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let me start by saying im a big fan of Demar but i don't think its a coincidence that when Demar plays OKC he just gets put in a box (Shut Down). Yesterday OKC really just exposed Demars games,
he couldn't post up on anyone
he couldn't get by them
he was just forced to shoot deep jumpers .
the man just doesn't have the foot speed to blow by defenders, he cant even guard most of the 2s out their in the lg. Demar will obviously get better but if a trade presents itself and they ask for Demar i think we shouldn't hesitate .

IMO we should ship him and JC and just get Gay and Bayless or something like that. I know some people hate on Rudy but lets face it no one is going to sign here, hes still a guy who can get his own shot , create for others and can close out games (which we need Desperately).

Lowry, Ross (after couple seasons) and Rudy Gay could really do some damages in this league. BUT this wont get us anywhere until Big V and ED get WAY more weight on their body. OH and i almost forgot... we need to do something about Andrea Quick , i think the only way we get good value for Andrea is if we get involve in a big trade (more then 2 teams)

Overall, I think DeMar is an average SG who will be paid like a borderline star (e.g. Holiday, Curry) . I would not hesitate to trade him and Jose for Gay since we have a potentially better SG in Ross.

Edumacated wrote:Overall, I think DeMar is an average SG who will be paid like a borderline star (e.g. Holiday, Curry) . I would not hesitate to trade him and Jose for Gay since we have a potentially better SG in Ross.

i 100% agree with you , althought his work eithic is impressive i still think people are expecting too much from him . Ross is most likely going to become better then him , but our biggest problem this season has been our Bigs, we pretty much play 2 undersize PF at the 4 and 5. it doesnt work and we need to hope "BIG" V become "Strong" V ASAP

OKC exposed our entire team you hamster. No **** a 6'10 freak with a 7 foot wingspan is going to shut down our 6'7 sg on the perimeter. Not to mention they have Westbrook, Ibaka and Perkins blocking his shot or picking his pocket.

RaptorReloaded wrote:OKC exposed our entire team you hamster. No **** a 6'10 freak with a 7 foot wingspan is going to shut down our 6'7 sg on the perimeter. Not to mention they have Westbrook, Ibaka and Perkins blocking his shot or picking his pocket.

Alan Anderson says hi.

RaptorReloaded wrote:OKC exposed our entire team you hamster. No **** a 6'10 freak with a 7 foot wingspan is going to shut down our 6'7 sg on the perimeter. Not to mention they have Westbrook, Ibaka and Perkins blocking his shot or picking his pocket.

I've seen other sgs who are supposedly worse play way better consstently

RaptorReloaded wrote:OKC exposed our entire team you hamster

lol i just got called a hamster tho ....

Someone will eventually make the excuse that it's the freakin Thunder who are an elite team, but that's only partially relevent. The Raptors haven't had a quality win against a legit playoff team this season. Some of us want this team to make the playoffs, but what are they going to do once they get there? This flawed team would be lucky to win a game.

Player fans and homers on this board want to make their guy(s) untouchables and keepers, but face the facts, there's no one on this team worthy of that right now.

I think we knew DeMar isn't a superstar. With our weaknesses at other positions, as well as our injuries - four bigs out, basically forcing Amir and Ed to play even when it might have been nice to put in somebody with more offence at PF, you would expect OKC to focus on shutting down DeMar's driving lanes and take away the space on screens he needs to get an open look.

It's not rocket science - when your starting lineup is Jose, DeMar, Pietrus, Amir and Ed, who the f@q is going to score, and who does the opponent key on?

I agree with you completely. Demar is a great player and is becoming a solid scorer. Most Raptor fans have unrealistic expectations of him. I don't see him becoming the elite player that we desperately need on both the offensive end along with the defensive end.

I feel that BC should be looking to move him if the right opportunity shows it self. I think that trying to acquire Rudy Gay is a quick fix and wont help our team in the long run. If keeping DD is part the plan to build our team, then so be it. I just hope they are not putting their faith in him because he is not the right player to build around.

dagger wrote:I think we knew DeMar isn't a superstar. With our weaknesses at other positions, as well as our injuries - four bigs out, basically forcing Amir and Ed to play even when it might have been nice to put in somebody with more offence at PF, you would expect OKC to focus on shutting down DeMar's driving lanes and take away the space on screens he needs to get an open look.

It's not rocket science - when your starting lineup is Jose, DeMar, Pietrus, Amir and Ed, who the f@q is going to score, and who does the opponent key on?

Give it up already Dagger. Blaming others for a player's struggle. You really want to do a Bargnani on DeRozan? Blame Bargnani's struggles on his teammates.

Not a superstar? How about not even a star? And no, OKC did not focus on DeMar. They defended DeMar 1 on 1, and any decent defender can shut him down more often than not. DeMar should be thankful that Sefolosha is a limited offensive player and did not go bonkers on him, so he got a day off on the defensive end.

I hope you all are aware that Thabo is easily one of the best defenders in the league and has even locked down LEBRON at times.

Terrible1 wrote:I hope you all are aware that Thabo is easily one of the best defenders in the league and has even locked down LEBRON at times.

It's the same excuse as the OKC being an elite team thing, which I mentioned earlier in this thread. Thabo is just partially responsible for DeMar's struggle.

dagger wrote:I think we knew DeMar isn't a superstar. With our weaknesses at other positions, as well as our injuries - four bigs out, basically forcing Amir and Ed to play even when it might have been nice to put in somebody with more offence at PF, you would expect OKC to focus on shutting down DeMar's driving lanes and take away the space on screens he needs to get an open look.

It's not rocket science - when your starting lineup is Jose, DeMar, Pietrus, Amir and Ed, who the f@q is going to score, and who does the opponent key on?

Im with Dagger. It was obvious that they were closing down the driving lanes, we had very little ball movement and our perimeter shooting was not there (outside of Anderson).

Give some credit to Sefolosha, he is a hell of a defender and is almost the perfect guy to guard Demar. Once he came out of the game and Martin came in, Demar instantly became more aggressive and looked for post-ups.

dagger wrote:I think we knew DeMar isn't a superstar. With our weaknesses at other positions, as well as our injuries - four bigs out, basically forcing Amir and Ed to play even when it might have been nice to put in somebody with more offence at PF, you would expect OKC to focus on shutting down DeMar's driving lanes and take away the space on screens he needs to get an open look.

It's not rocket science - when your starting lineup is Jose, DeMar, Pietrus, Amir and Ed, who the f@q is going to score, and who does the opponent key on?

The sensible thing to do is to put Lowry in the starting lineup who is a far better scorer than Calderon, not Andrea though as its proven we are a better defensive and offensive team without him.

I think we knew DeMar isn't a superstar. With our weaknesses at other positions, as well as our injuries - four bigs out, basically forcing Amir and Ed to play even when it might have been nice to put in somebody with more offence at PF, you would expect OKC to focus on shutting down DeMar's driving lanes and take away the space on screens he needs to get an open look.

It's not rocket science - when your starting lineup is Jose, DeMar, Pietrus, Amir and Ed, who the f@q is going to score, and who does the opponent key on?

Dagger is talking sense. Demar is what he is - he wasn't an all-star before this game, and he's not a complete chump after it. He did have a lot of trouble scoring against TS, especially with perkins and ibaka in the paint. He's a slasher without a great shot, so if you have a good defender sticking to him like glue, and a great paint protector behind your defender, Demar will struggle. Without a reliable post-up player, or a reliable shot creator on the floor, our O stagnates and is fairly easy to stop.

Also, full credit to not only TS, but the OKC bigs too. They were working really well together.

The sensible thing to do is to put Lowry in the starting lineup who is a far better scorer than Calderon.

Also this.

The thing is, Demar isn't particularly exceptional at anything. Yes, he can get to the basket and did so a few times against OKC. But he isn't very good finishing at the basket. He air balled a wide open up and under floater, and the only strong finish he really had was that awesome dunk going baseline. Oddly enough, I think his strongest attribute is his ability to create a look for himself. This was something I always criticized him for, but he knows how to do it now. His problem is he's not a great finisher. But it wasn't just Demar that struggled against OKC. Clearly, they are the definition of a long, athletic team that the Raps are trying to be. They made the Raptors look slow, small, short, you name it. The team really misses Jonas, and hate to say it, could use Bargs soon as this small front court wears down.

DD has always struggled against stronger opponents. You'd better hope he continues to improve and earn his contract. Having said that, I do think he has improved a lot so far this season.

Btw, I do think pairing him with Lowry has a better chance of success for both DD and the team as a whole.

Terrible1 wrote:I hope you all are aware that Thabo is easily one of the best defenders in the league and has even locked down LEBRON at times.

thabo is a good defender but almost every team has one of em so that cant possibly be a excuse