Everything VanVleet

[Rudy Bargnani]

I’d call him a very good back up shooting guard.

[Rudy Bargnani]

fred is steph on catch and shoot threes and demar on pull-ups

— William Lou (@william_lou) January 6, 2019

Bahahahaha

[golden]

Sell high.

[DanH]

Sell high.

Or, and hear me out here, keep using him off ball and extract value from him on the court. Crazy, I know.

[golden]

Or, and hear me out here, keep using him off ball and extract value from him on the court. Crazy, I know.

Yeah, those "off-ball" pick & rolls with Serge were textbook.

[Mitchell Duong]

It's mostly wishful thinking by DanH and a couple others and I agree its nonsense. Nurse is doing what he thinks is best to win each game, it's not some grand masterful plan to lose now for some mad scientist experiments

I don't agree. Nurse stated at the beginning of the season that he was going to try some sets, lineups and challenge players comfort zone, because you want to be able to play any way the opposition gives you in the playoffs. He even said some of it is not going to work. It is probably fair to assume that when it doesn't work it might cost them the odd game.

Pushing Fred to get reps as the primary ballhandler and play the Lowry role is something he should be able to do. Not like Kyle does it, but we need to consider that Kyle's back might flare up, and its better for Fred to go through this development, and challenge now, and have experience. Then try and do it when he has no choice.

OG playing the 4 is another challenge that has been a struggle.

Last season it clicked from the start, and Casey ran the starters and the bench mob as mostly separate units, and kept it mostly static. I don't agree with Dan that the bench was mostly good in the playoffs. Fred was hurt and in and out of the lineup. Poeltl turned into a generic big. When DeMar and Ibaka really struggled in the playoffs, Casey started throwing lineups that never played together trying to get something to work and it looked about as bad as it could.

[golden]

Some nice "off-ball" PG work by Freddy yesterday....

Steady: Even with Lowry back in the lineup, Fred VanVleet still handled the point and delivered yet another solid outing with eight assists. Lowry's absence allowed VanVleet to develop chemistry with the starters, as evidenced by VanVleet leading Serge Ibaka to the elbows on the pick-and-pop jumpers and with his kick-out passes to Danny Green.

I'm getting ready to place a bet on Steady Freddy.

https://www.thescore.com/news/1690300

[KeonClark]

Some nice "off-ball" PG work by Freddy yesterday....



I'm getting ready to place a bet on Steady Freddy.

https://www.thescore.com/news/1690300

I never took my money off him. I think the hate has been building to the point where I'm at a little uncomfortable with him becoming the whipping boy around here.

[golden]

I never took my money off him. I think the hate has been building to the point where I'm at a little uncomfortable with him becoming the whipping boy around here.

PG position is so critical and it sets the tone for the whole team. And he's not an underdog anymore either, so it's all fair game. Nurse's freedom was bordering on a Casey-Salmons like bromance, but it's good to see he's reigned FVV in, at least for a couple of games.

[jimmie]

PG position is so critical and it sets the tone for the whole team. And he's not an underdog anymore either, so it's all fair game. Nurse's freedom was bordering on a Casey-Salmons like bromance, but it's good to see he's reigned FVV in, at least for a couple of games.

Would be interesting, and likely the story of the rest of the season, to know if Nick is the one reining them in or whether they've taken it upon themselves. The comments from Fred, Danny Green, and Kawhi after the Spurs game all seemed to suggest that even some of the players were beginning to feel like there was too much freedom and that they needed more discipline. That's in contrast to Nick's constant comments that things will come together as time goes by and he's still dedicated to allowing as much freedom as possible...

Either way, I agree that FVV is a capable PG and can handle that role on this team. Healthy Lowry is clearly better at this point in their respective careers, but Fred is fine running the offense. Has all the skills and IQ required.

[DanH]

Some nice "off-ball" PG work by Freddy yesterday....



I'm getting ready to place a bet on Steady Freddy.

https://www.thescore.com/news/1690300

Fred is really benefiting from having a pick and pop big. Lets him do a decent job of creating offence in spite of his inability to run a real PnR. The pass to the short roll or pop is much easier, and the open paint is getting him some passing lanes to the wing. Really nice to see him gaining confidence in those situations. Helps that the team isn't just giving him the ball and asking him to be primary creator anymore - he's getting the ball a lot after movement, even when setting up for a PnP with Serge, and getting to operate against an already moving defence. Much more in line with how he should be used, and he's getting a lot more off ball catch and shoot looks as well, which is helping his efficiency come back up (his efficiency as the ball handler is still pretty meh, but so long as the easier passes are there his spot as secondary creator is viable).

[GOLDBLUM]

Would be interesting, and likely the story of the rest of the season, to know if Nick is the one reining them in or whether they've taken it upon themselves. The comments from Fred, Danny Green, and Kawhi after the Spurs game all seemed to suggest that even some of the players were beginning to feel like there was too much freedom and that they needed more discipline. That's in contrast to Nick's constant comments that things will come together as time goes by and he's still dedicated to allowing as much freedom as possible...

Either way, I agree that FVV is a capable PG and can handle that role on this team. Healthy Lowry is clearly better at this point in their respective careers, but Fred is fine running the offense. Has all the skills and IQ required.

Maybe that was Nick’s master plan... ....let them be free until they recognize and tire of the issues and figure out what changes they need to make for themselves. Now the players can have confidence and ownership in their turnaround. Probably unlikely Nick devised that in such a way but then again, the biggest problem in the playoffs (other than Lebron) has easily been confidence. Probably helpful to have faced adversity as they have the last several weeks and to have been forced to sink or swim and find their way out.

[GOLDBLUM]

OH SNAP, I accidentally liked your post Dan and meant to like Jimmie’s. So please reset your ticker to about 897 likes from me rather than 898 or thereabouts. ... I’m sorry to do this to you. I know how much of a driving force my validation is in all the work you do around here.

(All that said, I liked your post too.)

[slaw]

I never took my money off him. I think the hate has been building to the point where I'm at a little uncomfortable with him becoming the whipping boy around here.

I think people forget it's only really his second season playing full-time and that he's the back-up point guard. I knew things had gone off the rails when I started reading about JJ Barea and Jeremy Lin....

[Demographic Shift]

I think people forget it's only really his second season playing full-time and that he's the back-up point guard. I knew things had gone off the rails when I started reading about JJ Barea and Jeremy Lin....

And thats it !

In aggregate its his second season.....His first year was a "cup of coffee" introduction. He got into 35ish games in his first year but he played less 300 minutes...and guessing or remembering a lot those mins were in 4th quarter garbage time for the guy likely tiered as your 4th best ball handler.

On a contending team Fred isnt a starting PG. Yet. But he is close enough that on other teams he would be a starter in the NBA. On teams like Phoenix, Detroit, Orlando, and Chicago Fred would be an upgrade to their starting PGs.

So when Kyle went down it wasn't like a Come to Jesus Moment because Fred could and would start and wouldn't look like a beer league goalie playing in the NHL against Tampa Bay. The team played well for him.. Could it have been better ? It can always be better but its not like they got crushed or anything and they were playing and beating some really good teams.

We got a deal with this guy for 9M per for two years. Its a bridge deal to be sure because if he keeps improving on his next deal Freddy is going to get a some term and some zeros. He will be 26. Good for him.

Freddy doesn't turn it over which is why Nurse plays him in winning time. He has like a 4 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. PFG. His shot has come back in the last few games. Yep he still makes some ill advised runs to the basket at times.. but hey..so does Kyle.

Freddy will be staying around for a while.

Gotta like guys who believe in themselves and make good on it.