I can understand Pop trying to mold Demar into something but it is now obvious that all the playoff disappearing acts were not just because he was in Toronto. Demar has a very valuable role on the team as currently contructed, scorer. He can get his own shot and that is very important on a team with few players that can but one thing has become PAINFULLY obvious...Demar is NOT a closer. At the end of the game, the Spurs need another game plan because Demar is not made for the pressures of a late game situation. The Spurs either need to go "beautiful game" at the end of games, give it to Rudy who has the closer gene or find a way to get it to LMA, any of those three options seemed better than trying to make Derozan something he isn't. There is no shame in it, every player isn't a closer. DeRozan is no more of a closer than Patty is deserving of a roster spot. I believe both those facts wholeheartedly.
I never get why to close out games and half’s its always give it to DeMar and get out the way. They do something that they don’t do all game long in the most important time of the game. I understand if you have Kobe or KD to close out a game going iso, but we have nothing close to that. I rather take my chances with LA taking a shot than iso DeMar.
Derrick white should be the closer. Run a pick and roll with him and LMA.
I also don't get the whole "get outta the way" iso for Demar. It's like the GSW game winner is giving him too much confidence.
But let me back up a little here. We shouldve never been in a close game like this or like the Cleveland game. Our defense blows every other possession.
This reminds me of when we beat Kawhi back in December and we were on a roll. It's like everyone takes their foot off the gas and coasts bc they think they can. It's like we can never be given nice things..
Odd having a Spurs team be like that.
He needs to ing attack. His little runners are actually really reliable, he's a good finisher at the rim, and if defenses collapse on him he's shown he's more than capable of finding the open man. It's when he settles for his fadeaways that he sucks--especially right now that his shot is broke af.
Aldridge sucks too when he just settles for soft, turnaround fadeaways. It's no different for DD. That's why I haven't completely given up on him, the dude can play he just needs a little guidance, tbh.
Just run a set play at the end. It's not that hard. For some reason we can run plays to find open shooters for 45 minutes of the game, and then at the end we ISO Demar and expect him to create. I think it's on the coaches more than DDR. We don't have an end of game player who we can just hand the ball of to and let go at it...or at least we shouldn't depend on DeRozan to do that every game. 2005 Ginobili isn't here anymore.
i agree with the exception of the last possession of the game. the iso or single high screen play is the only reliable way to milk the clock and still get off a decent shot. set plays could get disrupted a bit easier, and maybe earlier in the game you can afford to swing the ball around 2-3-4 times after breaking the defense down to find a wide open shooter, but in the last possession of the game you have be able to dictate the exact 1-2 second stretch you get your shot off, regardless of the defense's efforts
Last shot's tough, you're right. DDR has made some weird end of game decisions lately with the ball in his hands. Passing off to guys when he has an open shot, settling for a long jumper when he has space to take it to the hole. It's mind-boggling for a guy that usually thrives late in games.
Maybe Rudy should take that last shot, or dump it in to LMA.
Holding for the playoffs. Qe will run strong Derrick white and LMA pick and rolls. Lots of Poeltl and Bertans. Less Mills I think for now.
that airball from midrange in the 4th was classic DeFrozan
Agreed. If sets are so bad, then ISO the whole game. But sets are good and efficient, so you run them on your most important possession.
Better a shot in rythm with the defender in your face than a 18-ft fadeaway with zero chance of rebounding it.
Pop is not giving up on him, same thing he didn’t give up on Aldridge two years ago. How many D-League players Pop and his stuff have carved an NBA career? I say brick it now, get it out of his system. Demar has a great at ude and if his coach believes in him, he would work harder not to fail him. Funny how many hofer coaches we have in ST
he is already a veteran and had all the necessary guidance (three seasons playing with Pop), it lacks to him motor and intensity, he is the anti-westbrook (one of them miss for excess, and the other for lack)
It's weird because we have a winning record. So maybe it is winning basketball.
DDR is almost 30 and has been in the NBA for a decade. He’s not learning jack at this point. He is what he is.
Did you mean three quarters of a season under Pop? That isn't enough of a sample size to give up on him. Especially since they didn't havent even had him for an entire offseason yet. Yeah, he's almost 30 but most organizations aren't the Spurs. Look what they have done for Rudy who was considered a cancerous blackhole most of his career. Or Boris who was disinterested and out of shape. Or for LMA who was considered soft and a defensive liability before he came here. None of them were spring chickens when they joined the Spurs.
The dude is obviously talented and skilled, 21-6-6 is solid af. He won't ever be Nephew or a Top 3 guy, but he can be better than what he's been with the righ tutelage, imo.
DeMar will surprise people in the playoffs imo
I believe he's going to step up his game. I think we'll see a lot of Spurs play a lot more motivated in the post season.
I just think a lot of the end of game failures are luck + coachable. He got pretty good penetration a few times and a few of those shots will fall over time. Besides that, on the others there is plenty of film and a great coach to help him break things down.
Just my two cents.
And I’m not saying SA will bear Gs or anything like that. Just saying if it gets to crunch time I would expect better decisions from DeRozan.
my bad, I thought you were talking about Aldridge, Demar's problem in my opinion, it's clearly mental (because your basketball qi, which is already average, decreases even more in the final moments of the games).
about Rudy, I was already wanting him going to the spurs when he was still considered a black hole in spurstalk, and that's one of the reasons why I believe a guy like Stanley Johnson would work well with the Spurs, what these guys do in other franchises is completely irrelevant.
Last edited by r0drig0lac; 04-02-2019 at 01:31 PM.
Interesting take, but he wold play instead of whom? Dejounte? Because that's is position, he is too skinny to play small forward, as you can see in Detroit he is all the time overpowered by other stronger bodies. He can't shoot, so he can't play with Murray. What you are talking about is character, that can change in the right environment (I know nothing about his at ude), but after 4 years you don't become a different player or a different body.
But you obviosly know more about him than I do. I appreciate some out of the box thinking, who knows he might sign with SA eventually.
Don't blame DeRozan at all. He's not calling his own number and the garbage ISO plays. Popovich is.
It's weird because he was the best player on the roster in Toronto and they had a winning record the last 5 years he played on the team, the last 4 being 50+ plus wins. So DeFrozen Ball is definitely winning basket. I mean, is he the best player on a championship team? No, but you could say that about every player in this league except like 4 or 5 guys.
He was never the best player on the Raptors. It was always Lowry and their success was mostly attributable to him + the bench, as well as being in the East.
Pop absolutely deserves blame. He's clearly let him do whatever he wants, from abandoning the 3 to continuing to resort to a steady diet of low percentage shots, particularly in crunch time.
He clearly made a conscious decision that between the Aldridge fiasco and s bag saga, they couldn't afford another star or in his case, perceived star, being unhappy.
OK, let me restate DeRozan can mightily contribute to a win, I just don't trust him down a point or two, even up a point in the closing minutes. He is not clutch but he can get to the ft line like a poorman's James Harden during a majority of the game just not closing out games, he'll even quarters
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