| 2014-2015 (35-17) | 2015-2016 (35-17) |
| Bruno Caboclo
DeMar DeRozan Landry Fields Tyler Hansbrough Chuck Hayes Amir Johnson James Johnson Kyle Lowry Lucas Nogueira Patrick Patterson Terrence Ross Greg Stiemsma Jonas Valanciunas Greivis Vasquez Lou Williams
|
Anthony Bennett
Bismack Biyombo Bruno Caboclo DeMarre Carroll DeMar DeRozan James Johnson Corey Joseph Kyle Lowry Lucas Nogueira Patrick Patterson Norman Powell Terrence Ross Luis Scola Jonas Valanciunas Delon Wright |
This article is purely for discussion. It compares two Toronto Raptors teams with identical records during different seasons. The focus of this article will be on the “Core 4”.
The Compton Kid
DeMar DeRozan 14-15’: 31 games, 33.4mpg, 18.2ppg, 39.6%FG, 20%3pt, 4.3rpg, 1.3spg, 16.0 PER
DeMar DeRozan 15-16’: 52 games, 36.1mpg, 23.4ppg, 44.7%FG, 33.7%3pt, 4.3rpg, 1.0spg, 21.66 PER
During the 2014-2015 season DeMar DeRozan faced something he had never encountered before— a serious injury. Prior to the injury he hadn’t been out for longer than five games, the groin injury caused him to miss 21. Just looking at the stats, almost every statistic is up. DeMar has truly put on a show this year and shown he deserves to be recognized as an all-star in this league. I—like many Raptor fans found myself laughing during the summer of 2015 when there were rumours about DeMar planning to demand a max deal. A max deal? DeMar? Sure he was an all-star in a weak Eastern Conference, but he didn’t deserve anywhere near the max… at the time. Any questions or qualms Raptor fans had about DeMar going into the season have to have been pushed aside by now, he has played like a top 5 SG in the league this year and could’ve even been an all-star starter too. I won’t dive in deeper into this, let the stats speak for itself. Is DeMar DeRozan worth the max? (See Raptors Corner video below)
The East Starter at Guard
Kyle Lowry 14-15’:52 games, 35.1mpg, 18.8ppg, 42%FG, 33.1%3pt, 7.2apg, 1.6spg, 20.50 PER
Kyle Lowry 15-16’: 52 games, 36.8mpg, 21.0ppg, 42%FG, 39.2%3pt, 6.3apg, 2.2spg, 22.71 PER
Just like DeMar, statistically—almost everything is up. Remember when people called Kyle Lowry injury prone? That’s now two seasons in a row with 52 games played prior to the all-star break. Kyle is in much better shape this year, he isn’t dogging it at the end of games and seems to always make timely buckets when the Raptors need it most. Kyle has also been a lot quicker on his feet defensively and never takes a play off.One important point to note is that last year while DeMar was out Kyle had to put the team on his back and that totally had him gassed come playoffs time—let’s hope both DeMar and Kyle can stay healthy this year. Will Kyle have enough gas in the tank?
“Got gold medals like Jonas Valanciunas”
Jonas Valanciunas 14-15’: 51 games, 26.4mpg, 12.2ppg, 56.1%FG, 8.6rpg, 1.2bpg, 20.4 PER
Jonas Valanciunas 15-16’: 35 games, 26.2mpg, 12.3ppg, 54.9%FG, 9.4rpg, 1.2 bpg, 21.8 PER
They say big men take the longest to develop, they also say Karl Anthony Towns is already way better than JV — point is, this has to be his year. After signing a large extension ($64M/4yrs), the team has shown full commitment in the growth and development of JV. Jonas is still not able to average 30mpg, last year we could blame Chuck Hayes (lol), this year it’s Big BIZness. To be fair, Jonas suffered a serious hand injury this year and has still been trying to figure it all out. His last game against Minnesota, he seemed to have reinjured his hand and then followed it up with a lack of confidence type play — where he practically moved away from the ball and took only 4 shots. I expect a big post all-star break season for Jonas. This year DeMar has even been looking to get JV going, which did not occur much at all in the the 14-15’ season. What are some numbers you guys expect JV to have post all-star break?
Mr.Ross
Terrence Ross 14-15’: 52 games, 25.9mpg, 10.5ppg, 41.6%FG, 36.9%3pt, 3.2rpg, 0.6spg, 11.5 PER
Terrence Ross 15-16’: 46 games, 23.8mpg, 9.2ppg, 44.5%FG, 38.6%3pt, 2.4rpg, 0.8spg, 12.85 PER
I’ve been very critical about Terrence Ross. I even wrote an article about him calling him the $31.5M Mistake (referring to his extension). Ross has been quite an enigma, he shows long periods of inconsistency and then random spurts of solid play. What makes Ross even more unbearable to several Raptor fans is the fact that Andre Drummond (drafted after Ross) is playing like a stud. But for the first time in a long while I am here to be not on the Anti-Ross side but the Pro-Ross side. In his past three games Terrence has been averaging 13.8ppg (50%FG, 40%3pt) all while playing some hard nose defense (“Look at him move those puppies” –Jack Armstrong). If Ross can provide this type of production consistently off the bench, he’s in my good books and it will probably allow for the other starters to get some much deserved rest. Do you guys think Terrence Ross is going to break out post all-star break? Shrey talks about why Ross has been so good in the video below.
Thanks for checking out this article.
-Kage.
Super Basketball Bros 