If Sonny Weems gave an interview during the regular season we’d take a glance at it and five seconds later the browser tab would’ve been closed. But, it’s the summer and quotes more than 140 characters are extremely rare, so we’ll parlay that it into a post for this Sunday. Weems spoke with Hoopsworld and gave his take on a few things:
“We have Jarrett Jack who is coming back and will probably be our starting point guard so he’s running the show.”
A couple days after Amir Johnson referred to Jarrett Jack as “Captain” on Twitter, we are told that Jack will likely be the starting point guard for the team. It’s not a surprise as Jack’s appearance at summer league spoke to some degree of his commitment to the cause, and obviously the Raptors trying to trade Jose Calderon is an indication of the same. I worry that Jack, much like Calderon, hasn’t ever proven himself as a starting point guard, and that his ball-distribution and creative abilities are limited to that of a second unit guard. If you look hard enough, you’ll notice that we were in the exact same situation two years ago when we made a decision to go with Calderon over Ford. Both were good backup point guards, but since one was better than the other, we automatically assumed that they were starter quality. This looks eerily similar to that situation.
“We pretty much knew that Chris wasn’t coming back. He felt that his time was up in Toronto and he felt that he gave Toronto everything that he had and it was time for him to move on for himself, to better his career, so he did that.”
My question would be when the players knew about this. Was it after the season ended? Was it before the trade deadline? Just when did it become clear to Bosh’s teammates that his decision was made. My personal guess (which I have no proof of) is that it happened after Bosh came back from the All-Star game. If it was evident from me watching it on a TV, I can only imagine what it must be like sharing a locker room with a guy who was counting his days. It’s also interesting to note that Weems didn’t say that Bosh gave everything, but that he “felt that that he gave Toronto everything”. Am I splitting hairs? Yes.
“I’m trying to be a playoff team and I think everyone else has that same mentality. That’s why we’re coming up here early, we’re striving for that, and that’s one thing we have on our mind. I want to be a playoff team and I think everyone else is thinking the same way”
At least the goals for next season are realistic enough. Unlike the last two editions, there aren’t any delusions of contention and the goal of the initial version of YGZ® are achievable if everything falls into place. With the roster we have, an eighth seed would be quite an accomplishment. The Raptors have six new faces on the team, although only one of them (small forward) could be new in terms of the starting five. If a projected starting five of Johnson, Bargnani, DeRozan, Weems and Jack, comes to fruition, that would mean our starters would have experience playing with each other. The bench is extremely fresh-faced; if Calderon is traded and the Raptors go with a 10-man rotation, the next five would be Barbosa, Kleiza, Wright, Davis and Andersen. In other words, we have completely swapped out our bench from last year.
“I workout in San Antonio over the summer and I’m really trying to focus on extending my range. I can shoot the midrange and penetrate, all of that, but now I’m trying to extend my range beyond the three point line. I’ve really been working hard on that this offseason”
It was hard to find a criticism for Weems last year because the expectations were so low. His mid-range game took everyone by surprise, and although the athleticism was evident, his execution of it was pleasantly surprising. If someone had asked me before the summer what the one area of his game I’d like to see improved, I would not have said three-point shooting. I would have picked his one-on-one moves off of a live or unused dribble. Weems’ jumper/drive numbers are very well-rounded, he opted for the mid-range jumper (10-23 feet) 56% of the time, and went to the rim 27% of the time, most of the time he operated from just inside the three-point line or positioned himself well in catch-and-shoot situations. A three-point shot will open up opportunities for him, but I expect him to be crowded big time next year, and the way to counter that is through a reliable drive-game. Once his drive-game is tight, the open three-pointer will naturally present itself.
“If the organization keeps the young guys around, if they want us, and want to keep going in this route then I’m looking forward to it. They seem really committed to keeping us together, that’s what I hope [happens]. This year is going to be a learning season for us and then in the years to come, we’re going to be one of the best teams in the league.”
A year ago today, the chances of any franchise resting their hopes on DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems would have sounded ridiculous, but here we are. There aren’t many teams out there that are willing to hand the keys over to unproven and inexperienced players just because they had a decent half-season, but what other option do the Raptors really have than to keep the “young guys around” If you’re a casual observer, what the Raptors are doing might seem very risky, but once you look at the contract situations of DeRozan and Weems, it’s hardly that. These two have next year to prove whether they are worth building around; Weems isn’t up for a renewal till next summer and DeRozan’s going to be on the rookie-scale for some time. The Raptors don’t have to make a big decision on whether to go a certain direction or not, they can just let things play the coming season and reevaluate next summer.
“Unfortunately, we’ll probably have to change the name because the NBA isn’t going to let us use the ‘Young Gunz’ thing.”
Further proof that the league is turning soft. Gone are the days of Chuck “The Rifleman” Person.
