agree that he wouldn't but that's not what I'm saying.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Unless jv significantly improves his iq on the defensive end and becomes more versatile offensively in terms of being able to pass well and be confident in his jumpshot he's going to be a liability at center. All evidence shows hes in the same group as monroe, kanter, vucevic, and to a lesser extent al Jefferson. All of those guys have become more of specialists in the modern nba than foundations of a contending team.

Honestly the same thing wouldve happened to DeMar if he didn't become one of the best pick and roll players and slashers in the league. Despite not being a good shooter his style of play suits the modern nba well because of the significant strides he made in this area in year 5 and continued improvement thereafter. As a guard who isn't a good defender you either need to be a master of the pick and roll or a deadly shooter or you're a 6th man at best.

I wonder how many PPG JV would post, if consistently given as much of the offensive opportunity as DeRozan?

I'm not actually advocating for JV to become the team's #1 or even #2 scoring option, just pointing out the lunacy of the point you made. Most games JV is around 6-8 shots per game, at least a couple of which are tips that only come as a result of him getting an offensive rebound. He gets very few offensive opportunities a game, especially those that don't have the rest of the team standing still while he gets to go to work on a clear-out. Nobody on the team can even consistently make an effective dump-in pass when he's established a dominant post position.

How can you possibly make such extreme claims, when JV has never truly been given an opportunity to see what he's actually capable of offensively?

[Lupe]

I wonder how many PPG JV would post, if consistently given as much of the offensive opportunity as DeRozan?

I'm not actually advocating for JV to become the team's #1 or even #2 scoring option, just pointing out the lunacy of the point you made. Most games JV is around 6-8 shots per game, at least a couple of which are tips that only come as a result of him getting an offensive rebound. He gets very few offensive opportunities a game, especially those that don't have the rest of the team standing still while he gets to go to work on a clear-out. Nobody on the team can even consistently make an effective dump-in pass when he's established a dominant post position.

How can you possibly make such extreme claims, when JV has never truly been given an opportunity to see what he's actually capable of offensively?

I didn't make any mention of points per game. I talked about play style and his improved effectiveness in the pick and roll which turned him from a high volume chucker in his first 4 years to an actually highly useful offensive weapon in the last 4...

And again I made the point before that an average to below average defender at center is a lot bigger problem than the same on the wings. DeMar is rarely ever guarding the player initiating the offense or the pick and roll because the other wing typically takes his assignment. However a center is basically going to be directly involved in every offensive attack from the other team which is why it's more crucial to have a strong defender there.

I don't see what's so extreme about my claims. The argument against DeMar had always been before that he's not a good 3+D player and that's what shooting guards need to be. The problem with JV is the same. DeMar made a drastic improvement to his game in another area that made him viable at a very late stage in his career (to the point where it was close to unprecedented for someone playing starters minutes for that many seasons). We could sit here and say, hey maybe JV can do that too but that'd be betting on a very unlikely event.

[Puffer]

Also tough for JV to pass well when everyone stops moving when they do pass him the ball on a clear out.