David Thorpe Talks About Young Raptors

[Built Ford Tough]

He had a chat with Holly McKenzie a couple of days ago and I thought I would post it. Won't generate much discussion, but it is nice to see somebody in the media actually speaking highly of some of the Raptors young players. Ever since Bosh has left it seems like there hasn't been a good thing said about the Raptors by non-Raptors related media.

 

Anyways, here is some of the interview/chat, the rest is in the link.

 

- What about the improvement of DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems? They've been getting rave reviews all along media row this week: "It's marked. Two of the more improved players from one summer league to the next. DeRozan, part of it's just more confidence. A year older, stronger, tougher, all of that. His command with the ball was good. Same with Weems. Both of them athletically are excellent together. They defended hard, they raced the floor, stayed very involved in the transition game. Absolutely felt comfortable being the leading scorers of the team. The difference now is Weems can shoot the three and DeRozan can't. At some point you want your two-guard in the NBA to be able to make threes so that's something DeMar's going to add to his game if not this year, certainly by next year. There's plenty of time this year. Players may struggle in November and December, but shoot it well in February and March.That's something I would guess he will try to mix in every day as time goes on to make it more a part of his game."

 

- What are your thoughts on Ed Davis, the Raptors choice with the 13th pick?: "I was really high on the kid. I think that his feel for the game is really good. I think he's got the upside potential of being a scorer. Like I've been tweeting, he's got this slinky game where he can kind of move around guys. Kind of like Bosh, actually. He's not Bosh-level, but, he's not that far away from it. He's got a great touch around the basket. He doens't have Bosh's quickness, but he's got a good bounce. He just knows where to be. His instincts are excellent. He's always in the right place. He's also got an edge defensively, likes to block shots, which is something I didn't expect to see necessarily at this level. He's somebody who is going to score in this league. I don't know if he'll be a low-post threat, that would obviously be the ideal situation for Toronto, but he's going to be able to score off of other people, at a very high percentage. As he gets stronger, he'll get fouled more because he'll be able to handle contact better and refs will reward that. I think he's a guy that's going to be an above average player in the league.

 

- Going back to the rookies, what did you think about what you saw from Solomon Alabi?: "I thought there were some times where he really showed what you want to see in a seven-footer. He made a lot of plays around the rim. He's a guy that really shoots it well, I'm not sure he missed but one jumpshot this week, but he hasn't taken many. To me, this is a good thing. You want him around the rim where he can use his size and length to his advantage. He did a great job racing the floor, going rim to rim. The Raptors summer league team was so guard dominated with those two wings especially, Alabi and Davis did a good job running the floor and it would open up the lane for the wings, for Weems or DeRozan because the first guy back on defence was worried about the big guy. You don't get an assist on that, but that was good basketball. Most of the times, Alabi did a good job of not fouling, which I thought was really important. When he did foul, he did so aggressively, which is what the Raptors sorely need. He has no problem knocking you on your [expletive] and not apologizing for it. I think he needs to play a lot of time in the D-League playing a lot as a focal point kind of guy and I think he'll end up being a longtime NBA player."

 

http://www.thescore.com/home/articles/53108-more-from-raptors-summer-league-holly-mackenzie-chats-with-david-thorpe