goinrogue wrote:HiJINX, thank you! Loved this.
Random but who do you think raps will target in the draft after watching this coaching staff work? Interested to know your opinion.
Appreciate it, thank you!
As far as who the Raps will target? Not sure, mostly because I haven’t done any sort of scouting for this draft. I typically like to do a lot of my scouting during the tournament (for American prospects) since a lot can be revealed about a player in high leverage situations against other good teams. So in a month or so I’ll definitely have more of an opinion but for now I don’t have one. That said, this new version of the Raptors prioritizes:
-shooting
-passing
-intelligence
-team first attitude
-character
In fact, I think all of the five coaches who spoke at the open practice (including Darko) mentioned shooting as being the most important skill in basketball today. So whoever we draft, I expect them to either shoot well or have shooting potential.
Another random tidbit I just remembered, speaking of shooting.
-James Wade talked about how he fixed Mikael Bridge’s jump shot. Essentially, Bridges had too much volatility in getting the ball from the gather to release point, so Wade gave him one piece of advice—tuck your elbow to your body. Then Bridges rattled off five straight threes from a spot he was struggling from and has kept the adjustment ever since.
-with Gradey Dick’s shot, Ivo’s focus was on Dick’s feet, in particular, making sure that Dick was catching the ball with his feet set and shot ready, squared to the basket, improving his release time (whereas before, Gradey was setting his feet as he was catching the ball rather than receiving it with his feet already set).
So it’s the little things sometimes that makes a huge difference.