Fred VanVleet has been the face of criticism from Toronto Raptors fans all throughout the season but in this video, I am going to explain why these thoughts are wrong about the player. It is clear that the season has not gone to plan for the Raptors who expected to be in a playoff race rather than a play-in race in the home stretch of the season but here they are. Many fans have cited Fred VanVleet as the major problem for the team’s on-court struggles despite his play having picked up for the majority of the last 4 months.
The criticism for the 2020 NBA All-Star largely stems from his passing and playmaking which are perceived as low quality and a talent level in these areas that does not suit a modern point guard in the NBA. I have long thought this notion against Fred VanVleet has wrong and just by watching the player on the court I felt as though his playmaking was a great aspect of his game that made significant differences to the team but I decided to reach a little bit further into the topic by grabbing some statistics and advanced metrics and the results blew my mind.
Nobody on the Raptors has profited more from the acquisition of Jakob Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs at the 2023 NBA trade deadline than Fred VanVleet, and in turn, the Raptors office is dramatically improving with their ability to run the pick and roll so effectively together. This is opening up this space for Fred VanVleet to operate as a scorer and a playmaker which is getting more out of the rest of the players on the court as well. These things were all apparent but I am going to uncover some figures to show you just how much better it has been.
The negative connotations for Fred VanVleet have come from his shot selection, his efficiency, and his playmaking and though there are a lot of merits that come with some of this criticism, it gets taken too far most of the time. The reality is Fred VanVleet is an excellent point guard that fits the modern NBA and that makes this Raptors team better. Don’t believe me? Then this video will change your mind.
Masai Ujiri seems to know what he is doing, and Fred VanVleet is about to receive a handsome salary in his upcoming free agency, whether you like it or not and whether it is the Raptors paying him or not.
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➡️ Fred VanVleet advanced stat comparison: https://stathead.com/tiny/jpsT5
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0:00 Fred VanVleet’s Negative Image
1:21 Poeltl’s affect on the Raptors
3:30 VanVleet since the deadline
4:46 Deeper statistical evidence
6:48 Are turnovers still a problem?
8:14 Where does he get his bad rep from?
11:15 Efficiency concerns
12:06 Shooting and decision making
14:23 His poor start to the season
15:24 His contract value: a difficult discussion
17:54 Gary Trent Jr or Fred VanVleet
This is Amateur Hour Sports. On this channel, Jacob Gramegna analyzes and breaks down the latest on the Toronto Raptors NBA team from trade rumors to post-game reactions, analysis and much more. By subscribing to this channel you will be there first to watch and enjoy 3-4 videos a week all focused on this team and on game days Jacob goes live on the channel for a watch party where he interacts with chat, answers your questions and analyses the game as it happens with play by play and commentary. Join the Amateur Hour Army today by subscribing and consider becoming a member to give the extra support to the channel and help create better content more often.
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#raptors #torontoraptors #fredvanvleet
26 Comments
Great video ✊
Thank you for the stats. Also he only takes the 34th most shots in the league with 20 other guards taking more shots than him. Also his +- in March has been +8
If we can negotiate $25m per year that sounds nice. Overpaying him is gonna hurt the team
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Thank you for bringing up Kyle being the scapegoat. Some people don’t remember or were not fans yet. Kyle got absolutely destroyed by fans and the media.
Can we please stop doing this? When a team struggles it usually has more to do than just one player.
Going to keep it real, this is close to the hardest I have ever worked on a video. I hope you enjoy! 🙏
you said it, Yak makes him better not him making anyone better… I just don’t want to see him dribble 20 out of 24 second and look for his bail out assist at the end.
Uncomplicated reality. Jakob Poeltl is very good at setting screens. Huge element in this discussion. Raptors had been missing out on good screen setters.
A banger of a video 🔥
Excellent video I'm so happy to see FVV finally getting his kudos don't be worried about the bad press you may get as a result from sticking up for this man as je gave and is giving us his best!!
He's asking for a lot of money so what, so is every other player in his place.
His story needs to be told and I'm happy you had the courage to say it great job on the video!
i think people like fvv cause it's a reflection of them in the nba?? vicariously living cause hes small. i dont see what your seeing he has a clear ceiling and id rather be trash looking for more upside.
FVV 21/8/5 on 57% TS (+5 net rating) in his last 30
Even if Fred is a net-positive, the fact that we have to shelve out over $25 Million will be a steep price to pay that would ruin our flexibility and Fred is not getting any younger unless he drastically change his playstyle to be more like Kyle Lowry or Chris Paul. Plus we may lose O.G Anunoby whos skillset is nearly impossible to replace compare to FVV.
Should have traded Pascal at trade deadline 😂
The simple fact of the matter is that the 20MM contract from 3 years ago will be akin to a 30MM contract going forward. Folks, contracts are going to balloon right after the new deal. This is the best time to sign players on long term deals. I believe it is possible to bring back all 3 FA this offseason.
Raps can't afford to loose anybody at this point. We need to brace ourselves for a Brogdon/Gallanari type trade like Boston this season cause I think management is willing to put the team into luxury tax territory, at least for the 2023-24 season.
a key element raps fans seem to lose sight of
Random question:will the raptors make the playoffs
Yo, I got that Jays hat, straight fire
I respect you more for adjusting your view, sooner than later. Respect.
Let’s not forget about field goal percentage and defence
Fred and Pascal’s next contracts will guarantee us a shot at the play-in each year 😂
Looking through the comments, no one is really slandering.
Even Pensare is speaking well of Fred.
We gotta move on from the Fred stuff. Its pretty clear there was propaganda out there to bring Fred's value down.
He was playing 40 min a game limping around and wasnt even shooting well. Criticism from the fans came because there was NO criticism coming from the coach. It was weird and im glad he bounced back.
Having the ball in his hands too much to stats padding is selfish too. Getting assist is stats padding. Ppl can only just shoot when they got the ball and can’t develop their game like ball handling and passing. Like when there r mismatch nets Harris and min Conley on OG. Fred as the PG should direct OG to do post up. But instead he called out play for himself to get buckets or assists.
Thank you, more raptor fans need to see this video. Raptor fans have a consistent history of blaming team failures on their best players, and chasing solid talent away. Thankfully Lowry had thicker skin, but even KAWHI would eventually have been targeted if he stayed and played through some of his injuries. We need realize that players like FVF, Pascal and OG are rare finds. They will have their struggles and ups and downs, but when you try to replace what it is that they do, you soon realize that there is almost no one that can fulfill all their positives without any negatives that other teams would be willing to part with. Hence the critics often have no answer as to who is available that is better, and if they do name names, those names show their poor understanding of the game. Getting Luca or Jokic is only possible on a PlayStation. Conversely there are plenty of other teams fans that would love to poach players lie FVF, Pascal or OG for scraps. Don't be stupid Raptor fans these players are world championship caliber players.
Bro, remember Masai on press conference “too much individual play(FVV & P.S.) obviously it’s talking about both of them. Bro, I know both of them are talent players but what about others 🤔 # TAIWN
I Love Fred!!! F$#%K the haters