Big Guy Posted November 25, 2014 Report Posted November 25, 2014 Hey - Toronto is now 12-2. Anybody expect this? Watched my first Raptors game last night to see for myself. A whole different team than I remember. Case in point - near the end of the game, Lowry is bringing the ball down the floor and gets the ball stolen from him, sprints down the floor following a ball and blocks the lay-up and goes into stands - THEN - he hustles down the floor and sets Derozan up for an easy shot. These guys want to win and are learning to do so. Is it time to expect them to at least make the playoffs? Quote Note - For those expecting a response from Big Guy: I generally do not read or respond to posts longer then 300 words nor to parsed comments.
Michael Hardner Posted November 25, 2014 Report Posted November 25, 2014 Is it time to expect them to at least make the playoffs? I think that's reasonable. The interesting thing to me is that they don't seem to expect to be where they are, so they're not appearing to be complacent... yet. Quote Click to learn why Climate Change is caused by HUMANS Michael Hardner
Boges Posted November 25, 2014 Report Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) I think that's reasonable. The interesting thing to me is that they don't seem to expect to be where they are, so they're not appearing to be complacent... yet. They were expected to be top 3 or 4 in the conference. Anything short of a second round appearance in the playoffs this year would be a gigantic disappointment. The Cav's being a disappointment early in the season as well as Chicago not living up to expectations are more of the story. The Raptors have a schedule that has them playing at home a good majority of the month. If they can go on the road against Western conference teams and win consistently then we'll know this team is for real. The team is better because they maintained their core and 3rd year players Jose Valanciunas and Terrence Ross should improve. They also added two important bench pieces in James Johnson and Lou Williams. They're 9 or 10 "good" players deep. They fell behind huge against the Cavs Saturday but their bench brought them back. Edited November 25, 2014 by Boges Quote
guyser Posted November 27, 2014 Report Posted November 27, 2014 Crickets?...kind of. Seems at least in some circles the fans (apart from the ubers) are waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it likely will at some point. The Raps, are good, in fact quite good but they are winning with some strange metrics and in some ways remind me of the Leafs of last year. All said, this tema iwll make the playoffs without a doubt. They should go deeper than ever before, of course that means a second round matchup but hey, take it and move on. Fun to watch and maybe they are the real thing this year. Sure is nice to have Quote
ProudCanadianConservative Posted November 28, 2014 Report Posted November 28, 2014 I think their biggest reason for success as of late is Masai Ujiri, he is the best executive in the NBA, he showed that in Denver and he's showing that in Toronto. He has a real eye for unseen or undervalued talent, take Lou Williams, he's an elite scorer, and he was able to get him for John Salmons expiring contract because Lou was injured most of last season. The Rudy Gay trade which some people thought was the Raptors giving up, was really what brought in the key elements to make them a playoff contender. Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson were the heart of their bench, and he added Lou Williams and James Johnson to make it deeper. However it's not all Masai, it's also players developing under Coach Casey, Kyle Lowry finally getting a leadership role on a team, and DeMar DeRozan proving he wasn't yet another wasted Raptors lotto pick. Also the developing of Jonas Valanciuanas is instrumental, I believe he has the potential to become a top 5 center in the NBA, he's still young. The reason why many Toronto fans are so excited about this team, is that most of the other years that Toronto was competitive they had either a lot of veteran players, or their big name stars had wanted out. Now it's different because a lot of the stars are still fairly young in the career, JV has yet to enter his prime, DeMar is just entering his prime, and Lowry and Amir are in their prime. The Toronto Raptors will be a playoff team for years to come, what many people were talking about Toronto's offseason and keeping the core together, what it really was in changing basketball culture. For many years although Toronto is a pretty big market, it hasn't been treated as such because it's the only Canadian team in the NBA, and basketball was seen as a distant third as far as Canadian's favorite sports. It still is, however with the influx of Canadian talent, mostly from the Toronto area things have changed. There was a time where there were only 4 Canadians in the NBA, now there are 16, with more coming. Quote True North, Strong, and Free
Boges Posted December 1, 2014 Report Posted December 1, 2014 2 L's in a row and DeRozan out for more than a month. Now we'll see if this team is for real. Quote
Big Guy Posted December 4, 2014 Author Report Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) 15-4. Watched the game last night. I was impressed with the team effort. Even with Lowrys 39 points, the ball was shared by all. Is it time to roll off the Leafs wagon and on to the Raptors wagon? Edited December 4, 2014 by Big Guy Quote Note - For those expecting a response from Big Guy: I generally do not read or respond to posts longer then 300 words nor to parsed comments.
Boges Posted December 4, 2014 Report Posted December 4, 2014 15-4. Watched the game last night. I was impressed with the team effort. Even with Lowrys 39 points, the ball was shared by all. Is it time to roll off the Leafs wagon and on to the Raptors wagon? For now . . . . . . The Leafs are pretty good too. That loss to the Lakers is still a bummer though. Beating up on the Jazz and Kings, on the road granted, don't count as signature wins. Vasquez could start for many teams, so having him in their for DeRozen isn't that much of a downgrade. Quote
guyser Posted December 4, 2014 Report Posted December 4, 2014 Is it time to roll off the Leafs wagon and on to the Raptors wagon?Why not get both? The Raps are for real, the Leafs seem to be so , at least real in the middle and upper pack so why get of one for the other. I have lots of time for both. Quote
guyser Posted December 9, 2014 Report Posted December 9, 2014 Good win last night, struggled a bit but in the end the win column grows. Still a bit PPO'd losing to Cleveland, hopefully payback comes tonight. Both are coming off a game last night . Nets have Will and Kate, we have Nav....we win. Quote
guyser Posted December 10, 2014 Report Posted December 10, 2014 Payback....none found so far. Grrrr.... But the Leafs did beat the Flames so ya know....I gots that going for me. Quote
Bob Macadoo Posted December 10, 2014 Report Posted December 10, 2014 They have a glaring hole at the 4.....Amir is NOT a starter. Teams will exploit this. Need a trade working now. Package Patterson with some bench deadwood and get a sub-all star. Quote
guyser Posted December 11, 2014 Report Posted December 11, 2014 Isnt the bench the reason for the success? I hear that from the announcers all the time, and not just the homers. Quote
Bob Macadoo Posted December 11, 2014 Report Posted December 11, 2014 Isnt the bench the reason for the success? I hear that from the announcers all the time, and not just the homers. A bench keeps you in a game.....starters win you a game. A bench loses most value once the stretch and playoffs start. Quote
Big Guy Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Posted December 16, 2014 Wow - 19-6 best in the division. Their top scorer out and they keep winning. This team may be for real. The only criticism I have is their new motto; "We The North". Sounds like some illiterate rapper. Quote Note - For those expecting a response from Big Guy: I generally do not read or respond to posts longer then 300 words nor to parsed comments.
Boges Posted December 16, 2014 Report Posted December 16, 2014 Wow - 19-6 best in the division. Their top scorer out and they keep winning. This team may be for real. The only criticism I have is their new motto; "We The North". Sounds like some illiterate rapper. Slow your role. The division is, by far, the worst in the league. They're clinging to the number one seed in the conference though. They've lost twice to Cleveland in the past week. From now until the new year they play the league's dregs They're 2-0 agains the Knicks and Magic, they have four more games against losing Eastern Conference teams. It's good that they can win the games they should win but still. They've been rather average agains "good" teams. DeRozen should be back by the time this "soft" stretch is over with. So that's good. But this team's judgement will happen in April. Quote
Boges Posted February 9, 2015 Report Posted February 9, 2015 A big shot against the Raptors had been that they hadn't been beating "Good" teams in assembling their great record. They'll make the playoffs by default this year because the 4 other teams in their division are embarrassing, so games against solid teams are very important. In the past week and a bit they've won 3 games against really good teams. (DC, Clippers and the Spurs) Those L's against the Bucs and Nets the middle of last week were a downer but they've opened up a 3 game lead on the 3rd place team in the conference. They're 2-0 so far in an 8 game stretch against good teams. Hopefully they can keep it up. Quote
Bob Macadoo Posted February 9, 2015 Report Posted February 9, 2015 A big shot against the Raptors had been that they hadn't been beating "Good" teams in assembling their great record. They'll make the playoffs by default this year because the 4 other teams in their division are embarrassing, so games against solid teams are very important. In the past week and a bit they've won 3 games against really good teams. (DC, Clippers and the Spurs) Those L's against the Bucs and Nets the middle of last week were a downer but they've opened up a 3 game lead on the 3rd place team in the conference. They're 2-0 so far in an 8 game stretch against good teams. Hopefully they can keep it up. I'm still seeing too many isolation plays (Lowry, Derozan....and now JJ it would seem). Should be like the Hawks.....not the Warriors Quote
Boges Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 Well since the Blue Jays season is over, it's nice to have the Raptors to fall back on. 5-0 for the first time in team history. A team, last year, that was seen as defence adverse, have brought in some good defensive pieces (Scola, Biyamba and Carroll) Last night on a back-to-back on the road they overcame an early 12-point deficit against the offensively potent OKC Thunder. The end result was keeping the KD and Russell Westbrook team to under 100 points for the first time this season. The Raptors started very well last season only to falter at the end and got swept in the first round. We can't speculate that they'll repeat that late season swoon. But fans can only be hopeful that this teams focus on defence can allow them to have a deeper run in the playoffs. No chance they win the title though. The GS Warriors seem to be a lock to repeat. Quote
Boges Posted January 25, 2016 Report Posted January 25, 2016 I have a feeling no one on this site cares about the Raps but as Canadian teams go, they're one of the best. They've won 8 games in a row and are 2 games behind Lebron's Cavs, who just fired their coach. The Raps will likely have 2 Allstars as they host the game at the ACC. They're a really exciting team to watch, I hope Canadians get behind them like they did with the Blue Jays. Granted they still have to prove they can win in the playoffs. Quote
Boges Posted January 29, 2016 Report Posted January 29, 2016 10th win in a row, granted against a greatly diminished Knicks team. They also have 2 All Stars in the upcoming Toronto NBA Allstar game. The Raps have arguably the second best back court in the NBA. Quote
Boges Posted April 14, 2016 Report Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) No one cares about Basketball on this board. . . BUT! The Raptors just finished the winningest regular season in Toronto Big 4 (MLB, NHL, NBA) sports history. Pretty impressive. Now can they win in the playoffs? Edited April 14, 2016 by Boges Quote
cybercoma Posted April 14, 2016 Report Posted April 14, 2016 I follow the Raptors. They've got a good chance this season. I think first round we're facing the Pacers. Quote
cybercoma Posted April 14, 2016 Report Posted April 14, 2016 I'm pretty sure GSW and the Spurs are going to dominate though. I will be very surprised if a team from the east wins. Quote
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