Mid-season Player Grades

[3inthekeon]

FVV leads the entire league in net rating and you gave him a B-...

Fred's played just over 1000 minutes. DeMar over 1900, Lowry over 1700.

[Fully]

DeRozan - A
Lowry - B
Ibaka - B-
Valanciunas - B+
OG - B

FVV - A
Delon - B+
Poeltl - B+
Wright - B-
Siakam - B
Powell - D
Bebe - C

[3inthekeon]

We're using net rating?

A quick look at it shows me the top 5 in the NBA are

1. Fred VanVleet
2. Shaun Livingston
3. Steph Curry
4. Luca Mbah a Moute
5. Eric Gordon

OG Anunoby ranks 7th in the NBA who you yourself have as a "C". Lebron James is in the NEGATIVE for net rating

So I think there may not be a direct translation to "best player"

Kyle and DeMar play with the same players more or less, and most of the time vs other teams starters. So a comparison there is valid. And I did give DeMar the higher grade, despite the worse net rating. But you and others are very poor judges of Lowry's play or impact. He's been far better than C+, especially with the much more generous grading system you guys are using.

[Mitch P]

Derozan A
Lowry B
Ibaka B-
JV A
OG B

Van Vleet A
Wright B+
Poeltl B+
Siakam B
Miles B-

Powell C-
Noguera C

I haven't averaged these out but seem fair to me given that the Raptors have been among the best teams. On beating expectation or disappointing....Fred, JV and Jakob might even go a notch higher. The only major disappointment has been Norm but I saw flashes a few games ago and am still hopeful. He has to find a way to stop fouling so much though and remain patient for his openings on offence. CJ was a minor disappointment though has been much better of late so perhaps was injured, tired or dentally challenged. Ibaka I think has been a little better than many think. I'm not sure anyone thought he could play with JV and the two of them have become quite productive.

The most interesting question I've seen of late on these forums is whether the Bench Mob will remain effective in the playoffs. Obviously there is a lot riding on this. The main weakness would be that Siakam and Poeltl have no outside or even midrange shot. The other is that Fred struggles to finish against any kind of rim protector. CJ goes through cold streaks and then seems to start jacking up shots almost at random even when covered tightly.

But having said that.....these guys as a unit are dynamite. The view that in playoffs the other team's starters will be sprinting the floor on defence is valid at times. But even in playoffs there are a lot of guys who NEVER try as hard as our bench group. They also have better skills than sometimes noted...and even during this one season we are seeing growth. Siakam has started shooting better and CJ has been playing defence. Wright is arguably the most consistent of them and he as well is shooting 3s nicely.

So I think the bench guys deserve high grades and will indeed contribute hugely in the post season...though perhaps not as often in an entire unit.

[The Great One]

To me a C should mean "I expected better from them"

Don't know how anyone can give Poeltl Siakam or OG a C

I'm pretty strict

[3inthekeon]

Mitch mentioned Pascal's better shooting. Over the past month, (14 games) he's 8 for 23 behind the arc - 35%.

[KeonClark]

CJ was a minor disappointment though has been much better of late so perhaps was injured, tired or dentally challenged.

[Hotshot]

DD - A
Lowry - B
Serge - B
OG - B+
JV - A-

FVV - A
Delon - B+
Miles - C+
Pascal - B
Poeltl - A-
Norm- C-
Bebe- D
Bruno -F
Mckinnie - INC

[KeonClark]

DD - A
Lowry - B
Serge - B
OG - B+
JV - A-

FVV - A
Delon - B+
Miles - C+
Pascal - B
Poeltl - A-
Norm- C-
Bebe- D
Bruno -F
Mckinnie - INC

A. Brown..the a stands for anonymous he's the only player still not mentioned once lol

[3inthekeon]

A. Brown..the a stands for anonymous he's the only player still not mentioned once lol

Malcolm Miller?

[tDotted]

DeRozan - A- (I would've given him an A+ before this extended slump he's been on)
Lowry - A-
Serge - C+ (He would be an A in December)
OG - B
JV - A

VanVleet - A
Delon - A-
Miles - B+
Pascal - A-
Poeltl - A-
Powell- D+
Bebe- F

#1 in the East, #3 in the league. Lots of guys deserve As

[JimiCliff]

Lowry: B+
DD: A
OG: A+
Ibaka: C+
JV: B+

FVV: A+
Delon: A
CJ: B+
Pascal: A
Yak: A
Norm: D

[gk17]

Unexpectedly harsh grades 3inthekeon. I agree with KeonClark that grading should be relative to expectations.

I'd go:
DeMar A-
Kyle B+
OG B (remember that he wasn't even supposed to be ready for the start of the season)
Serge B-
JV B (big improvement to 28th of 73 centres in DRPM)

FVV A (I doubt anyone predicted he'd have this type of impact, 14th in NBA in RPM)
Delon B
Jakob B+
Pascal B-
Miles C
Powell D

Casey A+ (yes he has made me look like an idiot, great job coach)

In my head I did the average and this works out to a B average, so you could even scale us up a bit as I think we've been a B+/A- team. (Need to beat the Dubs to get an A for me.)

I like these grades, but I go with a B- for Jakob, because his impact is similar to Pascal and I wouldn't grade him better than JV for now.

[DanH]

Lowry - B+
DeRozan - A
Anunoby - B+
Serge - B-
JV - A
VanVleet - A-
Wright - A
Powell - D+
Miles - B
Siakam - B+
Poeltl - B+
Nogueira - C-

[Demographic Shift]

I am a recovering Rapaholic. Its been 6 days since my last game. Can't wait to crack the seal on the first post all star game tilt this Friday vs The Alphabet at home.

Raptors mid terms.

Starters

DeMar: A+. This year he came back with a 3 point shot. Its not the best but from a guy who didn't have one its a revelation. His assists are up. He still makes all his FT's when it counts under pressure. Yeah he could play harder on defense more but in close games he seems to to gear it up. DD hass played well enough so that mopes on the NBA centric ESPN shows talk about him in the MVP race. In his 9th year we are watching him push VInce hard for the best Raptor ever.

Kyle: B+. He has played well no doubt. His minutes are down which is good. The knock on him from me is his consistency. Most nights he is a great but some nights he seems to have taken his red cape to the dry cleaners. No one can be spot on every game in an 82 game season but Kyle needs to flatten the dips in his game. And make your FT's.

JV: B+ For a guy on the trade block he has resurrected himself from an apparently dispensable guy to someone who is playing meaningful minutes during the course of bigger games. JV is making that 10 foot jumper a lot which opens up the lane for him to move inside. Rrebounds the ball in the top echelon of the league. Happy he lost the pump fake.

Serge: B Serge has played well with JV on the offensive side of the ball. They make some pretty sweet passes inside for easy buckets. He is a threat from 3 just not consistently and the same goes for his FT's. Serge has to improve his rebounding. Its a an exploitable weakness. Either get em or box out.

OG: A In true Raptor fashion OG showed up to training camp and participated after the Repbulic was of the belief that he weouldn't be on the court till late Dec or early January. He has played very very well for a first year guy. No one expected him to be be a starter. He stays in his swim lane and has played well to very well defensively. He has hit the 3 ball at a rate not many if any expected. The rest of his offensive game needs more work. A coaches dream in that he keeps his yip shut and just plays.

Bench

FVV: A He sees the floor very well for a 5 foot 11 inch guard. He handles the ball well. Very well. Hitting the long ball with increasing frequency s the season grinds on. Doesn't turn it over. Makes his FT's. No one saw a walk on from 2 years ago becoming the leader of the bench unit.

Pascal: B- Lots of energy. Can run the floor like Usain Bolt. Has pretty good hands to finish the fast break on. Needs to get better from behind the arc but keep shooting. You don't get better if you don't shoot it. Needs to improve his FT's and rebound the ball better. Still suffers 2nd year guy brain cramps. Still Pascal in his second year from the 27th spot in the draft is a bona fide NBA rotation player.

Poeltl: B- Is the best offensive rebounder the Raps have. He can run the floor. He keeps possesions going with tap outs if he doesn get the ball and put it back . Soft hands and can finish around the rim when he gets close. Has to learn to dunk the ball. Has to improve his FT effciency. Has to find a short range jump shot and has to rebound better on the defensive end. BUt for a second year guy he does everything light years better than his first year.

Delon: B- Getting better from 3 point range. Runs the floor well and gets inside for layups with that sweet Euro step. Can play with the ball and off ball with FVV on the second unit. Delon needs to cowboy up and play physically tougher on both ends of the floor.

C. J.: B- CJ has delivered the 3 ball this year. What hurts his grade is that he has been out of the lineup for a variety of reasons to the ASG. New baby means less rest ... no one likes dental work as the phrase mild discomfort is just BS .it hurts. CJ can play better defense than he has so far so would like to see that to the end of the year.

Bebe: F... This was his year to step up and show that if a deal came along for JV he could take the load. Well not so much. Struggles on the glass badly. He brain cramps on switches. Seems hesitant to take shots when he is 3 feet from the basket. Has very little intensity. Should learn Mandarin.

Norm: D- Seriously bad start for Norm. Telegraphs his drives and they are waiting for him at the rim which results in a charge or a turnover on some ridicuolous off balance pass to nowhere. His 3 point shot is in the lost and found box in the principals office. To many fouls on defense. Still Norm has the drive and intensity of a guy who is a difference maker. If Norm plays under better control on offense and his 3 ball returns and he can limit his fouls on defense his year end grade will rise dramatically.