Stats and Trivia 2014-15

[Scraptor]

I don't want to bump an old thread, so I'm going to link this discussion about whether we set too many screens. I think you're starting to see the deleterious effects of all the screens on our bigs, who at times looked really run down the last road trip.

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/forum...o-many-screens

If anyone sees any updated numbers please post them.

[raptors999]

I don't want to bump an old thread, so I'm going to link this discussion about whether we set too many screens. I think you're starting to see the deleterious effects of all the screens on our bigs, who at times looked really run down the last road trip.

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/forum...o-many-screens

If anyone sees any updated numbers please post them.

Raptors don't jack up enough shots early. If they start shooting as soon as the cross timeline there wouldn't be a need for screens.

[Scraptor]

TRoss has the ninth lowest free-throw attempt rate in NBA history for anyone with a minimum of 190 games:

http://bkref.com/tiny/XH1Mk

His company on that list is somewhat alarming. Strangely enough, Patrick Patterson isn't much farther down at number 20.

-----

Val's 31 the other night was the fourth most points in Raptors history on 15 or fewer FGA.

[Scraptor]

Updated strength of schedule:

[Scraptor]

The rest of our division is a collective 69 games under .500, bahahaha. The Titanic division is amazing this year.

[raptors999]

The rest of our division is a collective 69 games under .500, bahahaha. The Titanic division is amazing this year.

Two teams with 30 losses and Celtics have a legit shot at second with 23 losses. God awful division.

[Scraptor]

Here's a big update for the halfway point of the season. All of this comes from basketball-reference.com and stats.nba.com.

TEAM:

General stats

Our record is 27-14 after 41 games; last year we were 21-20.
We are 2nd in Orating and 21st in Drating; last year we were 10th and 10th for the full year.

We are 10-9 against teams .500 or above; last year we were 16-25 (including games with Rudy).

We are 4th in the league in points in the paint; last year we were 23rd.
We are 14th in the league in fastbreak points; last year we were 26th.

Defensively, we rank 21st in points in the paint allowed; last year we were 7th.
Defensively, we rank 8th in fastbreak points allowed; last year we were 7th.

Even with this recent bad stretch, we are 4th in the league in turnovers per 100 possessions, and 10th in AST/TO ratio.

We are 16th in the league in pace.

NBA.com tracking stats

We are:

17th in catch-and-shoot 3PT attempts per game. (top 5 are Rockets, Hawks, Mavs, Suns, Blazers)

6th in points per 48 minutes on drives to the basket. 4th in drives FG%.

16th in assists per game, and 14th in free throw assists per game.
26th in passes per game.
22nd in secondary assists (hockey assists) per game.
27th in assist opportunities per game. (top 5 are Hawks, Celtics, Warriors, Spurs, Wizards)
14th in points created by assists per game.

Our 3pointers are the 2nd-lowest % assisted in the league, after the Lakers, and followed by Detroit/Portland/Charlotte.

We are 25th in front court touches per game. (Spurs 3rd, Hawks 4th, Warriors 9th)
3rd in points per half court touch. (Suns 1st, Pelicans 2nd, Lakers 4th, Nuggets 5th)

3rd in pull-up shots per game. (Lakers, Hornets, us, Clippers, Blazers.... bottom 3 are Hawks, 76ers, Rockets)
23rd in pull-up shot FG%.
1st in pull-up 3 pointers per game. (Rockets 2nd, Warriors 7th)
16th in pull-up 3 point % (Rockets 4th, Warriors 1st)

Opponent FG% at the rim - 8th

Contested rebound percentage - 14th

We are 27th in distance travelled per game. However, this does not take pace into account. So I created a measure called "Motion", which is distance travelled divided by pace.

First place? Spurs. Followed by the Knicks, Jazz, Hornets, and Grizzlies, so not necessarily a sign of efficient movement, especially given that the Warriors are 25th. Raptors are 21st. I guess you need a combination of motion and smart passing to make things really work.

Fourth quarter FGAs / TS% / plus-minus
Lowry 166 / 52.4% / +15
Lou 143 / 52.2% / +56
Greivis 124 /48.5% / +4
Patman 77 / 69.6% / +39
TRoss 67 / 57.8% / +26
DeMar 63 / 46.9% / +40
JJ 61 / 65.6% / +48
Amir 58 / 61.8% / +39
Jonas 32 / 62.7% / -43
Handsbro 28 / 41.5% / +61

Note that -39 of Jonas's -43 occurred while playing with Greivis (about 40% of his 4th quarter minutes). The other 60% of his 4th quarter minutes he was essentially neutral.

Lou (expiring contract) and Greivis (one year left after this one) combined have taken over eight times the amount of shots Jonas has in the fourth quarter.


PLAYERS:

Kyle Lowry
-8th in the NBA in field goal attempts, 18th in points per game, 6th in assists per game (career high), 9th in total win shares, 14th in WS/48
-15th in league in minutes played... is this a concern?
-usage is a career high 26.7% vs last year's 22.9%
-TS% is slightly below career average (54.3% vs 54.9%)
-3PT% is lowest of last five seasons (including this season)

DeMar Derozan (has only played in 20 games)
-8th in NBA in FTA/g for minimum of 400 minutes played
-career high steal%, best DRating of the starters (this was also true during his 16 games pre-injury during a softer schedule)
-career low TS%
-assist% is down 6% from last year (18.9 to 12.9), almost to pre-Rudy levels
-3PT attempt rate is lowest of last four years, including this season

Jonas Valanciunas
-10th in the NBA in FG%, 10th in TS%, 13th in Oratg, 10th in total rebound% (19th offensive, 12th defensive), 12th in WS/48
-17th in the NBA in free throw attempt rate (minimum 400 minutes)
-for players 23 and under, 4th in win shares after Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Derrick Favors
-career low assist %, ball is often getting stuck with him
-has the lowest NetRating of the regulars, but is a positive when paired with DeMar (+1.5), Lowry (+1.3), or JJ (+1.0); is a negative when paired with Patman (-0.7), Amir (-2.0), Lou (-2.6), TRoss (-4.6), Grevis (-6.6), and Fields (-10.6).... [Val's played insignificant minutes with other guys like Handsbro and Hayes]
-has not played a single minute in 14 fourth quarters (out of 40 possible)
-has taken 3.8% of the team's fourth quarter field goal attempts

James Johnson
-13th in NBA in block %, 17th in ORatg
-2nd best NetRating on team of +9.7
-leads team in joints cocked back and banged on

Amir Johnson
-4th in NBA in FG%, 12th in TS%, 19th in NBA in Oratg
-career lows in block % and rebound % (excluding rookie season when he played 39 minutes total)

Lou Williams
-among players who've played 30 games but started 6 or less [ie BENCH PLAYERS] Lou is 2nd in PPG (after Jamal Crawford), 2nd in PER (after Brandan Wright), 2nd in win shares (after guess who), 1st in FTA/g, and 7th in steals/g
-20th in NBA in 3PA and 20th in FTA (an unusual combo), 18th lowest turnover %
-posting his best TS% of last five years (including this season)

Patrick Patterson
-among bench players, is 1st in win shares and 4th in TS%
-3rd in NBA in ORatg, 11th in 3PT%, 18th in TS%, 7th lowest turnover%
-career high TS%

Terrence Ross
-18th in NBA in total 3pters made, 16th lowest in NBA in turnover %
-for players 23 and under, 3rd in 3pters made after Brandon Knight and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
-6th lowest in NBA in free throw attempt rate, after Mike Miller, Channing Frye, Jordan Farmar, Jose Calderon, and Jameer Nelson (minimum 400 minutes)

Greivis Vasquez
-among bench players, Greivis is 5th in assists per game and 13th in points per game
-career low TS%, though January (54.8%) is up considerably from November and December (47.9% and 45.4%)

Tyler Hansbrough
-leads team in NetRating
-3rd highest in NBA in free throw attempt rate (minimum 400 minutes)

Landry Fields
-shoots 4th closest to the basket after Steamer, Chuck, and Val

Chuck Hayes
-leads team in age
-leads team in Drummonds frightened

Bebe Nogueira
-leads team with 28.9% total rebound percentage

Bruno Caboclo
-leads team with 5.4% block percentage

The All-Knowing, All-Powerful Steamer:
-leads team with 87.2% true shooting and 129 offensive rating
-leads team with 36.8% turnover percentage


SEASON RECORDS:

Most points in a game - Lowry 39 / Lou 36 / Lowry 35
Most rebounds in a game - Amir 16 / Val 15 / Val 14x2
Most assists in a game - Lowry 14/13/13
Most steals in a game - Lowry 6 / DeMar 6 / JJx2-Lou-DeMar 4
Most blocks in a game - JJx2 4 / Val 4 / Amir 4


MISCELLANEOUS:

Dunk leaders:
Val 37/46 (80%, gotta go up strong Val)
JJ 32/32
Amir 21/22
TRoss 18/20
DeMar 10/10

Shot attempts with 10 seconds or less left in a quarter or OT:
Lou 16/58 ... (7/33 from three)
Lowry 11/32 ... (0/11 from three)
Greivis 3/8 ... (1/5 from three)
TRoss 1/7 ... (0/6)
DeMar 1/6 ... (0/2)
Patman 3/6 ... (0/2)
JJ 1/5 (0/2)
Amir 3/4
Val 2/2
Hansbro 1/2

And1s converted:
Lowry 12
Lou 12
DeMar 9
JJ 4
Val 4


Okay, I'm done, I hope you enjoyed reading it and please feel free to add more or point out any errors. Cheers.

[MACK11]

Here's a big update for the halfway point of the season. All of this comes from basketball-reference.com and stats.nba.com.

TEAM:

General stats

Our record is 27-14 after 41 games; last year we were 21-20.
We are 2nd in Orating and 21st in Drating; last year we were 10th and 10th for the full year.

We are 10-9 against teams .500 or above; last year we were 16-25 (including games with Rudy).

We are 4th in the league in points in the paint; last year we were 23rd.
We are 14th in the league in fastbreak points; last year we were 26th.

Defensively, we rank 21st in points in the paint allowed; last year we were 7th.
Defensively, we rank 8th in fastbreak points allowed; last year we were 7th.

Even with this recent bad stretch, we are 4th in the league in turnovers per 100 possessions, and 10th in AST/TO ratio.

We are 16th in the league in pace.

NBA.com tracking stats

We are:

17th in catch-and-shoot 3PT attempts per game. (top 5 are Rockets, Hawks, Mavs, Suns, Blazers)

6th in points per 48 minutes on drives to the basket. 4th in drives FG%.

16th in assists per game, and 14th in free throw assists per game.
26th in passes per game.
22nd in secondary assists (hockey assists) per game.
27th in assist opportunities per game. (top 5 are Hawks, Celtics, Warriors, Spurs, Wizards)
14th in points created by assists per game.

Our 3pointers are the 2nd-lowest % assisted in the league, after the Lakers, and followed by Detroit/Portland/Charlotte.

We are 25th in front court touches per game. (Spurs 3rd, Hawks 4th, Warriors 9th)
3rd in points per half court touch. (Suns 1st, Pelicans 2nd, Lakers 4th, Nuggets 5th)

3rd in pull-up shots per game. (Lakers, Hornets, us, Clippers, Blazers.... bottom 3 are Hawks, 76ers, Rockets)
23rd in pull-up shot FG%.
1st in pull-up 3 pointers per game. (Rockets 2nd, Warriors 7th)
16th in pull-up 3 point % (Rockets 4th, Warriors 1st)

Opponent FG% at the rim - 8th

Contested rebound percentage - 14th

We are 27th in distance travelled per game. However, this does not take pace into account. So I created a measure called "Motion", which is distance travelled divided by pace.

First place? Spurs. Followed by the Knicks, Jazz, Hornets, and Grizzlies, so not necessarily a sign of efficient movement, especially given that the Warriors are 25th. Raptors are 21st. I guess you need a combination of motion and smart passing to make things really work.

Fourth quarter FGAs / TS% / plus-minus
Lowry 166 / 52.4% / +15
Lou 143 / 52.2% / +56
Greivis 124 /48.5% / +4
Patman 77 / 69.6% / +39
TRoss 67 / 57.8% / +26
DeMar 63 / 46.9% / +40
JJ 61 / 65.6% / +48
Amir 58 / 61.8% / +39
Jonas 32 / 62.7% / -43
Handsbro 28 / 41.5% / +61

Note that -39 of Jonas's -43 occurred while playing with Greivis (about 40% of his 4th quarter minutes). The other 60% of his 4th quarter minutes he was essentially neutral.

Lou (expiring contract) and Greivis (one year left after this one) combined have taken over eight times the amount of shots Jonas has in the fourth quarter.

PLAYERS:

Kyle Lowry
-8th in the NBA in field goal attempts, 18th in points per game, 6th in assists per game (career high), 9th in total win shares, 14th in WS/48
-15th in league in minutes played... is this a concern?
-usage is a career high 26.7% vs last year's 22.9%
-TS% is slightly below career average (54.3% vs 54.9%)
-3PT% is lowest of last five seasons (including this season)

DeMar Derozan (has only played in 20 games)
-8th in NBA in FTA/g for minimum of 400 minutes played
-career high steal%, best DRating of the starters (this was also true during his 16 games pre-injury during a softer schedule)
-career low TS%
-assist% is down 6% from last year (18.9 to 12.9), almost to pre-Rudy levels
-3PT attempt rate is lowest of last four years, including this season

Jonas Valanciunas
-10th in the NBA in FG%, 10th in TS%, 13th in Oratg, 10th in total rebound% (19th offensive, 12th defensive), 12th in WS/48
-17th in the NBA in free throw attempt rate (minimum 400 minutes)
-for players 23 and under, 4th in win shares after Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Derrick Favors
-career low assist %, ball is often getting stuck with him
-has the lowest NetRating of the regulars, but is a positive when paired with DeMar (+1.5), Lowry (+1.3), or JJ (+1.0); is a negative when paired with Patman (-0.7), Amir (-2.0), Lou (-2.6), TRoss (-4.6), Grevis (-6.6), and Fields (-10.6).... [Val's played insignificant minutes with other guys like Handsbro and Hayes]
-has not played a single minute in 14 fourth quarters (out of 40 possible)
-has taken 3.8% of the team's fourth quarter field goal attempts

James Johnson
-13th in NBA in block %, 17th in ORatg
-2nd best NetRating on team of +9.7
-leads team in joints cocked back and banged on

Amir Johnson
-4th in NBA in FG%, 12th in TS%, 19th in NBA in Oratg
-career lows in block % and rebound % (excluding rookie season when he played 39 minutes total)

Lou Williams
-among players who've played 30 games but started 6 or less, Lou is 2nd in PPG (after Jamal Crawford), 2nd in PER (after Brandan Wright), 2nd in win shares (after guess who), 1st in FTA/g, and 7th in steals/g
-20th in NBA in 3PA and 20th in FTA (an unusual combo), 18th lowest turnover %
-posting his best TS% of last five years (including this season)

Patrick Patterson
-among players with 30 games and 6 or fewer starts, is 1st in win shares and 4th in TS%
-3rd in NBA in ORatg, 11th in 3PT%, 18th in TS%, 7th lowest turnover%
-career high TS%

Terrence Ross
-18th in NBA in total 3pters made, 16th lowest in NBA in turnover %
-for players 23 and under, 3rd in 3pters made after Brandon Knight and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
-6th lowest in NBA in free throw attempt rate, after Mike Miller, Channing Frye, Jordan Farmar, Jose Calderon, and Jameer Nelson (minimum 400 minutes)

Greivis Vasquez
-for players with 30 games and 6 starts or less, Greivis is 5th in assists per game and 13th in points per game
-career low TS%, though January (54.8%) is up considerably from November and December (47.9% and 45.4%)

Tyler Hansbrough
-leads team in NetRating
-3rd highest in NBA in free throw attempt rate (minimum 400 minutes)

Chuck Hayes
-leads team in Drummonds frightened

Bebe Nogueira
-leads team with 28.9% total rebound percentage

Bruno Caboclo
-leads team with 5.4% block percentage

The All-Knowing, All-Powerful Steamer:
-leads team with 87.2% true shooting
-leads team with 36.8% turnover percentage


SEASON RECORDS:

Most points in a game - Lowry 39 / Lou 36 / Lowry 35
Most rebounds in a game - Amir 16 / Val 15 / Val 14x2
Most assists in a game - Lowry 14/13/13
Most steals in a game - Lowry 6 / DeMar 6 / JJx2-Lou-DeMar 4
Most blocks in a game - JJx2 4 / Val 4 / Amir 4

Miscellany

Dunk leaders:
Val 37/46 (80%, gotta go up strong Val)
JJ 32/32
Amir 21/22
TRoss 18/20
DeMar 10/10

Shot attempts with 10 seconds or less left in a quarter or OT:
Lou 16/58 ... (7/33 from three)
Lowry 11/32 ... (0/11 from three)
Greivis 3/8 ... (1/5 from three)
TRoss 1/7 ... (0/6)
DeMar 1/6 ... (0/2)
Patman 3/6 ... (0/2)
JJ 1/5 (0/2)
Amir 3/4
Val 2/2
Hansbro 1/2

And1s converted
Lowry 12
Lou 12
DeMar 9
JJ 4
Val 4


Okay, I'm done, I hope you enjoyed reading it and please feel free to add more or point out any errors. Cheers.

Great read!

[CalgaryRapsFan]

3rd in pull-up shots per game. (Lakers, Hornets, us, Clippers, Blazers.... bottom 3 are Hawks, 76ers, Rockets)
23rd in pull-up shot FG%.

1st in pull-up 3 pointers per game. (Rockets 2nd, Warriors 7th)
16th in pull-up 3 point % (Rockets 4th, Warriors 1st)

The section was quite telling for me, as it really speaks to the inefficiency of an ISO-centric approach, especially when utilized with such high frequency.

If you're going to do something a lot, you better be good at it!

[Scraptor]

The section was quite telling for me, as it really speaks to the inefficiency of an ISO-centric approach, especially when utilized with such high frequency.

If you're going to do something a lot, you better be good at it!

You know, it's weird, there's an inherent tension in the numbers: we do so many things badly, but we have the second best offense in the league. We don't pass as much as other teams, we take a lot of bad shots, but we are crafty as hell when it comes to drawing fouls, and then making them (3rd in FTM/g). We're also 8th in 3PM/g.

So for a team that isn't supposed to be an analytics darling... we are making a lot of threes and free throws. It's partly because we don't have a blazing star who does both, like James Harden. Instead we have a couple under-the-radar guys who do both (Lowry and Lou), a couple of guys who hit a lot of 3s (Ross and Patman), and then other guys who make a lot of FTs (DeMar and Val).

Unfortunately I didn't have time to really dig into the defensive numbers, which is where the real problems lie, but without Synergy it's a lot tougher now.

The interesting point of discussion on offense is how well our game is going to stand up in the playoffs. I feel like we've been getting scouted really well the last couple of weeks; now we'll see how we adjust.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

You know, it's weird, there's an inherent tension in the numbers: we do so many things badly, but we have the second best offense in the league. We don't pass as much as other teams, we take a lot of bad shots, but we are crafty as hell when it comes to drawing fouls, and then making them (3rd in FTM/g). We're also 8th in 3PM/g.

So for a team that isn't supposed to be an analytics darling... we are making a lot of threes and free throws. It's partly because we don't have a blazing star who does both, like James Harden. Instead we have a couple under-the-radar guys who do both (Lowry and Lou), a couple of guys who hit a lot of 3s (Ross and Patman), and then other guys who make a lot of FTs (DeMar and Val).

Unfortunately I didn't have time to really dig into the defensive numbers, which is where the real problems lie, but without Synergy it's a lot tougher now.

The interesting point of discussion on offense is how well our game is going to stand up in the playoffs. I feel like we've been getting scouted really well the last couple of weeks; now we'll see how we adjust.

I think it comes down to what a lot of people have been saying for quite awhile - the Raptors live and die with their ISO game and forcing tougher-than-necessary shots. When the shots are falling and the whistles are favorable, the team can succeed. If either factor falters, the team can go into an offensive tailspin, as we've seen in certain games.

When it comes to the playoffs, the opposition is better and the defensive intensity is more consistent, making it less likely that the shooters stay hot throughout a 7 games series. Also, come playoff time, the NBA is well known for minimizing the impact the refs have on the games, so the whistles tend to go silent (and/or more in favor of the star players). That also doesn't bode well for shooters (ie: DeRozan, Lou and sometimes Lowry) who rely on bailout calls to offset their otherwise inefficient scoring.

And you're right... that's all before even considering the defensive side of the ball!

[Scraptor]

Just to give some info on how we did last regular season (2013-14) compared to the playoffs:

Our post-Rudy metrics in the regular season vs the playoffs
Oratg 107.2 / 104.5
DRatg 102.4 / 108.3
NetRatg 4.8 / -3.8
Pace 94.3 / 91.1 --> this will explain some of the lower numbers in the playoffs
Assist% 60.4 / 54.1
Reb% 51.0 / 52.9
TS% 55.3 / 55.3 weird

Player tracking stats (full season, no filter available) vs playoffs:
Catch and shoot FGA 19.2 / 18.6
Catch and shoot 3PTA 16.0 / 14.7

Opponent FG% at rim 52.9 / 59.9 yikes

Raptors points per 48 min on drives 14.5 / 22.6 huge increase

Passes per game 302.2 (this was 17th in league) / 262.3
Assist opportunities 42.5 (22nd) / 34.1 (last among playoff teams)

Front court touches per game 311.3 (11th, we've really fallen off here) / 265.9
Points per half court touch 0.326 (18th, huge improvement this year) / 0.362 interesting increase

Pull up 3PTA/game 5.6 (7th) / 6.1 not really significant


Long 2 attempts per game (15 ft to the 3PT line):
2014-15 13.9

2013-14 post-Rudy 17.1
2013-14 playoffs 13.1 weird, partly due to pace

[Puffer]

Loved this part:

"James Johnson
-13th in NBA in block %, 17th in ORatg
-2nd best NetRating on team of +9.7
-leads team in joints cocked back and banged on"

[Scraptor]

Cool post from Jclaw in another thread:

I was just reading grantlands write up on Damian Lillard. It includes an interesting bit on creators of the more valuable three point shot. It talks about the "big three" of Lillard, harden and curry. Interesting to see who would have been included if they made it the "big 4" (maybe "big 5" but another way to look at it would be the "big 1" of the eastern conference)

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/da...ourth-quarter/

Unassisted 3s, as of 1/18

1. James Harden: 54
2. Damian Lillard: 49
3. Stephen Curry: 47
4. Brandon Jennings: 40
5. Chris Paul, Kyle Lowry (tie): 31

I love this stat, because it reveals which guys are really good at breaking opponents down with crossovers and step-backs as means to generate open shots the hard way. This is something that Danny Green and Kyle Korver — amazing shooters — just can’t do. And it’s something that Lillard has worked hard to get good at. The keys, he says, are to quickly morph from dribbler to shooter and to embrace that uncomfortable, often chaotic transition. “It’s your handle and it’s your gather. And even though it may not ever be completely comfortable, you know what it should feel like when it’s a good one. I’ve done it enough to have that feeling.”

Unassisted3

Lillard’s ability to generate 3s goes beyond his world-class step-back. As I wrote about two weeks ago, in the context of Harden, a vast majority of 3-pointers require an assist, and in an era increasingly obsessed with 3s, players who can both knock down and create 3s for their teammates are increasingly valuable. When you consider assists that lead to 3s and made 3s, you can quickly find which players are the most prolific engines of the league’s growing 3-point economy.

Total 3s produced (assists + makes) (as of 1/18)

1. James Harden: 243
2. Stephen Curry: 207
3. Damian Lillard: 200
4. Kyle Lowry: 167
5. Chris Paul: 167

There they are again — the Big Three. Harden, Curry, and Lillard are the GM, Ford, and Chrysler of the NBA’s new 3-goggle industry. Lillard gets it: “Three points are more than two. Every time I get in the paint, I’m looking for Wes or Nico [Nicolas Batum], because they shoot so well from beyond the line.”

I like that last part in bold. Curry has his splash brother and green to pass to, Lillard has Matthews, Paul has Reddick etc. Kyle passes to..........?

The answer to this last question is:
TRoss 40 made 3s
Lou 23
Patman 18
Greivis 10
DeMar 4
JJ 3
Amir 2
.... and Landry Fields with 1

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/20076...ort=FG3M&dir=1

[Scraptor]

Speaking of defense, here's Vantage Sports with an in-depth look at showing/hedging/dropping back on the pick and roll. Pretty awesome stuff.






WARNING: this link is loaded with gifs and will chew up your browser resources. Just fyi. Still worth it imo.

http://www.vantagesports.com/#story/...nsive-strategy

The Raptors hedge on the third-highest proportion of on-ball screens they defend. Both Amir Johnson and Patrick Patterson are agile power forwards. Jonas Valanciunas drops back 91.86 percent of the time, the most of any Raptor by a significant margin.

And this article is also excellent, not sure if I missed it entirely and it's already been discussed. But pretty much nails a lot of the issues with our D.

http://www.vantagesports.com/#story/...aptors-defense

According to Vantage, when defending screens, the Raptors have the third-highest Hedge% in the league at 24.8 percent. As mentioned, an enormous part of their defensive strategy involves the big man jumping out when defending screens, acting as a roadblock for the ball handler, which (among other outcomes) can give the original defender time to recover, force the ball out of the opponent's hands, create a turnover, or possibly lead to an open shot. It's an integral part of how the Raptors play defense.

However, despite having such a high Hedge% as a team, Valanciunas has so far hedged on just 1.43 percent of the screens he's defended this season. To put how low Valanciunas's number is in context, the second-lowest Hedge% on the Raptors is Tyler Hansbrough's 18 percent. As a more traditional big man, Jonas is far more comfortable defending near the rim, and he doesn't really have either the footspeed or the footwork to be able to effectively hedge and subsequently recover onto his man. This means that most of the time, he'll play more conservatively, dropping back to contain any penetration. While a perfectly acceptable strategy in isolation, this simple adjustment changes the entire defensive ethos of the Raptors when he's on the court. As one can imagine, this can lead to confusion, and the results are often not pretty.