TORONTO – If DeMar DeRozan is going to be the player the Toronto Raptors need him to be as the post-season continues, he’s going to need to figure out a different way to play.
The Indiana Pacers have figured DeRozan out, and now it’s up to him to come up with an alternative strategy. The one that has made him a two-time all-star and one of the most successful players in Raptors history isn’t working. If being a go-to guy with a 4-9 post-season won-loss record doesn’t inspire change, then shooting 37 per cent from the floor in the playoffs for his career should.
DeRozan is going to have to veer from the approach that could earn him a ‘max’ contract this summer as a free agent, and by his standards it’s radical:
He’s going to have to take open shots.
The Raptors have split the first two games of their opening-round series against the Indiana Pacers with DeRozan shooting 10-of-37 but it’s hard to imagine them winning three of the next five with DeRozan delivering a high volume diet of empty possessions.
“You would hope you could,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey of the likelihood of winning the series with DeRozan playing his worst basketball of the season. “But it will be more difficult.”
Let’s go out on a limb here: If DeRozan keeps missing 14 or 15 shots a game and gets almost nothing done at the free-throw line, the Raptors’ first-round playoff curse will continue and DeRozan’s status as one of the NBA’s most lethal scorers can only take a hit.
The question is what to do? DeRozan himself sounds like he’s of no mind to capitulate. That he’s kept forcing his way into the Pacers defence is proof that he’s not going to bend to their will.
There’s something to admire about that, but the gunfighter who sticks to his guns in the movies still ends up on his back.
Asked what he liked about his game so far in the series, DeRozan gave himself high marks for being willing to be the guy who takes shots, even if they miss. It’s basketball bravado, code for being willing to be the goat. So far DeRozan is teetering on the verge of just that, but pulling back would be a sign of weakness, so…
“I can live with taking shots and missing them,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to live if I was only taking three shots.”
But in truth DeRozan is caught in the middle as the Raptors get set to head to Indiana for Game 3. The Pacers are using his willingness to court failure against him.
The Pacers’ defensive strategy isn’t all that complicated. They’ve assigned Paul George to cover him, the kind of quick, rangy defender who can neutralize almost anyone, and whenever they come to help they simply haven’t fouled him.
Even at his best it’s always been easy to watch DeRozan force his way into defenders’ bodies on drives or fake them off their feet before moving into them on jumpers, drawing fouls all along and wonder: “What would happen if teams simply didn’t foul him? Would he finish those wild drives? Would he make those contested jumpers?”
So far in the playoffs, the answer is no.
It’s not that DeRozan isn’t used to being covered. While the rest of the NBA has been focused on building entire offences around moving the ball to find open three-point shots, DeRozan has turned himself into an all-star by driving into the teeth of the defence and hoping to get fouled.
He scored 8.7 points a game on drives to the basket, to lead the NBA and, according to NBA.com, the 8.1 shots DeRozan took while being tightly covered – having a defender within four feet of him – also led the NBA.
Taking all those contested shots is one reason his field goal percentage – 44.6 per cent – is so pedestrian.
But what saved DeRozan from simply being a guy who forces his offence was his knack for getting fouled and his evolving play-making skills. He shoots nearly 40 per cent more free throws than he did in his last season before becoming an all-star and his assists have increased by nearly as much, from 2.4 on a per-36-minute basis to a career-high four.
That’s the part of his game Casey thinks DeRozan can rediscover, and if he does it will help the Raptors even if his shot remains missing in action.
“He can’t just continue to go in there and force the issue or going in there and not getting the call and forcing that play,” said Casey. “There are other things he can do. One is be a facilitator … he can’t get so fixated on ‘I’ve got to get into the paint or get to my sweet spot.’”
DeRozan says he’s not panicked about his playoff drought, and you’d like to believe him.
“I feel like it’s nothing to get frustrated about, I really do,” he said. “I don’t mind having bad shooting nights. You have to be able to take the good with the bad. I had a great season, the season is over with and I’ve had two rough shooting nights I don’t think it’s the end of the world, we still won. Once I get going and the shots start falling it’s a scary sight for whoever we play.”
But the solution to DeRozan’s struggles might simply be taking different shots; shots that are open, rather than taking an extra couple of dribbles forcing the ball into the paint hunting fouls that never come.
“Don’t be tentative on his jump shots,” said Casey. “Go ahead and take his jumpers when he comes off of pin-downs and not try to attack the paint. He’s had some times where he can come up and just vault up and shoot his shots and he [forced drives].
“DeMar’s only played, what, 13 playoff games?” said Casey. “He’s going to adjust, he’s going to be OK; he’s not going to forget to ride the bike as far as his play is concerned.”
The Raptors’ playoff future may hinge on DeRozan following the simplest advice imaginable: When open, shoot.