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Film Room: Assessment of Terrence Ross in 2016-17

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By Josh CohenApril 25, 2017

The addition of Terrence Ross changed the way the Magic played. They shifted to a small-ball approach, which helped them play at a faster pace and improved their spacing.

While he was very unpredictable and inconstant in the 24 games after the trade from the Raptors, Ross delivered several terrific performances. He scored 20 points or more four times with the Magic, including erupting for 29 against the Pacers.

Ross is a streaky, but aggressive perimeter shooter. Sometimes, he catches fire. Other times, he’s off target. However, he’s enough of a 3-point threat that defenders can’t let him stray along the arc. He’s equally effective shooting off screens, off the bounce and in spot-up situations.

Watch Ross fly around a wide pin screen and bury the triple:

Ross has solid footwork when he drives inside. He has a Eurostep and a good running floater. He shot 50 percent from five to nine feet away from the basket with Orlando.

Watch him elude Doug McDermott and sink the floater in transition:

Ross is extremely athletic and he has excellent court awareness. There were a few plays this season where he took advantage of backdoor screens and sailed to the hoop for alley-oop slams. Watch:

Ross is an underrated defender. He has good lateral foot speed and Is very instinctual. He intercepted a lot of passes this season and also had a few poke-aways that led to breakaway buckets.

Watch Ross strip the ball away from his former teammate, Jakob Poeltl, and finish with a 360 dunk:

Ross needs to figure out this offseason how he can be more consistent, especially from 3-point distance. He shot 34 percent from beyond the arc with the Magic. He has the mechanics, confidence and opportunity now to become a 40 percent or higher 3-point shooter.

Ross also needs to initiate more contact. He’s never been a physical player or one that looks for a whistle. He only averaged 1.1 free throw attempts with the Magic this season.