zeke
Well-known member
boucher should be in the closing lineup too.
View: https://x.com/JLew1050/status/1878267078630686928
View: https://x.com/JLew1050/status/1878267078630686928
OT: The Official Toronto Raptors Thread
- Thread starter hockeylover
- Start date
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
RJ was a meh defender in NY and has been terrible here. Gradey is one of the worst perimeter defenders in the league, and maybe the worst with his volume of minutes.
But it speaks to a general trend on our roster since Darko took over. Just about everyone who left has performed better defensively in their new home and everyone who has arrived here has performed worse than they were in their old home.
I had Darko concerns from the onset, and nothing that's happened since suggests to me that he's a NBA calibre coach. There's been chaos here, but I don't see any improvement in the place that coaching matters most either on a personal player level or team level and even within chaos we should see shit like Gradey improving a bit defensively (he hasn't), the team finding some answers for it's weaknesses (we're horrendous at defending the 3 point line and it hasn't gotten better with a healthy roster somehow) and nothing.
My concern is that we don't have a ton of time to burn here with the BBQ core and if we're developing the kids poorly, this era is cooked. Right now I don't see a ton of development from anyone. Scottie looks better in flashes but also has long stretches he goes missing during, and just body language wise the losing has gotten to him imo. He needs a veteran leader imo. RJ went from being hyper efficient in the new offence last season, finally contained to a role that made sense for his skill set, to high volume, meh efficiency as they tried to force him into being a lead guard role. Gradey is maybe the worst matador I've seen in a Raptors uniform, and his shooting has been a fair bit worse this season rather than better....and a bunch of the kids get caved in and should be in the G League. The NBA isn't a developmental league, losing begets losing. Want to see the value of having a bunch of decent veteran pros around? Look at Detroit this year. Looked like a lost program last year at risk of having to blow it up and start over again if that kept up for much longer. So they added handful of good veterans who are fine but just fine on the court but shoot and do veteran stuff. Tobias, Hardaway, and Beasley have changed how that team looks completely.
But it speaks to a general trend on our roster since Darko took over. Just about everyone who left has performed better defensively in their new home and everyone who has arrived here has performed worse than they were in their old home.
I had Darko concerns from the onset, and nothing that's happened since suggests to me that he's a NBA calibre coach. There's been chaos here, but I don't see any improvement in the place that coaching matters most either on a personal player level or team level and even within chaos we should see shit like Gradey improving a bit defensively (he hasn't), the team finding some answers for it's weaknesses (we're horrendous at defending the 3 point line and it hasn't gotten better with a healthy roster somehow) and nothing.
My concern is that we don't have a ton of time to burn here with the BBQ core and if we're developing the kids poorly, this era is cooked. Right now I don't see a ton of development from anyone. Scottie looks better in flashes but also has long stretches he goes missing during, and just body language wise the losing has gotten to him imo. He needs a veteran leader imo. RJ went from being hyper efficient in the new offence last season, finally contained to a role that made sense for his skill set, to high volume, meh efficiency as they tried to force him into being a lead guard role. Gradey is maybe the worst matador I've seen in a Raptors uniform, and his shooting has been a fair bit worse this season rather than better....and a bunch of the kids get caved in and should be in the G League. The NBA isn't a developmental league, losing begets losing. Want to see the value of having a bunch of decent veteran pros around? Look at Detroit this year. Looked like a lost program last year at risk of having to blow it up and start over again if that kept up for much longer. So they added handful of good veterans who are fine but just fine on the court but shoot and do veteran stuff. Tobias, Hardaway, and Beasley have changed how that team looks completely.
axlsalinger
Well-known member
Absolute beast out there tonight.
axlsalinger
Well-known member
That's gotta feel great for these guys. Moar please.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Okai looked really nice as a bench player tonight and Gradey has exactly 1 game since the start of November where he has shot better than 50% on volume, it's long past time to put him in a box and let him grow his way out of it properly, through performance. Right now he's being gifted minutes and shots he's just not close to earning. Darko benched him for most of the 4th quarter though, so hopefully this is changing.
So yeah, starter Chris is overdue.
zeke
Well-known member
I expect Quickley will improve on these numbers...er...quickly. But he hasn't been good enough yet.
I'm starting to lose the little hope i gained in RJ tbh. If he can't be an efficient scorer he turns into a liability pretty fast.
But yeah Boucher's nerdies were good even when he wasn't scorching hot. He's not an ideal starter but given that we have a glaring hole in the starting lineup that none of Dick Agbaji or Brown can fill right now either, i'd be giving Boosh starting minutes not without a doubt.
Shead's also starting to up his shooting efficiency which has moved his numbers up on par with the other (bad) bench guys and given his age and experience he's the backup PG i'd be riding for now.
I'd also be playing Mogbo and especially Battle over a guy like Walter right now. Kind of annoyed that our one legit good perimeter shooter this year (Battle) is completely out of the rotation right now.