Masai Ujiri: Raptors Will Change Defensive Scheme For JV

[EleveN]

Raptors to JV after his 1st year: bulk up and play like Howard!
Raptors to JV after his 2nd year: NO NO Howard is not in fashion anymore, go learn to play like Hibbert, rule of verticality rulez!
Raptors to JV after his 3rd year: meh, bigs in general are out of fashion, get smaller!
Raptors to JV after 4th year: ?

[Double Helix]

Gortat and Nene are about as experienced and savvy a front court as any 22 year old C could have the misfortune of going up against in the East. JV still has plenty to learn about the position, defence and the NBA playoffs. Did Gortat and Nene capitalize in the playoffs? Absolutely. I would expect a couple vets to do that to one of the few bigs in the playoffs under the age of 23 (Brow and Thompson being the other notables). Especially, when they have the luxury of playing with a bonafide superstar of a PG, who himself has a lot of growth and learning left, and who shot horribly agsinst us despite being the fastest player in the building each night.

When JV was drafted I said we won't really know how good he can be until he's closer to 24 and that's what we're getting closer to. I refuse to rush judgement on him knowing all that we know about the slow development of Cs.




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[Hero]

And if this doesn't work I wonder what's next?

[Thespianoid]

And if this doesn't work I wonder what's next?

Well if they'd actually target the correct issue then maybe there'd be some improvement.

But if not, then you resign yourself to the fact that JV has become a taller, slightly better Pekovic and you move on from him as an asset.

[MVP-]

What, we're building around our young potential franchise centre? That's silly. Instead we should continue playing no perimeter D and increase our chucking of long twos.

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Raptor fans coke-dreams.

[Lateral Quicks]

What, we're building around our young potential franchise centre? That's silly. Instead we should continue playing no perimeter D and increase our chucking of long twos.

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

This fan base has essentially zero patience. Bigs take time to develop.

[Gntts]

What, we're building around our young potential franchise centre? That's silly. Instead we should continue playing no perimeter D and increase our chucking of long twos.

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

Well, Saciid11 should now post the advanced stats for Bosh, when he was 22 in his 4th season:
PER of 22.6, a WS/48 of .174, and a TS% of 57.1%. He put up 21.1 and 10 boards on a PER36 basis, with 1.2 blocks...
and forget to mention that Bosh was playing 38.5 min per game with 14.8 FGA vs 26.2 MPG with 8.2 FGA of JV's.

[Financials]

Valanciunas as an immobile average centre, in a league dominated by guards and wing players is definitely not the right guy to "build around".

Lets see if he can make the jump to good complementary player first.

Well, building around guards doesn't work either unless you have a HoF guard, which we clearly don't.

Its much easier to build a solid contender around a decent set of bigs than it is to put together wings. Id spend the time (which we have with our 5th pick) looking to find that gem centerpiece, and you can sign FA guards later... harder to find a big.

Not everyone can have westbrook and Durant, or curry and Thompson, etc..

Lets see how Portland works out building around lillard now that LMA is gone, LOL.

I think that JV should be a centerpiece, but also he is def not a #1 by any stretch. You need a true #1 star wing to go with JV, none of this bubble allstar crap. The difference is it should be easier to find a really good wing in FA than a really good big. Teams never want to let the bigs go.

You can't be serious, nobody said around Demar and Lowry.. but between them and JV, it's not even close who is more important to team successes. DD and Lowry are the reason this team was in the playoff last two years, while JV can't even stay on the court when the game is on the line. You think slow moving center who at best is average on offense and absolutely horrible at the defensive end is centerpiece to build around... Haven't you learned from Bargnani's 7 years, you can't build around thrash. And why is't that some hardcore JV fans think it's good to build around him and not our guards who atleast carried this team including JV to successes... The same fans who think it's okay to build around JV are the fans who didn't want Bosh as franchise player because he wasn't good enough... Even though Bosh was 5 time all star when he was here, put 20-10 for 3 season and his last season was 24ppg 11 rebounds... He wasn't good enough to be the main man on this team, but JV who is defensive liability is somehow worthy of being franchise player....This is the reason why this franchise is joke, fans like these bandwagon fans who cheer for player instead of the team and management who doesn't know when to give up on thrash... Why force the coach to change his system that worked the beginning of the year this past season and last season ??? This same system got Dallas the title .. It works and player are the ones who should adapt to it .. Do spurs ask Pop to change his system, Did Chicago/LA ask Phil to change his system ...

I hate bargnani, I have a bosh jersey hanging above my bed (game worn, autographed mind you) and I feel JV is another solid allstar piece if used right.

I don't give a **** if lowry and dd took us to a 1st round sweep. they have done jack **** in the playoffs, and will never take us anywhere. why do we need to "build around" them. they are who they are. not good enough.

[Raps in 4]

How about we slim him down too?

[Raps in 4]

ICE PnR can def work but JV will have to work his keester off refining and regaining his ealier quickness.

The only way that happens is if we get him to slim down again. But I doubt that happens because we're the Raptors, and logical decision making isn't in our blood.

[Saciid11]

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

Well, Saciid11 should now post the advanced stats for Bosh, when he was 22 in his 4th season:
PER of 22.6, a WS/48 of .174, and a TS% of 57.1%. He put up 21.1 and 10 boards on a PER36 basis, with 1.2 blocks...
and forget to mention that Bosh was playing 38.5 min per game with 14.8 FGA vs 26.2 MPG with 8.2 FGA of JV's.

Just like Barkley said advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game... Bosh and JV are not the same league, Bosh carried his team as number one option and put up important stats... on the other JV puts up garbage stats and never plays when the game is on the line ... 4th Q...

[Hero]

And if this doesn't work I wonder what's next?

Well if they'd actually target the correct issue then maybe there'd be some improvement.

But if not, then you resign yourself to the fact that JV has become a taller, slightly better Pekovic and you move on from him as an asset.

Well I worry if Masai actually gives him a monster extension and then if JV doesn't pan out, the contract is difficult to trade. I mean lets face it, if he doesn't drastically improve his mobility, improve his bball iq and develop a more versatile game then he is not going to be a very impactful player.

[Thespianoid]

And if this doesn't work I wonder what's next?

Well if they'd actually target the correct issue then maybe there'd be some improvement.

But if not, then you resign yourself to the fact that JV has become a taller, slightly better Pekovic and you move on from him as an asset.

Well I worry if Masai actually gives him a monster extension and then if JV doesn't pan out, the contract is difficult to trade. I mean lets face it, if he doesn't drastically improve his mobility, improve his bball iq and develop a more versatile game then he is not going to be a very impactful player.

True. Your concerns are 100% valid and what most of us are banking on that he'll improve with experience. What's a good sign is that he's beginning to re-learn that versatility (shooting jumpers is a start, but also seeing the floor better, which also depends on his style of usage relative to his natural instincts.) Aside from the mobility thing, which needs urgent addressing and is not being urgently addressed.

I think he's already impactful as currently constructed, but is it in a way conducive to winning? That's where I'm not entirely sure.

[MEDIC]

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

Well, Saciid11 should now post the advanced stats for Bosh, when he was 22 in his 4th season:
PER of 22.6, a WS/48 of .174, and a TS% of 57.1%. He put up 21.1 and 10 boards on a PER36 basis, with 1.2 blocks...
and forget to mention that Bosh was playing 38.5 min per game with 14.8 FGA vs 26.2 MPG with 8.2 FGA of JV's.

Just like Barkley said advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game... Bosh and JV are not the same league, Bosh carried his team as number one option and put up important stats... on the other JV puts up garbage stats and never plays when the game is on the line ... 4th Q...

Bosh was also force fed minutes on bad teams. Bosh played over 33MPG as a rookie (when he wasn't ready to contribute) & hasn't averaged any less than than his whole career. JV's career high is 8.3 FGA. Bosh's career low as a rookie is 9.5FGA.

Give JV the same opportunity Bosh had & his offensive numbers would be impressive.

[Morse Code]

Well, Saciid11 should now post the advanced stats for Bosh, when he was 22 in his 4th season:
PER of 22.6, a WS/48 of .174, and a TS% of 57.1%. He put up 21.1 and 10 boards on a PER36 basis, with 1.2 blocks...
and forget to mention that Bosh was playing 38.5 min per game with 14.8 FGA vs 26.2 MPG with 8.2 FGA of JV's.

Just like Barkley said advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game... Bosh and JV are not the same league, Bosh carried his team as number one option and put up important stats... on the other JV puts up garbage stats and never plays when the game is on the line ... 4th Q...

Bosh was also force fed minutes on bad teams. Bosh played over 33MPG as a rookie (when he wasn't ready to contribute) & hasn't averaged any less than than his whole career. JV's career high is 8.3 FGA. Bosh's career low as a rookie is 9.5FGA.

Give JV the same opportunity Bosh had & his offensive numbers would be impressive.

It's not worth it man. Look at his last post. "advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game" lol. Advanced stats coupled with context, and understanding of the game, beats understanding of the game every time. But no, it's gotta be black and white because that's how Saciid's middle school brain works. It's just an incredibly simplistic way of looking at the game.

JV obviously has some issues (mobility, awareness, and a jumpshot being most prominent) but we're all aware of them. The issue is that we haven't shown as a team that we recognize or have the ability to address those issues. It's nice that we're starting to recognize it and adapt, but we need to move quickly so we don't mess up his progression too much. Rookie JV's body/athleticism with this years experience is a much much better player IMO, and I think it's possible to get him close to that level again with regards to his agility. The awareness issue is something he'll get better at over time and with experience, and his jumper isn't bad, but he doesn't trust it enough yet. That could be a reflection of the coaching staff's trust in his jumper also. We just need to slim him down, and then let the kid play/learn and he'll be a nice #2 option down the road.

[Morse Code]

I can't stop thinking about this. I wonder who is going to create a new strategy to exploit this small-ball trend, by using a big. There's a few ways it could happen, but it just seems like there are a large variety of 7' guys who teams aren't just going to give up on because of this trend. There's enough huge bigs in the league, especially young ones, that if one of these teams can figure out a strategy to exploit small ball, they will dominate. There's a few different strategies being used now from teams like Memphis and the Bulls, who have big C's, but I think a new one is going to appear at some point and all these crazy talented young C's are going to start destroying the small ball teams. It's just a matter of time. As of right now the best way to battle small ball with a big C is the same type of offense SVG ran in Orlando. 1 big, 4 shooters. Double team him and leave someone open. It seems to me that the big MUST be agile enough to guard screen and roll on the other end, though. ICE is good for sideline screens but when the ball is up top, these C's like JV has almost no chance. I could see a smart young coach coming up with a new game plan to attack this trend, and I can't wait to see what/who it is.

[cruwinas]

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

Well, Saciid11 should now post the advanced stats for Bosh, when he was 22 in his 4th season:
PER of 22.6, a WS/48 of .174, and a TS% of 57.1%. He put up 21.1 and 10 boards on a PER36 basis, with 1.2 blocks...
and forget to mention that Bosh was playing 38.5 min per game with 14.8 FGA vs 26.2 MPG with 8.2 FGA of JV's.

Just like Barkley said advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game... Bosh and JV are not the same league, Bosh carried his team as number one option and put up important stats... on the other JV puts up garbage stats and never plays when the game is on the line ... 4th Q...

Saciid is having a field day. Just get back on your meds, don't overdue it.

Last season JV was starting for the team that had WORST shooters in the league (in all positions) in DD, Kyle, Lou and Greivis. Raptors were 29th in passing das ball category? No wonder... And coach is as inept as I am in painting on silk in Chinese.

It was difficult to watch Raptors last season, they had lucky schedule and had probably just couple W against quality teams. In the West Raptors would be in 10-11 place and Casey with his approach to game would be old history.

Right now JV is in North America, trying to regain his quickness and explosiveness. I wonder, what could that will do for him if he doesn't get ball in his hands. Better is sit on the bench and wait to be traded.

[Johnny Bball]

What, we're building around our young potential franchise centre? That's silly. Instead we should continue playing no perimeter D and increase our chucking of long twos.

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

This fan base has essentially zero patience. Bigs take time to develop.

You mean besides Drummond, Davis, Gobert this year alone and countless others in NBA history that put up similar numbers? Or the bigs in that draft alone that have figured out how to play defense? There's patience and then there's fantasy like waiting 6 years and still talking about Bargnani's potential. This is the last year I wait for JV to show something.

[Lateral Quicks]

JV isn't a potential franchise center. What has he shown to believe he can ever be that ?

Have you looked at his advanced stats? Show me other centres in NBA history that put up a PER of 20.6, a WS/48 of .189, and a TS% of 62.3% in their age 22 years. Unlike most big men, he shoots a good FT%. He put up 16.5 and 11.9 boards on a PER36 basis last year, with 1.6 blocks for good measure. And that's against starters, not bench scrubs.

This fan base has essentially zero patience. Bigs take time to develop.

You mean besides Drummond, Davis, Gobert this year alone and countless others in NBA history that put up similar numbers? Or the bigs in that draft alone that have figured out how to play defense? There's patience and then there's fantasy like waiting 6 years and still talking about Bargnani's potential. This is the last year I wait for JV to show something.

Drummond has, with little exaggeration, no offensive game. He's nothing more than a dunker at this point. And even when gets to the line, he shoots free throws at an abysmal rate. His stats last year: 21.4 PER, .504 TS%, .147 WS/48. JV's are significantly better.

Davis is a (1) a generational talent and (2) a PF. If he's your benchmark for evaluating a frontcourt player, you're always going to be disappointed.

Rudy Gobert is a great player. No argument there from me.

I'm not saying JV is going to be the best centre in NBA history here. But the fact is he's already a pretty solid player, and the base is there to turn into a star as early as this year. We all know he needs to cut down on the body fat and improve his explosiveness. If he's able to do that while retaining most of the muscle he's added the last few years, he could be a beast.

As for your criticism of his defense, did you watch any games last year? Our perimeter D was just awful. And when opposing guards glide by our porous defenders, who's made to look the worst? That's right, the last line of defense - your centre. Obviously JV has work to do defensively, and I doubt he'll ever be a big-time shot-blocker, but he was made to look much worse than he actually is defensively last year.

[Patman]

Just like Barkley said advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game... Bosh and JV are not the same league, Bosh carried his team as number one option and put up important stats... on the other JV puts up garbage stats and never plays when the game is on the line ... 4th Q...

Bosh was also force fed minutes on bad teams. Bosh played over 33MPG as a rookie (when he wasn't ready to contribute) & hasn't averaged any less than than his whole career. JV's career high is 8.3 FGA. Bosh's career low as a rookie is 9.5FGA.

Give JV the same opportunity Bosh had & his offensive numbers would be impressive.

It's not worth it man. Look at his last post. "advanced stats is for nerds who don't watch the game or understand the game" lol. Advanced stats coupled with context, and understanding of the game, beats understanding of the game every time. But no, it's gotta be black and white because that's how Saciid's middle school brain works. It's just an incredibly simplistic way of looking at the game.

JV obviously has some issues (mobility, awareness, and a jumpshot being most prominent) but we're all aware of them. The issue is that we haven't shown as a team that we recognize or have the ability to address those issues. It's nice that we're starting to recognize it and adapt, but we need to move quickly so we don't mess up his progression too much. Rookie JV's body/athleticism with this years experience is a much much better player IMO, and I think it's possible to get him close to that level again with regards to his agility. The awareness issue is something he'll get better at over time and with experience, and his jumper isn't bad, but he doesn't trust it enough yet. That could be a reflection of the coaching staff's trust in his jumper also. We just need to slim him down, and then let the kid play/learn and he'll be a nice #2 option down the road.

Forget it, dude. Saciid can't even count to 10 let alone begin to understand advanced stats.