How Terrence Ross’ future can be better than his past
By Brian Boake
Despite athletic gifts most of us can only dream of, intelligence, and a strong work ethic, Terrence Ross still hasn’t broken through as an NBA player. What’s missing?
Terrence Ross became a member of the Toronto Raptors in the June 2012 draft. Bryan Colangelo, using what turned out to be his last first-round selection as the team’s General Manager, chose the University of Washington swingman with the #8 pick.
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The usual array of NBA commentators were baffled by the pick, with the consensus of opinion being that Ross would still have been on the board in the mid-teens, so why didn’t Colangelo trade down? Or select monster centre Andre Drummond, who was quickly snapped up by the Detroit Pistons and has become an All-Star?
Bewilderment has been the hallmark of Ross’ professional career. How can a player score 51 points in a game after totalling 14 in his previous three? He started 123 games in the two seasons prior to this one, in which he started 7.
Terrence makes brilliant plays followed by boneheaded ones. He’ll block a shot, then a minute later commit a reach-in foul. He’ll drain a contested 3-ball then have his pocket picked next time down the floor.
Yet Raptors management rewarded this baffling player with a huge raise in November of last year, nailing his future to that of our team’s with a 3-year, $33 million contract. The team isn’t going to pony up that kind of dough for a bench-warming swingman.
Terrence appears to have won the hearts and minds of several Raptors assistant coaches, perhaps most importantly Rex Kalamian, who pushes TRoss hard. Kalamian is highly regarded by his once and future boss, Dwane Casey. If Rex says Ross deserves more minutes, Casey will make them available.
I have big problems understanding what the Raptors are planning to do with Terrence. Norman Powell, an unheralded rookie, started 24 games this season. He will continue to earn a pittance (relatively speaking – it’s the NBA, not the real world) while TRoss’ king’s ransom contract kicks into gear.
Can Terrence crack the starting lineup as he did two seasons ago after the transformative Rudy Gay trade? A lot depends on DeMar DeRozan’s decision. If Masai Ujiri decides he’d rather cough up for Bismack Biyombo (or if DD succumbs to the blandishments of the Los Angeles Lakers, as some think he will), then life for several Toronto swingmen gets a lot more interesting.
Regardless of DeMar, Terrence will still need to persuade his head coach that he’s worthy of a larger role. To do that, he must:
- improve his shaky handle – he’s easy prey for quick-handed ballhawks
- dump the spectacular play in favour of the fundamentally sound one. Anyone remember Terrence skying for an uncontested rebound in the playoffs, trying to grab it with one hand, and knocking it out of bounds instead? I do.
- lessen his reliance on his raw athletic ability on defense…he’s too often the victim of an opponent’s quick first step, particularly when he’s not in a sound posture at the outset
- strike a better balance between shooting 3-balls and attacking the basket. I’d like to see him use the 2-point bucket to set up his 3-pointers, rather than the other way around. Let’s see him utilize his improved dribbling (we hope) to take uncontested jumpers in the paint.
He needs more coaching support also. I despair of the Raptors’ offense when Terrence stands in the corner for 15 seconds while DeMar and Kyle Lowry play catch on the perimeter. Let TRoss be the first option more often, rather than the poor schnook who touches the ball with a deuce left on the shot clock. The poor guy’s nickname may already be “Last Resort”.
The Raptors have placed their bets, and Terrence is one of their main guys. He’s had four seasons to figure things out. Next season has got to be payback time, the season in which TRoss graduates from “high potential” to “high performance”.