Why isn't Terrence Ross elite?

[Aidz]

This guy has all the tools.
6'6
23 years old
NBA slam dunk champion.
Shooting 40.6% from 3 on 6.7 attempts per game

People who watch Toronto, what is he missing?
Ball handling?
Desire?
IQ?

[Fudge]

Consistency, confidence, oh and DeMar DeRozan.

He's steadily improving, tho. You can see the difference in his game in comparison to last year.

[DuMa]

Rudy Gay held back his development for over a year.

[buddha]

ball handling

he's a great defender and spot up shooter.

he is working on his ball handling though and trying to add the pick n roll to his game, maybe one day he could be a Paul George type player.

[red1]

no handles

[livingby3's]

His game is fluid. I think hes going to be a very good player in this league. Give him another year or two and he should have a break out season

[GOATbrookisGAWD]

Consistency, confidence, oh and DeMar DeRozan.

He's steadily improving, tho. You can see the difference in his game in comparison to last year.
Pretty much. Dude was playing behind Gay and Derozan, and now still Derozan. He is quite inconsistent, but he's young. I don't think he'll ever be a superstar due to a lack of ball handling skills, but he could definitely become a very good player in the near future with some consistency and more burn.

[red1]

he is already a deadly shooter and very good defender. he will be a good player for a very long time

[T.O.RapsJays]

This guy has all the tools.
6'6
23 years old
NBA slam dunk champion.
Shooting 40.6% from 3 on 6.7 attempts per game

People who watch Toronto, what is he missing?
Ball handling?
Desire?
IQ?
He's a very good player who has improved for sure, but he still has a ways to go to become truly elite.

He actually plays good man-to-man defense as well so that's not a weakness of him either. Perhaps the fact that he's not a number one option on the team yet also downgrades his ability as well, although he often gets benched for long durations in favour of the likes of Salmons for no reason, so that's a knock on the coach.

At this point, I think the best you could call him is "a poor man's..." but he has the talent to become something greater.

Edit: to add to other people's answer he also struggles at time with consistency and he's not the best ball handler out there, although IMO Ross>DeRozan in that aspect though that's not saying much.

[Qwyjibo]

I wouldn't trust Ross to break down a chair off the dribble in the half-court right now. It's a huge skill gap to have as an SG/SF.

But if he maintains the good 3pt shooting of this year with solid defense, he'll be a decent rotation player in the NBA. That would already be more than I thought he'd be when the Raptors drafted him.

[20Four]

I wouldn't trust Ross to break down a chair off the dribble in the half-court right now. It's a huge skill gap to have as an SG/SF.

But if he maintains the good 3pt shooting of this year with solid defense, he'll be a decent rotation player in the NBA. That would already be more than I thought he'd be when the Raptors drafted him.
Dayum son is that Slava Medvedenko in the avy?

[Fudge]

Dayum son is that Slava Medvedenko in the avy?
Rasho Nesterovic. :facepalm

[T.O.RapsJays]

Dayum son is that Slava Medvedenko in the avy?
Dafuq isn't that Rasho Nesterovic?

[red1]

I wouldn't trust Ross to break down a chair off the dribble in the half-court right now. It's a huge skill gap to have as an SG/SF.

But if he maintains the good 3pt shooting of this year with solid defense, he'll be a decent rotation player in the NBA. That would already be more than I thought he'd be when the Raptors drafted him.
He's far exceeded my expectations. We all wanted barnes at the time but now I would take ross.

[Legends66NBA7]

^ Rasho Nestervoic.

[inclinerator]

didnt he drop fiddy? could see him putting up good numbers in the bucks or something

[T.O.RapsJays]

He's far exceeded my expectations. We all wanted barnes at the time but now I would take ross.
I also think that he, much like DeRozan in previous years, needs to drive more. He's a good dunker and can get some nice elevation so he shouldn't be too scared of bigger guys.

[red1]

I also think that he, much like DeRozan in previous years, needs to drive more. He's a good dunker and can get some nice elevation so he shouldn't be too scared of bigger guys.
Coaching staff needs to focus with him on ball-handling drills. Would really open everything up for him

[russwest0]

Has an average at best wingspan.

[kurple]

I wouldn't trust Ross to break down a chair off the dribble in the half-court right now. It's a huge skill gap to have as an SG/SF.

But if he maintains the good 3pt shooting of this year with solid defense, he'll be a decent rotation player in the NBA. That would already be more than I thought he'd be when the Raptors drafted him.
you're such a downer

[raptorfan_dr07]

Ball-handling, his off the dribble game is what he needs to work on next. He's already a deadly shooter as well as a very good man-to-man defender. What limits his game as a wing is his ability to make plays off the dribble and get to the rim. If he can add that to his game, similar to how Derozan did, he can take another big leap next season. Derozan was a terrible ball handler, he still isn't a great one, but he's improved enough to the point where he's actually become a somewhat decent playmaker and is able to get to the rim and draw FT's. If he could do it, I see no reason why Ross can't.

I hated the pick at first, and I'd still rather have Drummond, but I've begun to warm up to Ross this year. He's exceeding my initial expectations of him, as has Derozan.

[Legends66NBA7]

I was out before, so I feel now is a good time to address this.



Ball handling is absolutely a mandatory weakness he must develop. Too many times I've cringed with him trying to bring the ball up the court or drive and it hasn't helped that DeMar can be prone to this as well, but is off course much more consistent this year.

Desire ? I don't know, he was supposed to be "NBA ready" when he got drafted. I would mark that down as an incomplete. Ross and DeMar should work out with each other in the off season and work on their weakness and strengths, since DeMar is already a very dedicated gym rat on the team.

I would say his IQ needs to go hand in hand with his role on the team. This is where his coaches and teammates really need to help him blossom on the Raptors. Today for example against the Hawks, when he wasn't excelling on his man to man defense late in the first quarter, Casey pulled him and let him understand he needs better effort from on defense before offense. He played much better the rest of the game.

If there's another area that is a weakness it's the mid-range game and consistency on overall offense. Which is why once again I bring up DeMar. I don't see why anyone would consider him a hinder to Ross development. Both DeMar and Kyle have really helped Ross on offense with their draw and kick game and he can just hit the outside 3.

Like most Raptors fans, he's exceeded expectations by a lot of us and has become a fan favourite too. Along with him and another promising sophomore in Jonas... the future looks bright.

[WWRWestbrookDo?]

This guy has all the tools.
6'6
23 years old
NBA slam dunk champion.
Shooting 40.6% from 3 on 6.7 attempts per game

People who watch Toronto, what is he missing?
Ball handling?
Desire?
IQ?

Cause he can't shoot.

[bdreason]

Ball handling and bball IQ... both things that can be improved with time. I've thought Ross has All-Star potential since last summer.

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=307683

[East_Stone_Ya]

http://31.media.tumblr.com/44e70a004ab6c40b02526877628d367a/tumblr_mmt4as3nN81qcknn9o1_1280.jpg

[IGOTGAME]

lack of talent. Reminds me of what people used to say about JR. it wasnt work ethic, it was a legit lack of talent. Ball handling isnt some easy some easy thing to improve, at least to the point it is noticeably more effective in an NBA setting.

[STATUTORY]

lack of talent. Reminds me of what people used to say about JR. it wasnt work ethic, it was a legit lack of talent. Ball handling isnt some easy some easy thing to improve, at least to the point it is noticeably more effective in an NBA setting.

Yup people underestimate how much of ball handling, body control and coordination are innate talent driven. People think athleticism is simply jumping high when it encompasses a wider spectrum of attributes. Guys like Ross are limited athletes. He's a good three and d and open court dunker type.

[macmac]

Qwijibo has to be the biggest pessimistic loser I've ever seen on this board. He's already a solid starter for a 3rd seed team in the East that's beaten some elite teams, and he's only a sophomore, and if he keeps it up he'll be a "solid rotational player" wtf? He's already a good starter so you're saying if he keeps it up he'll regress? Jeez man, what a fkin simple minded hater

[Legends66NBA7]

Qwijibo has to be the biggest pessimistic loser I've ever seen on this board. He's already a solid starter for a 3rd seed team in the East that's beaten some elite teams, and he's only a sophomore, and if he keeps it up he'll be a "solid rotational player" wtf? He's already a good starter so you're saying if he keeps it up he'll regress? Jeez man, what a fkin simple minded hater

What's impressed me the most since Ross has become starter, he has actually outplayed Jonas Valanciunas. I think all Raptor fans believed that he would blossom into a solid centre by now but it's going to take some time, while Ross can have more potent nights on offense and defense. He definitely has the potential to be more than a rotationial player. I've seen comparisons to Paul George on other forums.

[Darius]

Yup people underestimate how much of ball handling, body control and coordination are innate talent driven. People think athleticism is simply jumping high when it encompasses a wider spectrum of attributes. Guys like Ross are limited athletes. He's a good three and d and open court dunker type.

#realtalk

I don't necessarily agree that Ross doesn't have the potential to develop those talents but people on this board definitely overlook that "skill" talents are to a large degree as innate as athletic talents.

Shooting/ball-handling/court-vision/body control are all things that are just as important to jumping high and - I would bet - are also genetically pre-determined.

[ralph_i_el]

he could be really great or he could just be Nick Young 2.0

[oarabbus]

lack of talent. Reminds me of what people used to say about JR. it wasnt work ethic, it was a legit lack of talent. Ball handling isnt some easy some easy thing to improve, at least to the point it is noticeably more effective in an NBA setting.


:biggums:


No, JR's problem is most definitely work ethic. He has the talent...

[Legends66NBA7]

I really don't understand these comparisons to Smith and Young. Ross plays nothing like them.

The only comparison I can draw is that they all can hit the 3 point shot. But unlike Ross, Smith and Young play a lot of ISO and take their teams out of an offensive rhythm. If Ross did that, he would get pulled from the game. He already gets pulled if he's not playing consistent defense, where Ross is already better than both.

It also helps that he doesn't have much of an ego or attitude problem unlike Smith and Young and if I'm sure Ross had a problem with shots or role, Kyle, DeMar, and the rest of the team leaders would have a team meeting and console Ross.

[BuffaloBill]

hes really good at the thing he does best, which is this



http://giant.gfycat.com/WellwornDependentDrake.gif

[The Iron Sheik]

remember when he got drafted and everyone was like "who the **** is terrence ross?"

[IGOTGAME]

:biggums:


No, JR's problem is most definitely work ethic. He has the talent...
Not even close to the talent people hyped him to have.