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Searching for Terry – Raptors Republic
While the new toys in Ross’ arsenal are fun to see and likely equally fun to utilize for the team, having him use his quickness to drive the lane off the dribble and create easy dump-off opportunities for big men as the defense collapses on Terry, the team has to also remember to use his bread and butter, especially when the other shooters on the team aren’t hitting their shots when catching in space. DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Patterson have been struggling mightily to hit shots in space so far in this young season, and while the Raptors haven’t been, in their current iteration, a great three point shooting team, it’s very hard to win in this league without eventually hitting a couple from deep. A season ago, when Ross was finding his range and knocking down shots, that was when we saw the more engaged player on the defensive end, and if having his offense flowing can yet again increase his effectiveness there, maybe we can continue to find new levels for a player who looks like he’ll be a key part of the team’s rotation this season, having leapfrogged Norman Powell and taken the lion’s share of the reserve minutes off the wing.
So keep the active Ross, the passing and rebounding Ross, the Ross generating steals an impressive 3.7 steals per 36 minutes and creating easy baskets off the dribble while also getting to the free throw line. These new parts of his game are fun to watch, and certainly add to what he brings to the team when he comes off the bench. But bring back the catch and shoot Terrence who earned that extension a year ago and helped the Raptors bench lineups stay above water offensively while dominating defensively, to pull the team back in games when the starting lineup struggled.
Raptors early shooting struggles nothing to worry about yet – Raptors Republic
The Raptors have also finally answered the cries of fans and shifted more possessions to Jonas Valanciunas, who has promised me he’ll hit a three at some point this season but who hasn’t even considered attempting one yet. A 24.1-percent usage rate for a center scoring pretty effectively is more than fine, but together, the Raptors are distributing a boatload of possessions to a pair of players who don’t shoot many threes and who haven’t been passing the ball a great deal, at least so far.
Understanding those realities of the offense so far makes the volume somewhat less concerning. The Raptors aren’t built to bomb – they finished 19th in total 3-point attempts last year and 15th in the percentage of shots that came from long-range – by nature of personnel and a heavy reliance on drives to the rim, but they should be able to hit at a higher clip.
The 2014-15 Raptors ranked fifth in the NBA by hitting 37 percent on threes, and there’s little reason to think the Raptors, collectively, won’t shoot as well. Of their top-eight shooters by volume, only Luis Scola (65/161) is gone, an absence that should be accounted for by the presence of DeMarre Carroll, who ranked third on the team in threes attempted per-36 minutes but played just 26 games last year. Carroll’s proving that early on, leading the team with six threes and a 40-percent mark from outside.
The team’s other shooters – Lowry, Terrence Ross, and Patrick Patterson, in particular – just haven’t shot well. Lowry is 3-of-15, but he’s shot 37 percent since the start of the 2010-11 season. Patterson seems to draw fans nuts with his inconsistencies from outside, and he’s carried off a shaky postseason as a shooter into the regular season with a 1-of-8 mark.
Raptors’ DeRozan proving his doubters wrong | Toronto Sun
So, is it sustainable?
“I really don’t think about it … I’m not thinking about if I miss a couple of shots in a row or this, just really trying to go out there and compete as hard as I can and give us the best opportunity to win,” DeRozan said after practice on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s game at Washington.
DeRozan’s field goal percentage will slip, the law of averages cannot be denied, but one thing that hints at least a bit of sustainability is the fact that his free throw rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempts) is way under his career norms (.295 vs. .404 career) so once he finds a better balance, he will still produce, even with fewer shots going in, because he will be at the line more often.
The Raptors entered Tuesday ranked last in assists-per-game and assist percentage (number of field goals assisted) and passes-per-game, yet, still rank near the top in offensive efficiency. Head coach Dwane Casey believes you should take advantage of what players do best, not try to make a group something it is not, which means let DeRozan — and Kyle Lowry — do their thing, attack.
“Teams are switching (slow-footed big men) on him, and he’s done a great job of exploiting that. But also, with that, too, our guys have spaced much better. We’ve done a better job of spacing, getting out of his way, creating an opportunity for him,” Casey said.
“(His shot-making) has allowed us to get our defence back and get set. Because it is such a, it’s not a ball movement, it’s more of a one-on-one iso–type situation. Which is, he’s one of the best in the league at doing that.”
Raptors’ happy to ride DeMar DeRozan’s hot hands | Toronto Star
It’s doubtful that DeRozan’s production is sustainable because, eventually, defences will swarm him to get the ball out of his hands and, eventually, he’ll have to cool off from shooting at a 54 per cent clip from the field on about 25 field goals attempts per game.
The hope is that when he does, there are teammates able to pick up the slack and that DeRozan will see that. Even with his tremendous usage in Toronto’s first three games, he has found open teammates on occasion but few have been able to make a shot. Patrick Patterson isn’t shooting well, Terrence Ross isn’t shooting enough and Cory Joseph’s desire to become a more competent three-point shooter hasn’t manifested itself into reality quite yet.
“DeMar’s doing a better job of making sure he finds (teammates) when they commit two (defenders)”, Casey said. “He did it (Monday). They blitzed him and we picked them apart, Jakob (Poeltl) did a great job of quarterbacking in the middle of the lane, catching it, finding the weak side.
“At the end of the day, when the ball gets to the corner, Cory has to knock down that three-point shot but DeMar is smart enough to know that when they commit multiple bodies to him, to kick it out. If they’re playing him one on one, he has to play to his strength, which I’ll take all day.”
DeMar DeRozan is using his anger to fuel a scoring rampage – SBNation.com
Kobe is a good analogue for DeRozan. Not only is he a player DeRozan idolizes, but they also play a similar style. DeRozan thrives by going one-on-one, attacking downhill, changing speeds, and spinning into pull-up jumpers. So did Kobe in his day.
So far, those shots are falling. DeRozan is 12 for 24 on paint not in the restricted area and 18 for 35 on mid-range jumpers. He’s also averaging nearly eight free-throw attempts per game, carrying over a point of emphasis from last season. He’s doing everything he’s always done, except better.
Maybe those shots will stop falling and the holes in DeRozan’s game will show. Or, maybe he’ll continue to drop buckets and make that No. 46 ranking look foolish. Either way, he’ll be motivated.
DeMar DeRozan is putting up historic numbers with a throwback style | Yahoo!
Nevertheless, what DeRozan has done to start 2016-17 demands attention. He has put up very impressive scoring numbers to lead the Raptors to a 2-1 record (with the lone loss a narrow one to the Cleveland Cavaliers) and done so with efficiency. DeRozan is 21-of-23 (91.3 percent) from the free-throw line and 42-of-71 (59.2 percent) on two-pointers, rates that would both rank among the best in the NBA over a full season.
It’s fair to wonder if any of this is sustainable. DeRozan is actually getting to the line less than he did last season, when he averaged 8.4 attempts per game, but his current percentage at the stripe would represent a major improvement for a player who just reached a career-best at 85.0 percent in 2015-16. But that difference is minor compared to what would be required for DeRozan to jump from last season’s 42.6 percent conversion rate up to his current mark. He is quite obviously not going to make 59 percent of his twos all year.
That could be a problem for the Raptors, because the rest of the team is not making up for DeRozan’s lack of 3-point shooting at this point. They have shot 4-of-16 from deep against both the Nuggets and Cavaliers and went 3-of-18 from long distance in Wednesday’s season-opening win over the Detroit Pistons.
Those numbers may be skewed by DeRozan’s excellent play so far — he’s been good enough that Toronto has reason to go away from the 3-point shot — but they’re also concerning. It’s telling that it took a terrific game from fellow backcourt star Kyle Lowry (29 points on 10-of-20 FG and 8-of-10 FT) to beat the Nuggets on Monday as the Raptors scored just 43 points after the break.
Overcoming three-point woes key for Raptors success moving forward – Sportsnet.ca
Valanciunas is proving to be a legitimate threat in post-up situations, and if it continues, he will start seeing double teams on a more frequent basis. What’s the best way to make an opponent pay for sending a second defender? Kicking the ball out and working it around until the open man knocks down a three. It’s hard to trust the Raptors to do that at the moment.
So why is Toronto struggling from long range? This is a team that finished fourth in the NBA a season ago in terms of three-point percentage and has brought back nearly all of its rotation players.
It begins with the starting lineup, which is devoid of three-point shooters outside of Kyle Lowry and DeMarre Carroll. In Lowry’s case, he often prefers to serve as a facilitator in the early stages of games, prioritizing his teammates’ offence before looking for his shot as time wears on.
Up front, free-agent acquisition Jared Sullinger was supposed to take up the role Luis Scola played last year, serving as a power forward who could hit the corner three and also mix it up in the paint.
Foot surgery has forced Sullinger to the sidelines for the next two to three months, thrusting rookie Pascal Siakam into the starting unit. Three-point shooting is not a part of the 22-year-old’s game.
Siakam has filled in to the best of his abilities, but the bulk of the minutes at the four spot go to super reserve Patrick Patterson. A career 37 per cent three-point shooter, Patterson has not been able to find his form through these first three games, making just one of his eight attempts.
Jay Wright says he nearly kicked Kyle Lowry out of Villanova – before he played a game | FOX Sports
“The summer before he even played here he was missing classes and I was on the road recruiting, and I had to come back and say ‘we talked about all this before you came. If you’re not going to class, you might as well leave right now. Because you’re never going to play.’ So that was before he even started fall classes. That was just the beginning.
And then after his first year, I remember we played New Mexico in the first round of the NCAA Tournament his freshman year, the practice in between playing New Mexico and Florida, I was going out of practice and send him on a plane home. Just because of his, you know what? He was just disruptive. He was a contrarian. He would purposely do things the opposite of the way you wanted them done, just to show you he had control and you didn’t.”
Jakob Poeltl is learning fast, and the Raptors have noticed – Raptors HQ
On offense so far, Jakob’s found ways to be effective — crashing the glass, setting solid screens, and rolling to the net with a controlled stride. His touch around the basket, something praised before he entered the NBA, has been on keen display. In last night’s game there was the moment Poeltl corralled the ball with one hand while battling with Kenneth Faried. (The flip-in shot missed, but still.) In the game against Cleveland, there was the beautiful swooping modified alley-oop that saw Poeltl jump, catch the ball, spin in mid-air and loft it in for two points. The majority of Poeltl’s points have come on plays like this, opportunities when the ball has fallen into his hands close to the bucket. It’s been Poeltl’s intuitiveness around the basket that’s produced these chances and made them count for something.
Dwane Casey, like every coach in NBA history, doesn’t necessarily like playing his rookies a lot, but even he’s been quick with praise. “His feel for the game, he has a good rhythm,” said Casey. “Excellent hands, makes one mistake he doesn’t make it twice. Very intelligent player.” In watching Poeltl play, it’s obvious to see why the list of compliments come easily to Casey. For a coach who preaches defense first, he’s been forced to admit that Poeltl’s qualities — his quickness, his ability to move his feet and track both men in a pick-and-roll, his ability to get vertical at the rim — are a plus. Even when faced with the idea of putting the young big man in against the bruiser Nurkic, Casey was surprisingly open: “You gotta put your feet in the water at some point to learn how to swim.”
To hear Casey tell it with a wry smile on his face, and listen to Poeltl acknowledge nuances the NBA game has thrown at him, is to know the application of the Raptors’ game plan is far from easy. Despite this, Casey has also mentioned that Jakob is now ahead of Nogueira in the rotation, a revelation that felt unthinkable as recently as two weeks ago. When asked about the new rookies before training camp began, Kyle Lowry had literally nothing to say about them. Poeltl (along with Pascal Siakam) were unknown quantities then.
Numbers Game: The Early Ups and Downs of the Raptors – Raptors HQ
Playing Great
DeMar DeRozan has been off to a great start. One week in, he sits third in scoring league-wide, with 35.0 points per game. Obviously that’s unsustainable, mostly due to his incredibly high 38 percent usage rate so far (he’ll likely settle in closer to 30%), but he’s not just jacking shots up there. He’s actually carrying a FG% of 54 percent and still getting to the line, good for a 60 percent TS%, easily the highest of his career.Jonas Valanciunas has been great too. Tenth in the league in RPG, third on the offensive end, and he’s a top 50 scorer per game as well (his 18 PPG ranks 44th in the league). He’s carrying far more minutes than he’s ever done before (32 minutes per game so far, career high was 28), and it is not leading to any drop off in play. His usage has jumped to 24 percent, the mid-twenties range so many have clamoured for, and his TS% has taken only a slight dip to 56 percent from his typical ~60 percent. More of this, please.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMR0xVAAx6X/
Game Day: Toronto Raptors at Washington Wizards | Toronto Star
Key matchup: Kyle Lowry, Raptors, vs. John Wall, Wizards. A matchup of all-star point guards. Lowry broke out of an early-season slumber with a dominant second half against Denver on Monday, but Wall’s quickness will be difficult to handle.
Wizards vs. Raptors preview: Top backcourts face off in Washington’s home opener – Bullets Forever
The Bench
After years of saving money, trading away draft picks and gearing up for the free agency class of 2016, the Wizards walked away with Trey Burke, Marcus Thornton, Jason Smith, Ian Mahinmi and Tomas Satoransky. All five acquisitions have either been out of the rotation or had a negative impact so far. In the first two games into the season. Trey Burke has a plus/minus of -18, Thornton is -6 and Smith is -8. Meanwhile, Mahinmi is sidelined with a knee injury and Satoransky is yet to crack the rotation. This will need to change to have a shot against Toronto, and help their odds for the rest of the season.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMSTRPmlqFo/
Washington Wizards In Must-Win Against Toronto Raptors – Wiz of Awes
Most, including Washington Wizards fans, have forgotten about the four-game sweep and have moved on to the current state of the team.
Lowry and DeRozan are widely considered the best backcourt in the East and have earned that title after taking the Raptors to their first Conference Finals appearance this past season.
Wall and Beal have done a lot of talking, claiming to be the best duo in the East, but Lowry and DeRozan have actually taken their team to greater heights.
For Wall and Beal to ever reach the status they think they’re currently at, they have to outplay Toronto’s backcourt.
Lowry is coming off a 29-point game and DeRozan has averaged 35 points through three games on 54 percent shooting.
The outcome of the game will be determined by the respective backcourts. Playing “bored defense,” or lazily contesting shots and not getting back on defense as Wall and Beal tend to do, won’t cut it against Toronto.
Nylon Calculus: The evolution of 3-and-D – The Step Back
The upper right quadrant are players who display 3-and-D skills. You can see that this grouping includes Danny Green and Nicolas Batum, but also John Wall, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kyle Lowry, Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard. A few other notable bigs — Al Horford, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul Millsap, and Draymond Green — sit just below the 3-point attempt threshold. More likely than not, if you’re looking for one of the best players in the league you’re going to find that they classify as a 3-and-D player.
Can DeRozan keep these numbers up? It’s tempting to say no on the face of it, but last season he made a three about every other game and averaged just four assists a night (he’s at 1.3 a game now) — he’s done this before. That scoring average is going to come down a little this season, but on the whole, he can likely keep this up.
At least until the playoffs start.
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