mdenny wrote:aminiaturebuddha wrote:mdenny wrote:I had heard RJ had a good reputation amongst players and coaches before he came here eve though he had so far underachieving somewhat. And you can see why. He's often been praised for his work ethic and maturity. It's a great addition in building a new team culture. At his current standard of play his contract bodes well for cap structure too.
He actually seems very Demar-like in that way. He may be a bit limited in his overall game, but his consistent work ethic and professionalism will be infectious and a great model for others on the team, especially if they see constant gradual improvement in his game.
Agreed on the demar thing.
And hey...just because someone diligently works on their game every summer doesn't mean they get the continuous results that demar did. Sometimes all the work in the world still doesn't produce results. Sometimes you can be magic johnson and it doesn't matter you ain't a gym rat.
But knowing that RJ is gonna ATTEMPT to improve at least lends to the possibility that he goes for a demar-like ascension from year to year.
In terms of his influence....and this might be a coincidence....but it seems to me that ever since RJ got here....scotty started attacking INTO contact instead of trying to go around it or fade from it. Pretty sure that shows in increased FTAs for scotty since the trade.
One thing's for sure....it seems like a long time since the raptors had a guy who could get to the line on possessions that don't necessarily look very promising. That's been a huge thing that has stuck out to me watching RJ so far - manufacturing free throw attempts by attacking the rim.
A lot of fans, critics and even players really understate how important work ethic and desire to improve plays a part in an athlete's trajectory.
Like for example there are players from the 90's who claimed they had never seen another pro basketball player do individual workouts like Kobe before him.
His work ethic (and luck with health) is what separated him from more naturally gifted players like Vince, TMac, Grant Hill etc. im talking just in a vacuum not comparing careers.
Relating to the Raptors, we saw this first hand with DeMar and Siakam. Raw athletes that became one of the more skillful players at their positions simply by putting in the work. RJ looks like he could be the next guy on that same trajectory, difference is he already had better basketball instincts and skills coming into the league than DD, Siakam.
