Author Topic: Toronto Raptors  (Read 2143 times)

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Offline cybercoma

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #75 on: February 20, 2019, 08:07:02 am »
What are your thoughts on OG this year? He hasn't been playing as well (despite the career high last game).

I know he has had personal issues with his father dying, which is unbelievably tough for such a young guy (he's only 21, I think). But I think the problem lies elsewhere.

Last season, Casey had OG playing at the 3, while Nurse has him playing most games at the 4. We have Danny Green starting at the 3, Norm who fits in that spot, and until the recent trades CJ was interchangeable with Norm as backup. OG was starting at 3 last year.

So about that career high the last game. He was playing most of the game at 3. He excels there. He's able to move off ball more and he can lock down just about anyone in the league who plays that position. The problem is we still have Powell and Green in those spots. I would like to see Nurse play OG at the 3 more, but then what do we do with Norm? Here's what I see as the lineups:

Starters
Lowry, Leonard, Green, Siakam, Ibaka

Bench
Lin, Van Vleet, Powell, Anunoby, Gasol

In my opinion Van Vleet, plays better off ball, so he should be a shooting guard most of the time. The trouble with that is his height makes him easily exploitable on the defensive end.

I'm not sure how to get Anunoby into that 3 spot. You can't bump Powell further down the roster. He's been on fire lately. And you can't move Powell to shooting guard because the team is spoiled for guards.

I think what might end up happening is that Powell (maybe a some other assets) will get traded while he's hot (read: valuable) for someone to cover the bench power forward position. OG then moves to the three for the bench and whomever they pick up takes up the four.

You know, it would be nice if Boucher could play the four but he's a center all day. He's not fast enough to cover the guys in the league who play the four.

So going forward, I think one of the Raptors' biggest issues is not using OG to his full potential and having a mismatch of players to their most effective positions. I'm confident that Gasol will eventually be the starter and Ibaka will be coming off the bench, but this still doesn't address the problem they have with OG being out of position and not having a proper spot for Norm in the rotation. Norm's place at the moment is hurting OG's game, but it's improving Norm's. It's a messy problem, I think.

Offline Boges

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #76 on: February 20, 2019, 10:09:31 am »
OG has good raw talent and has room to grow. But on this team he's lost. That last game again the Wizard, the Raps were short several players, so he could start and dominate.

I believe the starting 3 right now is Pascal with Kawhi at the 4. Danny is the SG. Nurse can fit players in beyond that as he sees fit. I think a rotation of 8 or 9 players going into the playoffs is all that we'll see.

The bigger question is Should Gasol start?

Ibaka plays much better at the 5 than the 4 assuming he's matched up against a comparable 5. Before JV got hurt, he'd get the starting nod. But Gasol is a few notches above JV. So I'm not sure how that'll be handled. It's a good problem to have though.



Offline cybercoma

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #77 on: February 20, 2019, 10:22:52 am »
Personally, I think Gasol should probably start, since he's a far better facilitator than Ibaka. Ibaka is also incredibly slow on the switches, suggesting a poor basketball IQ. Gasol seems to always be exactly where he needs to be. On the other hand, Ibaka appears to be a much better shot blocker and scorer. So it's tough. I think they'll probably do what they did with JV and start either Ibaka or Gasol depending on matchups.

And sorry, you're right. Green is the shooting guard and Kawhi is the SF. Siakam is the PF with Ibaka or Gasol at C. So Powell swaps out for Kawhi and OG fits into that space as well. They're playing OG at Siakam's position this year though and he can't seem to hang with other PFs as well as I he was hanging with the SFs last year and last game.

Offline kimmy

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #78 on: March 20, 2019, 02:00:47 am »
Although not about the Raptors, this story of a 40 year old college student who still dreams of putting the ball through the ring is interesting.

https://longreads.com/2019/03/19/is-it-ever-too-late-to-pursue-a-dream/

 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #79 on: March 20, 2019, 06:07:14 am »
Although not about the Raptors, this story of a 40 year old college student who still dreams of putting the ball through the ring is interesting.

https://longreads.com/2019/03/19/is-it-ever-too-late-to-pursue-a-dream/

 -k

Long article - is this just an April Fool's release that got out early ?

Offline kimmy

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #80 on: April 22, 2019, 01:22:48 am »
The Raptors managed to put the ball through the ring today, and are now one win away from advancing to the second round!

The game was on at the bar this afternoon, and while I am no expert on the basketball, Mr Leonard certainly seemed to be having a good day.

 -k
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Offline cybercoma

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #81 on: April 22, 2019, 08:23:27 am »
Mr. Leonard had a bad day the game before last. Turns out, playing professional-level basketball with the flu sets the difficulty level a lot higher.

Offline Boges

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #82 on: April 24, 2019, 10:28:48 am »
I believe Kawhi Leonard is one, if not the best, athletes to ever play in Toronto. It's a shame we may only see him for one season.

The series with Philly depends on how Siakam handled Jimmy Butler. They have the advantage with Ben Simmons and Joel Imbid IMHO.

Offline cybercoma

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #83 on: April 30, 2019, 10:51:54 am »
Kawhi is definitely the best Raptor of all time already. He was in the discussions for best player in the NBA a few years ago and that's with Lebron, Harden, Durant, Curry, etc. all being there.

He's also the only one showing up consistently in these playoffs.

Raptors bench is trash-tier at the moment though. Fred Van Vleet last night with zero points, zero assists and an plus minus of -18. Completely unacceptable. Serge leaving the lane open all night. Norm playing defence like it's a rec league. Just bad bad bad. You can't drop home games in the playoffs.

Offline Boges

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #84 on: May 01, 2019, 08:34:07 am »
Kawhi is definitely the best Raptor of all time already. He was in the discussions for best player in the NBA a few years ago and that's with Lebron, Harden, Durant, Curry, etc. all being there.

He's also the only one showing up consistently in these playoffs.

Raptors bench is trash-tier at the moment though. Fred Van Vleet last night with zero points, zero assists and an plus minus of -18. Completely unacceptable. Serge leaving the lane open all night. Norm playing defence like it's a rec league. Just bad bad bad. You can't drop home games in the playoffs.

Siakam is playing well too. Despite a pathetic offensive showing in Game 2, Danny Green had an open look to tie the game in the last 20 seconds. It was a bad shooting performance.

You have to hope that's the only game were they're that bereft of offence and that Jimmy Bulter isn't that good going forward.

Offline cybercoma

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #85 on: May 02, 2019, 08:26:30 am »
Butler is going to be good but the cold shooting will kill the Raps. The defence is on point though. Kept them under 100 both games. Game 3 tonight!

Offline Boges

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #86 on: May 06, 2019, 12:30:14 pm »
Kawhi Leonard is one of the best athletes to ever play in Toronto. That show over Embiid with a minute left was ridiculous.

Offline kimmy

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #87 on: May 06, 2019, 09:34:50 pm »
Kawhi Leonard is one of the best athletes to ever play in Toronto.

In terms of stature within their sports, Roger Clemens might be the best comparison?    Guys like John Tavares or Auston Matthews are great players, but not in the top handful of players in their league, nor was Mats Sundin.

 -k
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Offline Boges

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #88 on: May 07, 2019, 09:40:37 am »
In terms of stature within their sports, Roger Clemens might be the best comparison?    Guys like John Tavares or Auston Matthews are great players, but not in the top handful of players in their league, nor was Mats Sundin.

 -k

Roger Clemens and Roberto Alomar are the only comparable players I can think of. As much as we wax poetic about previous Leafs, they rarely had the best players in the league.

Offline kimmy

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Re: Toronto Raptors
« Reply #89 on: May 08, 2019, 10:05:53 am »
When I sat down at the bar, the Raptors were leading by 20 points.  When my drink arrived, they were leading by 30.  And when my food arrived, they were leading by 40.

 -k
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