Ross moving up NBA.com rookie ladder

[spreadeagle]

Quote from Batum about guarding Ross “Sometimes I had my hand right here,” Batum said, acting out the rest of his sentence by sticking his hand square in his face. “And (Ross) still made the shots. What can you do?”

Jan. 3 -- The Raptors are suddenly playing with a renewed energy and Terrence Ross has been a big reason for the turnaround.

When I saw Ross in Las Vegas last year, it was clear that he was athletic. A pair of recent dunks ( Video here and Video here) only solidified that view.

But he's starting to score at a higher rate, and the Raptors are rising up the standings.

Toronto has won eight of its last nine, and the rookie swingman has been crucial to that success. In Wednesday's 102-79 win over Portland, Ross hit six 3 -pointers and scored a career-high 26 points in 24 minutes off the bench. That followed a win over the Magic in which he was 4-for-5 from 3-point land (for 16 points).

He's scored in double-digits in four of his last five games, averaging 15.0 points in that span and bringing renewed hope for fans in Canada.

"People think he's just athletic but he can do a lot of things," Jose Calderon said of Ross. "He's getting more confidence out there and he's doing more things every day."

1 -- Damian Lillard
2 -- Anthony Davis
3 -- Alexey Shved
4 Andre Drummond
5 Bradley Beal
6 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
7 Terrence Ross
8 Dion Waiters
9 Tyler Zeller
10 NR Chris Copeland

[Vdot]

Got an interesting question to kick off the discussion.....at this point in the season, would you swap Terrence Ross for Harrison Barnes?

[spreadeagle]

Got an interesting question to kick off the discussion.....at this point in the season, would you swap Terrence Ross for Harrison Barnes?

Barnes has looked good too, and the Warriors are in win mode so maybe he isnt playing in crunch time, both look great to me

[Johann]

I expect him to jump Beal soon enough.

[mjt20mik]

Barnes has looked good too, and the Warriors are in win mode so maybe he isnt playing in crunch time, both look great to me

Without a doubt. Barnes has the size and height to play the 3. If we didn't have a healthy AA, Pietrus, or Fields, we really wouldn't be in most of the games we won. We had a god forsaken D leaguer starting.

[Nick O]

Barnes is probably better,,, but id say no just due to the fact ive already grown attached to Ross

[Vdot]

Barnes is probably better,,, but id say no just due to the fact ive already grown attached to Ross

Lol yea, it would be hard to argue that Ross is a better player than Barnes...

but Ross' game intrigues me, it's a unique situation to land a player who can be very athletic, an excellent shooter, and a tough defender all at once. Most players are only known for one/two of those categories, but he's got all 3.

[I Rock Shaqs]

I think anybody would trade T ross for Barnes straight up.

[spreadeagle]

I think anybody would trade T ross for Barnes straight up.

Only because we have Demar...if we didnt I would be just as happy to have Ross. Barnes is just the exact SF we have been looking for since Marion left it seems. But no doubt next year we will prob have one of the, if not the best SG combo in the league. The emergence of AA has made me not care about not getting Barnes

[BALLER R]

Imagine having Barnes and Ross

[Sly Guy]

Imagine having Barnes and Ross

lowry, demar, ross, amir, ed, jona, barnes. That's a pretty deadly 7 man rotation.

[Six-8-TheWizard]

Barnes is probably better,,, but id say no just due to the fact ive already grown attached to Ross

This

Only because we have Demar...if we didnt I would be just as happy to have Ross. Barnes is just the exact SF we have been looking for since Marion left it seems. But no doubt next year we will prob have one of the, if not the best SG combo in the league. The emergence of AA has made me not care about not getting Barnes

And This

[TO Rapz]

No, I love Terrence.

[ink]

If things continue like this in his development, it looks like Casey spotted a very good talent. Turns out it wasn't a reach at all.

[CB29]

If things continue like this in his development, it looks like Casey spotted a very good talent. Turns out it wasn't a reach at all.

Yet, we need to temper our expectations and progress at a reasonable pace with him. It's unlikely that he'll be able to keep up such a high level offensively so then you have to see whether he is still a factor defensively.

He's a much more complete player than I think anyone expected and he has a very high ceiling but with a long ways to go. Still, a solid stretch for him though.