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Last year, Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George put on spellbinding, ceiling-raising postseason performances. They made The Playoff Leap. This was small-sample-size theater taking place on the biggest stage. That quartet of players has gone on to varying degrees of success and regression this season, but they all have one thing in common: They made their names in the playoffs.
This year, Toronto Raptors swingman Terrence Ross is the ideal candidate to join them. Ross has already mastered his role as sidekick to the sidekick on one of the league’s most enjoyable teams, and now he’s ready for more. His diverse skill set fills every moment with boundless excitement. His potential to energize everyone watching is enormous. If Ross makes a leap, it’ll fill the edges of nearly every conversation held by NBA aficionados throughout the offseason. And it’s something you won’t want to miss.
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This all is wonderful, but not all he’s good for. Ross is a monster in transition, equally lethal spotting up for 3s (44.8 percent on 67 attempts, per Synergy) as he is absorbing contact with a strong finish at the rim — that or slithering past a defender with his liquefied Euro-step.
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Ross has a below-average PER, doesn’t rebound or get to the free throw line, and the Raptors are slightly better on defense when he sits. But good all-around play in the playoffs will temporarily blanket those flaws. We don’t yet know whom Toronto will match up against in the first round, and that stuff obviously matters (see: Barnes, Harrison), but sometimes it feels like Ross’s bubbling talent will render whoever’s guarding him irrelevant. (He wants the Brooklyn Nets, for the record.)
This year, Toronto Raptors swingman Terrence Ross is the ideal candidate to join them. Ross has already mastered his role as sidekick to the sidekick on one of the league’s most enjoyable teams, and now he’s ready for more. His diverse skill set fills every moment with boundless excitement. His potential to energize everyone watching is enormous. If Ross makes a leap, it’ll fill the edges of nearly every conversation held by NBA aficionados throughout the offseason. And it’s something you won’t want to miss.
...
This all is wonderful, but not all he’s good for. Ross is a monster in transition, equally lethal spotting up for 3s (44.8 percent on 67 attempts, per Synergy) as he is absorbing contact with a strong finish at the rim — that or slithering past a defender with his liquefied Euro-step.
....
Ross has a below-average PER, doesn’t rebound or get to the free throw line, and the Raptors are slightly better on defense when he sits. But good all-around play in the playoffs will temporarily blanket those flaws. We don’t yet know whom Toronto will match up against in the first round, and that stuff obviously matters (see: Barnes, Harrison), but sometimes it feels like Ross’s bubbling talent will render whoever’s guarding him irrelevant. (He wants the Brooklyn Nets, for the record.)
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/is...-playoff-leap/
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