Everything Valanciunas

[inthepaint]

In the playoffs.. one of Kyle, Kawhi and Siakam need to be on the floor at all times. Strange to see Siakam's name listed there but he's legit now.

I agree and I'd even go a step further and have two of these three on the floor at all times (+ JV or Serge). Then have the other two spots rotate between FVV/Wright/OG/Green

[Truth Teller]

If Joel Embiid owns a lot of real estate in Drummond HQ & JV owns some of Embiid Corp. Does that mean JV owns all those Drummond shares too?

BTW I noticed Embiid never smack talks JV. Guy becomes a damn choir boy when we play.

[BadDinosaur]

If Joel Embiid owns a lot of real estate in Drummond HQ & JV owns some of Embiid Corp. Does that mean JV owns all those Drummond shares too?

BTW I noticed Embiid never smack talks JV. Guy becomes a damn choir boy when we play.

Well, since JV owned Drummond for years and Embid took some Drummond shares without asking JV... JV decided to own Embid. That way he's got all of Embid AND Drummond shares to himself. JV is a ruthless business man. #sharktank

[Tmac2darak]

Stay away from the egg nog Yuri

Lol

[S.R.]

This was the first time in awhile that JV has been getting the ball in the post reasonably early in the shot clock. As aggressive as he was I don't think there are many posts big or small who could stop him. Why he isn't in that "beast mode" more often might be a matter of his own psychological makeup as much as the Raptor's offence. But it was great to see and I'm hoping to see it more often.....why not every night. His big dunk off the CJ (?!!) pass might have been my favourite Raptor moment so far this year.

The one thing JV has always needed is to be a bit more decisive on the catch in the post. Last game he did that.

But he's also by far the most comfortable playing a guy his size (or bigger) in the post. He's out of sync when he has to run all over the floor or when he's got to deal with a smaller guy trying to draw fouls, poke the ball, etc.

JV is in heaven matched up against a 250+ pound 7 footer on the block who wants to play physical defence, it's in his comfort zone and it suits his offensive game.

[G__Deane]

Just thinking back to that series of JV dunks and scoring culminating is the missed 3. JV makes that 3 and the roof would have caved in on Scotiabank Place....(still a dumb name)

[Yuri Gagarin]

JV dunks were getting as rare as Derozan dunks

[Nilanka]

Just thinking back to that series of JV dunks and scoring culminating is the missed 3. JV makes that 3 and the roof would have caved in on Scotiabank Place....(still a dumb name)

There's the ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa, ScotiaBank arena in Toronto, ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax, ScotiaBank Saddledome in Calgary, and the ScotiaBank Convention Centre in Niagara.

When will the madness stop???

[LJ2]

One thing I noticed about JV in that Philly game was that he came out with a tonne of energy in that 4th quarter. He was sprinting to set screens like I've never seen him do before. It's like he is content to know that regardless of his play (right now) they are going to use him for a set amount of minutes so he was going to go balls out for those minutes.

[Nilanka]

One thing I noticed about JV in that Philly game was that he came out with a tonne of energy in that 4th quarter. He was sprinting to set screens like I've never seen him do before. It's like he is content to know that regardless of his play (right now) they are going to use him for a set amount of minutes so he was going to go balls out for those minutes.

He seems to have an extra bounce in his step against the "big name" center matchups.

[planetmars]

He seems to have an extra bounce in his step against the "big name" center matchups.

Yeah.. he seems to always do well against plodding bigs like Embiid, Cousins, Gobert, Drummond, Whiteside, Jordan.

But struggles against most other teams.. well, and Gortat for some reason.

[DerozansSpurs]

Yeah.. he seems to always do well against plodding bigs like Embiid, Cousins, Gobert, Drummond, Whiteside, Jordan.

But struggles against most other teams.. well, and Gortat for some reason.

Also struggles against Steven Adams, but then again, Adams plays incredibly physical and reckless.

[BadDinosaur]

Actually, throughout the years I observed one consisten thing with JV and his matchups with bigs. He consistently outplays his contemopraries and younger bigs like Drummond, Whiteside, Embid and he suprisingly outplays those quick bigs or at least it's a wash performance against guys like Anthony Davis and all the other young star and superstar bigs.
Where he struggles most often is against veteran centers like Marc Gasol, Steven Adams or even Gortat.
Good thing is, those guys are getting old quickly and won't be bothering JV for much longer.
JV's defence has also improved dramatically over the last 2 seasons. Many fans still hang on to his reputation as a defensive liability, but if you observe him this season with a fresh eye without any pre-conception on his D, you'll observe a big who plays with a tremendous sense for space that he occupies and where he should be at any time when patroling the paint. He manages to position himself between the ball handling guard and the big to take away angles for the 2 man game and does a great job of contesting at the rim, whoever tries to finish.
The proof for that is when you look at driving guards, they rarely look to finish at the rim over JV anymore and there are very few opportunities for a drop-off pass to a big. Most guards are forced to either keep their dribble and move back out to the perimeter or try the long floater or a mid-range shot in the p&r set. This is exactly what you want from your D, encourage the opposing team to take as many mid-range shots as possible. In the long run, it's the best solution possible and JV has become a really good at forcing those plays.

[inthepaint]

Actually, throughout the years I observed one consisten thing with JV and his matchups with bigs. He consistently outplays his contemopraries and younger bigs like Drummond, Whiteside, Embid and he suprisingly outplays those quick bigs or at least it's a wash performance against guys like Anthony Davis and all the other young star and superstar bigs.
Where he struggles most often is against veteran centers like Marc Gasol, Steven Adams or even Gortat.
Good thing is, those guys are getting old quickly and won't be bothering JV for much longer.
JV's defence has also improved dramatically over the last 2 seasons. Many fans still hang on to his reputation as a defensive liability, but if you observe him this season with a fresh eye without any pre-conception on his D, you'll observe a big who plays with a tremendous sense for space that he occupies and where he should be at any time when patroling the paint. He manages to position himself between the ball handling guard and the big to take away angles for the 2 man game and does a great job of contesting at the rim, whoever tries to finish.
The proof for that is when you look at driving guards, they rarely look to finish at the rim over JV anymore and there are very few opportunities for a drop-off pass to a big. Most guards are forced to either keep their dribble and move back out to the perimeter or try the long floater or a mid-range shot in the p&r set. This is exactly what you want from your D, encourage the opposing team to take as many mid-range shots as possible. In the long run, it's the best solution possible and JV has become a really good at forcing those plays.

Well said, and that's true. It's annoying to see a midrange floater by a guard on the p'n'r to go in, but the reality is that statistically, that's the shot you want to allow if you have to choose one. A straight drive by the guard (when you over-focus on defending the big) or a lob to the big (when you over-focus on defending the guard) it's a much better/higher % shot for the offence.

Allowing a floater by the guard also lets the defending big to immediately rotate to box out the opposing big, which is the best/most efficient away to secure the defensive rebound if the floater doesn't go in.

JV may look undecided at times, but that's exactly what you gotta do if the defending guard is already beat on the pnr.

[Nilanka]

So I try and watch the opposing team's broadcast whenever possible, just to see what others are saying about the Raptors. And so far this season, everyone's been impressed with the way Jonas has handled his "demotion" to the bench.

"Here's a guy who's been a starter his whole life, and he takes a back seat for the betterment of the team, and not a single complaint. True professionalism"

There's one thing Colangelo did right...even if he did pass up on Kawhi