Game #70: Toronto Raptors VS Detroit Pistons - 17/03/19 - 4:00PM ET - TSN

[A.I]

Nurse may not have stabbed Casey with the knife, but he might have given it a twist or two in the exit interviews. lol.

Of course, it was quite obvious Nurse didn't agree with some of Casey's decisions.

[GLF]

Of course, it was quite obvious Nurse didn't agree with some of Casey's decisions.

Even if that is true Casey was gone and should have been gone no matter what. He did it to himself and needs to chill and look in the mirror

[Superjudge]

Players make plays. Coaches make a much smaller difference than people give credit for. With these two know each other inside out, none of this crap matters. Toronto plays Detroit in the First round, they sweep them. Period.

[MixxAOR]

Of course, it was quite obvious Nurse didn't agree with some of Casey's decisions.

Lets not act like Casey never threw assistant coaches under the bus

[slaw]

I only saw the first half, where, the officials made damn sure Toronto didn't bury Detroit early. My question to you guys, were they still a factor in the Second half??

No, Raps played in fits and starts. Bench unit really hurt them again. End of game execution was poor. Usual stuff from all season. I am told they will fix it all when the playoffs start so nothing to worry about.

[Superjudge]

No, Raps played in fits and starts. Bench unit really hurt them again. End of game execution was poor. Usual stuff from all season. I am told they will fix it all when the playoffs start so nothing to worry about.

hahahahaaa.
Time will tell I suppose!

[slaw]

Imagine defending Casey

It’s tough to be an effective troll in Raptorland these days but not everyone got the memo.

[suspenders]

Blah. What an un-fun loss. It is what it is, I suppose.

But it still sucks.

[Zak24gege]

This team is coasting. This coach is over his head.

[golden]

No, Raps played in fits and starts. Bench unit really hurt them again. End of game execution was poor. Usual stuff from all season. I am told they will fix it all when the playoffs start so nothing to worry about.

Called it after the Raps had that big win in Golden State early in the year. After that, they started playing like a team that "thinks" they can flip the switch - compete and focus whenever they feel like it. Sometimes they can't find that switch when you can tell they want to win the game.... like on national TV games, or last game against the Pistons. Anyways, Masai made this season 100% about the playoffs, so load management, lack of focus, experimentation and all that during the regular season. It is what it is, and will be what it will be.

[Scraptor]

Lets not act like Casey never threw assistant coaches under the bus

RIP Tom "Impose Our Will" Sterner

[inthepaint]

Jack Armstrong summarized it best "As the season nears a close, you gotta have more and more quality minutes, then minutes where you're just 'searching' ".

Nursed got "sonned" by Casey once again. Had a lineup of Lin-MCaw-Norm-OG-Moreland for a rather long time. No one on this lineup can reliably score. You will not see them together in the playoffs. It will not advance the team on-court chemistry. It has no "experimental" value, even if you believe it's still okay to experiment in mid March. Why have them all together? Pistons promptly open up their largest lead (10). Threw several games away this season because of lineups like this on key stretches. Saw the mistake in the second half and had FVV start and Siakam anchor the 2nd unit but the damage was done, at that point we were chasing

I'd give someone a free kick on my left testicle if we had Sarunas Jasikevicius as coach and he decided to have these 5 players on the court at the same time, on a neck-and-neck game, against a potential playoff opponent that already had beat us 3 times this year. He would never allow Detroit to get this much confidence. Now if we draw them in the first round, they'll come out cocky. We'd still win the series on talent, but it will be much more hard-fought then it has to be, because mentally they would be in a great place, probably crossing their fingers now to draw the Raptors.

Nurse sometimes treats this team as some development league team in pre-season/training camp. This is a all-in year where the team top talent is already defined, and it's mid March. Let's please stagger our starters more.

[A.I]

Lets not act like Casey never threw assistant coaches under the bus

That is why Nurse didn't agree with Casey. Casey was stubborn to the point where he threw people under the bus, didn't listen to his assistant coaches, and so on.

[golden]

Jack Armstrong summarized it best "As the season nears a close, you gotta have more and more quality minutes, then minutes where you're just 'searching' ".

Nursed got "sonned" by Casey once again. Had a lineup of Lin-MCaw-Norm-OG-Moreland for a rather long time. No one on this lineup can reliably score. You will not see them together in the playoffs. It will not advance the team on-court chemistry. It has no "experimental" value, even if you believe it's still okay to experiment in mid March. Why have them all together? Pistons promptly open up their largest lead (10). Threw several games away this season because of lineups like this on key stretches. Saw the mistake in the second half and had FVV start and Siakam anchor the 2nd unit but the damage was done, at that point we were chasing

I'd give someone a free kick on my left testicle if we had Sarunas Jasikevicius as coach and he decided to have these 5 players on the court at the same time, on a neck-and-neck game, against a potential playoff opponent that already had beat us 3 times this year. He would never allow Detroit to get this much confidence. Now if we draw them in the first round, they'll come out cocky. We'd still win the series on talent, but it will be much more hard-fought then it has to be, because mentally they would be in a great place, probably crossing their fingers now to draw the Raptors.

Nurse sometimes treats this team as some development league team in pre-season/training camp. This is a all-in year where the team top talent is already defined, and it's mid March. Let's please stagger our starters more.

Raps had a boatload of confidence heading into that series with the Wizards, the year we swept them in the regular season. How'd that work out for that rock pounding crew?

[planetmars]

Three Pistons always seem to give us trouble. Griffin, Drummond and Ish F@cking Smith. JV was the answer to AD. Gasol just has no clue. And God bless Siakam but Griffin is just too hard a match up for him. And it feels like Blake gets in Siakam's head. We did better when Kawhi switched on him. But Kawhi is not the same Kawhi as he was last the last few years. His defensive switch is off as a Raptor. He uses his size well but he sleeps a lot on defense. I'm hoping he turns that switch on during the playoffs. That's what I'm looking forward to. Just not sure if he has it or if he will use it.

Gasol was our weak link tonight. Where are the posters that were loving the trade? Man.. what a disaster. Gives you meh on offense. Struggles in the post. Soft as hell. Can't rebound worth a lick. And when he uses his body to do something, he gets called for a foul. And we have to play him next year too. Masai I love yah.. but this trade was awful. And yeah Lin was garbage too.

On the bright side.. Fred was pretty good. He threw some errand passes that led to turn overs. But his shot was good. You'd think he'd have some rust after missing 12 games but it didn't show. OG was decent again. He needs to play the 3 more. Just can't with Kawhi around. Swap OG for a decent 4 in the summer if Kawhi stays? I guess it depends on the 4.. but OG+Gasol and a FRP for Love this summer? Who says no?

Sucks to get swept. So we had no answer for Detroit, Houston, Denver, and Orlando so far. Still have to play against OKC.

And yeah no Lowry or Serge. So the excuse card can be used. But it really sucks to be swept by Casey of all coaches. Casey's a pretty awesome troll.