A bittersweet night for DeMar
The Raptors may have lost to Golden State on Wednesday, but it was a golden night for DeRozan
OAKLAND — On a night that was all about the fight and the refusal to quit, it was almost fitting that this would be the night DeMar DeRozan would become the Raptors all-time leading scorer.
Always the competitor, DeRozan admitted setting the mark in the Raptors’ first double-digit loss of the year to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday took some of the shine off it, but anyone who didn’t see the parallels between the game and the seven-plus years it took DeRozan to dethrone Chris Bosh for the single highest honour in the team record books just isn’t paying attention.
DeRozan became the Raptors’ all-time leading scorer with 3:47 to go in the second quarter in a game the Raptors would get torched early on by the high-octane Warriors offence and then despite multiple rally’s of their own fall short in a 121-111 loss.
Afterwards there was disappointment, as expected in the loss but a sufficient amount of pride that there was no give-in by the group, even when they seemed down and out.
DeRozan has suffered through a lot of those downs and, like the Raptors Wednesday night, refused to let the obstacles keep him down.
DeRozan wound up with a Raptors-high 29 in the win but admitted the ninth loss of the year for Toronto would probably prevent him from enjoying his new perch atop the Raptors’ best ever scorer’s list until his team were back in the win column.
“It’s great,” a somewhat subdued DeRozan said. “Would’ve been a lot better if we got the win but to be first in franchise history, it’s definitely an honour. I’ll probably feel a little better about it once we get a win but just to continue to play and build on that is definitely awesome.”
Typically, DeRozan’s bucket that pushed him past Bosh was all DeRozan. A drive before pulling up from 12-feet out for the score over a late-contesting defender.
He joked the day before that a 15-foot fadeaway over three defenders would have been ideal but the mid-range jumper still typified how unique DeRozan is in this day and age of if-it’s-not-a-three, it’s-not-acceptable basketball.
DeRozan is a throw back, a guy who scores from the mid-range with alarming efficiency. He hasn’t made the three-ball a part of his arsenal yet, but you get the distinct feeling that when it becomes necessary, when he’s lost a step or his superior athleticism starts to wane, he’ll change gears and master that part of the game as well.
It’s almost ironic that it was exactly six and a half years ago Wednesday night that DeRozan took to his twitter account to assure panicked fans that things would be OK in the wake of the Bosh decision to leave Toronto and join up with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami.
That summer evening DeRozan, having just completed his rookie season and still just 20 years old tweeted out “Don’t worry, I got us” as the Raptors marquee player bolted for a better situation leaving the team without a true star.
True to his promise, DeRozan has been at the forefront of the Raptors rise that has since surpassed anything the team did with Bosh as the face of the franchise.
And make no mistake, DeRozan is the face of the franchise.
A Raptor since he was selected by Toronto ninth overall at the 2009 draft, DeRozan didn’t even entertain offers from other teams this past summer when he could have jumped ship to sign with another club as Bosh did. DeRozan committed to the Raptors and the Raptors to him at the first opportunity on July 1, never wavering in his steadfast loyalty to the team that drafted him.
That type of commitment and loyalty is a big part of who DeRozan is and those around him are well aware of it.
Kyle Lowry, the other half of the Raptors driving force to NBA prominence, has been almost inseparable from DeRozan in the five years the two have been teammates and developed a bond that even Golden State perennial allstar Kevin Durant admits he is jealous of.
The first word out of Lowry’s mouth in describing how he felt about DeRozan becoming the team’s all time leading scorer was “commitment.”
“Just shows the commitment, how good he is at basketball and it’s an honour for me to be a part of this and to witness it the last five years and now to see a guy I played against as a rookie, who didn’t play much, maybe 12, 13 minutes a game to a guy who is playing 40 minutes a night, top four in NBA scoring and just works his ass off.”
And make no mistake DeRozan didn’t earn his newfound status without putting in the work.
Year in and year out he goes home after each season and comes back a better player.
It’s as much his calling card as his mid-range game that defies today’s analytics.
And because of it, DeRozan is going to keep adding to that team record number of points which should ensure a long stay at the top, certainly longer than the time Bosh had as No. 1.