2nd half of the season: Expect the REAL Demar to show up

[[SJJ]]

I think it's surreal how quickly this board turned on Demar. Of course no one can deny he's been struggling but he's playing through it and showing improvement. As far as him "blowing up" in the second half of the season I don't know but I'm convinced he'll have a much better second half of the season than the first.

[largib]

OP, you at most times seem to be in conflict with yourself as to whether or not DD has IT to be a consistent high producer. Most of your posts indicate that you honestly believe DD does have IT, but you still continue to make excuses for him when he under-performs. I believe you are not sincerely addressing DD's real problems, but rather prefer to make feeble excuses instead.

The 2nd half of the season will only change positively for DD if he consistently adopts an aggressive
attitude, and hopes that his ball handling, 3 point shooting, and lack of a more physical body are not detriments to his hopefully new positive approach.

Remember Joey Graham. DD is a lot better than Joey was three years in. We hoped well for JG; there is much more hope for DD. We are not haters, just hopeful well wishers.

[Landomar]

Well, for my part, I haven't turned on DeMar. I never liked him in the first place. There's a difference.

Still, I hope he proves me wrong and becomes a great player for us. It's similar to Bargnani. I've never liked Bargnani, but if he plays well, then I'm happy to see him surprise me.

[Pseudonym]

He's been absolutely atrocious, regardless of expectations for the majority of the season. That said, in the homestand he's basically gotten back to level of play he was at towards the end of last season. Hopefully he'll actually show improvement. >.>

[Throwback24]

loool he can't do any worse and if that's where you're going with this thread you sure are breaking new ground Highness.

[StopitLeo]

It seems like his MO is to play poorly in the first half of the season, thereby setting the bar really low. Then by playing like he should in the second half he appears even better than expected.

[FluLikeSymptoms]

I'm hoping he has a great second half, but he has to figure out how to have great first halves. His one year at USC, he came on late. His second season here, he came on strong in the second half. If he comes on strong now, it means he has a problem finding his game/role/confidence that has to be addressed.

The team has talked about putting DeMar in the weight room, under supervision, this summer to make him a lot stronger. He packed on some muscle, but it hasn't given him the core strength to either defend stronger guys or muscle through traffic at the rim to finish strong.

I think a lot of freshman come on late, but, yeah, I wanted him because he outplayed Harden in the PAC-10 tourney. Problem is, they were both playing SF and all Harden had to do in order to play guard in the NBA was lose weight.

There is just so much work left for Demar on his frame/game, and who knows what he'd even be 25 pounds from now. We're talking a physical makeover to play 3, particularly for us; in our 2-2-1, to a degree the opponent chooses who guards whom and 3s have to guard 4s all the time. That's why a tweener wouldn't be bad for us at SF, why JJ succeeds and why an aging Matrix was able to perform at SF for a champion last spring after looking finished in Toronto. Barely being a SF isn't enough for Casey's Raptors.

[RaptorReloaded]

Bosh would have slow starts also but would pick up his game sooner then the half way mark of a season. However who's to say he'd do the same in DD's situation with a shortened schedule in his third year. That and Bosh was pretty injury prone compared to DeRozan. He's barely ever inured.

And you can't compare DD to Joey G. Joey was pretty old for a college player coming into the league and was drafted on the premise that he was close to a finished product with a limited ceiling that could play D. That's all I ever saw of him and I'm pretty sure that was the common view of most of the fanbase at the time too.

DeRozan was a high-upside project and for the most part he show's glimpses of reaching that potential. He has moments where he has beautiful mid-range, post-up, fade-aways and times where he takes rushed, awkward, looking shots that hits air. That's going to happen to a twenty-two year old from time to time. The "golden" third season or not.

[zilby]

DD's been a second half player for both seasons now. While he may not necessarily "break out", I think he'll be much improved, and part of maturing is being able to carry that into the next season and not have to stumble to pick yourself up.

[DG88]

Well as of late he's been picking up his aggressiveness, plus I've recently seen more plays with him coming off screens to catch and shoot his midrange shot. Something I told other posters here that I didn't see in our offense in the early part of the season. The play that they've used a lot is when he curls to the baseline for the jumpshot. Another thing he's been doing is not driving straight into the defense, instead he'd pull up for the clean look. This lessens him being caught for the offensive foul and turnovers. He's also added a lefty floater which has been working for him. It's these small changes that he's made that has got him producing more on the offensive end, where most people have been harping on him on. He's figuring out when to attack the paint and when to use the pull up jumpshot. I'm pretty sure we'll see him continuing that in the second half of the season. I believe this offseason is going to be critical for DeMar. Coach Casey has said that he needs to spend more time in the weight room this summer. I'm pretty sure the coach staff will be monitoring him closely.

[plainballing]

How can the system be geared towards a player that has sat out most of this season?

All I'm hearing is more baseless excuses for his extremely poor play. I haven't given up on DeMar but I don't see any evidence that he will suddenly improve in the second half of the season.

Ozzy is right, I think Demar will play worse against contender since they are going to heat up in the 2nd half.

[chrisanna]

My issue with dd is his lack of ability to creat for himself. He lacks the explosive first step to blow by and create for him and teammates

It's pretty heard to blow by someone when you can't dribble the basketball. Sometimes I think Jason Kapono was a better dribbler.

I hope you're joking ozzy...............

[chrisanna]

How can the system be geared towards a player that has sat out most of this season?

All I'm hearing is more baseless excuses for his extremely poor play. I haven't given up on DeMar but I don't see any evidence that he will suddenly improve in the second half of the season.

No evidence? u mean avging 20ppg the last 10 is NO evidence he might have a great 2nd half?

[manvir_samra]

He's still young. I haven't given up on him. However, he has played badly this year and for most of the season, one of the FEW players in T.O that can score consistently has been out yet DD finds himself unable to score on many nights?

[Inflymous]

funny how people say that Bargnani "turned it around this season" from just 13 games after 5 long years of disappointment. Now after one bad month(January) Demar suddenly sucks even though he has been pretty decent this month so far. Seems like Raptors fans just need someone to complain about and be a whipping boy. Even go into extremes about it... I mean comon now Kapono? LOL