Raptors Discussion: v77| Season of Kawhi III: No Kawhi, no problem -or- the death & rebirth of Kyle Lowry

[McDeepika]

Up 4 with the ball and Lowry took a bad shot but I didn’t mind him taking it. He needs to be aggressive and confident.

Frustrating to lose 2 games in Boston that we should have won. Led late in both. I think we take them in the playoffs. Not sure if we will beat the bucks.

 

[1specter]

f*** the city of Boston, as far as sports go

 

[Maplebeasts]

**** the city of Boston, as far as sports go

Nah in general too.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Nah in general too.

Yup one of the most racist cities in the world.
F*** the city of Boston.

 

[lovemyleafs]

Smfh we lost to Bruins, Celtics and the Pats won.
We were 0/3.

Frustrating .

Masai and Dubas are gonna have to make a move for sure, because the Celtics and Bruins are more than likely gonna face us in the playoffs.

 

[Eyedea]

Smfh we lost to Bruins, Celtics and the Pats won.
We were 0/3.

Frustrating .

Masai and Dubas are gonna have to make a move for sure, because the Celtics and Bruins are more than likely gonna face us in the playoffs.

I'm not sure there was anything a Toronto team could do to beat the Pats.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

 

[BAM]

That's like arguing that Curry isn't the best PG in the league because he's really a 2 guard. And to suggest Kyrie is the reason why the Celtics have not been playing up to their expectations this season is doing a disservice to him. He has easily been their best player this year, and along with Morris and Smart, one of the few who has actually been trying to get them out of their scuffle.

Let's also not act like Wall hasn't had Beal and Porter, who have been predominantly efficient scorers the last few seasons, and have continued to do so in Wall's absence this month (with Beal performing even better than before).

Curry is a far better off-ball player than Kyrie. And he plays in a system that preaches ball movement. Kyrie's impact is far greater with the ball in his hands, Curry's gravity on/off-ball is huge, probably second only to Bron. We've seen what Kyrie does when he's not "the man" on his team, problem is I don't know if he's a good enough two-way player to be the best player on a championship team. He's too inconsistent. At his best, he looks like a top 2 point guard and one of the most clutch players in history. The game he played against the Raps last night is what he's capable of every night. He needs to bring that every night for the Celtics to be the team they need to be.

And Kyrie is the best player on that team yes, but calling guys out for not knowing how to win when Kyrie has yet to win a playoff series without Bron and his teammates got to the ECF game 7 without him is a bit too much. Kyrie think's he's on Lebron, KD, Kawhi, Steph level when he's really Lillard level.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

Getting a scorer off the bench is sorely needed for our playoff run
I love Lowry but he's not a reliable scorer anymore

 

[BAM]

Getting a scorer off the bench is sorely needed for our playoff run
I love Lowry but he's not a reliable scorer anymore

I agree I'd rather have him off-ball as a third option. If they can't get a scorer before the TDL I'd really like to see the ball in the hands of Leonard and Siakam more with Lowry, Green, Ibaka providing the spacing for these guys to operate.

 

[trellaine201]

I’m sure glad I’m not a paying customer for these raptor home games and the random best players sitting out for no real reason.

 

[stickty111]

I’m sure glad I’m not a paying customer for these raptor home games and the random best players sitting out for no real reason.

Resting is a real reason.

 

[GoonieFace]

Resting is a real reason.

Thats a tough one. I mean hockey players play back to back all the time. I know its hard to compare the 2 sports, but playing 20 minutes of hockey is probably just as gruelling as 35-40 minutes of basketball.

 

[stickty111]

Thats a tough one. I mean hockey players play back to back all the time. I know its hard to compare the 2 sports, but playing 20 minutes of hockey is probably just as gruelling as 35-40 minutes of basketball.

Lowry recently came back from injury so it makes sense to not push him. Leonard because of last season is also understandable.

 

[GoonieFace]

Lowry recently came back from injury so it makes sense to not push him. Leonard because of last season is also understandable.

In Lowry's case I agree, Leonard should be playing back to backs by now. Im guessing he might of if they werent playing the Suns. Point is though, I would be upset going to see a game that I can barely afford and not seeing their best player.

 

[Eyedea]

Curry is a far better off-ball player than Kyrie. And he plays in a system that preaches ball movement. Kyrie's impact is far greater with the ball in his hands, Curry's gravity on/off-ball is huge, probably second only to Bron. We've seen what Kyrie does when he's not "the man" on his team, problem is I don't know if he's a good enough two-way player to be the best player on a championship team. He's too inconsistent. At his best, he looks like a top 2 point guard and one of the most clutch players in history. The game he played against the Raps last night is what he's capable of every night. He needs to bring that every night for the Celtics to be the team they need to be.

And Kyrie is the best player on that team yes, but calling guys out for not knowing how to win when Kyrie has yet to win a playoff series without Bron and his teammates got to the ECF game 7 without him is a bit too much. Kyrie think's he's on Lebron, KD, Kawhi, Steph level when he's really Lillard level.

How could you complain about Kyrie’s off ball play when he was doing that with LeBron and posting elite shooting numbers (particularly come playoff time)? Curry is obviously in a league of his own, but defers to Durant often enough who is obviously one of the best in the league as well. Kyrie now has to defer to... Marcus Smart and Al Horford?

You made the remark that Kyrie is a ball stopper despite posting a 35.6% assist rate this year (highest since his rookie year), when in actuality Tatum has been the biggest culprit of this in the Celtics starting lineup. Everybody was touting the 19 year old’s playoff performance, and now all of a sudden he thinks he can take iso jumpers like he’s Kawhi. Rozier regressed, Brown regressed, Hayward hasn’t fit in as well as they initially thought he would. Kyrie had every right to complain considering the young players of that squad (aside from Smart) have been complacent this year, just assuming that they’re “star” power and depth would be unmatched in the east.

 

[stickty111]

Getting a scorer off the bench is sorely needed for our playoff run
I love Lowry but he's not a reliable scorer anymore

The tweet makes it even more clear we another scorer

 

[Eyedea]

Lowry’s playing tonight.

 

[The Nemesis]

Wow, WTF you doing there, Jackson?

Not even attempting to dress that up as a basketball play, just goes all in on the shove. :

 

[The Nemesis]

**** yeah, Siakam!

 

[Eyedea]

Finally a play drawn for Siakam, and a game winner to boot.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Finally a play drawn for Siakam, and a game winner to boot.

This youngster is very impressive. Wow!

 

[La Masse]

Siakam has to be top 3 for most improved

 

[stickty111]

Just one more shooter/scorer would make a huge difference to the second unit.
Nice play call by Nurse. He didnt go with the most obvious guy in Lowry.
Siakam is awesome.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Siakam >>> Bosh