It seems that every sports commentary show is obsessed with the narrative of “how much the game has changed.” The prevailing idea seems to be that the increased usage of the three-point shot has made the game virtually position-less, and that old concepts no longer apply. However, no matter how coaches or players approach the game, there are certain rules of thumb that will forever remain constant.
One element of basketball that will never decrease in importance is rebounding. If a team fails to secure the ball on the defensive end, their opponent will capitalize with second-chance points.
It is almost impossible to win a game if one team grossly outrebounds another and gets second-chance shot attempts. And, while positions may not be as defined as they were in the past, power forwards and centers still do the majority of the rebounding. They are the biggest players on the floor and spend the most time in the paint, so cleaning the glass is one of their primary duties.
DeMar DeRozan is a wing player who’s averaging 5.9 rebounds per game through the first nine games of Chicago’s season. To have a perimeter player grabbing around six boards every night is a luxury that Head Coach Billy Donovan and his staff must appreciate.
Most shooting guards and small forwards rarely crash the glass and are even less likely to box out when a shot attempt goes up. That is not the case with DeRozan. He is conscientious about making sure the player he’s guarding doesn’t get the ball, and equally as deliberate in pursuing the rebound himself.
Having a veteran player who puts forth this type of effort can only serve to rub off on the young guys; it’s not just his game that’s at an All-Star level, it’s his leadership as well.
were announced today</a>, Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan should be included.</p>
<p>In 1985, New York Knicks forward Bernard King was named an NBA All-Star for the second consecutive season. He would go on to finish the season with a league-leading 32.9 points per game.</p>
<p>In a league filled with stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Julius Erving, nobody put the ball in the basket with more regularity than the former Tennessee Vol that season. And then his career took an unexpected turn.</p>
<p>In a road game against the Kansas City Monarchs that very season, King suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg. He would miss the remainder of the season, and the entirety of the following one.</p>
<p>Then, after several surgeries and years of comeback attempts, everything fell into place for King in the 1991 season. He returned to form, averaged 28.4 points per game, and was once again named an All-Star. It had been six seasons since his last All-Star game appearance; King had gotten over the hurdle and proved all of his doubters wrong.</p>
<h2>Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan should be an All-Star this season</h2>
<p>This year, another high-scoring forward is undergoing a resurgence similar to King’s in the Windy City. DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls has not made the All-Star team since 2018. This season he has returned to form and is playing at an All-Star level.</p>
<p><a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/derozde01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">DeRozan</a> is enjoying a rebirth that not many casual observers could have predicted. The last time DeRozan made the All-Star team was in 2018 as a member of the Toronto Raptors.</p>
<p>It is no secret that being traded to the San Antonio Spurs by the only organization he’d ever played for affected DeRozan deeply. However, he seems to have put those feelings behind him and is now playing some of the best basketball of his career. Let’s take a closer look at why DeMar DeRozan is on track to become an All-Star once again this season.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Elite rebounding at the wing position </a>
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<img class="wp-image-437739 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2347,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1351767519.jpeg" alt="DeMar DeRozan" width="3200" height="2347" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1351767519.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1351767519-768x563.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls passes under pressure from Tyrese Maxey #0 and Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Why Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan should be an All-Star: Elite rebounding from the wing position</h2>
<p>It seems that every sports commentary show is obsessed with the narrative of “how much the game has changed.” The prevailing idea seems to be that the increased usage of the three-point shot has made the game virtually position-less, and that old concepts no longer apply. However, no matter how coaches or players approach the game, there are certain rules of thumb that will forever remain constant.</p>
<p>One element of basketball that will never decrease in importance is rebounding. If a team fails to secure the ball on the defensive end, their opponent will capitalize with second-chance points.</p>
<p>It is almost impossible to win a game if one team grossly outrebounds another and gets second-chance shot attempts. And, while positions may not be as defined as they were in the past, power forwards and centers still do the majority of the rebounding. They are the biggest players on the floor and spend the most time in the paint, so cleaning the glass is one of their primary duties.</p>
<p>DeMar DeRozan is a wing player who’s averaging 5.9 rebounds per game through the first nine games of Chicago’s season. To have a perimeter player grabbing around six boards every night is a luxury that Head Coach Billy Donovan and his staff must appreciate.</p>
<p>Most shooting guards and small forwards rarely crash the glass and are even less likely to box out when a shot attempt goes up. That is not the case with DeRozan. He is conscientious about making sure the player he’s guarding doesn’t get the ball, and equally as deliberate in pursuing the rebound himself.</p>
<p>Having a veteran player who puts forth this type of effort can only serve to rub off on the young guys; it’s not just his game that’s at an All-Star level, it’s his leadership as well.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Reliable three-point shooting </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-437750" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1217,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1351873054.jpeg" alt="DeMar DeRozan" width="1600" height="1217" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1351873054.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1351873054-768x584.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls shoots against Furkan Korkmaz #30 and Shake Milton #18 of the Philadelphia 76ers (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Why Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan should be an All-Star: Reliable three-point shooting</h2>
<p>Once upon a time, there was a tongue-in-cheek phrase being uttered on playgrounds and open gyms across the country. Whenever a guy would pass up an open look from beyond the arc and decide to drive to the basket instead, he would look at the crowd on the sidelines and say “DeMar don’t shoot threes.”</p>
<p>A few knowing chuckles would always follow. It didn’t matter that the guy’s name probably wasn’t DeMar. Making a difficult contested layup in the paint instead of shooting an open 3-pointer was a page out of DeMar DeRozan’s playbook. Everyone knew who the phrase was referring to.</p>
<p>However, slowly but surely, the characterization of DeMar DeRozan as the guy who passes up open three-point shots has become inaccurate. The Bulls’ best player, Zach LaVine, is a slasher who can wreak havoc upon defenses when he puts the ball on the floor and drives into the paint.</p>
<p>Nikola Vučević, their other perennial All-Star, is a capable outside shooter, but must also get touches in the post in order to be most effective. That means that DeRozan and the rest of Chicago’s supporting cast must do their part by knocking down the open shots created when defenses collapse on their stars.</p>
<p>Through nine games this season, DeRozan has not been shy about shooting the long ball. So far, he is taking 2.1 attempts per game and knocking them down at a clip of 42.1 percent. If he keeps this up, he’s going to go from being known as a guy who doesn’t take three-pointers to one of the most reliable long-distance shooters in the league.</p>
<p>For Chicago Bulls fans, it’s a welcome transformation, and yet another reason the former USC Trojan is on pace to return to the All-Star game this season.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Overall scoring </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-437751" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1350747974.jpeg" alt="DeMar DeRozan" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1350747974.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1350747974-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls shoots a three-point shot in the second half of a game against the Boston Celtics (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Why Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan should be an All-Star: Overall scoring</h2>
<p>I’m not old enough to have witnessed the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s. However, every adult I speak to who was a basketball fan during that era swears up and down that they were the best team ever assembled.</p>
<p>In contrast, when I speak to younger fans whose most vivid memories are from the past ten years, they are fully convinced that the 2017 Golden State Warriors were the best team the NBA has ever produced. The reason why these two teams have garnered the allegiance of their respective generations can be summed up in one concept: scoring. Both teams made it look effortless.</p>
<p>While the Lakers may have scored most of their points in transition and the Warriors utilized half-court player movement and great passing, both teams knew how to put the ball in the basket.</p>
<p>The scoreboard is the ultimate measure of who’s best, and teams and players that score at will often capture the imagination of audiences. This season, DeMar DeRozan is on pace to have one of the best scoring years of his career.</p>
<p>The 26.8 points per game he is averaging thus far is much higher than anyone anticipated. With Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević both expected to score more than twenty points per game, it didn’t seem logical that DeRozan would get enough touches to join them. So far, he’s proven that theory to be inaccurate.</p>
<p>When DeMar DeRozan was traded from the Toronto Raptors to the San Antonio Spurs in 2018, it marked the end of an era. Years from now, his jersey will hang from the rafters in Canada, but for now, he has embarked on an exciting new chapter of his career.</p>
<p>The Chicago Bulls look poised to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, and DeRozan is a huge part of that. If he keeps playing the way he has thus far, he’ll make an appearance in the All-Star game along the way.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Transition scoring is key to Chicago's offensive success" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/26/chicago-bulls-transition-scoring-success/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/09/demar-derozan-return-form/2/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/26/chicago-bulls-transition-scoring-success/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Transition scoring is key to Chicago's offensive success </a> </div>
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