ekansekans's blog: "df"

What if I told you that DeMar DeRozan was the same height as Paul Pierce? Or that he was the same weight as Luol Deng? Would you consider him capable of being an NBA small forward? There is a lot more to being an effective small forward than size, of course, but when DeRozan was drafted many saw him as a prospect at that position, and with the Raptors in dire need of help at the three a move for DeRozan may not be out of the question. At 6-foot-7, 220 lbs. and possessing a 6-foot-9 wingspan he has the physical tools to line up at that spot, but is he prepared for the added physicality that comes with moving just one spot up on the roster card? The biggest difference between the shooting guard spot and the small forward is, undoubtably, the raw size difference that one faces every night. Going from chasing guys like Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton around the perimeter to getting posted up by Paul Pierce and Carmelo Anthony takes a very different toll on a player. While size isnt really a problem for DeRozan, strength has been, and it has been on full display for the last two years as hes struggled to finish through contact at the rim. While not every small forward plays the game with the brutish force of Pierce and Anthony, small forwards tend to be much greater physical specimens than shooting guards are, and if DeRozan were to switch positions that would be the most immediate area of concern that would have to be addressed. DeRozan wouldnt be totally overmatched at the position, though. Hed have a quickness advantage against many of these players, and if he committed to moving his feet on defence he could harass them by beating them to spots and using his length and athleticism to cover ground quickly. While DeRozan has never been known for his defensive tenacity (and to play against NBA small forwards hed have to become a tenacious defender), his defensive focus improved as last season went on and even drew plaudits from Dwane Casey before the season wrapped up six weeks ago. Plus, Casey is as prolific a user of zone defense as any coach in the NBA, and while its not meant to be a primary defensive weapon, it could help DeRozan considerably on nights when hed be tasked with checking impossible matchups like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Its also worth noting that if the team were to commit to moving him to small forward sooner rather than later, hed have the whole summer to work the defensive adjustment it takes from chasing guys through screens to mucking it up physically in the midrange. If he was suddenly thrust into the position at the start of training camp, though, expecting him to reorient his defensive mindset before the season tipped-off might be too much to ask of a guy still adjusting to having defensive expectations set at his feet at all. However, give him the summer to train with coaches and NBA peers and he could have a fighting chance to be ready to go on opening night at the three spot. The benefits to such a move (yes, there are one or two) are that if DeRozan is playing the small forward spot then that opens up a slot in the starting five for another ball handler to help Torontos anemic offence, while limiting DeRozans biggest weakness at the same time. Lets face it, DeRozans handle is more trouble than its worth, but that wouldnt be such a problem if he didnt have to handle the ball so often. If the Raptors had more creators on the floor, then guys like DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani could focus more on finishing rather than creating their own shots, which the team would hope works as a countermeasure to both players cratering field goal percentage, as well as the teams overall offensive predictability. Of course, this whole conversation needs to be routed back to why? eventually, since moving DeRozan doesnt so much solve a problem as it does shift some already existing problems around. Well, the biggest reason is that while no one in the organization is happy with the status quo at the position, the market for available small forwards, at least in the class that Toronto wanted to pluck from, has dried up. They dont have the assets to secure a Danny Granger or Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gays situation has been turned on its head with the possible sale of the Grizzlies and beyond them there arent really any top-tier prospects available to trade for. They could try and sign an aging veteran like Gerald Wallace or Andrei Kirilenko in free agency, but both bring with them imperfections with regards to fit their with the Raptors. They could draft a small forward, but all available small forwards would be a reach at eight (Moe Harkless, Royce White) and none would be ready to start for the Raptors this season. There is no perfect solution walking through the doors at the ACC and it just looks like it makes more sense to double-down on what they have rather than overextending themselves just to make a move at the position for the sake of making one. For instance, if the Raptors moved DeRozan to small forward, used Linas Kleiza as his backup, signed Courtney Lee as a free agent to start at shooting guard and drafted Dion Waiters to back him him up then youve opened up floor time for strong three point shooters in Kleiza, Lee and Waiters (along with starter Jose Calderon or, in Bryan Colangelos best case scenario, Steve Nash), picked up a stellar shot creator in Waiters and have barely dipped into the teams hard-won cap space. They still have tradable assets like James Johnson and Ed Davis, along with a sign-and-trade asset in Jerryd Bayless, and the financial flexibility to make a big move later in the year if one comes available. Ive long maintained that retaining flexibility is as important as any move the team could make this summer. Going the above route doesnt catapult the team into the thick of the Eastern Conference race, but it improves the team without disabling their ability to make subsequent moves going forward. It wouldnt make for a sexy summer, but that doesnt mean it would be an ineffective one. The fact is, if the Raptors cannot get Granger, Iguodala or Gay, is moving DeRozan to small forward really that much worse than the other options that are available to the team? Thats the question that is really at the heart of this debate. Its not whether or not DeRozan is ideally suited to the position or if he can be the long-term solution, its about what is the next best option if the team cannot secure a top-flight option at the position? Maybe DeRozan isnt the next best option, but if the team can get better at other spots on the roster by shifting DeRozan over, its a move that is at least worth considering. Colin Kaepernick Jersey . For the first few innings, Verlander laboured, his pitch count rising while his control deserted him. But the Athletics could manage only that one run, missing their best chance of the night to break through against Detroits hard-throwing ace. Colin Kaepernick Elite Jersey . -- Ill Have Another looked like just another horse at the Kentucky Derby. http://elevatedcolor.com/new.html . Last year this was the leagues best offence and knowing what we know now, the leagues most vicious defence.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Oregons DeAnthony Thomas raced 94 yards for a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The fifth-ranked Ducks barely looked back after that. Triggered by Thomas attention-grabbing return, Oregon raced past No. 7 Kansas State 35-17 Thursday night at the Fiesta Bowl in what may have been coach Chip Kellys final game with the Ducks. "Our focus was on this game tonight," Kelly said. "If for some reason, someone wanted to talk to me, its because of those players over there. We have an unbelievable team, an unbelievable program and any success is because of those guys." Teams that had that national title aspirations end on the same day, Oregon and Kansas State ended up in the desert for a marquee matchup billed as a battle of styles: The fast-flying Ducks vs. the execution-is-everything Wildcats. With Kelly reportedly talking to several NFL teams, Oregon (12-1) was too much for Kansas State and its Heisman Trophy finalist, Collin Klein. The Ducks tried to turn the game into a track meet, and it worked from the start. Thomas followed his before-everyone-sat-down kickoff return with a 23-yard touchdown catch, finishing with 195 total yards. Kenjon Barner ran for 143 yards on 31 carries and scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota in the second quarter. Mariota later scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter, capped by an obscure 1-point safety that went in the Ducks favour. Even Oregons defence got into the act, intercepting Klein twice and holding him to 30 yards on 13 carries. "We got beat by a better team tonight, combined by the fact that we let down from time to time," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said Whether Kelly leaves Eugene or not, he had a good run, leading the Ducks to four straight trips to BCS bowls, the last two wins. "Its amazing," said Barner, a senior. "Just to go out like this, the Fiesta Bowl with my teammates, the coaching staff, I couldnt be happier." Last years Fiesta Bowl was an offensive fiesta, with Oklahoma State outlasting Stanford 41-38 in overtime. The 2013 version was an upgrade: Nos. 4 and 5 in the BCS, two of the nations best offences, dynamic players and superbly successful coaches on both sides. Oregon has become the standard for go-go-go football under Kelly, its fleet of Ducks making those shiny helmets -- green like Christmas tree bulbs for the Fiesta Bowl -- and flashy uniforms blur across the grassy landscape. Their backfield of Thomas, Barner and Mariota made up a three-headed monster of momentum, each one capable of turning a single play into a scoring drive of 60 seconds or less. Mariota has been the show-running leader, a question mark before the season who ably ran Oregons high-octane offence as the first freshman quarterback to start for the Ducks since Danny ONeil in 1991. Oregon won the Rose Bowl for the first time in 95 years last season and was in position for a spot in the BCCS title game this year before losing a heartbreaker to Stanford on Nov.dddddddddddd 17. Thomas offered the first flash of speed, crossing into the end zone like a sprinter taking the finish-line tape after picking up a couple of blocks and racing past Oregons bench for a touchdown on the opening kickoff. The Ducks, are they are apt to do, went for 2 on the point-after and converted on a trick play to go up 8-0 in the games first 12 seconds. It was the second straight day a BCS bowl began with a quick strike; Louisville returned an interception for a touchdown against Florida on the first play of the Sugar Bowl Wednesday night. Thomas hit the Wildcats (11-2) again late in the first quarter, breaking a couple of tackles and dragging three defenders into the end zone for a catch-and-run TD that put the Ducks up 15-0. Its nothing new for Oregons sophomore sensation: He had 314 total yards and two long touchdown runs in the 2012 Rose Bowl. The Ducks are used to it, too, after averaging more than 50 points per game. And they kept flying. Oregon followed a missed 40-yard field goal by Kansas States Anthony Cantele by unleashing one of its blink-and-youll-miss-it scoring drives late in the second quarter. Moving 77 yards in 46 seconds, the Ducks went up 22-10 at halftime after Mariota hit Barner on 24-yard TD pass. Alejandro Maldonado hit a 33-yard field goal on Oregons opening drive of the third quarter and Mariota capped a long drive with an easy 2-yard TD run to the left. Kansas States Javonta Boyd blocked the point-after attempt, but even that went wrong for the Wildcats: Chris Harper was tackled in the end zone for a bizarre 1-point safety that put Oregon up 32-10. Kansas State had gone through its second revival under Snyder, the studious coach who never lost touch with the game or players young enough to be his grandchildren during a three-year retirement. The 73-year-old followed up the Manhattan Miracle by returning to lead the Wildcats back to national prominence with his attention-to-detail ways. Klein has led K-States meticulous march this season, a fifth-year senior who plays in the mould of the college version of Tim Tebow: Gritty, humble, finds a way to win, whatever it takes. Like the Ducks, the Wildcats had their national-title hopes stamped out on Nov. 17, blown out by Baylor with a rare letdown on both sides of the ball. Kansas State needed a little time to get its wheels spinning on offence, labouring early before Klein scored on a 6-yard run early in the second quarter. Klein kept the Wildcats moving in the quarter, though not toward touchdowns: Cantele hit a 25-yard field goal and missed from 40 after a false-start penalty. Klein hit John Hubert on a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, but all that did was cut Oregons lead down to 32-17. He threw for 151 yards on 17 of 32 passing. "They did a great job of flying to the football," Klein said. ' ' '