Raptors VS Wizards (game 2)

Final Score: Wizards win 117-106



Wizards lead series 2-0

This was a great game for the Wizards as they have a chance to put the series home with them leading the series 2-0. Let's take a look at the Wizards first.

The Wizards played great. They found out a way to get DeRozan contain a little bit. One player taht had a great game was John Wall. After having a tough offense game, he came back with 26 points and 17 assists! Just a wonderful performance from him. Bradly Beal was hitting a bunch of shots on the floor and was well spaced through-out the game. They just played great overall basketball as they out scored Toronto in the 2nd and 3rd quarter by 27 points.

Toronto has a lot of work to do. They must play Wall really good and force the ball out of his hands. They can't let him even touch the ball. Wall is a play-maker not only for himself, but for his teammates especially. He had 17 assists in the game but also 111 passes in the game. The was the most for any player, and he was the only player with over 100 passes in the game. Lowry and Vasquez combined had only had 93 passes and they were the leading players for passing for their team. They need to take Wall out of the game. The second thing they need to do if they are to stay in this series is to stay out of foul trouble. DeRozan had 5 fouls and Vasquez, Williams, and Amir Johnson all had 4. However, out of those 27 fouls from the Raptors, the Wizards only shot 34 free throws meaning that alot of the Raptors fould were floor fouls which they need to cut down.

It could come down to 2 games at Verizon center. The Wizards could put this one away, but you know the Raptors want at least 1 more game at Air Canada Centre.

DeMarcus Cousins or Marc Gasol

Who would make your all NBA first team at the center position? Would it be Marc Gasol or DeMarcus Cousins? I will try to help you decide in this post. Let's compare these two in shooting first.

Shooting: 5-15 Feet: DeMarcus Cousins shoots below the average for a center in the league while Marc Gasol is above. Cousins only shoots 29% from 5 feet out while Gasol shoots about 47%.

Take a look at DeMarcus Cousins' shot chart. Notice how he has poor consistency form the top of the key area.

Now take a look at Marc Gasol's shooting chart. Notice how he takes more shots from that area.

You can also see that Marc Gasol has more red in the in the paint and you can see a lot of blue in the paint for Cousins. In conclusion, Gasol is the better shooter.

Defense: If we take a look at defense, DeMarcus Cousins allows the opposing team to 103.3 Point per 100 possessions when he is on the court. Gasol allows 101.5 Points per 100 possesions when he is on the court. Yes this does factor in the players that Gasol plays with, so they are about the same.

Rebounding: Let's take a look at Rebounding now. DeMarcus Cousins has won this one. He averages 12.7 RPG while Gasol averages 7.9. DeMarcus Cousins also accounts for 20.9% of the rebounds in a game while Gasol takes in about 13.9%.

Assists: Now this is where it gets complicated. If we look at the APG, Cousins averages 3.6 while Gasol averages 3.9. About the same right? If we look at the Assist % for their teams, Cousins is at 20.2%. Gasol on the other hand, is at 19.4. What does this mean? It just means that Gasol's team has more assists per game. Cousins Assist to Turnover Ratio is at 0.83 while Gasol's is at 1.73. This means that Cousins turns the ball over more than he assists, while Gasol assists more. Clearly Gasol is the better at assisting.

Scoring: If we compare the usage%, Cousins is used 33.9% of the time. Gasol is only used 24.7% of the time, which makes it seem that Cousins gets the ball more. That is why he averages 24.1 PPG and Gasol only averages 17.6. Gasol can score in many more ways than Cousins can though. When it comes down to who is the better scorer is though, the answer is obviously Cousins. Cousins scores about 6.5 more PPG.

Who is the better player? I'm not making this decision for you. You can make a case for both sides. If you can't decide, let me ask you this. Who would be the better player to have on a team? Cousins or Gasol? Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a better player.