Raptors Discussion: v51 | Wizards up 1-0 | ECQF Game 2 vs Wizards: Tues, April 21st @ 8:00 PM EST

[Quares27]

Beyond me how JJ can ever not play. He's going to be a huge asset in the playoffs

 

[DD03]

Damn Bruno. Take it easy.

 

[Quares27]

lmao Bruno tries too hard every time

 

[Swervin81]

Bruno: 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 0 chance of not being a supersar

 

[Budsfan]

Good win.

 

[mikebel111*]

So we draft a player who is a turnover machine?
Masai is ruining this team with terrible drafting and busts
Did I get it right?

 

[DD03]

Oh boy.

 

[mikebel111*]

Wait now are we harping on JV? I mean the Ross criticism is mostly deserved, but JV not sure why.
I agree his paint defense needs work, but come on he has progressed a lot

 

[Swervin81]

Wait now are we harping on JV? I mean the Ross criticism is mostly deserved, but JV not sure why.
I agree his paint defense needs work, but come on he has progressed a lot

He's actually a pretty good rim protector, it's his help D that sucks. For various reasons.

 

[mikebel111*]

Oh boy.

I was kidding with the Masai comment

 

[DD03]

Wait now are we harping on JV? I mean the Ross criticism is mostly deserved, but JV not sure why.
I agree his paint defense needs work, but come on he has progressed a lot

He has progressed at some things. But like I said earlier, he's thinking more then he's reacting. Not sure if its a confidence thing, which it shouldn't be since he doesn't miss a lot of shots. But his help defense is something to make you want more from him. But I think it's fair to say that we have high expectations for JV, so the criticism needs to be there. Can't just hand him the keys, remember the last time we did that with a big?? I think it's still something that he can fix, hopefully in time for the playoffs. Be nice to see this team at 100%.

 

[DD03]

I was kidding with the Masai comment

I know buddy

 

[Swervin81]

http://www.justcanthateenough.com/2015/03/25/is-jonas-valanciunas/

There are two things we can infer from these results:

Jonas can be a part of a very good defensive unit if the perimeter defense is not constantly breaking down. The 47% from the field that opponents shoot when meeting Valanciunas at the rim is good for 20th in the NBA among all big men who defend more than 5 rim attempts per game so he has learned how to contest shots effectively, he just does not have the quickness to rotate constantly and extend the defense out to the three point line like the Raptors constant defensive breakdowns require. When his primary responsibility is guarding the paint as it is for most other traditional centers he is more than capable.

Jonas can be a part of a great offensive unit when there is sufficient outside shooting to properly space the floor. The offense has struggled with Jonas in the second half of the season in large part because the lineups he is playing with do not provide a lot of outside shooting, making it harder to get Jonas the ball and easier to swarm him when he has it. Jonas also has to deal with DeRozan looking him off when he has good post position, dragging the teams efficiency down because Jonas is unquestionably a much more efficient scorer than DeRozan.

The Raptors have some difficult decisions to make going forward. It’s obvious from his production this year in his limited touches that Jonas has the potential to be a special player but it’s also become apparent that he is both a poor fit for this roster and this style of play. His results with DeRozan and with Ross separately suggest that Jonas can help the Raptors be a great team if the players around him are able to both shoot and defend. It is almost undoubtedly easier to find solid defenders and shooters than it is to find big men who can score in the post like Jonas Valanciunas so the Raptors should probably consider working from the outside in when revamping the roster in the offseason.

Pretty much what I've been trying to say about JV. His help D sucks, but we put him in positions to fail with how much we need to rotate due to the constatant perimeter breakdowns. The pick and roll, yeah, he's gotta improve, but his help D is totally exposed by our system otherwise.

 

[DD03]

Every team in the NBA makes you rotate to the three point line now. When bigs are able to shoot the 3, you need to rotate out. Simple as that.

 

[Swervin81]

Also, another idea for James Johnson - why don't the Raps try starting him at the 4? He's equal in height and bigger in weight than Amir, more mobile, and is elite defensively, which Amir has fallen off in this regard. Plus, you save Amir's ankles.

 

[Stats01]

http://www.justcanthateenough.com/2015/03/25/is-jonas-valanciunas/



Pretty much what I've been trying to say about JV. His help D sucks, but we put him in positions to fail with how much we need to rotate due to the constatant perimeter breakdowns. The pick and roll, yeah, he's gotta improve, but his help D is totally exposed by our system otherwise.

This is the point I was trying to make earlier. Casey puts JV in positions to fail and then we put the blame on him when a guy like GV gets completely beat off the dribble it exposes not only JV but the system as a whole. I think there is a bigger issue here and that is plain and simple this team isn't good enough. You can't put the blame on a 22 year old/2nd- year player, sorry but you just can't. He needs to improve on his help defense but there are more glaring holes than just him. Our perimeter D in general is abysmal.

 

[Eyedea]

It's not just the Lakers. They were destroying us earlier. JV sits down, the defense gets better, the offense gets more movement, the team puts the pressure on and the Lakers collapse.

All you guys are obsessed about JV and Casey, but he's regressed more then he's progressed this season. He rebounds less, he's gotten better looks at the basket because he's been dunking more but defensively he's getting exposed constantly.. And it's just because of our perimeter defense, its because he can't help properly on a screen and roll.

I only have the highlights to go off of, but it seems like he was there on the floor when they were continuing to pad their lead. Once he got off the momentum just didn't stop though.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Past 10 years, division championships:

Raptors: 3
Maple Leafs: 0
Blue Jays: 0

Granted, those were some weak divisions the Raptors were/are in but still whodathunkit?

 

[rdawg1234]

Past 10 years, division championships:

Raptors: 3
Maple Leafs: 0
Blue Jays: 0

Granted, those were some weak divisions the Raptors were/are in but still whodathunkit?

dont recall the 07 year, but this year and last year raps have basically won by default, they havent been challenged at all

 

[Shwaguy*]

DirtyDion is just flat out wrong. JV hasn't regressed this year you're only looking at Box Scores lol.

 

[Suntouchable13]

dont recall the 07 year, but this year and last year raps have basically won by default, they havent been challenged at all

07 was also pretty weak. The Nets finished second with 41-41 record. But still, you gotta give them some credit. They have been the lone bright light in an otherwise pretty dark tunnel (Toronto sports scene).

 

[Eyedea]

DirtyDion is just flat out wrong. JV hasn't regressed this year you're only looking at Box Scores lol.

Really though, his net rating and win shares just tell me that he has been the biggest positive this season.

 

[DD03]

DirtyDion is just flat out wrong. JV hasn't regressed this year you're only looking at Box Scores lol.

I've been here watching pretty much every game. Watch him defensively, he's terrible.. (this season).

Really though, his net rating and win shares just tell me that he has been the biggest positive this season.

I only have the highlights to go off of, but it seems like he was there on the floor when they were continuing to pad their lead. Once he got off the momentum just didn't stop though.

No, they subbed him out and they started to do well when P Pat got out there and was spreading the floor, and he's able to rotate properly and defend the perimeter better. JV got put back in late 4th quarter. Wasn't on the floor once the Raptors took the lead and their defense stepped up closer to the end of the 3rd. If you read the posts throughout the game that were done in here, you can see that.

 

[Shwaguy*]

I've been here watching pretty much every game. Watch him defensively, he's terrible.. (this season).



No, they subbed him out and they started to do well when P Pat got out there and was spreading the floor, and he's able to rotate properly and defend the perimeter better. JV got put back in late 4th quarter. Wasn't on the floor once the Raptors took the lead and their defense stepped up closer to the end of the 3rd. If you read the posts throughout the game that were done in here, you can see that.

I don't miss Raptors games either, he needs work in PnR D, or rather a system that doesn't require so much quickness (Our defence is rather unique, our Perimeter D is weak this year so it doesn't work anymore). Even so he's improved from last year, as he's starting to learn to compensate with his size for his lack of quickness when defending the PnR

His Rim Protection is above average, he's good at altering shots.

He's averaging more Points, Rebounds, Blocks Per 36 than he did last year.


Offensively he's improved, we should really run the Offence through him at this point because he can be Unstoppable at times.

His TS% is .622, up from .579 last year, that's 7th among NBA Starters and 11th overall, his Rebounding % is up, his Turnover% is down.

And all of this fits the eye test too. The vast majority of the time when we give Jonas the ball in the post, good things happen. And on Defence we see plenty of times where he blatantly changes a shot at the rim and they miss.

(Anthony Davis is .596 TS%)

Hell, he's one of 8 centres all time who have posted a PER of 20 or higher at the age of 22 or younger.

So yes, he's improved this year.

 

[Stats01]

the only laughable thing in here is saying JV is terrible defensively.