Raptors Discussion: v96| Playoff Round 1 vs Philadelphia

[leafsleafs]

Ya know, I never do this, but there is a guy here that is really annoying. Thinks he knows, and he doesn’t know shit.

Nice game Fred.

 

[djdev]

tank over lol.

 

[1specter]

Raptors are unreal right now. I thought this was supposed to be a fairly bad team. But they are 4-0 on the road so far, wow. 6-3 overall.

They were unfairly written off due to last season being such a shit show with the move to Tampa, team getting covid (they were in 4th place when that happened), various injuries etc. A team that has Siakam, FVV and OG and coached by arguably the best coach in the NBA in Nurse was always going to be competitive. Then you add in Barnes and have other young developing pieces like Trent Jr, Svi, Achiuwa etc and that's a pretty legit team.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I can't wait to see what our lineup can do at full strength.

Very pleasantly surprised so far.

 

[Suntouchable13]

They were unfairly written off due to last season being such a shit show with the move to Tampa, team getting covid (they were in 4th place when that happened), various injuries etc. A team that has Siakam, FVV and OG and coached by arguably the best coach in the NBA in Nurse was always going to be competitive. Then you add in Barnes and have other young developing pieces like Trent Jr, Svi, Achiuwa etc and that's a pretty legit team.

With that being said, I don't think anyone had them being 4-0 to start the season on the road playing in some tough buildings. Knicks, Boston, Washington, not exactly chopped liver. Really impressive.

 

[hotpaws]

fun team to watch , they just keep working and working on D which wears teams out

OG is developing very quickly as a go offensive guy and Trent is playing his ass off at both ends , great trade by Masai .

if Siakim can come back and play the way he did during our championship series this team could go a long way in the playoffs

love Nurse and Masai

 

[djdev]

night and day from 1st game of the season, when we move the ball on offense and trust teammates we are a very good team, even precious kicking the ball out for 3s tonight. thats how we need to play.
but clearly we go as far as our defense, and ye, we are terrifying defensively lol

 

[Leaf Rocket]

someone like dragic will have value regardless, based of his career as a whole and his playoff performances. hes a known commodity and a solid career shooter. while not playing him doesnt help his value of course, i dont believe it hurts his value a great deal either., at least as of yet.

yea Im not worried was a bit of in a sleep drunk craze last night hahah.

Also @Gary Nylund I hope you watched today's game, it was a good one as well

 

[Leaf Rocket]

They were unfairly written off due to last season being such a shit show with the move to Tampa, team getting covid (they were in 4th place when that happened), various injuries etc. A team that has Siakam, FVV and OG and coached by arguably the best coach in the NBA in Nurse was always going to be competitive. Then you add in Barnes and have other young developing pieces like Trent Jr, Svi, Achiuwa etc and that's a pretty legit team.

I think people really forgot how murphy's law played last year for us and how much it messed with the team for sure.

 

[djdev]

yea Im not worried was a bit of in a sleep drunk craze last night hahah.

Also @Gary Nylund I hope you watched today's game, it was a good one as well

lol nice

 

[canucksfan]

What are the chances Barnes plays Friday? Any word?

 

[djdev]

What are the chances Barnes plays Friday? Any word?

i saw a post by lewenberg i believe that said its probable he misses a few more games, but its not for sure. i really want a mobley/barnes showdown.

 

[stickty111]

I don't think we talk about how smart Nurse really is. His defensive IQ is the best in the league. He knows how to run a defence and is constantly adjusting based on situation and team. The players deserve credit for executing but it starts with the system.
You combine a roster with 2 way and role players with an elite coach, you get a team that is always competitive.

 

[djdev]

I don't think we talk about how smart Nurse really is. His defensive IQ is the best in the league. He knows how to run a defence and is constantly adjusting based on situation and team. The players deserve credit for executing but it starts with the system.
You combine a roster with 2 way and role players with an elite coach, you get a team that is always competitive.

his subs tonight, especially that last birch substitution...
#chefskiss

also..ye, his defensive schemes are usually a step ahead of everyone else

 

[1specter]

With that being said, I don't think anyone had them being 4-0 to start the season on the road playing in some tough buildings. Knicks, Boston, Washington, not exactly chopped liver. Really impressive.

Yeah, I didn't expect them to handle the Knicks and Wizards like that without Barnes and Siakam. How can you not love this team after that? These guys always fight to the end

 

[Gary Nylund]

yea Im not worried was a bit of in a sleep drunk craze last night hahah.

Also @Gary Nylund I hope you watched today's game, it was a good one as well

I did watch, thanks for thinking of me and it was indeed a good one.

I don't think we talk about how smart Nurse really is. His defensive IQ is the best in the league. He knows how to run a defence and is constantly adjusting based on situation and team. The players deserve credit for executing but it starts with the system.
You combine a roster with 2 way and role players with an elite coach, you get a team that is always competitive.

I agree. Nurse is very sharp, creative and probably doesn't get enough credit. I think my favourite Nurse moment is him audaciously pulling out the zone against GS in the final, that's a sweet memory that I'll probably take with me to the grave.

Yeah, I didn't expect them to handle the Knicks and Wizards like that without Barnes and Siakam. How can you not love this team after that? These guys always fight to the end

I think that is a very good word to describe this team - lovable. How cool is it that we can lose the most lovable player in Raptor history, the incomparable Kyle Lowry and still be this lovable? Well a big part of the answer is Barnes but still ...

Let's not forget that this was the only team in the NBA that didn't play a single game at home last season. Well they're back now and they're back with a vengeance baby!

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[djdev]

sounds about right tbh, its the first thing i thought when i saw the "arrogant" thing.

 

[trellaine201]

Yeah, I didn't expect them to handle the Knicks and Wizards like that without Barnes and Siakam. How can you not love this team after that? These guys always fight to the end

Unlike some other team I know and cheer for lol cough

 

[donghabs98]

I think people really forgot how murphy's law played last year for us and how much it messed with the team for sure.

Last year really played out well I'd say. I think last season played out really well. We needed a reset and considering it was an abnormal season where we were basically played the season on the road, the conditions were ripe for ideal to have a write off season.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Just finished watching the PVR. Nurse is a genius lol. His ability to create good systems offensively and defensively is tops in the NBA. We might not be a contender yet but with Siakam I guarantee you no one wants a piece of us in round 1, especially if Scottie maintains/improves his game.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Raptors are unreal right now. I thought this was supposed to be a fairly bad team. But they are 4-0 on the road so far, wow. 6-3 overall.

We were supposed to be great defensively and god awful offensively because we only have a few good shooters and wouldn't space the floor like the elite teams. Scottie has improved to the point where he can be a decent scoring option way sooner than anyone expected and people are moving the ball and buying in. Who would have guessed GTJ would play such tight D for us?

 

[Puckstuff]

Did the Raptors seriously go through a one year rebuild just to become very good again?

Philly could use the example lol.

There’s only one Masai.

I was wondering today if Nurse/Masai leave in the future can the systems be replicated to continue these results into the future without Masai?

If yes, couldn’t teams just start poaching members of the Raptors executive staff into their own teams?

Raptors are truly the Tampa Bay Rays of the NBA right now in terms of finding and developing talent. Whatever their doing is working. The philosophy is clearly to find big physical players with a good two-way game while other teams load up on scorers but the ability to develop so many of these guys is really awesome. We haven’t even been drafting in the top 5 other then Barnes.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

yea sounds about right...and also very sad we still have to deal with this kind of bs.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Last year really played out well I'd say. I think last season played out really well. We needed a reset and considering it was an abnormal season where we were basically played the season on the road, the conditions were ripe for ideal to have a write off season.

I guess so, it definitely was a time for a reset and with the current view on scottie barnes, hey it seems like it was worth it.