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"Casey: Valanciunas' Worst Case Scenaro Is Noah" & "Koreen: Too much hype?"

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  • "Casey: Valanciunas' Worst Case Scenaro Is Noah" & "Koreen: Too much hype?"

    Dwane Casey on Jonas Valanciunas: “At the worst, we’re getting Joakim Noah”

    Raptors coach Dwane Casey was on Prime Time Sports yesterday to talk about the season and his thoughts about the Raptors’ savior, Jonas Valanciunas. He said pretty much what you’d expect about Andrea Bargnani — that he’s impressed by his scoring and his ability to play defense when motivated, but that “he’s gotta do a better job of going after rebounds” — and he had encouraging words for Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan. But his money quote was his response to a question about Jonas Valanciunas’ potential:

    “I saw him last summer with the Lithuanian national team and the Euro games in the championships — big-time energy, runs the floor, rebounds. At the worst, we’re getting a Joakim Noah from Chicago — a guy who mans the middle, challenged a little bit in terms of scoring in the paint but as far as of pick-and-rolling to the basket, he has great hands to roll and finish. He hasn’t developed that consistent outside jumpshot at the elbows yet, but something that you can’t teach — and I do know that it’s an NBA skill — is each every time he walks on the floor, he’s gonna hit people, he’s gonna play with energy, he’s gonna play hard, he’s gonna bring an energy to the court that is an NBA skill. And being seven-foot, that’s a plus when you can have your big man with that type of energy and that type of aggression.”

    Clearly, Casey sees the same things many of us have witnessed over the past 10 months. I’ve tended to waver between comparing him to Noah and Tyson Chandler, but with the potential for more offensive polish than both of them. I don’t think Valanciunas has Noah’s ball-handling or passing skills yet, and he’s definitely not the defensive force that Chandler is, but the comparisons are far from a reach.

    In terms of when we can expect Jonas to take over the starting center role for this team, Casey referred to his old-school values when it comes to young players needing to earn their spot in the starting lineup:

    “At some point… Now to say that he’s gonna come in here and take over the starting position early — I want him to earn it… Someday, he’s gonna be our starting center — I don’t know if Day One, I don’t know if Aaron Gray — hopefully, Aaron Gray, we’ll re-sign him as a free agent, or Amir Johnson playing the five, those guys may start out that way. But sooner or later, he’s got the talent and skill and ability to be our starting center. And I hope that he’s improved and he keeps on working this summer so when he comes in, he just kicks everybody’s butt, and takes over the starting center position and keeps it from Day One. But in reality, he’s probably going to be backing up one of our guys until he earns it and until he learns the nuances of the NBA.”

    It’s worth noting that Casey seems to want unrestricted free agent Aaron “White Panther” Gray to return next season, and I definitely wouldn’t have a problem with that as long as he’s relegated to a backup role no later than midway through next season — assuming that Jonas doesn’t get hurt or show up to training camp in Andray Blatche condition. Gray was the Raptors’ best rebounder this season and he seems like a decent teammate. As a placeholder while Jonas acclimates to the NBA, you could do a lot worse.
    Source: thescore

  • #2
    Casey doesn't understand Raptors fans yet... When the "trade JV" or "JV is a bust" outcries begin while he's still learning the North American game Casey will understand he shouldn't say these kinds of things. That said, it's great to hear nothing but good things about JV.

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    • #3
      Why do the coach himself put so much pressure on that guy.
      Official Pope of the Raptors sponsored by MLSE.

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      • #4
        Makes me wonder where all the Ed O'Bannan... oops, I mean Kemba Walker fans are?! Provided we fans give JV time to acclimate himself to the NBA, I think we'll all wind up feeling quite pleased with him as the #5 pick in the 2011 draft! I only hope that he proves to be more of a legitimate franchise cornerstone to build around than DeRozan/Davis have shown to be.

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        • #5
          Joakim put up 6pts, 5rpg and a block as a rookie.
          Chandler put up 6pts, 5rpg and just over a block as a rookie.

          I'm not sure comparing Jonas to either of those guys is putting undue pressure on him.
          Matching their rookie campaigns should be easy.

          However, I bet if he "only" puts up 6 and 6, I imagine we'll get some people calling for his head.

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          • #6
            i could see him almost posting up a double double in his rookie season.

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            • #7
              A few points:

              - Just 2 years ago, Chandler was basically a backup centre on a mediocre Charlotte team. Now, people talk about him like he's a 7-time defensive player of the year. Funny how quickly careers can change.

              - I don't think anyone will be calling for JV's head next year, unless he does his best impression of Araujo. DeRozan's rookie year was VERY uninspiring for a lotto pick, yet most people realized that patience was required.

              - Casey seemed to be referencing JV's work from last year. He probably hasn't seen much of JV's work this season with Rytas. It's possible that JV has improved his offense since Casey was last able to evaluate him.

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              • #8
                CalgaryRapsFan wrote: View Post
                Makes me wonder where all the Ed O'Bannan... oops, I mean Kemba Walker fans are?! Provided we fans give JV time to acclimate himself to the NBA, I think we'll all wind up feeling quite pleased with him as the #5 pick in the 2011 draft! I only hope that he proves to be more of a legitimate franchise cornerstone to build around than DeRozan/Davis have shown to be.
                I still think that Walker would've been a good fit here. I wouldn't mind taking a run at him this offseason. He could still turn into that "PG of the future" while learning from a guy like Calderon. The talent is most definitely there. He just needs a teacher.

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                • #9
                  Re his offensive/j shooting improvement....he has a great FT shooting %. Good ft players are typically predisposed to being decent jump shooters. It'll come. When he starts it will be his energy and protecting the paint which will stand out I think.

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                  • #10
                    Nilanka wrote: View Post
                    The talent is most definitely there. He just needs a teacher.
                    One could argue the same points about Bayless, with Bayless having a bit more size to offer.

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                    • #11
                      joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                      One could argue the same points about Bayless, with Bayless having a bit more size to offer.
                      The difference is that Bayless has had 2 years to study two of the best "pure" PG's in the game (Paul and Calderon).

                      I don't know if one year of DJ Augustin provided the same opportunity for Walker.

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                      • #12
                        i wouldn't be surprised if we see Jay Bay resigned for next season. Maybe all those games of Jose he watched when he was injured inspired him

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                        • #13
                          Nilanka wrote: View Post
                          I still think that Walker would've been a good fit here. I wouldn't mind taking a run at him this offseason. He could still turn into that "PG of the future" while learning from a guy like Calderon. The talent is most definitely there. He just needs a teacher.
                          He just needs a teacher? It's not like he just came from high school, he spent 3 yrs under Calhoun. He had way more teaching then simply AAU.

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                          • #14
                            Rainman wrote: View Post
                            He just needs a teacher? It's not like he just came from high school, he spent 3 yrs under Calhoun. He had way more teaching then simply AAU.
                            Yeah, and he was a pretty good point guard under Calhoun, until his final year, where he was asked to take on the scorer's role out of necessity.

                            Regardless, Calhoun can only do so much to prepare someone for life in the NBA.

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                            • #15
                              joey_hesketh wrote: View Post
                              Joakim put up 6pts, 5rpg and a block as a rookie.
                              Chandler put up 6pts, 5rpg and just over a block as a rookie.

                              I'm not sure comparing Jonas to either of those guys is putting undue pressure on him.
                              Matching their rookie campaigns should be easy.

                              However, I bet if he "only" puts up 6 and 6, I imagine we'll get some people calling for his head.
                              This. A million times this.

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