Casey on benching JJ: We know what we're doing

[cammac]

Okay, DD/LW/KL were the ones that struggled, which one are you replacing JJ with for "offensive"/"driving" purposes?

This is a pretty easy question to answer. Limiting Lou's minutes would be addition by subtraction. I believe Lou needs to play but not that much, especially when he don't have it going early on. Lou, as any other role player in the NBA, should only play big minutes when he's on fire or a great defender. Lou was neither in game 1.

Also, this 3 guard lineup allows PP to stand around on D whatever position he plays. Not a coincidence that PP was least effective offensively when DD was running him all over the court.

And for the life of me I can't believe there are people here who claim they watched that game and didn't think JJ would've made a difference. Even if he didn't cover PP, just securing some rebounds would've won that game.

I can't even begin to talk about how Jonas was completely ignored as usual. Jonas would've been the player of the game if they actually tried to establish something down low.

First JV was sub 45 TS%, again its not totally his fault the Wiz were packing it in and sagging the paint.

Because of this replacing Lous shooting for JJs interior scoring (which wasnt that big an issue) would IMO be a mistake. This team needs someone who could hit a 3, and again something I emphasized in the preview guide (3s would be huge).

I watched the game, I think JJ would have made a negligible difference. FWIW I advocated JJ to play instead of JV if hes going to play, and im indifferent if he does.

I believe Williams should be getting all his minutes yes he wasn't efficient but brings other aspects to his game but wtf does Vasquez bring? Right now you are tilting at windmills you know better but like Casey you believe something and keep harping on canards.

[ThemCrookedRefs]

I spent some time away from the board and come back and had no idea people were this much in an uproar over James Johnson not playing.

Our D was the best it's looked in weeks. It was Lou and Lowry, and to a lesser extent, Demar, who wasted possessions with inefficiency well below what we know them to be capable of. Our inept offensive performance was the single biggest reason we lost. Full stop. We missed countless good shots in that 3rd quarter. Shots we can live with against a good D. Shots that these players need to make at a higher clip than what they did.

The Raptors had the 3rd best offensive rating in the NBA this year and the worst of all game 1 playoff teams this year. Their combined inefficiency was the single biggest contributor to the loss. Not Hans, or Amir, Pierce or anything James Johnson would have brought.

Demar, Kyle and Lou simply have to shoot better or we are screwed. The usage isn't going to dramatically change and James Johnson isn't superman. Assuming we maintain the defensive effort we put forth in game 1, which was solid, we will live or die by whether we can get 4 good games from either 2 of those 3 (or ideally 3 of those 3 in this series. I'm not too concerned with the supporting cast vs Washington's. It's going to come down to Wall + Beal + Gortat vs our highest usage scorers.

Put simply, the Raptors D (which was a big concern for us heading into this series) was better than the Wizards O (which was their big concern heading into the season). We improved our weakness better than they improved theirs. What we supposedly do best, and what won us 49 games, is what let us down.


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The one guy that burned the Raptors was Pierce, whom JJ matches up the best with on defence. And on offence, JJ can attack/exploit Pierce. During the year with JJ on the court, the Raptors opponents' eFG% was -0.21% lower and ORtg 3.8 points lower. Why not improve the defence even more if you can?

I agree that our offence was terrible (and the biggest reason for the loss along w/dREBs), but why not try a guy that attacks the rim and finishes with ridiculous efficiency? Most of our perimeter players didn't have "it", I'm sure Casey could have made an adjustment in-game when he realized this. There was no reason not to even give him a chance. TRoss did not deserve to play as much as he did, even Hansbrough is not a good matchup against WAS. That's the most frustrating thing, it seems like Casey stubbornly just sticks to some arbitrary minutes plan for the roster without accounting for what's actually taking place during the game.

[JWiLL02]

I just don't understand why you'd bench one of your best rebounders in this series...even looking past defense/spacing whatever other concerns.

We NEED more rebounders and I'd take JJ winning a 50/50 ball over anyone else on this team.

The fact that the Wizards don't have another player who's physical enough to match up with him on the other end only makes this decision more questionable, but he needs to play for rebounding purposes alone.

[Clementine9]

I wouldn't advocate anything guaranteed about James Johnson's minutes. In the 2nd quarter there were some issues guarding Paul Pierce and I think that was the obvious time to put James Johnson in. That's when people were getting all mad. I don't know what the JJ discussion has turned into now but in the 2nd quarter we were in a situation where that's EXACTLY where James Johnson matched up and it was the obvious move to put him in.

[Throwback24]

Apparently they don't know what they are doing.. They lost the first game because of PP at the four

Apparently? It's quite obvious pure buffoonery.

[40 Guzzle]

When things aren't gelling (and I know this is an NBA cliche) coaches search for lineups that can change momentum, bring energy & change the tide of the game. It's not like JJ gettin in is a desperation reach by the coaching staff. He's a night in - night out rotation player. I'm really surprised he didn't even get a look.

I don't get what he means by the 4 spot is not his best position, because it's not PP's either. If you can guard PP at the 3, you can guard him at the 4.

To me I feel like Casey got caught up in the mantra that rotations need to get tighter in the playoffs. And I get that due to the way the NBA schedules the first round you can get away with riding your starters harder but it's a definite head scratcher.

[KRANG]

Well that's a relief.

Guess I've been worried for nothing these last 3 years.

[Boogie!]

I spent some time away from the board and come back and had no idea people were this much in an uproar over James Johnson not playing.

Our D was the best it's looked in weeks. It was Lou and Lowry, and to a lesser extent, Demar, who wasted possessions with inefficiency well below what we know them to be capable of.

The Raptors had the 3rd best offensive rating in the NBA this year and the worst of all game 1 playoff teams this year. Their combined inefficiency was the single biggest contributor to the loss. Not Hans, or Amir, Pierce or anything James Johnson would have brought.

Demar, Kyle and Lou simply have to shoot better or we are screwed. The usage isn't going to dramatically change and James Johnson isn't superman. Assuming we maintain the defensive effort we put forth in game 1, which was solid, we will live or die by whether we can get 4 good games from either 2 of those 3 or 3 of those 3 in this series.

Put simply, the Raptors D (which was a big concern for us heading into this series) was better than the Wizards O (which was their big concern heading into the season). What we supposedly do best is what let us down.


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Ross didn't have a good game either. He chucked his way to shooting 3-11 and didn't hit any threes, rebound, or play defense. JJ would have at least provided 2 of those 3 things. Casey plays Ross minutes he doesn't deserve while JJ is given the short end of the stick for making the best use of his minutes.

JJ could have rebounded and handled the ball as well. He's a lot better of a help defender than Ross too. Our whole defense is made off of scrambling and over helping. If you're gonna have a bad strategy like that might as well put someone who's good at it in. Not to mention we need to gang rebound since our bigs are always out of position. Lowry, DeRozan, and Valanciunas have proven to be good rebounder. Since we're having a problem in that department might as well throw JJ in the fire too and see what he could do for a small stretch.

ross played great defense actually. don't know where thats coming from.

[ForeverTFC]

I wouldn't advocate anything guaranteed about James Johnson's minutes. In the 2nd quarter there were some issues guarding Paul Pierce and I think that was the obvious time to put James Johnson in. That's when people were getting all mad. I don't know what the JJ discussion has turned into now but in the 2nd quarter we were in a situation where that's EXACTLY where James Johnson matched up and it was the obvious move to put him in.

I second this.

I have no idea why this discussion has gone towards Ross and Lou Will's minutes. Ross did well on D, and we need Lou on the offensive end. JJ should have been inserted in the 2nd Q, instead of Tyler, after Patterson played extended minutes to guard Pierce.

[40 Guzzle]

As for the analytics, I'm not going to spend my evening trying to refute VVV's argument, by the way..... good work man. He's made some solid posts in this thread that have made me think twice about what I was watching Saturday.

My only question is what qualifies as a contested shot? If PP is locked, loaded & in good rhythm while defenders are running at him him with late close outs, then were gonna get torched all series long...... all on shots that are categorically "contested".

[MS13]

I'm just glad he knows what the fans actually want.

[JV4MVP]

Spoiler:

Just stop posting, you're known for just cherry picking data just to fit your own (Fill in MLSE/ViniVici) agenda nobody respects you when you're trying to convey some sort of story to prove a point...gtfo out with garbage

I rarely call out posts or posters but this is just not cool.

Thanks man, it is what it is and why I dont post as much here anymore.

Ive contributed so much to this board, from 4+ yrs of doing the Daily Papers to SotDs/GTs/etc.. and instead of discussing basketball I deal with this stuff. C'est la vie, I guess.

Anyways im going to be productive. Take care all.

[RotR]

Lol. There's a reason they're NBA coaches whether you want to realize it or not. Do they get outcoached, sure, somebody has to win.

To think you know better is the height of hubris.

Good luck to you all.

[MikeM]

People are talking about James Johnson like he's Tony Allen on offence. He shot 59% this year and had a TS% of .617. He almost led the team in both categories. There are no players on our roster close to him and Valanciunas in terms of efficiency. Listening to Eric and Jones on Hoops tonight almost made me drive into a wall. "Well the Raptors defence was great so I don't know what you need James Johnson for. The problem is the guards couldn't shoot." The guards can NEVER shoot!

James Johnson is a better OFFENSIVE option than most of our players ffs.

And even if our defence was good, so what? It could have been better. The score was even at the end of regulation. If James Johnson played even 30 seconds and bothered even one of Pierce's shots we would have won the game.

[beppy]

Anyone have any stats on raptors wins with JJ playing more than 10 minutes than without. It felt like early in the season when JJ was playing/dunking on people he got more minutes and the team was winning more. Not quite sure at what point did JJ stop getting minutes (after the cocked back joint dunk?)

[beppy]

People are talking about James Johnson like he's Tony Allen on offence. He shot 59% this year and had a TS% of .617. He almost led the team in both categories. There are no players on our roster close to him and Valanciunas in terms of efficiency. Listening to Eric and Jones on Hoops tonight almost made me drive into a wall. "Well the Raptors defence was great so I don't know what you need James Johnson for. The problem is the guards couldn't shoot." The guards can NEVER shoot!

James Johnson is a better OFFENSIVE option than most of our players ffs.

And even if our defence was good, so what? It could have been better. The score was even at the end of regulation. If James Johnson played even 30 seconds and bothered even one of Pierce's shots we would have won the game.

Agreed. its not like we are putting in chuck Hayes where we totally comprise on offence. I think JJ can actually help the offence.

[Ahmed1212]

I'd probably go Patterson as option 1 and JJ as option 2. Just because you give a lot of spacing on the other end with a JJ Demar and either Jonas/Amir on the floor together.

[G R E Y]

hahahahahahaha - no.

Just like Casey and his effort with rotations, the more he talks the worse it gets.

Not one minute for JJ when MU himself said he was brought in to guard the bigger 3s and smallball 4s? Pathetic. GTFO for this and for keeping your **** shooting players in all at once as well while keeping your best % shooters for the game riding pine. Great OT strategy, too. Worked out so well. GTFO again.

[cruwinas]

JJ should be the first, second, and third option when guarding Pierce at the 4.

Amen, my friend.

[plainballing]

Will you take a lineup of Val-JJ-Ross-DD-Lowry or Val-Pat-Ross-DD-Lowry? I just feel that JJ will bother Pierces more than Pat, but Pat adds more shooting at the other end...