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rocwell wrote:
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YikesOnly one thing matters: We The Champs. -
yes. nurse just split norm's minutes with mccaw after he hardly played all post season. if he thinks OG's healthy enough i think he'll put him out there to see what he's got.bertarapsfan wrote: View PostComment
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McCaw was mostly to match up with Livingston it looked like. and it was a pretty good matchup like to see more of it. to me I'd only lean on OG at this point once Durant returns to guard him or use him with pascal to match the warriors small ball look. that being said ita gonna be a really big ask to play well in the finals after a month and a half off. look no further then Demarcus cousins last game to see how hard it is to come back to this type of intensity of a game.chris wrote: View PostTo be the champs you got to beat the champsComment
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As much as the part of media still favoring Warriors and GSW team members themselves tried to point out that the Raptors had to get an incredible game from Pascal and Gasol to barely win on the home floor, I wanted to point out couple of things that can be thrown the otherway.
1) The fact that more standard games from Pascal and Gasol can and will be compensated by better games from Kawhi and Lowry.
2) There is also lots of margin for improvement on our side when it comes to rebounding. Most importantly preventing GSW getting open 3's off of offensive rebounds. I think they got around 15 easy points on us in game 1 off those instances as they pulled down 9 off rebounds and it seemed like they got easy open looks every single time in those situations of chaos against our defence that was otherwise shutting them down entirely. They have no business winning the board battle against us, especially on the offensive glass. We clean up those defensive boards, now we're up 20-25 pts instead of 10.
3) Pascal will continue his stellar play. This is why: the only person who can limit his effectiveness or efficiency is Pascal himself. What I mean is that he can have a game where his shot is off. There is nobody on that GSW who can stop him really. Well there is Iggy and KD. But KD is not available. Iggy is injured and is already tasked to defend Kawhi. Green won't be able to stop him. This is why: Green is one of the best defenders in NBA history. He can defend 98% of the players in the NBA because he's very sound fundamentally, moves well and cuts of space between the offensive player and the rim. It works on almost everybody. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, Pascal doesn't care about the space down low at foot level and the lowerbody level. His entire game is predicated on funky looking body contorsions and getting his looks at the rim at very odd angles that he is actually extremely comfortable with. So Siakam doesn't care about a well positioned defender, it's what he actually prefers and always exploits. To effectively shut him down you need someone who's stronger than him (which Green is), just as long or longer than him (Green is neither) and just as athletic as him (Green is not) so they can meet him at the apex and bother the shot right there. Embid was all of that, so was Giannis and Brooks. And they were able to limit him. Green has only the strenght and the smarts. He will be able to get stops in slowly evolving situations. But not if Siakam gets deep position on him or is going at him at full speed. Look for Siakam to continue having a strong offensive series, albeit not at 80% clip from the floor.
4) Without KD and an injured Iggy playing limited, I think GSW forgot how thin their margin for error is. Right now, with the mentioned inavailability of KD, Curry AND Klay need to play close to a perfect game to have a chance at winning the game. It's already hard to play against our D, but imagine either Klay or Thompson having a bad shooting night. Say Klay goes 5-20 or worse. It happens regularly. They have absolutely 0 chance against us if only 1 of them struggles with their shot. And it gets even worse if both struggle or both have a night of mediocre efficiency.
5) Since 1985, the home team that won game 1 of NBA Finals went on to win the Finals 79% of the time. Home team winning games 1&2 went on to win the Finals 89% of the time. Home team splitting games 1&2 still went on to win the Finals 70% of the time. Even if we're playing against GSW and these numbers must be adjusted a little, they are still very much in our favor. But it's evident that game 2 is of extreme importance.
Go Raptors!Last edited by BadDinosaur; Sun Jun 2, 2019, 05:57 AM.Comment
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Throwing a player out there for a few minutes to "see what he's got" has been Nurse's modus operandi all season, and has continued into the playoffs, so I expect you are correct.chris wrote: View PostComment
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Interesting observation. You are certainly correct about Pascal's funky body positioning when he takes his shot at the rim. He got blocked numerous times at the rim but, as you say, it was by longer, stronger players. Green isn't that. It will be a matchup to watch today.BadDinosaur wrote: View Post
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So Drake cursed the heavyweight champ too?rocwell wrote: View Post
Man the curse is soooooo real, Raps must have some secret anti-curse in the building, maybe it's Masai?
If I was an athlete, I would get a restraining order with a 1000 ft barrier between me and the camera-seeking one ....Comment
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I've seen a lot of positive confidence in that Raps can take this in the past few days. I think it's good they realize the warriors are mortal like everyone else.
On the other hand, you want to maintain the intensity and treat every game like a tide-turning game that it is. Raps won just one game so far. At home. It certainly looks like they have the tools to win it all, but I don't want to sound like the Orlando fans were sounding like after game 1. There's still a ton of work to do.
Tonight's game will be very revealing. If Igoudala is banged up, they have a great chance here to make this 2-0.Comment
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Everyone is understating the abilities of Marc Gasol. Yes, he had an above average game 1 compared to those he’s had with the Raptors.
Gasol can give you 90% percent of those stats every night. This guy has played in huge games at the national level, and stood toe to toe with team USA.
This is championship level Gasol and expect it every game
Another thing that goes understated is the amount of raptors veterans (Gasol, Lowry, Serg) that have never one a chip. I think that alone gives you an extra gear. Should be fun Game 2.Comment
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Totally agree. To me, the Raps can stop themselves from winning in one of these games. They could lay an egg playing without any sense of urgency like they did in game 3 against Philly and got blown out and the same happened in game 2 @Milwaucke. I hope they learned the lesson after 2 such instances and won't come out flat against the Warriors. It's really important they stay focused and play with 100% effort the entire game in each game this series. You don't want to give any confidence to their role players by allowing them to run you over. They have to feel pressure every game and with every game GSW loses, the pressure on their role players will increase exponentially. Eventually, they could fall apart entirely as soon as game 3 if we're up 2-0 and the score in game 3 is tied or even in our favor at halftime. We have to win the mental war, be tougher and don't let them have their minds in a comfort zone. This is why game 2 is paramount. We lose it, they stay extremely confident and it's an uphill battle for us. They lose, all the pressure is on them and home court advantage of game 3 could turn into another element of pressure to deliver and confidence will be extremely fragile all of a sudden.inthepaint wrote: View Post
As a bonus: guys like Draymond in these high leverage moments would be susceptible to technical fouls as he'll surely start arguing every call with the refs and he or some other Warrior could end up with a flagrant foul and be even ejected. For that to happen, to break their will and composure we need to win the next 6 quarters of these finals.
Go Raptors! Make this happen tonight! Play with relentless energy, but smart.Last edited by BadDinosaur; Sun Jun 2, 2019, 08:48 AM.Comment
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It looks like the science of jinx-ism is far from settled.rocwell wrote: View Post
There's no such thing as a 2nd round bust.
- TGOComment
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This series is SO far from over. Lose game two and RR will predictably implode.
Win and go up 2 after two home games and it's still not over.
Play every game like it's game 7, never let up, no passengers, protect home court ....Comment
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Siakam is inside Draymond's head I believe. He did go off on a riff about being the best or something and then Pascal outplayed him. It may well be that Kerr will have his team pay extra attention to PS. How will this impact on the more freedom Kawhi will have? Delicious.Comment
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It's the trifecta tonight:
Scott Foster (#48)
Tony Brothers (#25)
Ed Malloy (#14)
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Off topic but relevant ... I didn't know where to place it... consider it a warm up article?
Silver remembered about Naismith. Isn't Almonte where RR "Doc" is from/resides ?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...=.c0241d93d785While Toronto was making its first appearance in the Finals, Silver noted that James Naismith, the sport’s inventor, hailed from Ontario.Comment
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