[OhCanada-Participant]

For a long time especially inside of the Raptors fan base the question pops up. Why doesn’t Coach Casey give Valanciunas minutes? I hear it see and read it all the time as a huge Raptors fan and it needs to stop. Its very simple. He is a bad defender.

Its not that he doesn’t try…or that he doesn’t work hard to improve. He’s not like Enes Kanter where he just isn’t interested in defending. This Summer he worked on increasing his agility and it worked a bit but he is way too slow footed to defend in space and does not have good reaction time.

 His post defence is acceptable. His help defence, defending in space, defending in transition, and motion defence is terrible.

All you really have to do to take Valanciunas out of the game on one end of the floor is move him  12-15 feet away from the basket. He gets sold on pump fakes, leaves his feet, reacts slow, grabs and is a step slow consistently and once he is far enough away from the basket he becomes a non-factor rebounding because he can’t find a body to bang with and get position on for the rebound and he isn’t a guy that can chase down loose balls or dive for them. 

Tonight he got torched by Lopez and offered absolutely no resistance. You could actually catch Derozan yelling at him a few times if you watch closely.

 Raptors were down 80-70 to the Nets with about 2-minutes left in the 3rd when Coach Casey went for his trademark coaching strategy…bench Jonas! They went on a 22-2 run and finished the rest of the game 34-19 to win 104-99.

Just watch the Brook Lopez highlights and don’t watch Brook watch Jonas.

https://m.youtube.com/watchv=e0isV4CGXFM

I don’t wanna see anybody giving Casey any sh!t on this site for benching Valanciunas again.

[OhCanada-Participant]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e0isV4CGXFM

  Anybody that thinks Valanciunas deserves more minutes needs to watch this.

[OhCanada-Participant]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e0isV4CGXFM

  Anybody that thinks Valanciunas deserves more minutes needs to watch this.

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

I watched the game and to be fair to Val, Biz also got cooked by Lopez. Lopez would’ve even scored more points on Biz late in the game but because they are the Nets, they suddenley decided to go away from the Lopez post up and do some Sloan, Ellington pick and rolls. Val is still a solid rim protector and offensive player.

Val isn’t a great defender, but maybe you should show another video to prove your point because Lopez cooks any big in the game honestly. Also, the reason the Raptors went on a huge run was because they left Lowry in the game against arguably the worst bench in the league. Also, Lowry and Ross caught fire in that run. It’s not entirely Val’s fault lmao. But as long as their winning, I have no reason to argue him being played 25-28 mins a game.

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

I watched the game and to be fair to Val, Biz also got cooked by Lopez. Lopez would’ve even scored more points on Biz late in the game but because they are the Nets, they suddenley decided to go away from the Lopez post up and do some Sloan, Ellington pick and rolls. Val is still a solid rim protector and offensive player.

Val isn’t a great defender, but maybe you should show another video to prove your point because Lopez cooks any big in the game honestly. Also, the reason the Raptors went on a huge run was because they left Lowry in the game against arguably the worst bench in the league. Also, Lowry and Ross caught fire in that run. It’s not entirely Val’s fault lmao. But as long as their winning, I have no reason to argue him being played 25-28 mins a game.

 

[Fredette About ItParticipant]

.. To an extent.. Ya Jonas hasnt developed as much as alot of us would hope.. Brook Lopez is offensively a top 3 center esp when healthy so this isnt a great example to use.. you do have to respect his shot cause he will hit it.. along with a great postup game.. Lopez is a long 7footer, and he was hitting some of those shots on Bismack Biyombo who is known more for his defense.. The only thing i would like to see is Jonas with a legitimate PF beside him who can help with weakside or if he gets beat.. sure hes slow footed and might fall for pump fakes (which he will learn over time) But having Scola and Pat Pat as your weak side help isnt that great either.. Id say 90% of the guys in the league would get beat one on one by a top 3 offensive player for their position.

[Fredette About ItParticipant]

.. To an extent.. Ya Jonas hasnt developed as much as alot of us would hope.. Brook Lopez is offensively a top 3 center esp when healthy so this isnt a great example to use.. you do have to respect his shot cause he will hit it.. along with a great postup game.. Lopez is a long 7footer, and he was hitting some of those shots on Bismack Biyombo who is known more for his defense.. The only thing i would like to see is Jonas with a legitimate PF beside him who can help with weakside or if he gets beat.. sure hes slow footed and might fall for pump fakes (which he will learn over time) But having Scola and Pat Pat as your weak side help isnt that great either.. Id say 90% of the guys in the league would get beat one on one by a top 3 offensive player for their position.

[lalailaParticipant]

OK I got you, but…. Jonas is still a better defender than Biyombo offensive player.

And Jonas’ O is really valuable especially if you play at least a few plays for him not only let him get his points on garbage possesions

 

Side note: yes I might be bias, I am Lithuanian and will always think Jonas deserves more lol

 

 

 

[lalailaParticipant]

OK I got you, but…. Jonas is still a better defender than Biyombo offensive player.

And Jonas’ O is really valuable especially if you play at least a few plays for him not only let him get his points on garbage possesions

 

Side note: yes I might be bias, I am Lithuanian and will always think Jonas deserves more lol

 

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Yah I agree his skill set in the post is very valuable. I’m just stating why he hasn’t progressed from a specialist starter to a building block that you game plan around. I’m still very happy the Raptors gave Jonas Valanciunas on the roster.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Yah I agree his skill set in the post is very valuable. I’m just stating why he hasn’t progressed from a specialist starter to a building block that you game plan around. I’m still very happy the Raptors gave Jonas Valanciunas on the roster.

[ph90702]

I’ve never been high on him, and I don’t get why he was a top five pick.

[ph90702]

I’ve never been high on him, and I don’t get why he was a top five pick.

[phila9012Participant]

 That video says as much about lopez, he was putting on moves and making plays. Lopez has some of the best low post moves in the NBA.

[phila9012Participant]

 That video says as much about lopez, he was putting on moves and making plays. Lopez has some of the best low post moves in the NBA.

[Author]

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