DeMar DeRozan is using his anger to fuel a scoring rampage

Over the summer, Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated had the gall to rank DeMar DeRozan as the 46th-best player in the NBA. It was a fair, if somewhat-harsh ranking. DeRozan is a great one-on-one scorer, but struggles defensively and still isn’t much of a three-point shooter.

That sort of logic didn’t fly with DeRozan himself.

It’s one thing to talk the talk, but it’s entirely another to walk the walk. The 2016-17 NBA season is young, but so far, DeRozan’s doing a lot to ProveEm wrong.

DeRozan has scored at least 32 points in each of the Raptors’ first three games, including a 40-point night in the opener against Detroit. He’s doing it in typical DeRozan fashion, bullying smaller players one-on-one. Here’s a crazy stat for you:

Kobe is a good analogue for DeRozan. Not only is he a player DeRozan idolizes, but they also play a similar style. DeRozan thrives by going one-on-one, attacking downhill, changing speeds, and spinning into pull-up jumpers. So did Kobe in his day.

So far, those shots are falling. DeRozan is 12 for 24 on paint not in the restricted area and 18 for 35 on mid-range jumpers. He’s also averaging nearly eight free-throw attempts per game, carrying over a point of emphasis from last season. He’s doing everything he’s always done, except better.

Maybe those shots will stop falling and the holes in DeRozan’s game will show. Or, maybe he’ll continue to drop buckets and make that No. 46 ranking look foolish. Either way, he’ll be motivated.