Toronto Raptors 2013/14 Season

[octothorp]

One of the best contested dunks I've seen this year. A photo shows just how impressive it was. Faried has decent position, goes up strong, and yet still can do nothing.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Why can't we have both. I don't get the DD hate in this thread!

Recently he's a few games down the stretch. Will he get better at that? maybe! But if they can get a killer deal for him then why not?

[Senator Clay Davis]

The biggest reason I wanna dump DeRozan, besides his offensive inefficiencies, is that I think you can go with a Lowry/Ross/Valanciunas lineup and do just as well. I also think DeRozan has more trade value as he is one a good contract for a couple more years. Getting rid of DeRozan means more touches for Jonas who needs more touches. The Raptors have a potentially elite big man, they need to start developing him. DeRozan's inefficient offensive game will hinder Valanciunas development.

[Da_Chief]

Oh Demar, choke again.

[killer_carlson]

DD gets grief because most games he refuses to move the ball. Even when ice cold he insists on forcing shot after shot and drive into double coverage.

The guy has potential but his coach needs to tell him to pass the ####ing ball?

The thing is also this: he is a much better player and bigger threat when he DOES pass the ball. It opens space up for him, like tonight.

I blame coaching more than him tough, as Casey seems to encourage the behavior.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Oh Demar, choke again.

Well considering he shot them back into the game, I find it really hard to hang it on DeMar.

Also had 12 dimes and shot 48%. The hate for DD on here is a little much sometimes.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Well considering he shot them back into the game, I find it really hard to hang it on DeMar.

Also had 12 dimes and shot 48%. The hate for DD on here is a little much sometimes.

Hate is a stupid word to describe criticism of a player. His downfalls are pathetically obvious to anyone who watches a Raptors games regardless of whether you check out stats. The teams main scorer is a non-efficient player and the ball stops when it hits his hands. His defense is on his very best days barely average.

There is no need to attach a passion to it. He is what he is and there is no arguing the point. Replacing him with a more efficient offensive player who was more of a two way player would benefit the team. It's a very much star driven league. IF DD is the best player you can put on the floor then the ceiling for team success is not high.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

Hate is a stupid word to describe criticism of a player. His downfalls are pathetically obvious to anyone who watches a Raptors games regardless of whether you check out stats. The teams main scorer is a non-efficient player and the ball stops when it hits his hands. His defense is on his very best days barely average.

There is no need to attach a passion to it. He is what he is and there is no arguing the point. Replacing him with a more efficient offensive player who was more of a two way player would benefit the team. It's a very much star driven league. IF DD is the best player you can put on the floor then the ceiling for team success is not high.

He is a 24 year old All-Star who has improved every year. It was well known when he was drafted that he was very raw and would take longer then most to hit his potential. Nobody on here is calling him LeBron James.

I asked you before and you didn't answer; how do you replace him with someone who is better both offensively and defensively? There are only a couple guys in the league that fit that description.

[octothorp]

If the goal is to win in the playoffs, the only thing that's going to show where they are in the measure is the playoffs themselves. And for the first time in six years, we'll have the opportunity to evaluate this team in the playoffs. Personally, I think that DeRozan's game is poorly suited for the playoffs - simply too midrange - but I'm looking forward to him having the opportunity to prove me wrong. Maybe he plays playoff games with the same sort of focus and effectiveness that he's been showing in fourth quarters lately, or maybe well-coached teams keying on him will turn him into the sort of passive jumpshooter he's been at other times. On the other hand, I think Lowry, Ross, and Patterson in particular have potentially very effective playoff-style games.

I'd like backup C addressed before the trade deadline, but otherwise I'm happy with this team as-is riding out the season and seeing what they can do in the playoffs.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

Hate is a stupid word to describe criticism of a player. His downfalls are pathetically obvious to anyone who watches a Raptors games regardless of whether you check out stats. The teams main scorer is a non-efficient player and the ball stops when it hits his hands. His defense is on his very best days barely average.

There is no need to attach a passion to it. He is what he is and there is no arguing the point. Replacing him with a more efficient offensive player who was more of a two way player would benefit the team. It's a very much star driven league. IF DD is the best player you can put on the floor then the ceiling for team success is not high.

Where do you expect to find this more efficient player with a 2-way game? As you put it - he is what he is.

Instead of bashing him for his deficiencies maybe we celebrate that for the first time in a long time, the Raptors hit it in the draft and developed a homegrown all-star. Given the crap draft record over the years that's a hell of a victory.

Yes he's less efficient than we'd like, but that doesn't mean he can't have a place on a successful NBA playoff team. I agree with you, this absolutely is a star driven league - and you either draft them or lure them in free agency.

A playoff birth - which can largely be attributed to DD's play this season - will go a long way towards attracting free agent talent to help build this team.

[Senator Clay Davis]

The reason the Raptors are going to the playoffs is because they traded Rudy Gay who was - all together now - an inefficient scorer with whom the ball would always die for a poor mid to long range shot. Unfortunately DeMar is very much the same player. I hope he can improve and become around a 50% shooter, but that means better shot selection and more passing. DeMar is also better to be dealt after the season when the market will be much bigger.

I keep saying it but Valanciunas should be the Raptors focus going forward. I believe he can legitimately be a top 3 big man in the league given the proper development. He needs to be fed the ball consistently. Unfortunately with a player like DeMar, I think he's less likely to get the touches he needs. This is DeMar's first season averaging more than 2.5 assists a game. That is not very good to say the least.

[Hockey_Ninja]

howard pretty much summed it up. DeMar is 11th in the NBA in scoring, 2nd among shooting guards, and you want the guy gone? Yes he needs to be more efficient but a lot of the success we've had this year is because of him stepping his game up. I agree building this team just around DeMar would be a mistake but for now just appreciate the work that the man has put in to getting better.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

He is a 24 year old All-Star who has improved every year. It was well known when he was drafted that he was very raw and would take longer then most to hit his potential. Nobody on here is calling him LeBron James.

I asked you before and you didn't answer; how do you replace him with someone who is better both offensively and defensively? There are only a couple guys in the league that fit that description.

So DD is the third best player in the league is he? That is so funny!!

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Where do you expect to find this more efficient player with a 2-way game? As you put it - he is what he is.

Instead of bashing him for his deficiencies maybe we celebrate that for the first time in a long time, the Raptors hit it in the draft and developed a homegrown all-star. Given the crap draft record over the years that's a hell of a victory.

Yes he's less efficient than we'd like, but that doesn't mean he can't have a place on a successful NBA playoff team. I agree with you, this absolutely is a star driven league - and you either draft them or lure them in free agency.

A playoff birth - which can largely be attributed to DD's play this season - will go a long way towards attracting free agent talent to help build this team.

This is funny funny stuff. Largely due to DD? More like entirely due to MU. Without one iota of credit to DD. Addition by subtraction works yet again. They are winning based on defense and sharing the ball on offense. The whole being better than the parts. DD fills the volume shooter role on a team winning because they play hard defense and pass the ball. Two areas DD does practically zilch of.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by St. Pats

So DD is the third best player in the league is he? That is so funny!!

That's not what I'm saying. I used the word 'couple' loosely, meaning there are likely only a few shooting guards out there who provide an improvement on both ends of the floor. His ranking doesn't matter, the point is that you are saying the most obvious thing ever when you say "we'd be better off with better players", yet you provide no realistic way of acquiring those players you think are so readily available.

[Hockey_Ninja]

In other news, the Raps are bringing back the purple jerseys:

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/...edium=facebook

[kmart]

One of the worst calls ever made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JFR...ature=youtu.be

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by kmart

One of the worst calls ever made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JFR...ature=youtu.be

That is beyond ridiculous.

[Da_Chief]

Wow, that was brutal. McLemore gets up thinking he was getting called but to his surprise ref just f'd that call badly.

[Ziggy Lidstrom]

I watched the whole game (vs. the Kings). The raps were getting jobbed by the refs 2 mins into the game when they called JV for 2 quick fouls. They knew what they were doing. they were trying to give the home town crowd a moral victory. The kings went to the line over 50 effing times. They didn't deserve that many trips. They were the most fouled team in the league and the raps got maybe 25 trips to the stripe. To top it off, it was the Lowry call that was the absolute pits. The team claws back with 30 seconds to go only to have this officiating crew steal this athletic effort from a group of "put it on the line" professionals. It would have been 102-105 with 2 min to go if Lowry had not converted on the 4 pt play. 103-105 if he does. They were down 20 going into the fourth. Thank you again NBA and your crooked refs. The best part of this loss, if you can find one, imo, is that Silver was courtside and watched the whole thing. He had to have seen the gross negligence at the sake of fair competition. I think they officials were instructed to ensure Sac gets the win. Toronto is going to the playoffs while Sacramento will still be Sacramento (as my buddy pointed out) when the game is said and done.

It's very hard to watch NBA games when refs are so prominent in the outcomes of games. Mark Cuban was right about this game. This league gets more criticism for its history of selective teams being competitive at the expense of the rest of the league getting fair playing fields. There's a reason the winds of corruptions blow louder for this league than any other.