You know how sometimes people say “as far as I know” at the end of a ridiculous statement to distance themselves from what they’re stating while actually promoting the thought they just spewed out? For example, I could make a statement like, John Smith’s mother is not a whore as far as I know. I’m invalidating the claim that Smith’s mother is what she’s accused of being while at the same time planting some seeds in your mind that she could very well what she’s being referred to as. Well, Steve Buffery tried to pull that trick today but instead of using “as far as I know” he used “if there’s any substance at all to the rumour”. He basically said:
In the rumour department, John Smith’s mother is being mentioned as a whore and probably a lot more. This is of course if there’s any substance at all to the rumour.
The kind of reporting that regurgitates old rumours a year later is suited for blogs and websites that don’t have to be accountable to anyone (ahem) but even we try to shy away from this bush-league stuff.
I’ve been a critic of Colangelo’s moves for quite some time now – and it’s hard not to be one – but if I do trust him to do one thing it’s not to get fleeced in a deal. As hard as the T.J Ford trade was to swallow (because of the pick), he’s pulled off relatively good trades. Humphries for Hoffa, Jones for Dixon, Evans for Kapono and most recently, Delfino/Roko for Johnson/Weems. So if the time does come to trade Bosh, I’m confident Colangelo will have weighed his options well in advance.
The theory that as we inch closer to the trade deadline, the return in a Bosh trade decreases carries merit because the number of teams looking to rebuild in the summer is always greater than those who are willing to give up at the deadline. There’s also the risk of teams being hesitant to give up too much and acquire someone who could turn out to be a rent-a-player. However, that fear is usually offset by the acquisition of Bird rights which allows the team to offer more money than anyone else. In all likelihood, you could trade Bosh to the Bulls, Knicks, Heat or Mavericks any time and get anyone other than their star players (Rose, Wade, Dirk) in return. Nobody will give up an established top-tier player in a Bosh trade and we’ll always be looking at the likes of Ellis, Biedrins, Lee and picks in return for Bosh.
At the start of the summer I thought he was gone, but Colangelo might’ve done enough for him to at least consider that he’s serious about success. We’ll see, it doesn’t really interest me because there are far more interesting things about the Raptors than mulling about what Chris Bosh will do. I happen to sleep safe in the knowledge that Colangelo will do us right this time around.
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Belinelli, DeRozan, Wright and Weems. Parker, Kapono, Moon and Graham. The improvement in athleticism is very noticeable and the scoring rate should also be better. The issue, like last year, will be consistency. Here’s a quick breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses displayed by our three wing options thus far:
Belinelli: Strengths: His passing has been superb and he wasn’t joking around when he said he could create for his teammates, hell, he’s done it better than any of his competition by averaging 2.3 assists. The point-forward is an option with him as he’s the most dangerous wing with the ball in his hands. He looks to drive ‘n kick and is aggressive in transition looking for easy baskets. He’s shown a quick release and his shooting percentage with his feet set has been excellent. Weaknesses: The tendency to hijack the offense is there. In the four games we’ve played he’s reduced the number of off-balance shots he’s taken with each game. Shot-selection is a big issue for him (shooting 40%) and it’s up to Triano to help him find his nice within the offense. He’s averaging 1.8 rebounds which isn’t helping his case to start. I was hoping to see an ability to create his own shot through post-ups or one-one-one at the elbows but so far it hasn’t happened. Overall, he’s done better than what Delfino would’ve.
DeRozan: Strengths: Very much in control of his game and plays to his strengths whether that be a hop-step drive into the middle or knocking down a clean look from 22 feet. The composure is the same as summer league and he’s slowly adapting to the bigger and longer defenders. He’s having less of his passes deflected and is taking much better care of the ball. He’s not dribbling unnecessarily anymore which means he’s less likely to turn it over. He gets out on the break and finishes not just with sheer force, but with sound technical ability. The left-to-right finish he applied against Washington on the break was beautiful. Weaknesses: A man of his talents on a team thin at the wing should be getting a lot more touches so he’ll need to be more aggressive in finding his offense. If he’s more involved in the offense he’s also likely to shoot higher than 40%, a rate this is not acceptable. The ball-handling isn’t great and as we saw against Philly, his defensive footwork needs tweaking. Those aren’t easy fixes and something that needs to be evaluated every month or so. Onus on Triano to keep the rookie busy in the offensive sets. He’s an athletic player but not very active or demanding, we got to feed him in order for him to develop his game.
Weems: Strengths: Extremely active and athletic. He’s seen how thin we are at the wing and is making the most of his chance at minutes. He’s showing Triano the hustle, the competitiveness, the athleticism and to top it off, a mid-range game that could be his trump card over Wright. He’s been the most aggressive in running the lanes and is forcing a pass out of the PGs because of his speed when leaking out. He’s shooting 52% (highest of any G/F) because he tends to drive whenever possible and looks for his jump shot last. Weaknesses: When you have a guy who surprises you like he has, there are no weaknesses, only bonuses.
Overall, their defense has been acceptable. There haven’t been any clear exploitations nor have any of them shown anything spectacular. The regular season will tell us more to that. The wing situation has definitely improved but none of these players can be considered reliable scorers. Other than occasional drives here and there from DeRozan and Belinelli, they depend on a well functioning offense to get theirs. With Hedo playing taking a big chunk of minutes at the three and Triano increasingly playing Jack and Calderon together, nobody knows exactly what the minute distribution will be like, you’d have to think that it’s between Belinelli and DeRozan for starting duties.
I think the minute distribution at SG will come down to who can help with the rebounding while not being a total write-off on offense. DeRozan’s got the edge on Belinelli because of his athleticism, self-control and tendency to hit the glass.
Thoughts?
45 Raps
How do you feel about Derozan’s early “Kid Dynamite” moniker?
i like the name kid dynamite just not fir dede. it doesnt feel natural i feel like devlins had that in his back pocket for a while and stuck it on dede.it feels unorganic if thats a word
Inorganic? I’m not a big fan of it either. If we’re sticking with the comic book heroes theme – Superman, Flash etc. I wouldn’t mind Dr. Doom for the alliteration + 2Ds.. of course, he would have to earn that. There was a Realgm thread talking about this and they were going for Dr. Dunk? or Dr. throwdown or something? Maybe if he wins a dunk contest..
If DeRozen can nail Kobe-like clutch shots in the future, Dr. Doom is a great fit to say and use.
kid dynamite was mike tyson’s nickname when he was going on that 19-0 KO streak to start his career….derozan deserves a unique nickname (although it’s better than double D…)
I completely agree. It felt forced when Devlin said it the first time, and it also doesn’t sound like it suits Derozan. I like the sounds of Dynamite on its own or something like Ten Deep (because of his number) or something like D Ring Circus. Just my thoughts though.
there is a tight battle already brewing for the back-up 3 and the 4 positions and wright hasnt even been thrown into the mix yet. We have a few players with individual talents but none that has yet to show the complete package. our key to sucess in the back-court will consist of a strong balance of athleticism and basketball IQ. it would be nice for derozan to further develop with his athletecism with wrights basketball IQ and with sonny’s activeness. the bad thing about it is that good things take time…..
Great comment.
I don’t know why it’s bugging me so much that we are missing good opportunities to gel in the preseason with Hedo, Chris and Antoine out. Usually it doesn’t, but maybe it’s the nagging feeling that we have so many new faces and I’m not 100% convinced that Jose can adjust on the fly. Would be nice to work the kinks out now without rolling into the regular season, a season where many believe it will be a tight race and every win matters.
Yup…last year, all we heard was that Triano didn’t have a full training camp with the guys…well, he hasn’t had it this year either. If the Raptors don’t play well to start the year, I wonder what the excuse will be.
If they don’t start well, the excuse will be that 7 of the first 8 teams they play were playoff teams last year… and that is followed by a 4 game west road trip.
How in the world are both Evans and Amir going to play enough?
Someone brought this up in the ESPN chat today. Not much time to go around between guys in certain spots. Question was posed if it will lead to some disgruntlement.
I think it will (and should) be based on matchups. Play Reggie against the big back-down guys and Amir against the quick ones.
I love the looseness they’ve been playing with so far. Not afraid to make a mistake when running the break, but still hasn’t been too sloppy. Hopefully it remains in control. Get the ball and throw it forward, but I guess the rebounding has to be there for it to work.
Based upon his history if Triano starts jerking Johnson’s minutes around then Johnson’s game will go to sheet real fast.
With Johnson he has always needed consistant minutes game in and game out to perform well.
I doubt that that will ever change.
I know its real early preseason so I’m sure my picture of this will change but I’m already imagining NOT have AB and Bosh on the floor at the same time (or limtited time together)…..
…. the other picture I had was amir/reggie at C, Bosh at pf, Bargs at sf, Hedo at SG and Jose at PG. I always thought AB should have been playing the 3 from the beginning (a better fit for him) and Hedo can easily play sg. Solves so many problems for the Raps on both defense and rebounding…. shouldn’t change the offense much…
Bargnani has zero chance of playing small forward in the NBA man. We made this big mistake a few times, and don’t seem to learn our lesson. Bargnani can not play defense against 3’s in the NBA, and his quickness on the perimeter is lost because they can keep up with him. The only chance he has is if he posts up, but he doesn’t have much of a post game.
I know, I know its not happening…. but if they would have taught him right from the start instead of training/teaching him the C for 3 years (going on 4) it may have been a different story.
I wouldn’t say his few times at SF were a mistake (he played average there, just not stellar), but they just randomly threw him in. If they had taught him to use his length and his size (both on offense and defense) at the 3 he would have been a devestating mismatch (especially with Bosh being able to play outside and in).
The thing that concerns me with AB (andits nothing new to everyone here) at the 5 is “but he doesn’t have much of a post game”, add the weak rebounding and help defense and you have a recipe that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You just hope it ends up being healthy.
Don’t mean to knock AB I see his potential and he can end up being a great player in the post if he works hard at it…. just think things could have been alot easier from the start.
Bargnani started 12 games at SF last season, and shot well below what he shot when he started at center. Plus, he will never be able to guard most SF’s in the league, no matter how many minutes he plays at the position. At SF, Bargnani is just a slow, footed 7-footer who can shoot and not defend. At center, he’s one of the quicker players at that position who can do things that few, if any, centers can do (unfortunately none of those things is rebounding). At center, he’s unique and can cause matchup problems because he draws big men who aren’t used to it out. At SF, what he does isn’t unique in the least. Why would you want him to start at SF?
like I said size… that potential to post up or force another team to play to your style will win you games.
Those small guards wont stay on the floor if Bargs posts them up every time down…. then Bargs can start bombing the big man tryin gto pose as a 3. You get other teams to match up to you… it always leads to an advantage
You think Bargnani will stay on the floor long enough to post up guys if he’s getting blown by every time on defense, racking up either fouls for himself, those behind him, or giving up points? Sure, there’s the mismatch down low, but that’s certainly not his strength. Despite his deficiencies in the rebounding department, Bargnani is best playing PF or C, not SF. That’s where his strengths will shine. His rebounding weakness can be covered by teammates when he’s at center, but getting blown by by quicker players at SF can’t be covered, especially with no Dwight Howard on the roster.
Its amazing how much size can compensate for lack of speed on the perimiter. Example… Knicks used Harrington to cover Rondo one game last year. Rondo could do nothing… not because he wasnt quicker (he is exceptionally quicker), but rather because he couldnt get around him and Harringtons made the pass to the wing much more difficult to make. Knicks won that game.
However, being taught that vs being taught and trained for center is a much different situation. Right from the get go it was all center… then they had a thought, hey lets try him at sf. Thats a big positional change to be thrown into. I just think it MAY have been a different story if the intitial tactics were different (not saying it WOULD have worked.. but rather it COULD have worked) There he has the options to both post up and shoot over his defender…. he still has strength at SF at both ends. So far, at center, he on has strengths at one end. I just think that the only weakness AB would have at SF is quickness… at C he has a number of them.
Bargs strengths may shine at C on offense; penetration and shooting, but his weakness are also glaring; defense, rebounding, getting post position. As long as a team needs to find others to make up for a Cs weak rebounding… that team will always be a weak rebounding team (the center should be compensating for others weak rebounding… example Dwight Howard)
Anyways, never really expected people to like the idea (everyone wants a true 7fter at C) but I always wonder what could have been had they approached Bargs differently.
Exactly. I don't know the fascination with Bargs at the 3. I just cringe at the thought of Jose, Hedo, Bargnani, Bosh and Reggie being on the floor at the same time. Slow, slow, slow. Bargnani can't guard 3s, and Hedo can't guard 2s. Leave him at the 5 where his man defense has been decent.
Plus, Hardcore Raps, it's impossible to have Bosh and Bargnani not on the floor together for most of their minutes, unless you want to lower Bargnani's minute's to 20 or less a game.
Not to mention what Hedo did to him in the Magic series. That was the main reason we lost Games 1 and 2.
tayshon prince made bargs his bitch last year when he was playing the 3.i like him at center. cant wait to see the lineup with hedo!!!!!!!!
How about jose, hedo, amir, bosh, bargnani.
This lineup makes more sense! Bargnani actually played the 3 for Benetton when we drafted him, but he was a lot skinnier then. The Raps have bulked him up over the last few years. There is no way that he can go back to ever playing the 3 with effectiveness IMO!
Double D/DeDe just sounds so wrong coming from Matt devlin. Just imagine Jack or Leo saying it, scary. Let’s stick with His real name. RR should get sugestions from readers, then poll for the best sounding one. Like what they did with Moon when he was a rookie, anyone remember that?
Nicknames come up naturally based on a player’s play and personality, if you have contests to create one it’ll just seem contrived.
Hope you can post this topic for DeRozen’s nickname, that’ll be nice, as mentioned before, Dr. Doom is a good option to put.
He’d have to be pretty amazing before people take that seriously. Like Bargs came in as Il Mago, got slapped with VL on this board… and now I guess he’s Il Lasagna or something..
ty arse…. nothing I dislike more than “what do you think of this nickname”, “lets vote on this list”. If a nickname comes out (whether locker room, announcer, fan etc.) it will stick. If they don’t get a nickname so be it.
I dislike best raptor ever contests a good deal more…
I favour SpiDeRozan as a Marvel-themed nickname for DeRozan. He kinda reminds me of Spiderman. I don’t know why exactly.
Or SpiDe (pr. Spidey)
or the player gives them to himself a la Agent zero
thats what im sayin! inorganic
Ez-D is his name and the boy is comin’ straight outta Compton.
http://www.nbadraft.net/files/players/demar-derozan-hd_0.jpg
Good writeup.
One thing I would add to the edge DeRozan may have in minutes at SG, would be his pedigree (Lottery 1st Round draft choice) vs. Bellinelli (DeVean George).
Being a lottery pick, they have a lot more invested in him.
If he doesn’t play, he doesn’t develop.
Props.
Nice job Arse.
I think at the beginning of the season Jay will go with Demar as the starting 2, and Beli will come off the bench with the second unit. To start a rookie it’is not so usual, but the need to develop him is very important. I imagine Triano will go with something similar to what the Blazers have done all year with N. Batum, starting him but for a limited number of minutes. Beli on the other hand will hopefully just do great coming off the bench against second units, and he might be devastating in that role. But since the Raps are in a win-now mode this season, the 2 spot strategy might change swiftly during the year due to team’s results. Anyhow, we really got a nice set of combinations between Jack, Marco, Jose, Demar, Sonny and Antoine (Douby and Banks? Dunno really…). At the end it might be an issue of distributing minutes, and cure discontent.
Come on with the praise of Weems on this website already! Everyday, this website talks of him as some superhero diamond in the rough. Today’s article doesn’t even reference the fact that he MAY have weaknesses! His best comparison is Jamario Moon, because they were both bottom-of-the -bench guys when signed. Would anyone even want Moon on the Raptors’ roster anymore? Not much of a comparison.
I understand he’s played exceptionally well for a 14th or 15th guy in nonsense preseason games, but you have to be insane to believe he has even the slightest chance of cracking the Raptors’ rotation without big-time injuries. Both of the guys expected to play the 3 haven’t hit the floor yet, of course he’s playing a bunch!
I like the guy, I think he has a chance of becoming a good role-player eventually, but he’s not in the league of even the Raptors’ rotation wings yet.
Nickname for Demar???
How about DeForce ??!!!
(deforce – to deprive forcefully of property)
Demar “DeForce” Derozan … PUUUURFECT …!!!!!
John Smith’s mother is a whore?!
There haven’t been good nicknames for players in decades.
Let’s look at these nicknames…
“Magic” Johnson
Larry “Legend”
“Air” Jordan
“Doctor” J
Clyde “The Glide”
“The Mailman”
“The Round Mound of Rebound”
“Iceman”
“The Human Highlight Reel”
“The Chief”
All those nicknames are synonymous with those players. And they perfectly describe them.
Now look at more recent ones…
“The Answer”
“The Truth”
“Melo”
“Shaq”
“CB4″
“CP3″
“Tough Juice”
“The Big Ticket”
“J-Kidd”
“T-Mac”
You’ve either got shortened versions of their name, which isn’t really a nickname, their initials plus their number (ooh, how inventive!), or some bizarre name that doesn’t really describe their play at all.
And then you’ve got a special place in hell reserved for the people who nicknamed themselves…
“Black Momba”
“The Big Aristotle”
At least Shaq’s is funny because it’s like calling a guy without a left hand lefty.
The only nickname out there that really fits is The Big Fundamental. The rest seem to be nicknames simply for the sake of being nicknames.
EVERYONE seems to have a nickname nowadays. You know what would be unique is to NOT have one.
Agreed. Remember when we were trying to give Moon a nickname? It's like going on a first date and saying "I love you" — no class and super premature.
I'll give Bosh's nickname some slack, since it apparently has to do with a movie (eh…), but what was the rationale behind CP3? Bosh did it first, or wow, the letters rhyme with the number? Last I heard, CP3 stood for the Center for Particle Physics and Phenomenology. I guess that's sort of fitting for Chris Paul.
You know, after Paul Pierce and Allen Iverson got their nicknames, I fully expected variations of The Real Answer, The Real Truth, and The Conclusion. I guess The Enigma, The Mystery and The Unanswered Question aren't very flattering.
They've got to put a restriction on nicknames. Maybe you can't get one unless you have a good chance of having your number retired by a team. No nickname for DeRozan please. His name is unique enough as it is.
A lot of teams were putting bigs on Rondo because he couldn’t shoot. He started hitting from the perimeter and teams stopped doing that. Bargnani cannot make up for his lack of quickness at SF with his length because most SF’s can actually shoot the ball. He would either give up a ton of jumpers or a ton of drives. I think Chris Bosh has a better chance of defending the 3 than Bargnani.
And Bargnani has much bigger weaknesses at SF than at center. I think he’s actually a half decent defender at center (after believing he would be a poor defender when he came out). He doesn’t have a lot of strength to bang against the big centers, yet, but where his length comes in handy is at center, where his size can help him against post ups.
Besides, while Bargnani will struggle against Shaq and Howard defensively (who doesn’t?), you have to realize how they will struggle on the other end. Who exactly are they going to guard? Instead of having Nesterovic guarding Shaq or Howard, and making them exert little effort on the defensive end, why not use what the Raptors have to their advantage? Both Bosh and Bargnani can draw them out of their comfort zone in the middle and open things up for everyone else. Can you see Turkoglu and Calderon running pick and rolls against Howard and Shaq with guys that are quicker than them and can shoot from outside? Quite frankly, Cleveland, and Orlando to a point, is exactly the type of team that the Raptors could give fits to because of matchups, much like Orlando beat Cleveland in the playoffs because of matchups.
Rondo did not start hitting jumpers at all… some teams didnt have the personel to do this and therefore didnt. Other teams just chose not to. But regardless its just an example of how it could work.
-Chris Bosh has a better chance of defending the 3 than Bargnani-
thats just what the Raps could do (or use Amir to cover 3s). Just because a player is a SF doesnt mean they have to cover that position.
Regardless, all I can say is we can disagree on whether length can make up for quickness (I think there is a fair argument for both), its just something I wish we could have atleast seen… in more detail than a few random samples that we got.