DD Expectations Too High

[rrdjutriurt]

The point is not what we get out of DD offensively. It's that our other starting four will not be strong enough defensively to allow DD to stay on the floor as a starter guarding the likes of Kobe night in and night out. That unit will need a defensive presence from the guard position in order to excel. There is no way DD can provide that at this point. I think he will be all offence the first year or two and not a whole lotta defence.

[ATLTimekeeper]

How is it not likely?

8 points = 4 baskets, with DD basically being able to almost move freely with AB, Hedo, and CB, who all require single coverage at all times, and depending on the situation a double team, surely it is a possibly feat in 20 minutes of playing time.

If DD is in the starting lineup, the only person a defender can leak off of is DD, therefore the lanes should be wide open for him to cut through.

So he's going to shoot 100% from the field? Well, I guess that's likely. Even if he shot %50, that's 8 shots in 20 minutes. Not impossible, but considering that he'll be option #5 on the floor (should he start), it's not exactly a given.

EDIT: For frame of reference, Oden, who was the only other rookie last year to score more than 8 points in under 22 minutes, only got about 6 shots off per game (playing on the 2nd unit). Courtney Lee, who started, got about 7 shots in 25 minutes.

[gregdj]

He is a ROOKIE, with a lot of POTENTIAL. Let him gain experience like the rest of the nba players, i believe he will do great but some of you expect too much in the beginning.

[keonclark83]

I like how some posters are saying that Derozan should start because he doesnt need to put up many shots because of the supporting cast. Why have him in the starting line up if he is not going to put up many shots and play no D? Why not have him coming off the bench with a more solidified defensive unit where he will have a lot more of an opportunity to get some touches. This only makes sense to me and dont see why half of you dont get this. Come on. Use your heads.

[KingstonRaptors]

Like I said before, I just want him to improve on his game throughout the season. Work on his game throughout the season. Don't give up throughout the season. I understand there will be bumps along the road, but I want him to continue to work on his game.

[Tony_Montana]

How is it not likely?

8 points = 4 baskets, with DD basically being able to almost move freely with AB, Hedo, and CB, who all require single coverage at all times, and depending on the situation a double team, surely it is a possibly feat in 20 minutes of playing time.

If DD is in the starting lineup, the only person a defender can leak off of is DD, therefore the lanes should be wide open for him to cut through.

LMAO.

There's no context for your argument. Find other rookies to put up the same kind of production in the same amount of minutes (on playoff-calibre teams) before throwing out numbers like that. It reminds me of those guys who would try to gauge the potential of rookies and throw out numbers like "2 spg/2 bpg" not realizing that the list of guys who actually accomplished that is very, very short.

[T-Spot]

At best, I see him having a Thaddeus Young type rookie season.

[millworker]

Expectations arent too high, hes in the NBA now, hes a Professional, hes got gauranteed minutes on a team willing to give him an opportunity. He will come to work ready to go and convince everybody hes definately a starter in this league.

I believe BC when he says he saw some VC in him so theres no reason to lower the bar that BC set, he knows what hes doing folks, calm down, Air Canada Derozan is scheduled for takeoff in a few months so dont miss the flight!!

[Shaazzam]

Well, just to show you how it usually works, only 6 rookies averaged more than 8 ppg on teams that made the playoffs last year. 2 were former #1 overall picks, 1 was the #2 overall pick. And the other 3 were over 23 years old. So, I don't think those are reasonable expectations.

I'm just saying if Moon can average 9.5 ppg in 27 mpg for the Raptors as a rookie when his only skill set was being able to jump, then DeMar can certainly at least equal that, in terms of productions.

DD has a better feel for the game, a better basketball I.Q. and overall better skill set than Jamario Moon.

That is why I said DeMar's basement for rookie production would be Jamario Moon's rookie season.

Here's what rookie Jamario Moon has over rookie Derozan

- He can shoot 3s

- He's 6'8 and has no problem matching up with big SFs

- He never turns the ball over and is an underrated, dependable passer

Dependable? Possibly. A major issue I had with Moon was that he was an indecisive and slow passer. He wasn't a ball stopper per se, but once he did receive the ball ,many times he would seem to pause for split second which would eliminate any advantage that swinging the ball would generate. He was not a quick decision maker. It's a fine line to walk, as I don't like it when guys, like Bargnani, decide what they are going to do when they get the ball, but don't like it when they don't know what they are going to do once they get it.

[timdunkit]

Depends on what your expectations are .. I'd be happy if DD turns into an athletic defensive stopper that is able to finish on offense. So what if he is just a role player. Getting a decent starter at the 2, at the 9th spot in a weak draft sounds pretty good to me ...

[SkywalkerAC]

he's going to get minutes and my gut tells me he'll produce in those minutes. yes, we're in win now mode but we're also in develop now mode when it comes to DD, triano has said as much. he's an opportunistic guy that is going to get points on putbacks and on the break, starting or not. we are going to be a deep team so he'll be competing for minutes but, again, my gut tells me he'll be up to the task. part of that is being the athlete that he is, he's going to be able to outwork some of his teammates.

he might not hit double digits but i reckon he'll be pretty close if he doesn't.

[RaptorReloaded]

I think some of you guys are under-rating him a bit in this thread. It's almost all but garunteed that he's going to be the starter at the 2 come the first game of the season. Triano said it when we drafted him along with B.C. Then just recently again B.C stated during the Jarrett Jack press conference that DeRozan would be in the starting lineup. This organization is going to give him every chance to succeed and I couldnt agree more with giving him that oppertunity. We are in win now mode but we are not going for championship this year. I'd rather start the potential new franchise then hand the position to some scrub like delfino. (STAY IN EUROPE I HATE YOU!!)

With that said I think he's going to turn a few heads this year. He HAS handles. He has a Kobe-esque mid-range game. He has that lebron like strength when finishing on the break. Plays above the rim kind of like a well known ex raptor and has an incredible work ethic. I was even amazed with his passing during SL. He's got the tools mentally and and physicaly to be a star. The only thing that will stop him is stupid coaching and idiots that want to bury him on a bench cause he's "to young."

Everyone who has seen him play has raved about him. The SL broadcasters would always go off watching him. They would stop calling the game for large stretches while they would drool over the kid. Talking about comparisons that range from Lee to a smarter J.R and how B.C has an amazing track record at drafting #9. He's even got posters like Dagger believing. ( I'm convinced that guys is B.C even though I've been reading his posts since the Babcock era. Not to ride his nuts but his opinion really is the only one I trust on this board)

Double D is the real deal. This is just just the begining. Next year will be the take over.

[Raptorsmania]

I think some of you guys are under-rating him a bit in this thread. It's almost all but garunteed that he's going to be the starter at the 2 come the first game of the season. Triano said it when we drafted him along with B.C. Then just recently again B.C stated during the Jarrett Jack press conference that DeRozan would be in the starting lineup. This organization is going to give him every chance to succeed and I couldnt agree more with giving him that oppertunity. We are in win now mode but we are not going for championship this year. I'd rather start the potential new franchise then hand the position to some scrub like delfino. (STAY IN EUROPE I HATE YOU!!)

With that said I think he's going to turn a few heads this year. He HAS handles. He has a Kobe-esque mid-range game. He has that lebron like strength when finishing on the break. Plays above the rim kind of like a well known ex raptor and has an incredible work ethic. I was even amazed with his passing during SL. He's got the tools mentally and and physicaly to be a star. The only thing that will stop him is stupid coaching and idiots that want to bury him on a bench cause he's "to young."

Everyone who has seen him play has raved about him. The SL broadcasters would always go off watching him. They would stop calling the game for large stretches while they would drool over the kid. Talking about comparisons that range from Lee to a smarter J.R and how B.C has an amazing track record at drafting #9. He's even got posters like Dagger believing. ( I'm convinced that guys is B.C even though I've been reading his posts since the Babcock era. Not to ride his nuts but his opinion really is the only one I trust on this board)

Double D is the real deal. This is just just the begining. Next year will be the take over.

Nice to see another DD fan on here. While I agree with most of your points, I think it will take alot longer than 2 years for DeMar to "take over". I am looking at him as a 3-4 year project kind of like Andre Igouodala.

[J-Roc]

Depends on what your expectations are .. I'd be happy if DD turns into an athletic defensive stopper that is able to finish on offense. So what if he is just a role player. Getting a decent starter at the 2, at the 9th spot in a weak draft sounds pretty good to me ...

Even if they're good enough, rookies aren't allowed to be defensive stoppers because they never get the benefit of foul calls.

[Southward1]

-His jumpshooting game smells of inconsistency at the start. I fully expect him to be a guy who scores 17pts one game and than 4 pts the next, but at the same time taking the same amount of shots.
-He'll be an average defender. I don't think it'll be that bad. This team isn't exactly the 90s knicks defensively. The issue is he may end up being an average defender in his prime

[Shaazzam]

Depends on what your expectations are .. I'd be happy if DD turns into an athletic defensive stopper that is able to finish on offense. So what if he is just a role player. Getting a decent starter at the 2, at the 9th spot in a weak draft sounds pretty good to me ...

Even if they're good enough, rookies aren't allowed to be defensive stoppers because they never get the benefit of foul calls.

Pretty much.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I think some of you guys are under-rating him a bit in this thread. It's almost all but garunteed that he's going to be the starter at the 2 come the first game of the season. Triano said it when we drafted him along with B.C. Then just recently again B.C stated during the Jarrett Jack press conference that DeRozan would be in the starting lineup. This organization is going to give him every chance to succeed and I couldnt agree more with giving him that oppertunity. We are in win now mode but we are not going for championship this year. I'd rather start the potential new franchise then hand the position to some scrub like delfino. (STAY IN EUROPE I HATE YOU!!)

With that said I think he's going to turn a few heads this year. He HAS handles. He has a Kobe-esque mid-range game. He has that lebron like strength when finishing on the break. Plays above the rim kind of like a well known ex raptor and has an incredible work ethic. I was even amazed with his passing during SL. He's got the tools mentally and and physicaly to be a star. The only thing that will stop him is stupid coaching and idiots that want to bury him on a bench cause he's "to young."

So he shoots like Kobe and finishes as strong as LeBron? I can see how it seems to you that a lot of people are underrating him.