And Fred VanVleet had the best season of his career last year, both statistically (20.3 pts per game) and in terms of recognition with a first selection in the All-Star Game, he however experienced a painful exercise on the physical plane. Especially after All-Star Weekend.
Then embarrassed by his knee, “FVV” remembers two very complicated oppositions on the defensive plan against LaMelo Ball and Trae Young, while the Raptors took two slaps against the Hornets and the Hawks.
« It shook me all over the place Remembered Fred VanVleet, referring to a Trae Young who cracked the Raptors defense on all sides, with 41 points at 17/24 on shots. ” I lost confidence in my defense because he was scoring on me like no one had ever done before. »
Despite this first alert in February, Fred VanVleet let the competitor in him speak for the rest of the season and continued to play. And he especially paid the consequences in the playoffs, since he missed the fifth and sixth game of the series against the Sixers, this time because of hip pain.
Learn from mistakes then adapt
« I’m such a competitor that when I’m on the field, I end up not paying attention to the signals sent by my body. But when I see my body language during the All-Star Game or the three-point contest, you see that there is a problem ” he added. ” I recognize that it was probably a bad reading on my part, I was physically far from where I thought I was. […] I looked like a totally different player, with a different attitude. It was a tough time for me, but I’m learning from it. »
A speech similar to that of his coach, who recognized that it is sometimes complex to force such an important player to rest.
« When you have a guy who, beyond playing well, is also a great competitor, it’s hard to put him to rest. It’s not easy to tell him: ‘Sorry, it’s your day off’ confided Nick Nurse. ” But I think we learned to shape our collective without him. And I think we’re gonna have to be more able to do that [cette saison]. »
It will first be necessary to convince Fred VanVleet, still not thrilled by this idea.
« It was a choice I made, and in hindsight, it ended badly. But I can’t say I won’t do it again. I just need to have a more relevant approach concluded the Toronto All-Star point guard.
| Fred VanVleet | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saison | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Fte | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2016-17 | TOR | 37 | 8 | 35.1 | 37.9 | 81.8 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.9 |
| 2017-18 | TOR | 76 | 20 | 42.6 | 41.4 | 83.2 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 8.6 |
| 2018-19 | TOR | 64 | 28 | 41.0 | 37.8 | 84.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 11.0 |
| 2019-20 | TOR | 54 | 36 | 41.3 | 39.0 | 84.8 | 0.3 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 6.6 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 17.6 |
| 2020-21 | TOR | 52 | 37 | 38.9 | 36.6 | 88.5 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 19.6 |
| 2021-22 | TOR | 65 | 38 | 40.3 | 37.7 | 87.4 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 6.7 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 20.3 |
| Total | 348 | 28 | 40.4 | 38.2 | 86.0 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 13.7 | |
