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What do these late season wins mean?

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  • What do these late season wins mean?

    These late season wins against legitimate playoff teams fighting for home court advantage are obviously not greta for tank nation, but just what do they mean for the Raptors?


    1. Andrea and Jose are not as important to this team as we/some thought
    2. Casey's system and coaching have earned the respect of the players and they are "buying in"
    3. Players play harder when their job is on the line (D-leaguers) than players fighting for play-off positioning
    4. Teams are underestimating the Raps D-league line-up


    I recognize that these wins can be attested to a variety of reasons. Who's to blame for these wins in your books?
    33
    Jose and Andrea aren't as important to this teams as we/some thought
    6.06%
    2
    Casey is "the man"
    54.55%
    18
    D-leaguers care more than everyday players
    15.15%
    5
    Teams are underestimating us
    24.24%
    8
    Last edited by The Coach; Sun Apr 15, 2012, 10:57 PM.
    “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
    ― John Wooden

  • #2
    All of the above.

    Comment


    • #3
      Underestimation. Happens to the best of teams.

      I think that has quite a bit to do with the Red Sox collapse kast season.

      Teams get full of themselves let the foot of the gas and lose composure.

      Plus, fatigue plays a factor and contracts in this case.

      You've got a tired team already in the playoffs vs. a tired team out of the playoffs... However it's got a bunch of guys fighting to stay in the big leagues.

      Ofcourse, that is the most obvious one. It could mean things are starting to come together.
      If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

      Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.

      Comment


      • #4
        Dwane Casey has changed the culture in terms of defense, and a team wanting to win and compete no matter what the situation.

        He is beating teams undermanned and with unproven talent, or players no where near their missing talent.
        Twitter: @ReubenJRD • NBA, Raptors writer for Daily Hive Vancouver, Toronto.

        Comment


        • #5
          I don't think it "means" anything more that when two teams with NBA "talent" play each other, anything can happen. After all, New Orleans beat Memphis today too. But I do tend to agree that Jose and Andrea's value to this team is a little overstated. Yes, they are the 'best players' (whatever that means), but all that gets you is a guarantee to be a lottery team. The one thing that I would observe is that DeRozan tends to me more aggressive with Andrea out. Next year, they are going to have to learn to play together or they are going to have to trade one of them. My vote would be for Bargnani, only because he would fetch more in the open market.

          Comment


          • #6
            The Coach wrote: View Post
            1. Andrea and Jose are not as important to this team as we/some thought
            Both of these guys put up great positional numbers:
            Jose( Ast/Turnover) can really run and offense well
            Andrea (pts) an offensive mismatch

            ... however it comes at great cost amongst the worst defenders in the league at their position(s) respectively.
            "I may be wrong ... but I doubt it"

            Comment


            • #7
              I've got another option: exhaustion. Teams are tired and beat and they are on the last stretch of a marathon. We are both younger at our core with Demar, James Johnson, and Ed Davis and we have some D league guys who are completely fresh. The Hawks and the Celtics are both pretty old and in my opinion, not that deep to begin with. We are going to go on a little run here with D league guys because of this.

              Bargnani and Calderon are both still big parts of this organization and this will not effect that. They may be traded after this season, but that would be more because the team may have a different vision for the future, not because we beat a couple very tired playoff teams.

              Another argument would be that the players Casey has now fit his defense better. I would also add that Demar and Ed are both playing a bit better over the last month.
              "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

              -Churchill

              Comment


              • #8
                In this day and age teams do a great deal of advanced scouting, keying their defence to what other teams run. Now you throw in 3 new different starters and no Bargnani to key in on and teams are just not ready for what we are throwing at them on the floor. Casey is doing a solid job preparing the guys he has and getting the most out of them, nobody like to lose.
                Twitter @WJ_FINDLAY

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                • #9
                  A prototypical PG who doesn't turn the ball over is important to any system regardless if some successful systems don't currently have it.

                  I don't think the wins need to necessarily mean any of those things mentioned by the way. I don't think we need to be reading into these wins. It's the end of the season. Some teams have phoned it, some teams are looking ahead to the playoffs, some teams are banged up. There is a lot going on.

                  The Raptors playing vintage Raptors basketball right now and I called this in the pre-season, not because I'm smart but because I've seen it play out like ten times now: The Raptors play up and down all season but overall miserably. They climb into the ranks of the pathetic and just when season is doing it's final swirl down the drain they win a bunch of games and kill there lottery odds at a top three pick. Vintage Toronto Raptors Basketball.

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                  • #10
                    It's probably a combination of all of the above.

                    But either way, one of my biggest worries coming into this season was how this team would compete late in the season, when we're so far out of the playoff race, that players have no [immediate] motivation to compete hard. Although I'm a strong member of TankNation, I'm impressed with Casey's ability to keep his troops fighting.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      If we'd lost the last two games we'd be tied with Sacramento for the 4th worst record in the league. By winning them, we're tied for 6th worst with the Nets with the same amount of wins as Golden State and Detroit. We could conceivably 'fight our way' to the 9th worst record by the end of the year and further and further away from the lottery. The last two wins would mean more to me if the Hawks and the Celtics didn't look so damned disinterested.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        These wins are so disheartening. Ultimately (from a coaching/learning perspective) does it really matter if you win 20 games or 25 games? The Raptors are a few wins away from throwing away the chance at getting a top 5 pick and further slowing down a proper rebuilding process. DeRozan should be shut down..these wins are bad for the organization in the long run

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                        • #13
                          ogitheserb wrote: View Post
                          These wins are so disheartening. Ultimately (from a coaching/learning perspective) does it really matter if you win 20 games or 25 games? The Raptors are a few wins away from throwing away the chance at getting a top 5 pick and further slowing down a proper rebuilding process. DeRozan should be shut down..these wins are bad for the organization in the long run
                          What about all the people that paid or are paying to see the games in person, and the companies that buy advertising? Mailing it in or fielding a crappy product is something a fan, with nothing invested can call for, but ethically, it is completely wrong. Wrong thing to show the players, wrong to treat paying customers like that (imagine a restaurant serving crap food because they were saving the good stuff for when the restaurant critics come in for their Friday night meal), and completely negates the concept that every game is important and players can't afford to coast.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Puffer wrote: View Post
                            What about all the people that paid or are paying to see the games in person, and the companies that buy advertising? Mailing it in or fielding a crappy product is something a fan, with nothing invested can call for, but ethically, it is completely wrong. Wrong thing to show the players, wrong to treat paying customers like that (imagine a restaurant serving crap food because they were saving the good stuff for when the restaurant critics come in for their Friday night meal), and completely negates the concept that every game is important and players can't afford to coast.
                            In this analogy, the Raptors have been serving crap food for 16 years. If it means shutting down the restaurant before we can improve the quality of the food, I'm all for it.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Nilanka wrote: View Post
                              In this analogy, the Raptors have been serving crap food for 16 years. If it means shutting down the restaurant before we can improve the quality of the food, I'm all for it.
                              Agreed. This season should have had a "Closed for rennovations" or "Extermination in Progress" sign hung on it.

                              Unfortunately, some players missed that memo and are playing over their heads against teams at the right time who are looking past us, leading to some unanticipated wins. Great for the morale of the players, half of whom likely won't even be part of the team. Yay! So we get a rennovation with shoddy workmanship that will likely need to be upgraded sooner than hoped. The Raps can't even tank right, unless we get some major help from the ping pong balls.

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