The general sentiment around Demar in this sub has been extremely positive and grateful. I just saw a comment with over 500 upvotes saying that he is “the best signing in bulls history” because of his effect on the culture and the young players. My perspective is pretty much the opposite, and I found a few things that point to why it is so frustrating to watch him play.
First off, Derozan’s style of play dose not translate well into important games. It seems obvious that he has done much better in the regular season, but I then found this article showing that he actually has one of the worst playoff +/- in NBA HISTORY at -371. (https://www.basketballnetwork.net/latest-news/advanced-stats-show-demar-derozan-is-one-of-the-worst-playoff-performers-in-recent-nba-history). This can be attributed to multiple reasons, but for me it’s mostly because demar’s output can be easily countered, especially in a multiple game series.
Derozan hasn’t really changed his game at all since he’s been in the nba. If anyone is wondering where he’s going to shoot from, here it is. (https://i.redd.it/d174ack03cea1.jpg) I feel like anyone who has watched a significant amount of bulls games could point to those exact 4 spots if asked. A good team can simply put their defenders in these positions and funnel him in to a rim protector, and then what’s our response? He’s obviously incapable of adapting, otherwise he would have already in the past decade. The heat kind of just double teamed him, he still iso’d every chance he could get and it was bad basketball.
So I guess my question is, what is everyone so grateful to Demar for? To me it seems it should be the other way around. The fact that a major market would feature this player so heavily when he’s proven, time and again, that his style of play doesn’t translate well in big games. All of the platitudes that you would assign to veteran players don’t really apply to him, either. He doesn’t know what it’s like to play in big moments and handle the pressure properly. His focus is not on making his teammates better or creating for other players. He doesn’t prioritize the defensive side of the ball. I’m pretty confused as to what he is “teaching” to our younger players in general.Anyone who views Derozan as a “team player” must be watching a different team. He isn’t the guy to crash the offensive boards, set screens to get his teammates open, make the extra pass or even spread the floor as a spot up shooter. He relies on the rest of the team to do those things for him.
The last thing I’ll say is that lots of fans here are afraid that we’ll trade him, or that he will leave for a contender. I don’t think people have to worry very much because I can’t think of a contending team that he fits in to at all. Usually with an all-star player you could plug them in to any number of teams to make them better. I simply can’t think of a team that needs more mid-range jumpers in their offense. even the teams that are even with us in the standings (dallas/NO/Miami) just have better players on the wing already. All of the playoff teams ahead of us have a significantly better offense (seeing as we had a top defense yet still finished 20th) so they are unlikely to want him either. Most every team below us is rebuilding or trying to build around a young core. I guess he could come off the bench somewhere, but what team wants a role player that doesn’t shoot 3s or play defense?
In conclusion, I’d just like to say that it is not a privilege to have Derozan playing 36mpg on an nba team. I’m looking around the league and can’t find a single team that wants an offensive carry that doesn’t shoot 3s. His style of play doesn’t fit in to the modern nba regardless of how much “hard work” he puts in. If anything, Derozan should be grateful that a major market is still willing to dedicate 40% of their entire offense to an aging player that plays as if it were still the mid-2000s. He gets to still be an “all-star” while not playing too many important games, when his antiquated style of play gets exposed.
by implosionsinapie
3 Comments
We can be grateful because he never complained, didn’t pout when things weren’t going his way, and took a lot of the young players under his wing.
What you said about big games is probably true. But I can’t worry about that because we need to get to the big moments before I can judge that.
Meanwhile our “antique” player has had more success than anyone on our roster combined, sans Caruso
We need better roster construction. Maybe, MAYBE he does better with more shooters around him, but we’ll never know unless they actually put more shooters around him. I will say that’s also on the rest of the team. The play-in game, they shot terribly from deep. 28% for the team. AC was the only starter who made a three. PWill and Ayo put up goose eggs from deep off the bench. Pat, Vuc, Zach, Bev, and Coby should all be shooting at least 30% from deep, they’re all capable of it. And while we’re at it, why didn’t DJ even get one look from deep? They can’t even feed the shooters they have on the team, and the shooters just brick in the clutch.
But that being said, if Derozan needs 3 point shooters to be competitive, then his salary is too high. Part of what’s preventing us from going out and getting shooters in a trade or free agency is his cap hit. If he’s getting paid that kind of money then he should be able to win games without needing a cast of shooters to space the floor for him and give him driving lanes. If he needs that then his asking price has to come down to accommodate the shooters we need. He’s a great talent no doubt, but I don’t want to pay that much money just for stats when we can’t win a title behind him alone.
Nobody reading that????