Who would win a Raptors-only track-and-field day? How good is Amir Johnson’s Celine Dion impression? When was the last time Dwane Casey cried at the movies? Every day until the season starts, we throw a Raptor in front of a green screen and ask him the tough questions. Today, Terrence Ross wins at “anything with jumping.”
Know Your Raptors: Lou Williams | Kyle Lowry | Bruno Caboclo | Chuck Hayes | Jonas Valanciunas | Amir Johnson | Tyler Hansbrough | Landry Fields | Terrence Ross | James Johnson | Patrick Patterson | Lucas Nogueira | DeMar DeRozan | Greivis Vasquez | Dwane Casey
Despite a season of significant growth in 2013-14, Terrence Ross didn’t exactly end things on a positive note. Or, well, he ended ended things with an athletic steal that nearly punched the Raptors’ ticket to the second-round. But matched up against the oversized wings of the Brooklyn Nets, he spent the majority of the series getting beaten up on the defensive end and watching his minutes plummet along with his shooting percentages, which fell to 29.8 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from deep.
The Ross of the regular season, though, was a player capable of inspiring hope and joy in Raptors fans. And not just by doing stuff like this:
In 2013-14, Ross established himself as one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters. On 408 total deep looks, Ross shot 39.5 percent. His volume of attempts was good for 19th in the league, and his percentage of success was higher than 12 of the 18 men who out-chucked him—including Kevin Durant, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Channing Frye.
Yes, it would be nice to see him take advantage of the speed and hops that made him a Dunk Contest champ to attack the hoop more regularly. And yes, he has plenty of room to grow on D. But Ross is an athletic freak who already boasts an elite outside stroke. There’s still plenty of reason for hope and joy where he’s concerned. And when the Clippers come to town on Feb. 6, he may just go for 52.
2013–14 Stats: 10.9 Pts/G, 3.1 Reb/G, 1.0 Ast/G, 42.3 FG%, 39.5 3P%, 26.7 Min/G