DeMar DeRozan thread

[6ixSideSniper]

I honestly think most of defense is just effort and hustle. There are those that are naturally gifted defenders but if you work hard enough you can limit an offensive player.

Look at Harden, there was that one year I think 2 years ago when he got killed on the internet for his pitiful D and he came back motivated - and useful. That's mainly faded back to the norm for him now, but everyone's got it in them.

DD will play D, whether he wants to or not.

DD being a bad defender is greatly overstated. He’s long and athletic enough to be at worst, an average defender. He plays great team defence, and has steadily improved at reading defences, cutting off passing lanes, getting steals, and intercepting passes. You won’t mistaken him for Roberson, but DeRozan can defend.

DeRozan was hid on defence with his time in Toronto because he was the primary option on offence, but under a coach that will hold him accountable (unlike Casey), I expect DeMar to take a huge leap next year as a defensive player. This is a guy that has improved every summer for 9 years straight, any weaknesses with seasons past will be addressed when it comes to DD.

I’m excited to see if DeMar will take the next step and become a superstar under Pops. All he really needs is a steady 3ball and/or above average defence to take that step.

[Donald Kaufman]

DD being a bad defender is greatly overstated. He’s long and athletic enough to be at worst, an average defender. He plays great team defence, and has steadily improved at reading defences, cutting off passing lanes, getting steals, and intercepting passes. You won’t mistaken him for Roberson, but DeRozan can defend.

DeRozan was hid on defence with his time in Toronto because he was the primary option on offence, but under a coach that will hold him accountable (unlike Casey), I expect DeMar to take a huge leap next year as a defensive player. This is a guy that has improved every summer for 9 years straight, any weaknesses with seasons past will be addressed when it comes to DD.

I’m excited to see if DeMar will take the next step and become a superstar under Pops. All he really needs is a steady 3ball and/or above average defence to take that step.

I don't doubt that it's overstated. Sometimes it seems the only way fans can analyze a player is to focus on his weaknesses, disregarding the notion that players can develop weaknesses in their games under a different coaching staff.

The Spurs have shown time and time again what they can do with players that no one else saw value in - so what can we do with someone that is already an All Star and All NBA level player?

[Kabookalu]

DeMar isn't the greatest defender, but I've never jived with Raptors fans' opinions of saying he's one of the worst they've ever seen. He's not even the worst Raptors perimeter defender ever, not by a long shot.

The thing with DeMar is that he won't put his all in on defense, but he does sort of make up for it by being a good team defender. He knows where to be and where to position himself, you can always count on him to not lose his place. His closeouts could be much better, though it's in those situations where he will cost you the defense. Everywhere else though he'll do a decent job of holding his end of the bargain and being aware of where he needs to be positionally.

He will start trying in the 4th quarter though.

[Donald Kaufman]

DeMar isn't the greatest defender, but I've never jived with Raptors fans' opinions of saying he's one of the worst they've ever seen. He's not even the worst Raptors perimeter defender ever, not by a long shot.

The thing with DeMar is that he won't put his all in on defense, but he does sort of make up for it by being a good team defender. He knows where to be and where to position himself, you can always count on him to not lose his place. His closeouts could be much better, though it's in those situations where he will cost you the defense. Everywhere else though he'll do a decent job of holding his end of the bargain and being aware of where he needs to be positionally.

He will start trying in the 4th quarter though.

I think when you're considered a made guy, ie. top 20 or thereabouts in the NBA, the expectations change. Maybe this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you reach this level that's when everything gets picked apart. DD reached that level, which can be a blessing and a curse.

I sometimes long for the pre-Moreyball/Sloan Conference brand of over-analyzing the game, when it was just your own thoughts and a TV screen. Nowadays I feel like basketball is more an equation than just a beautiful game to be enjoyed. I might be precariously delving into "old man yells at cloud" territory here - if that's the case then feel free to ignore and move on - but I sometimes long for the days when you could just appreciate, say, the Mitch Richmond's of the world and be done with it, without feeling the need to call out his shortcomings defensively, or the fact that maybe his win shares don't quite cut the mustard.

[G R E Y]

Happy first Birthday as a Spur, DeMar! Here's to new beginnings

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[mirrornick]

Happy first Birthday as a Spur, DeMar! Here's to new beginnings

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

DeKobe on the Spurs, can't wait to watch you guys play.

[mirrornick]

Watch on YouTube

you guys will be calling Dekobe pretty soon

[G R E Y]

Watch on YouTube

you guys will be calling Dekobe pretty soon

Some moves there I hadn't seen before. It'll be interesting to see how he's incorporated into our O, but it's really the attention and effort to D that we'll be looking for. It's just going to have to be higher on his priority list. I don't know how long the honeymoon phase lasts before Pop goes "Serbian" lol but I think we'll have to be patient. When Tucker was on DeMar about it, he was noticeably better. When you have a whole team dedicated to it, though, it should make a difference, too.

[mirrornick]

Watch on YouTube

you guys will be calling Dekobe pretty soon

Some moves there I hadn't seen before. It'll be interesting to see how he's incorporated into our O, but it's really the attention and effort to D that we'll be looking for. It's just going to have to be higher on his priority list. I don't know how long the honeymoon phase lasts before Pop goes "Serbian" lol but I think we'll have to be patient. When Tucker was on DeMar about it, he was noticeably better. When you have a whole team dedicated to it, though, it should make a difference, too.

DeMar is actually a solid team defender and knows rotations. His man to man defense is his biggest leak. I guess lack of lateral quickness and perhaps the burden of carrying an offense night in night out. I expect DeRozan to improve as an overall player as well. He has a lot of respect for Coach Pop

[mirrornick]

.

Grey, do you want to join TeamNeutral? Would be an honor.

Just copy my sig TeamNeutral

[G R E Y]

.

Grey, do you want to join TeamNeutral? Would be an honor.

Just copy my sig TeamNeutral

I don't know what it means lol. But it seems like a Raptors thing, for one, so it's outside my sphere, and I literally cannot fit another character into my sig (though I'm working on changing it).

p.s. is it related to Team Tank vs. whatever the other team was?

[mirrornick]

.

Grey, do you want to join TeamNeutral? Would be an honor.

Just copy my sig TeamNeutral

I don't know what it means lol. But it seems like a Raptors thing, for one, so it's outside my sphere, and I literally cannot fit another character into my sig (though I'm working on changing it).

DD is a big part of it

Can I still put you on as a member? need like 10 members before season starts.

[G R E Y]

Grey, do you want to join TeamNeutral? Would be an honor.

Just copy my sig TeamNeutral

I don't know what it means lol. But it seems like a Raptors thing, for one, so it's outside my sphere, and I literally cannot fit another character into my sig (though I'm working on changing it).

DD is a big part of it

Can I still put you on as a member? need like 10 members before season starts.

Honestly, I think it's best you do not. Best to keep the lines clear, and I don't want to incite anyone who happens to care about my being on the list anyway. Thanks for asking first.

[mirrornick]

I don't know what it means lol. But it seems like a Raptors thing, for one, so it's outside my sphere, and I literally cannot fit another character into my sig (though I'm working on changing it).

DD is a big part of it

Can I still put you on as a member? need like 10 members before season starts.

Honestly, I think it's best you do not. Best to keep the lines clear, and I don't want to incite anyone who happens to care about my being on the list anyway. Thanks for asking first.

[Fundamentals21]

He's already a Top 10 RS kind of player.

Pop needs to take his playoff meltdowns seriously. Otherwise, it's like having a 3rd option type rather than our go to guy.

[mirrornick]

I don't know if you guys follow DD in the off season. This is what he always does, plays in the drew league. He's constantly playing basketball.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

BONUS: Does anyone remember this? What if...

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[G R E Y]

^ Thanks for posting those, mirrornick. Looks like he's going through his regular off-season routine (including the one at the bottom), which is good. I like the steal and dunk the best. Four point play, potentially.

He's sporting a pair of these for Drew League. Fancy!

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I know it's mostly focused on O, but a couple of habits I hope he curbs:

* the penchant for falling in the key when driving and has nowhere to go. Sometimes he legitimately trips, but other times, it's weird he just crumbles lol

* yapping at the refs. The first time that causes a four on five against us will be the last time, I think. We just do very little of that during the play (I can think of maybe four instances last season); after the whistle it's fair game. Besides, Pop does such a good job of letting the refs know just how bad the call was.

As to this:

Watch on YouTube

you guys will be calling Dekobe pretty soon

I found this snippet of DeMar boxing (I didn't know he did this as part of his footwork improvement):

[mirrornick]

^ Thanks for posting those, mirrornick. Looks like he's going through his regular off-season routine (including the one at the bottom), which is good. I like the steal and dunk the best. Four point play, potentially.

He's sporting a pair of these for Drew League. Fancy!

Read on Twitter

I know it's mostly focused on O, but a couple of habits I hope he curbs:

* the penchant for falling in the key when driving and has nowhere to go. Sometimes he legitimately trips, but other times, it's weird he just crumbles lol

* yapping at the refs. The first time that causes a four on five against us will be the last time, I think. We just do very little of that during the play (I can think of maybe four instances last season); after the whistle it's fair game. Besides, Pop does such a good job of letting the refs know just how bad the call was.

As to this:

Watch on YouTube

you guys will be calling Dekobe pretty soon

I found this snippet of DeMar boxing (I didn't know he did this as part of his footwork improvement):

He does run into double/triple teams once in a while, but this needs to be mentioned. In contrary to popular belief, DeMar is one of the best at taking good care of the basketball. He turns the ball over two times per game whereas other ball handlers like Harden, LeBron, Westbrook are averaging twice as many at 4-5. NO I am not comparing these players to DD, but I thought I would throw this in the mix.

He also leads the league in drives per game so sometimes he doesn't get the calls from refs because if he did, then he would be averaging 20 FT attempts per game.

[mirrornick]

Watch on YouTube

[G R E Y]

DeMar looking good in silver and black:


Let the coaching...



... and camaraderie begin! Timmy sighting!


See the rest of the photos here: https://www.instagram.com/demar_derozan/tagged/

EDIT to add that it looks like Manu was there, too ! If this is his idea of leaving, then I'm all for it. Manu did say he wants to contribute, and it probably has to do, at least in part, with adjusting to his new path, but great to see him and Timmy be there for the team and Pop to impart the Spursy bonding. I love that they're there. I've had concerns about leadership continuity, but these opportunities to absorb their presence and the Spurs system / corporate knowledge and see how it works among them is invaluable:

Photo by creativenlb5
https://news4sanantonio.com/sports/look-spurs-demar-derozan-begins-training-with-team-tim-duncan-manu-ginobili-as-well