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| Photo by The Canadian Press |
Laced
January 14, 2019
On January 3, the Toronto Raptors took on the San Antonio Spurs in what was one of the most overhyped regular season games in franchise history.
It was the homecoming for ex-Spurs Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, while it was DeMar DeRozan’s first crack at the Raptors since being traded in the offseason.
The storylines ran rampant. It was a sports
writer’s wet dream.
And the Raptors lost. No real shock there.
The Spurs were coming in on a serious roll,
dominating the league both offensively and defensively ever since the calendar
turned to December.
The Raptors, however, were on the complete
opposite of a roll. Yes, they were coming off a victory over the Jazz. But before
that, they got blown out by the Magic and just eked out a win over the pathetic
Bulls.
Basically, they were in the midst of a
downward spiral that began when Kyle Lowry hit the shelf. (And don’t give me this
‘they were also missing Valanciunas’ crap. If LaMarcus Aldridge didn’t rip him
apart, Gregg Popovich would’ve pick and rolled him to death.)
Also, to make matters worse, the game was
in San Antonio – the place that Leonard forced his way out of. The Spurs
clearly fed off the crowd’s venomous hatred towards Leonard, which seemed to
bother every Raptor but Leonard.
So again, the fact that the Raptors lost
wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was how they lost.
It was reminiscent of last year’s horrible second
round defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers – a series that was also
well-anticipated and overhyped.
To me, losing to the James-lead Cavs didn’t
come as a surprise. The way they lost did.
They lost in true Raptorsian fashion. That
is to say, embarrassingly so.
And it happened again on January 3 vs. the
Spurs.
The Raptors got absolutely throttled on
national TV. The game was never even close, except for maybe when it was 0-0.
Not only did the Raptors get completely and
utterly thrashed, but they let DeMar DeRozan do much of the thrashing. And to add
insult to injury, they allowed him to collect the first triple-double of his
career.
In the 713 career games he played prior to
that night, he never once got one. Suddenly he faces his old team for the first
time and, bam, there it is – a triple-double. Amazing.
In no conceivable goddamn way should he
have been allowed to go off like that. Not against this defensive-rich Raptors
team. Not this season. No way.
Not DeMar friggin DeRozan.
He of so many flaws it’s easy to lose
count. He who when the spotlight shines the brightest, he shades his eyes and runs
away.
Everyone knew DeRozan had this game circled
on his calendar. He said as much. He’s been rubbing his hands together and plotting
his revenge since the summer.
And we’ve seen that a pissed off DeRozan is
a dangerous DeRozan, especially when Sports Illustrated gives him an
unfavourable ranking…or say when he gets traded away from a team that he feels
betrayed him.
Yet Nick Nurse and the Raptors were still heavily unprepared. It’s like seeing a truck coming at you from 200 km away and
just letting it hit you. You saw it coming for the longest time, but did
nothing about it.
Remember the 50 points that he promised Serge
Ibaka on his “cooking” show. Well, the triple-double was 50 times more
demoralizing.
That’s because he didn’t just score. He completely
dismantled the Raptors in every way. He sliced the team up and poured some of
Ibaka’s salt all over the wounds.
This should never have happened.
Sure, he’s improved his game this season,
becoming a more well-rounded player under the tutelage of Pop. His playmaking
skills, assist numbers and rebound numbers have all gotten better. He’s a far
cry from that one-dimensional player we once knew.
But, at the end of the day, he’s still DeMar
DeRozan. A.K.A. DeMar DeFrozen – a nickname he didn’t get because he’s always
cold.
He’s the man who performs the world’s
greatest disappearing act every spring. As they say, an elephant never changes
its tusks.
The book on how to stop DeRozan is out
there for anyone to see.
Tyronn Lue and the Cavs knew it front to
back. So, too, did the Nets, Pacers, Bucks, Wizards and Heat. Literally any
playoff team the Raptors have ever faced in the DeRozan era. They all knew the
book well.
And if anyone should’ve known this book off
by heart, it should’ve been Nick Nurse. I mean he was only part of the
DeRozan-lead Raptors for the last 5 years.
But instead of stopping DeRozan, he turned
him into LeBron fucking James.
First of all, taller, athletic defenders with
healthy wingspans have always given DeRozan fits. This includes players like
Paul George, Otto Porter Jr., Khris Middleton and Tony Snell.
DeRozan wants to dribble and show off his
handles while driving to the net to score or dish. All teller defender can get into
his space, crowding him so he can’t pass or shoot cleanly. He’ll be forced to
give up the ball or, what usually happens, turn the ball over.
I’ve seen this a million times. We all
have.
Eventually he’ll get frustrated and throw a
tantrum at the refs instead of running back on defence. It often ends in a tech
and plenty of pouting.
Guess where he spent the 4th quarter of the
final game vs. the Cavs in last year’s playoffs? In the showers. Why? Because
he got so frustrated that he committed a flagrant 2.
So why, then, wasn’t Leonard guarding DeRozan?
Or even Pascal Siakam? The few times Leonard guarded him at the start of the
game DeRozan couldn’t do shit. But Nurse went away from this defensive matchup.
Did he feel bad for DeRozan or something?
Instead it was Danny Green and sometimes
Norman Powell. Both are good defenders, but neither have the length to give
DeRozan any real problems. He was pretty much free to do as he pleased.
DeRozan likes to spot up from the midrange.
Leonard could’ve easily stopped him from getting to his money spots. He also
could’ve picked DeRozan up early when he brought the ball up to make him a
3-point shooter, which, as we all know, he is not.
He’s also in love with the jump pass. He
constantly drives into the lane and jumps in the air with no idea of what he’s
going to do with the ball. Those are easy turnovers.
The Raptors should’ve recognized this and
jumped the passing lanes whenever he leaped with the ball. This would’ve forced
a turnover or 5 for some nice fast break points.
Instead he was given free rein to drive,
jump and deliver his desperate passes unimpeded.
Finally, he’s a below average defender,
remember? I guess Nurse and the Raptors didn’t. Otherwise, they would've made a point of
constantly going at him on D.
Making him work on D would’ve tired him
out. Plus it would’ve given the Raptors some easy points, which were very hard
to come by.
Norman Powell went at him a few times, one
time easily blowing by him from the baseline for a basket. But that was pretty
much it.
They could’ve exploited DeRozan’s defence
(or lack thereof) all night like every other team has throughout the years. But
no. Instead they put zero pressure on him.
But good for DeRozan. No, really. Good for
him.
He took advantage of a weak Raptors team
and some horrible coaching decisions. He deserved every point. Every assist. Every
rebound. And, as we saw, there were a whole lot of them.
He deserves the long-awaited satisfaction
of beating up on his former franchise. And beating them good.
My question is, where was this kind of
performance against the Cavs last spring? Or the 2 Cavs playoff matchups before
that?
Where was this kind of performance against any
playoff opponent ever?
It seems DeRozan only truly shines when he’s
highly motivated, whether it’s because he feels slighted by SI or by the team
he never wanted to leave.
So, then, are playoff games not motivating
enough for him? Guess not.
Follow @RyanGrosman
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