Everything Derozan

[Superjudge]

Rather than hijack the 3 stars thread, I moved this response here:




Why not listen to the originator of the term "District of DeRozan" on its real meaning.

District of DeRozan is a play on RaptorsRepublic and District of Columbia. One would think the term should have been DeRozansDistrict but the Washington, District of Columbia (D.C.) made it sound better, in the creator's opinion, so I went with that.

Now what is the meaning?

Well, this is a Raptors fan forum. I was always brought up to put the team before the individuals. Considering that every criticism of DeRozan has always been with the best interests of the team in mind, I always found it confusing the amount of backlash these criticisms brought about when, again, the whole focus of the criticism is to create a better Raptor TEAM. So one day it dawned on me, those who so passionately fight against any and all form of DeRozan criticism must be more of a DeRozan fan than a Raptor fan.

So there you have it, the origination of the term District of DeRozan. Considering the explanations behind the term like the one quoted above and the anger it has generated among his biggest fans, well, I guess there really is more truth behind the term than I originally thought.


In terms of any criticism I've ever leveled against DeRozan, the last 2 games was the perfect illustration of said criticisms and expectations for his game. If in doubt, take a look at his shot chart versus Boston and his shot chart versus Washington. Then take a look at the box score. Then rewatch the game if it still has not clicked in.

The Raptors are a much much better team when DeRozan works within the framework of the team and is selective picking his spots to step up or create. Give me 25 points on 13 shots with 1 assist in a blow out win over a playoff team (Washington) any and all days over 23 points on 25 shots and 6 assists in a narrow win over an Eastern Conference weakling.


So if it is still not clear, let me try to put in the simplest of terms:

Ball dominant DeRozan = bad
Team oriented DeRozan = good


Anyone who can find anything to debate in the above observations to me are residents of the District of DeRozan because they clearly have the best interests of DeRozan in mind rather than the Raptors...... which is totally ironic because any success that the Raptors have as a TEAM is going to be credited to DeRozan first and foremost as was seen last year with his All-Star nod.


Here to hoping we see more Washington DeRozan moving forward. In my opinion it was one of his best games of his career and I'd be more than happy to cheer that guy on as a Raptor fan.

5-1 dude..... 5-1.

[mcHAPPY]

5-1 dude..... 5-1.

Which is suppose to mean what?

Stay content with barely scrapping out wins against inferior competition?

Before Washington, the teams the Raptors have beat thus far has had a collective record of 8-15.


The point here is the Washington game should be the blueprint moving forward. If the Raptors consistently play like that, my guess of 52 wins is going to be under.

[Chr1s1anL]

Which is suppose to mean what?

Stay content with barely scrapping out wins against inferior competition?

Before Washington, the teams the Raptors have beat thus far has had a collective record of 8-15.


The point here is the Washington game should be the blueprint moving forward. If the Raptors consistently play like that, my guess of 52 wins is going to be under.

Do you believe the coaching staff has the teams best intentions intention in mind?

[Chr1s1anL]

Also its not fair to compare the last two games. Since against Boston we were missing two starters.

[chico]

Lol so anyone who argues against DeRozan criticism is not a Raptors fan, rather they are a DeRozan fan?

What a narrow-minded point of view.

You had to know that was coming. We've been down this road before, and it's following the exact same pattern. The "explanation" of the DOD label provided is the spin doctored "innocence of grammar" that I spoke of, when everybody knows it's meant to demean others and elevate oneself as a "I AM about TEAM, and y'all just care about player", as we're now getting again. Totally predictable. The "can't take criticism" card has already been played. And the "I like this about him, so see I'm being fair" spin doctoring was easily predictable too. It's just more of the same, over and over and over. Round and round we go. Where it goes, everybody knows. Same old, same old.

IMO, what fails to get acknowledged is that it's not simply criticism that gets criticized (who rejects criticism? really), but the constant slant of criticism towards one player in an often very biased spirit. For example, the outrage repeated over and over, even repeated outrage that others weren't outraged, about DD staying down when fouled 3 times on the way to the hoop, including 2 shots to the head/back of the neck. For all we know, team trainers/medical staff have told players to stay down when hit in the head, until sure they haven't been concussed. There would be medical logic behind that, but that doesn't fit the narrative.

Lowry did the exact same thing in the Wiz game. I mentioned it and the only reason given for lack of outrage was that Lowry's miraculous recovery (using terms used in the DD outrage) occurred during a timeout. So, the difference is in the coach called a timeout, though he did look fine when he got up after the whistle. Okay, but what about when in the same game, Lowry went down on a failed lay-up attempt and stayed down without even being hit. He was nowhere to be seen at the other end until the play was long over. If one wanted to be slanted, they could say "he let his team down", as was repeated over and over during the DD outrage. It's the constant slant that doesn't get acknowledged.

NOTE: I in no way say this to dump on Lowry. I say it to point out that this kind of action/inaction occurs in just about every NBA game, and usually by stars of the team. When someone gets so wound up over only one player doing it shows an anti-player bias, not a "team first" bias.

[thead]

this is getting a little ridiculous...

If McHappy's point is that DeRozan working within the system and taking good shots is a far better product than one where he doesn't, than he is absolutely right. I mean it's really not debateable. They play better when he doesn't force his game.

Superjudge posted that we are 5 and 1 and while that is true we weren't playing like a team I had a lot of confidence in up until the Washington game. As far as how we were playing that 5 and 1 could just as easily been 1 and 5 or 2 and 3 etc...

Although we won games we weren't playing winning basketball and you need look no further than Casey's qoutes after every game. And he was right...there was a lot to be concerned about

[chico]

With all due respect, it's ridiculous to narrow the discussion down to that simple non debateable point. Nobody is arguing against it.

[thead]

With all due respect, it's ridiculous to narrow the discussion down to that simple non debateable point. Nobody is arguing against it.

Did I say stop talking about it or even mod it? I'm saying to those points its ridiculous to argue further. the DOD and how we talk about him or criticize seems valid considering the way things swing here when you go either way.

[planetmars]

Could Terrence's play affect how DeMar plays? I haven't looked at old game logs or anything but a general feeling I have (and this could be biased) is that when Terrence is hot/playing well, DeMar seems to play more of a team game.

Could simply be because if Ross is getting shots up at a decent clip, then there is no need for DeMar to force anything. Or it could open things up for him making it easier for him to score.

Just an observation that I've made watching games from last season and again against Washington this year.

[Raptorsnz]

I'm really hating this DOD crap and the way it's referred to, it makes it seem like a binary decision; you're in or you're out, whereas it's obviously much more of a spectrum.

[thead]

Could Terrence's play affect how DeMar plays?.

without actually examining statistics, it makes a lot of sense that Ross knocking down shots would open up the floor for PnRs and driving lanes. That was I thought 2Pat would make a more effective starter than Amir. The spacing would be excellent, even though that didn't materialize during his starts

[Raptorsnz]

Could Terrence's play affect how DeMar plays? I haven't looked at old game logs or anything but a general feeling I have (and this could be biased) is that when Terrence is hot/playing well, DeMar seems to play more of a team game.

Could simply be because if Ross is getting shots up at a decent clip, then there is no need for DeMar to force anything. Or it could open things up for him making it easier for him to score.

Just an observation that I've made watching games from last season and again against Washington this year.

I think there could be something to this. When DeMar goes hero ball I don't think it's to be greedy and get stats, I think it's just because he wants to win so badly and if no one else is getting it done he feels the need to do it himself. If Ross or Lowry or others get going though he doesn't need to do as much on the offence.

[thead]

I'm really hating this DOD crap and the way it's referred to, it makes it seem like a binary decision; you're in or you're out, whereas it's obviously much more of a spectrum.

Although I agree it is a spectrum, it seems that debates surrounding hm inevitably end up in one camp or the other.

[planetmars]

I think there could be something to this. When DeMar goes hero ball I don't think it's to be greedy and get stats, I think it's just because he wants to win so badly and if no one else is getting it done he feels the need to do it himself. If Ross or Lowry or others get going though he doesn't need to do as much on the offence.

I think it's more Ross than Lowry. Lowry has big games, but I've seen DD still try to force things. If Ross becomes more consistent and my theory has any merit this team can become so much more fun to watch.

[golden]

this is getting a little ridiculous...

If McHappy's point is that DeRozan working within the system and taking good shots is a far better product than one where he doesn't, than he is absolutely right. I mean it's really not debateable. They play better when he doesn't force his game.

Superjudge posted that we are 5 and 1 and while that is true we weren't playing like a team I had a lot of confidence in up until the Washington game. As far as how we were playing that 5 and 1 could just as easily been 1 and 5 or 2 and 3 etc...

Although we won games we weren't playing winning basketball and you need look no further than Casey's qoutes after every game. And he was right...there was a lot to be concerned about

Here's the possible flaw in that argument: What exactly IS the system, from Casey's point of view? And what does Casey consider a good shot? Is there anybody who can actually tell us with 100% certainty what Casey's actually offense is?

Pure speculation on my part, but observation and Casey's history suggests that he is far more comfortable having the wings and point guards take contested dribble drives, rather than swinging the ball for the open shot and risking turnovers. Our offense seems to be designed to initiate penetration, offensive rebounding and getting to the line.