Lowe: Time To Start Investing Some Real 4Q Minutes In JV

[OvertimeNO]

This is about putting JV in the 4th to build up his crunch time experience. Who is saying that we're taking games for granted?

We can "afford" to lose 1-2 games putting JV in the 4Q, but that crunch time experience might win us a playoff game in 2015.

[maxpower88]

If he's not a defensive liability in the 4th then sure, put him in. Until he earns that confidence from Casey then things are fine the way they are.

[Darknemo2000]

Well no one asked me but I looked at ZBo made and missed shots. (7/18) Just to see if Jonas was really defending ZBo most of the time.

Made

Amir 4
Jonas 2
Tyler 1

Missed

Amir 4
Jonas 3
2Pat 1
Tyler 1
Hayes 2

Well Jonas certainly defended ZBo more than he did Gasol but it seems like Grizzlies avoided going through that big that Jonas was on and went through the one that Amir was on. Weird.

[yucatan87]

It's amazing how many people here who understand and appreciate the Spurs effectively tanking select regular season games by resting players in the name of April/May/June can't wrap their minds around this one. It's the same damn thing.

The Spurs have a core of veterans who have won four championships over a decade plus together.

The current Raptors core have been an over .500 team for exactly one season and have seen a single playoff series.

In what universe are they in the exact same situation?

The point is that it's okay to make sacrifices in October/November in anticipation of greater payoff in May/June.

[OvertimeNO]

It's amazing how many people here who understand and appreciate the Spurs effectively tanking select regular season games by resting players in the name of April/May/June can't wrap their minds around this one. It's the same damn thing.

The Spurs have a core of veterans who have won four championships over a decade plus together.

The current Raptors core have been an over .500 team for exactly one season and have seen a single playoff series.

In what universe are they in the exact same situation?

The point is that it's okay to make sacrifices in October/November in anticipation of greater payoff in May/June.

Wouldn't it make more sense to make those sacrifices after at least the All Star break, when May/June are surer things?

[RapsFanInOhio]

Lowe is echoing the things that some posters have been saying for weeks.

The tough shots that we're making right now are made at a lower percentage in the playoffs when an emphasis is placed on defense. Anytime you have an offensive weapon that can be effective in a playoff setting, you need him on the court in crunch time.

Yeah, but just because "some posters" say stuff doesn't mean it's smart. We have four and a half MONTHS till the regular season is over. So, if you're suggesting that there's no time, we have to start preparing JV now, well, that sounds like panic to me.

I've been complaining about this since last season; we surely could have used Jonas more effectively against New Jersey without Lopez, no?

Did you read what Lowe wrote? Casey's hesitation is understandable, but at what point do you start trusting your starting C in the 4th quarter? It wasn't done last year and we're seeing the same stuff this year. At some point you play him extended minutes. It will ultimately help the team and absolutely needs to be done. Now is the perfect time to start the process in order to work out the kinks (either in the rotation/minutes or JV personal flaws) before the playoffs start. It is the opposite of a panic move, actually, because you're not waiting until the last minute to do it. It's called foresight. Smart teams have that.

[kayliecee]

Lowe is echoing the things that some posters have been saying for weeks.

The tough shots that we're making right now are made at a lower percentage in the playoffs when an emphasis is placed on defense. Anytime you have an offensive weapon that can be effective in a playoff setting, you need him on the court in crunch time.

Yeah, but just because "some posters" say stuff doesn't mean it's smart. We have four and a half MONTHS till the regular season is over. So, if you're suggesting that there's no time, we have to start preparing JV now, well, that sounds like panic to me.

I've been complaining about this since last season; we surely could have used Jonas more effectively against New Jersey without Lopez, no?

Did you read what Lowe wrote? Casey's hesitation is understandable, but at what point do you start trusting your starting C in the 4th quarter? It wasn't done last year and we're seeing the same stuff this year. At some point you play him extended minutes. It will ultimately help the team and absolutely needs to be done. Now is the perfect time to start the process in order to work out the kinks (either in the rotation/minutes or JV personal flaws) before the playoffs start. It is the opposite of a panic move, actually, because you're not waiting until the last minute to do it. It's called foresight. Smart teams have that.

What you say is not without a solid principle. But when it comes down to deciding when to push JV in the fourth quarter, and I have to choose between Case/Masai + the assortment of very competent coaches, and a couple of guys who have a computer they can write on, I'm gonna choose them. I've watched Lowry, DD, and TRoss (among others) develop into very useful pieces. Maybe your way is better, but until you replace either Casey or Masai, we'll never know.

If it were up to me, I'd pick and choose my spots, like games we were winning against weaker opponents or games we were losing against stronger opponents, but I might also say, "Jonas, you show me in quarters 1 through 3 what you can do, and I'll play you accordingly in t he 4th." Which is what I suspect is going on. I'd bet almost anything, JV is work his ass off to get there, and that's a great thing.

[WiggOuts]

he needs to earn it...on the defensive end. I havent noticed a whole lot of improvement from him in this area, you might see something one game but then nothing the next. I dont like the fact that he seems to want all these touches but still makes a lot of dumb mistakes...he worries about his offence way too much when the coaching staff clearly wants him to focus on the other end

[WiggOuts]

Young players need to earn their due in this league. When a young guy is starting out of the gate, having him earn his 4th quarter mins is not going to hurt him...having mins spoon fed to him could tho


We are winning games, theres no pressure for Val to produce big right now, he needs to focus on the little things and improve his overall game. This is a luxury, not a punishment

[m83588333]

If Amir is lost to injury, Chuck Hayes or TH will close out games, most likely applies to the playoffs as well. Both TRoss and JV will need to be extended or not by Oct 31 next season.

[Scase]

The guy needs to sit in the fourth until he's reliable defensively. Who wouldn't rather see Amir and James Johnson out there in the crunch (on both ends of the floor)? I know I would. It's not even close right now. He can't hold down the fort because he can't defend the perimeter worth a lick, he's slow getting back, his defensive (contested) rebounding is lacking and he's nowhere near the rim protector we need against mobile guards...on top of that he still fouls shooters by jumping forward into them.

Did you just parrot that Tim Chisholm article point by point?

I'm not going to argue that he's as reliable defensively as Amir or James or Chuck. Those guys are the best defenders on our team, but... if you look at our starters he doesn't come off too badly.

Opponent O Rating while on the floor.

Ross 107.4
Lowry 106.7
Valanciunas 105.6
DeRozan 104.8
Amir 103.4

If you consider the on court/off court defensive difference, it's:

Lowry -11.9
Ross -9.3
DeMar -5.8
JV - 4.8
Amir -.3

And that's without getting to play a lot of those 4th quarter minutes where the team tends to pick up their intensity on defense.

Where are you getting these #s from ATL??

via NBA.com, 4th Qs...
KL 102.9
DD 92.2
TR 85.6
AJ 95.7
JV 108.4

On vs Off differential...
KL +16.3
DD -7
TR -15.2
AJ +.6
JV +16

FWIW the 4 highest 4th Q mins are LW/GV/PP/JJ, and they are the only ones with over 100+ total mins (in fairness KL/DD are in the 90s).

This seems more related to DCs subbing patterns, he always lets the bench play the first 6-8min of the 4th to give the starters a rest. The issue I would bring up with that, is that KL(yay) and DD(boo) are in crunch time. Jonas needs to be able to play in those minutes to get a feel for the game. I get that he's young and all but, if he's part of the core he needs to play with the core in those minutes.

Hell Casey never stopped DD from being on the floor in crunchtime/4th Q and his defense and shot selection over the years has been pretty atrocious. With DD you can even pinpoint games where HE lost them for us, yet still he was allowed to play through it and as infuriating it was(and still is at times) to watch it has made him into a better player. IMO Jonas has a higher ceiling than DD, and if that's the case we are doing a disservice to him and the franchise as a whole not developing him to be as good as he can be.

[UnderdogRaptors]

I have never seen a top 5 center and hof player benched as much as JV, Casey needs to be fired.

[Ackshun]

While it does appear coach has an issue with playing JV in the 4th, the last two games are understandable.

[aw8]

The perfect solution of making Casey play Jonas in the fourth is to fuse these two

+

=veteran, which Casey loves.

[ThatDudeDangelo]

Casey's decision making will be highly scrutinized in the next few weeks. Lineups, playing time, rotation, etc.

Ideally, I want Ross starting at the 2 alongside JJ at the 3. This will give more backup minutes to Fields and Bruno.

But knowing Casey he'll probably start Lou or Vasquez instead and ruin the instant offence off the bench. We'll see tomorrow.