ESPN 5 on 5:Over/Under Atlantic Division

[DG88]

5. Over/Under: 20 points per game for DeMar DeRozan next season.


Maurice Brooks, ESPN.com: Over. His points per game average more than doubled last season (8.6 to 17.2) and there is still plenty of room for improvement in his game. The Raptors are one of the youngest teams in the league and are going through growing pains. The offensive-minded DeRozan is a nice piece of the rebuilding puzzle.

Chad Ford, ESPN.com: Push. 20 ppg sounds about right for DeRozan. They will be largely empty points, mind you, but I don't see anyone else coming in and taking up the scoring slack in Toronto.

Brendan Jackson, Celtics Hub: Over ... at least he better if the Raps hope to win more than 22 games. Aside from Andrea Bargnani, DeRozan is the most offensively gifted player on that roster. The hiring of a defensive coach in Dwane Casey coupled with the Raptors' better role players being defensive dirt dogs means that someone on that team is going to have to put the ball in the bucket.

John Kenney, KnickerBlogger: Over. DeMar takes the old adage "you have to shoot to score" very seriously. The progression in his ability combined with an increased number of shots should put him over the 20 ppg threshold easily.

Devin Kharpertian, Nets Are Scorching: Over. DeRozan's shooting percentage from 10-15 feet leapt from 31 percent in his rookie season to a much more palatable 46 percent last season, and he should continue to improve. It won't translate into wins, but the Raptors should get a majority of their first-string points from Andrea Bargnani and a developing DeRozan.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...vision-debates

[enlightenment]

Demar Consensus : +20ppg, i like and agree with it!

[Joey]

Scoring will never be this guys problem. It's the other stuff that will set him apart from the pack.
Defense being the #1 and I think a year under Casey will do him wonders.
I liked the rebounding effort I saw last year, especially for a Shooting Guard.

[enlightenment]

overall im excited to see his performance whenever basketball begins again

[albertan_10]

i think it's funny that we're all so excited about small article. what we really need is basketball to start

[WJF]

If Bayless becomes a starter and plays big minutes I say under. In April (8 games) Bayless put up 22.5 ppg, I don't see that number staying there, but 15 ppg is not out of the question. I just don't see our starting back-court getting that many shots.

[stretch]

If Bayless becomes a starter and plays big minutes I say under. In April (8 games) Bayless put up 22.5 ppg, I don't see that number staying there, but 15 ppg is not out of the question. I just don't see our starting back-court getting that many shots.

I agree. The big question is whether Bayless is a NBA starting guard or whether he is more ideally suited to coming off the bench as a combo guard. When he played those big minutes at the end of the season at the point, Bayless had to take up the scoring slack with Bargnani and Barbosa both out. With Derozen's development as a potential all star let's hope he gets a lot of touches in the Raptor's offense whenever the season starts up.

[charlesnba23]

Well if the next season is only in 2012-13 or if Bargnani gets traded for a defensive center (don't want to start a trade debate), I could see DeRozan and Bayless getting a lot of shots as the starting backcourt, with Davis and Valanciunas as our starting post guys. In this situation, I don't see why DeRozan couldn't average 20 while Bayless average 15.

[RAPresenting]

Scoring will never be this guys problem. It's the other stuff that will set him apart from the pack.
Defense being the #1 and I think a year under Casey will do him wonders.
I liked the rebounding effort I saw last year, especially for a Shooting Guard.

I agree except the rebounding effort as i thought he only had some towards the end of the season. 3.8 is good for a SG but IMO he should be looking to put down 5 easily based on his size, athleticism and minutes played. He's got the green light and a Cory Maggette like conscience to shoot the ball so 20PPG will be a breeze especially if he can knock down the 3 ball here and there.