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2015-2016 Toronto Raptors Thread: We Have "It"!

TimKerr said:
No doubt. But Casey realizing that DeRozan is not feeling it last night and keeping him out of the game is a very, very simple adjustment to make. The frustrating thing is, he kept him out for over 12 minutes. But then with the game on the line he brought him back in?!?!?!? It's baffling.
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It's not really though. Yeah, DeRozan has been bad in the playoffs and he was bad last night but for a coach to look at a guy who's brought it for the team all year and say "You're not feeling it tonight so we're benching you for the rest of the game" is a pretty large vote of no-confidence that he can't find his way out of a slump. If you're interested in bringing DeRozan back, and we'll get to that in a second, I don't think that's the kind of thing you can do.

TimKerr said:
In regards to our backcourt, at least Lowry brings something other than scoring, he hustles and makes an effort on D. He gets rebounds and can get assists even when his shot isn't falling (which has been every game in the playoffs except Game 3) But DeRozan brings absolutely nothing outside of scoring and when his shot isn't falling he is a liability out there. I realize I might just be stating the obvious here.

Nonetheless, at the end of this season, both Casey and DeRozan have to be gone.
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I guess. There's something about DeRozan though that makes me wonder about that. Sure, his FG% being low is one thing but his FT% being down is another.

He rebounds at about the same rate as Lowry and though his assist totals are down right now, he did average 4 a game in the regular season. That's nothing to write home about but it's not nothing either. He's a pretty good offensive player and it's tough to completely write him off after a relatively small sample size. Especially since you can't really point to his previous playoffs and see a real trend.

I don't know. I can't say at this point that seeing DeMar leave would get me angry or anything but I don't necessarily think it's the right decision either(although if he insists on max money...nah). I'd definitely start thinking about a replacement though if you think one is available in free agency or the draft.
 
Nik the Trik said:
I appreciate the frustration with Casey, I feel it too, but truth is the Raps would be winning these games going away if our backcourt was anything other than historically awful.
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I am nowhere near any sort of expert on basketball, but one of the common complaints I read about Casey is that his play calling offensively is poor or that sometimes they aren't even running set plays (I think last game I was reading complaints about them coming out of a timeout and not running a set play). 

If the above is true or partly true I would think there is a connection between the two to some degree.
 
Potvin29 said:
I am nowhere near any sort of expert on basketball, but one of the common complaints I read about Casey is that his play calling offensively is poor or that sometimes they aren't even running set plays (I think last game I was reading complaints about them coming out of a timeout and not running a set play). 

If the above is true or partly true I would think there is a connection between the two to some degree.
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There's certainly some truth to that. Their set plays have been pretty awful, to the point where it doesn't look like they exist, and he's absolutely made some questionable decisions re: who's getting shots.

But the reality is that he was still coaching them in the regular season where they had a middling offense in terms of PPG and a pretty good one in terms of points per 100 possessions. So it's not like the team has struggled to score all year. That's sort of what I was getting at about Lowry and DeRozan's FT% being down. That's something that, to me anyway, indicates this is a problem well beyond coaching.

Which does kind of inform those terrible set plays. If Lowry and DeRozan aren't hitting their shots then the other team isn't afraid of anyone getting the ball. That fear is usually what creates space for other guys to get open looks.

So, yeah, I can't defend everything Casey is doing but there's only so much a coach can do if guys just aren't hitting shots they hit all year.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Potvin29 said:
I am nowhere near any sort of expert on basketball, but one of the common complaints I read about Casey is that his play calling offensively is poor or that sometimes they aren't even running set plays (I think last game I was reading complaints about them coming out of a timeout and not running a set play). 

If the above is true or partly true I would think there is a connection between the two to some degree.
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There's certainly some truth to that. Their set plays have been pretty awful, to the point where it doesn't look like they exist, and he's absolutely made some questionable decisions re: who's getting shots.

But the reality is that he was still coaching them in the regular season where they had a middling offense in terms of PPG and a pretty good one in terms of points per 100 possessions. So it's not like the team has struggled to score all year. That's sort of what I was getting at about Lowry and DeRozan's FT% being down. That's something that, to me anyway, indicates this is a problem well beyond coaching.

Which does kind of inform those terrible set plays. If Lowry and DeRozan aren't hitting their shots then the other team isn't afraid of anyone getting the ball. That fear is usually what creates space for other guys to get open looks.

So, yeah, I can't defend everything Casey is doing but there's only so much a coach can do if guys just aren't hitting shots they hit all year.
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I agree at the end of the day it isn't necessarily a coaching problem if DeRozan and Lowry are the two worst shooters in the history of the playoffs (not hyperbole)

But, that is where adjustments should be made and see if Joseph, Ross, Patterson or anyone else gets hot. Casey seems to be able to recognize when T-Ross is hot or not and plays him accordingly. He seems to have a blind spot when it comes to DeRozan. Finally no matter what, there is no excuse to have DeRozan handle the ball at the end of the game when we have Joseph as the point guard. That is 100% a coaching issue.
 
It is and isn't a coaching problem.  The Raptors offense is very heavily based off of isolation plays for Derozan/Lowry.  The problem with this is that when they are both shooting <30% that means your offense is pretty much useless.  Casey actually does have a series of really good offensive sets and he has pulled them out at timeouts and certain times during the season with good effect.  The Raptors just don't use enough off the ball movement and passing in general.  Part of that is certainly by design as the Raptors are a team that plays better with a slower pace and trying to get into good defensive sets.

The big problem I have with Casey is his recognition of when to deviate from his plan.  I find that he is very slow to pick up on mismatches and often will adjust his lineup to match the opposition rather than taking advantage of mismatches.  Last night was a perfect example.  Derozan spent 3 quarters bogging down the team.  He comes out of the game and they go on a big run.  Instead of keeping on with that, Derozan comes back in late in the game and the offense stagnated again and they go on to lose.  He also went from playing Biyombo who was cleaning up rebounds and providing an interior shot blocker to pulling him and playing Patterson at the 5 and the Raptors stopped getting rebounds and the Heat cut into the pain with ease.  Game 4 should have been an easy win.  Game 1 should have been a win too but bad decisions affected that.

Derozan isn't this bad.  His right hand is affected by that thumb brace.  The problem I really have though is that Derozan hasn't adjusted his game to compensate for that and Casey hasn't been able to recognize that he isn't doing it and is letting Derozan get away with bad defense AND bad offense.
 
Even if the Raptors take this series, it's highly doubtful they'll beat the Cavs.  Playing LeBron & co., with the way the Raps are shooting, it will take far greater and more accurate games playing to win.  Otherwise,  the Cavs will swipe them clean.

It's up to Casey to smartly strategize.  Last night's game was a case in point. 
 
For the Raps: JV out, DeMarre bruised, DeRozan banged up

For the Heat: Bosh out, Whiteside out, Deng banged up

What an ugly series. Whoever wins will essentially win through attrition. The Cavs must be loving it.
 
Sportsnet had an article that claimed that JV might have a Grade III sprain of his ankle.  That would have him out of action for the playoffs at this point.  Counter to that is JV was out walking in the hallway out of his air boot yesterday so maybe he only has a grade II sprain.  That would still have him out for a while as he was supposedly wearing a wide shoe and was still limping. 

I think the likelihood we see him in the next round (should the Raptors shut down a bad Heat team) is remote.  It will be interesting to see if he starts wearing an ABO moving forward.  A lot of the Ortho guys are starting to really push for this in people who either get recurrent ankle sprains or suffer severe ones.  It would affect his comfort in terms of lateral mobility but would greatly decrease the chance of future injuries.
 
Liked the way Bismack Byombo made his presence felt in Game 5, providing screens, playing overall good defence, etc.  He had a big game.  Good job by the backcourt after the Carroll injury -- Joseph, Patterson, and of course, Lowry and DeRozan's sharp shooting.

DeRozan with 34 points, Lowry with 25.  The All-Stars came alive and as demonstrated throughout the regular season, when they do and the Raptors play their game, amounts to a winning situation.

They can repeat again for tonight's Game 6 with history on their side -- 80% of teams that lead a series at this point have gone on to win Game 6.

GO RAPTORS GO!!
 
Miami  103  Toronto 91.  Series tied 3 games to 3.

Back to T.O. for Game 7.

The Raptors failed to close out the series with a win here in Miami in Game 6, as they had opportunities to do so but fell short of the mark.

While Toronto's All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry both had a strong game, the rest of the Raptors on-court supporting cast did not provide much help, with  measly 15 combined points.  Unlike Game 5 where the Raptors bench strength came alive in droves, this game might as well have been the opposite in that regard. 

Lowry had 36 pts., while DeRozan had 23 pts., and Byombo had 10 rebounds, but other than Lowry & DeRozan doing all the work, not much can be said of team effort.

On the other side of the fence, the Miami Heat and their smaller lineup tore up the scoreboard, namely Goran Dragic who exploded with 30 pts., and the veteran  Wade who contributed 22.  The Heat were a different team altogether. 

It's now back to the drawing board for the Raptors if they have any hope of winning Game 7.  History was not on the Raptors side, by the way, as they are 1-5 in closeout games.  Should have come as no surprise then that they failed to take what would have been the series-winning Game 6 in Miami.

Game 7 goes Sunday in Toronto.  It'll be an afternoon game commencing @3:30PM.

Source:  TSN
 
Raptors up 53-47 at the half.

Carroll - 8 points 2 boards 1 assist
Patterson - 5 points 5 boards
Lowry 16 points 3 boards 3 assists

Derozan 15 points on 6/17 shooting with 0 assists


 
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