Everything Valanciunas

[jimmie]

Are we worried about vuc and nurkic? I think we should be worried about deandre, LMA, draymond, tt, Blake, lebron, love. Those are our rivals. Couldn't we just live with Sully vs nurkic twice a yr? The league's only trending more toward giles types next yr and into the future.

It's also not just about defending your own position/stopping the other team's post player. JV shifting to help a teammate is s-l-o-w. JV shifting to help the helper almost never happens. JV does not block shots with any regularity (he's not feared by opponents). He's not a "great post defender".

He's a good-to-excellent post offensive player with a decent-to-good mid-range game. Unfortunately, neither of those skills seem to be what Toronto is lacking right now. They're getting killed on the boards and on penetration (either right to the rim or for kickouts). The O is not the problem. This is a very good team that is lacking in one particular area that could maybe take them over the top. I don't have the answer, but I'm fairly certain JV is not it.

[DanH]

Are we worried about vuc and nurkic? I think we should be worried about deandre, LMA, draymond, tt, Blake, lebron, love. Those are our rivals. Couldn't we just live with Sully vs nurkic twice a yr? The league's only trending more toward giles types next yr and into the future.

I made no claims about any of that. Someone said he was a poor post defender, he is actually a very good post defender. The value of that is certainly debatable.

[jimmie]

I made no claims about any of that. Someone said he was a poor post defender, he is actually a very good post defender. The value of that is certainly debatable.

One isolated stat does not a 'very good post defender' make. Does he pass your eye test?

[KeonClark]

One isolated stat does not a 'very good post defender' make. Does he pass your eye test?

Youre thinking of help defense, which yes jv lacks but it doesn't help that carroll has been an absolute slug, and derozan is, well, derozan.

[DanH]

One isolated stat does not a 'very good post defender' make. Does he pass your eye test?

Uh, yes? He makes stops in the post at a very high rate - guys rarely score on him there. His defensive deficiencies are in other areas.

[lewro]

It's also not just about defending your own position/stopping the other team's post player. JV shifting to help a teammate is s-l-o-w. JV shifting to help the helper almost never happens. JV does not block shots with any regularity (he's not feared by opponents). He's not a "great post defender".

He's a good-to-excellent post offensive player with a decent-to-good mid-range game. Unfortunately, neither of those skills seem to be what Toronto is lacking right now. They're getting killed on the boards and on penetration (either right to the rim or for kickouts). The O is not the problem. This is a very good team that is lacking in one particular area that could maybe take them over the top. I don't have the answer, but I'm fairly certain JV is not it.

The "fear" part is important. You can see guys think twice about how to attack bebe. With jv they know he just follows principle of verticality so he won't get a foul called. To the opponent it's essentially a coach holding a blocking pad up in practice.
No, I can't prove any of this.

[lewro]

I made no claims about any of that. Someone said he was a poor post defender, he is actually a very good post defender. The value of that is certainly debatable.

I don't care to debate if jv is a good post defender. How to matchup with the forwards on the contenders is the point.

[3inthekeon]

Youre thinking of help defense, which yes jv lacks but it doesn't help that carroll has been an absolute slug, and derozan is, well, derozan.

I accidentally clicked like on your post. Carroll has not been a slug. He's actually been pretty good lately.

[3inthekeon]

Eye test. He gets worked in the post. He's not a great defender by any stretch. If we want to value JV for his offense, we have to admit his flaws on defense.

"Eye test" always seems to make players we like seem better and players we don't seem worse.

[Nilanka]

I accidentally clicked like on your post. Carroll has not been a slug. He's actually been pretty good lately.

He's been getting blown by on the perimeter, more often than we'd like though, which puts Jonas in a tough position.

[KeonClark]

I accidentally clicked like on your post. Carroll has not been a slug. He's actually been pretty good lately.

Really? I think he's been awful defensively other than that 2 game stretch last week. We thought he was "back", but to me he's back to crap. Sure he hits spot up 3s, didn't know we had to pay 15 million for that..he loses every loose ball battle..the defense is terrible. Take a look at the hustle of a much older Richard Jefferson last night.

[A.I]

Uh, yes? He makes stops in the post at a very high rate - guys rarely score on him there. His defensive deficiencies are in other areas.

Agreed. He is a good post defender, but a terrible P&R defender.

[tDotted]

He's been getting blown by on the perimeter, more often than we'd like though, which puts Jonas in a tough position.

I've been a big supporter of Jonas, but even then, he needs to show more effort deterring shots. The half-hearted contests and lazy fouls need to stop.

Really? I think he's been awful defensively other than that 2 game stretch last week. We thought he was "back", but to me he's back to crap. Sure he hits spot up 3s, didn't know we had to pay 15 million for that..he loses every loose ball battle..the defense is terrible. Take a look at the hustle of a much older Richard Jefferson last night.

He'll never be "back". Those knee injuries messed him up real good.

[jimmie]

"Eye test" always seems to make players we like seem better and players we don't seem worse.

Agreed. So do stats without context. And for the record, I like JV. Just not on the Raptors anymore; I had hoped he would improve on D, as "bigs always take longer" (which I think is a lot of nonsense), but I haven't seen it.

[jimmie]

Agreed. He is a good post defender, but a terrible P&R defender.

Yeah, and basically, if you want to defend the guy based solely on how he does against his own check every night through one single metric, and forget about the rest of 'team defense', then sure, that one stat looks fine. Watching him D up on a nightly basis gives you infinitely more insight into how he actually defends within the team concept.