Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
It’s been three weeks since Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey moved Terrence Ross to the bench. In those three weeks, the third-year swingman has shown maturity and worked his way through the shooting slump that plagued him through the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015.
Ross was one of the lone bright spots in Toronto’s 109-93 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night. Scoring a team-high 23 points on nine-for-16 shooting, he connected on five-of-11 3-point attempts and added three rebounds and a block in 29 minutes. He played down his night after the game, and said the key to a better performance was playing through the slump and not focus on his shooting struggles.
“You can’t think about it too much,” Ross said. “[You’ve got to keep] doing what you’ve been doing to get you to where you are even if it’s not working at the moment. Everybody goes through ups and downs. It’s a long season so it’ll get back to where you were.”
The 24-year-old said he was comfortable moving back to the bench because of his experience playing a reserve role in the first season of his career. As for the shooting woes, he knew he had to stay patient and continue to put in the work and the process would pay off.
“You have to shoot your way out of a slump,” Ross said. “Once you get in it, you have to shoot your way out. I get extra shots up, but for the most part you do the same thing. You don't want to change something and do it different and get all the way out of sync.”
While Ross’ laid-back attitude has helped him to take the adjustment in stride, his veteran teammates have been impressed with his approach through a rough stretch.
“He’s young,” Patrick Patterson said. “[The] number one thing with Terrence is he’s young. The sky is the limit for him. For him to go from a starter, to getting a lot of touches, a lot of shots, a lot of looks to coming off the bench, it’s a huge change. Of course Terrence wants to be a starter, everyone wants to be a starter in the league, but Terrence is young and he’s learning and he’s just trying to get back into his groove.”
When Patterson came to the Raptors in a midseason trade from Sacramento it didn’t take long for him to sing the praises of Ross and his potential. A year later, he’s even more convinced of what Ross’ game can become.
“Coming into this year he put on a little more weight, he can attack the paint, attack the basket, use his body and be more physical,” Patterson continued. “He’s also hitting shots on the perimeter and he’s still guarding the best player on the defensive end. His maturity, his ability to stay focused and wanting to be that go-to guy on the defensive end it just shows how much he’s improved and how much he’s gotten better.”
Lou Williams has been a star reserve over his 10 years in the league and knows a thing or two about personal sacrifice for team success.
“He’s responded very well,” Williams said. “That’s the great thing about this group. Whatever it takes to win. Sometimes guys are put in positions where they have to make compromises, have to make sacrifices. The T-Ross situation is like that and he’s responded great.”