mreinman wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Derozan really impressed me this series. Didn't think it was possible for a shooting guard in today's NBA to score back to back 32 point games efficiently without taking 3s.

yes but its a bit feast or famine with him especially since he can't shoot 3's.

He's not really that good at 2s either (in the last 3 years, .447 overall and .405 in the playoffs).

His efficiency comes from getting to the line and being a very good FT shooter.

This.^. It's not about the last two games. I've been raising his name all year

There's a lot to be said for a guy who continues to attack the rim. Not only does that yield FT (at least in part he regular season when whistles are actually blown) but the opponent gets in foul trouble w potentially enormous benefit from their being less aggressive on offense and defense late in the game. There's no good stat to capture that but it's real.

Also there's a lot to be said for midrange game when done right. Missing 3s can lead to long rebounds and fast breaks. Midrange and down low you have a better chance to establish your defense.

djsunyc wrote:we have grit and we fight.

we survived two game 7's. i think those were huge in terms of our development. after blowing an 18 point lead and then actually giving up the lead in the 4th, we still came back to win. probably the best win in franchise history.

this is the same team that got swept last year in the first round.

ujiri did not panic - believed in it's core and added to it with 3 tough defensive minded guys - biz + dec + cojo.

i have criticized casey thoroughly for many year but he has this team 1 win away from being 1 win away. he was the defensive coordinator for the mavs when they beat miami in the finals so maybe he has a good idea on how to contain a lebron team?

still think the smart money is on the cavs winning the series but that's why you play the games.

eny is right - if lowry is hitting shots, we have a chance to beat any team. that was also dd's best game i've ever seen him play considering the stakes.

i think casey + staff anticipated cavs going to mosgov a bit to put a big body on biz. that's why we activated jonas in case that happened. if jonas can come back healthy - we have a legit shot at anyone. playoffs man - throw everything from the regular season out the window - it's just one possession at a time. anything can happen.

Yea Toronto could have just told themselves they aren't good enough toncompete with the Cavs and mailed it in. Instead they started swinging back and started making Cavs earn it.

mreinman wrote:

djsunyc wrote:we have grit and we fight.

we survived two game 7's. i think those were huge in terms of our development. after blowing an 18 point lead and then actually giving up the lead in the 4th, we still came back to win. probably the best win in franchise history.

this is the same team that got swept last year in the first round.

ujiri did not panic - believed in it's core and added to it with 3 tough defensive minded guys - biz + dec + cojo.

i have criticized casey thoroughly for many year but he has this team 1 win away from being 1 win away. he was the defensive coordinator for the mavs when they beat miami in the finals so maybe he has a good idea on how to contain a lebron team?

still think the smart money is on the cavs winning the series but that's why you play the games.

eny is right - if lowry is hitting shots, we have a chance to beat any team. that was also dd's best game i've ever seen him play considering the stakes.

i think casey + staff anticipated cavs going to mosgov a bit to put a big body on biz. that's why we activated jonas in case that happened. if jonas can come back healthy - we have a legit shot at anyone. playoffs man - throw everything from the regular season out the window - it's just one possession at a time. anything can happen.

People don't realize how much Cory Joseph means to that team and how much pressure he takes of Lowry.

He has been really good all playoffs. Even being a go to guy late in the 4th when Lowry was struggling.

djsunyc wrote:cojo's defense on kyrie has been all nba level. kyrie just made some sick shots last night.

His defense is icing on the cake. His efficient offense and high IQ is why I wanted him here.

Casey really gets those guys to play defense though I really question his offensive sets.

martin wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Wow. Maybe Toronto is actually good?

Always after a thread like this is made guys wake up and start playing. I bet DJSUNYC drove to Lowry house and personally showed him this thread.

Lowry awake is the spoon that stirs the drink. Great last two games. Biyombo is going to get a 400% raise

yeah i first quickly read that as DJ driving to Lowry's house and showering him

like you never went to porzingis' and polished his unicorn horn?

mreinman wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

mreinman wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:Derozan really impressed me this series. Didn't think it was possible for a shooting guard in today's NBA to score back to back 32 point games efficiently without taking 3s.

yes but its a bit feast or famine with him especially since he can't shoot 3's.

He's not really that good at 2s either (in the last 3 years, .447 overall and .405 in the playoffs).

His efficiency comes from getting to the line and being a very good FT shooter.

It's more like his FT shooting slightly mitigates his brutal inefficiency from the field. I could go along with your statement if we ignored his previous 6 seasons and all his post-seasons, but that's pretty desperate.

I was not defending his career, I was giving some clarity of how he got to a TS% of 55 with being such an inefficient shooter.

djsunyc wrote:these playoffs have changed the way i evaluate players. up until this year, i've always evaluated players on how the team plays and throughout the course of a season. but the raptors now have been to the playoffs 3 years in a row so i had to change to start evaluating guys on how they perform in the playoffs.

i do not like derozan's game. he frustrates the heck out of me. but his ability to score in a half court set in the playoffs when you need buckets is a dimension that is very tough to replace. we could replace him with a guy like batum and become this great multi-faceted more efficient attack but with the game on the line in the playoffs, can batum keep going at the cavs and scoring? i don't think he can.

the key is to limit derozan's bad and put him in more efficient situations. hope casey changes the offense a bit next year - but i think he understands he has to.

Bonn1997 wrote:

djsunyc wrote:these playoffs have changed the way i evaluate players. up until this year, i've always evaluated players on how the team plays and throughout the course of a season. but the raptors now have been to the playoffs 3 years in a row so i had to change to start evaluating guys on how they perform in the playoffs.

i do not like derozan's game. he frustrates the heck out of me. but his ability to score in a half court set in the playoffs when you need buckets is a dimension that is very tough to replace. we could replace him with a guy like batum and become this great multi-faceted more efficient attack but with the game on the line in the playoffs, can batum keep going at the cavs and scoring? i don't think he can.

the key is to limit derozan's bad and put him in more efficient situations. hope casey changes the offense a bit next year - but i think he understands he has to.

OK, but that's not the kind of description I'd want to use for a max contract player. $10 mil like this year? Sure.

in all honesty - the knicks (and a number of other teams) are still in the mode of looking for the regular season player - looking for guys to establish a winning culture from nov - april. derozan is a very good regular season player, model citizen and franchise guy. he is entering his prime and getting better every year. the new nba contracts given out are going to take folks a while to adjust to but he is a max player in this current nba climate. he is no different than a guy like lamarcus aldridge and i think he has more "edge" than aldridge too. but he's effective b/c lowry is the alpha dog - so the team will require one if you want him to join. but this discussion is hypothetical b/c the chances he leaves toronto are like 0.01%.

mreinman wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

fishmike wrote:Toronto is in great shape. They have good players, a good cap and extra picks. With decent management they should be a 2nd round playoff team for man years. The problem is they remind me a bit of the Hawks of the 90s. Steve Smith, Mookie, Willis, they had lot of good teams, always made the playoffs, often advanced, and everyone knew they were did not have the ponies to contend. Toronto is facing similar. The problem is their best players are a notch below the elite guys and its tough to grind out 7 game series against teams that have the 2 best players on the floor.

I think the Knick optimism is just that with KP you have the unicorn player (potentially) and building around that is always easier than building around 3-4 really good players.

Sounds like a great situation for a superstar FA to go join. They have many more paths from their current position to championship contention than we do.

I kind of agree with you both, but how many big name FA go to Toronto, and the seem to lose their picks once they become FA, Bosh, Mcgrady, Carter......bargiani and calderon did nothing for them.

They were a (dolan nod) away from losing lowry

OK but the big name FAs don't go to the Knicks either.

amare?

Seriously Amare was given a 5 year contract knowing he may not even finish one. That's how you get top notch FAs to come to NY give them contracts that no one else would dare give.