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Well...Another season in the books and another disappointing start, perhaps even the finish, to the postseason. Through the doom and gloom to the high points we definitely can't say it has been a boring ride to this point. From the rise of the backcourt duo, to the sweep of the Wizards; From two bloody, seven game series wins, to the inevitable downfall to the champions. These past 4 years have been the most successful stretch this franchise has ever seen, and to say as a Toronto Raptors fan you are not proud of it, is utterly blasphemous. We got to witness what it takes to be a successful team in the NBA; The blood, sweat and tears that shape up a winning culture. The NBA also got to witness the crazed, perhaps even delusional, Raptors fan's.
Now we find ourselves in a 2-1 series deficit against a team that is putting up the blood, sweat and tears to build their own franchise. The more optimistic fans will say, 'hey, we've been here before, we can win this!'; but even the most optimistic of all probably has asked themselves, 'where do we go from here?'. Game 3 was a sobering realization of sorts. It got me questioning, even if we win this series, do we have what it takes to win a championship? It also got me thinking how much luck was a factor in our successful post season run last year. We were one Frank Vogel quarter away from possibly having 3 straight 1st round exits; we were one 3 pointer away in Game 2 from possibly being down 3-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Like myself, I assume most of us here are lifetime fans of this team. We've emulated Vince Carter in our driveways. We've also plummeted the stock of Primo Pasta. More so than not, we've seen tumultuous years that we choose not to remember(for a good reason). So perhaps when we started winning, our love for this team blinded us from the possibility that this team is ill suited for a deep playoff run. It blinded us from the fact that Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan are not superstars. Perhaps Paul Pierce was right all along.
Through this sobering realization, perhaps not all is lost. Looking at our team objectively, we have bright young pieces in the form of players such as Delon Wright, Norman Powell and Jakob Poetl. We have a Finals bound D-League team led by a promising Jerry Stackhouse; But the cold truth still remains, we do not have the superstar that can take us all the way. The big question also remains, where do we go from here? We could choose to ride this ship til it burns to the ground by keeping this core together and be the Clippers of the east, or we can burn it down ourselves and start fresh. It all depends how you see it.
Winning is fun, addictive, but the crash utterly hurts. Personally I want this team to be a champion, and unfortunately we have to take the dark road back to the basement in order for that to happen. The question I pose to you is, which road would you take? The yellow brick road of a fun team to watch, or the dark winding road into the unknown, with the hopes of finding a championship contender?
Now we find ourselves in a 2-1 series deficit against a team that is putting up the blood, sweat and tears to build their own franchise. The more optimistic fans will say, 'hey, we've been here before, we can win this!'; but even the most optimistic of all probably has asked themselves, 'where do we go from here?'. Game 3 was a sobering realization of sorts. It got me questioning, even if we win this series, do we have what it takes to win a championship? It also got me thinking how much luck was a factor in our successful post season run last year. We were one Frank Vogel quarter away from possibly having 3 straight 1st round exits; we were one 3 pointer away in Game 2 from possibly being down 3-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Like myself, I assume most of us here are lifetime fans of this team. We've emulated Vince Carter in our driveways. We've also plummeted the stock of Primo Pasta. More so than not, we've seen tumultuous years that we choose not to remember(for a good reason). So perhaps when we started winning, our love for this team blinded us from the possibility that this team is ill suited for a deep playoff run. It blinded us from the fact that Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan are not superstars. Perhaps Paul Pierce was right all along.
Through this sobering realization, perhaps not all is lost. Looking at our team objectively, we have bright young pieces in the form of players such as Delon Wright, Norman Powell and Jakob Poetl. We have a Finals bound D-League team led by a promising Jerry Stackhouse; But the cold truth still remains, we do not have the superstar that can take us all the way. The big question also remains, where do we go from here? We could choose to ride this ship til it burns to the ground by keeping this core together and be the Clippers of the east, or we can burn it down ourselves and start fresh. It all depends how you see it.
Winning is fun, addictive, but the crash utterly hurts. Personally I want this team to be a champion, and unfortunately we have to take the dark road back to the basement in order for that to happen. The question I pose to you is, which road would you take? The yellow brick road of a fun team to watch, or the dark winding road into the unknown, with the hopes of finding a championship contender?