Where Do The Raptors Rank In The East?

[S.R.]

This guy wants it.

[Apollo]

I love it. It's his league for the taking.

[planetmars]

That little video doesn't do it justice. He nailed a 3 in front of AD's face after AD tried to do the same on the other end but bricked it.

Giannis is a boss. The Bucks are scary good though. Let's see what they are made of in the playoffs though. It's all about that next step for them.

[Apollo]

I mean they proved a lot last playoffs. Then they met Kawhi. I think they will likely meet him again this year.

[golden]

This guy wants it.

Giannis ain't messing around this year.

[slaw]

I mean they proved a lot last playoffs. Then they met Kawhi. I think they will likely meet him again this year.

That's the thing, they were rolling last year in the playoffs until they ran into the Raptors and, not only Kawhi, but a very unique combination of size, athleticism, high IQ players and very good coaching. It won't be easy to replicate what the Raptors did to them.

[golden]

That's the thing, they were rolling last year in the playoffs until they ran into the Raptors and, not only Kawhi, but a very unique combination of size, athleticism, high IQ players and very good coaching. It won't be easy to replicate what the Raptors did to them.

Heck, the Bucks were even steamrolling the Raptors for a couple games, and we barely squeaked out a win at home to stay in the series long enough to for Nurse to make the rights adjustments. The whole justification for firing Casey and hiring Nurse paid off right then and there.

Another adjustment not widely mentioned is that apparently just before Fred caught fire from 3, Nurse told him to start shooting 3's a lot deeper than he normally does. Kudos to Fred to be able to pull that off under playoff conditions.

[slaw]

Heck, the Bucks were even steamrolling the Raptors for a couple games, and we barely squeaked out a win at home to stay in the series long enough to for Nurse to make the rights adjustments. The whole justification for firing Casey and hiring Nurse paid off right then and there.

Another adjustment not widely mentioned is that apparently just before Fred caught fire from 3, Nurse told him to start shooting 3's a lot deeper than he normally does. Kudos to Fred to be able to pull that off under playoff conditions.

Nah, Raps blew Game 1 in the fourth. The only game Toronto didn't outplay the Bucks was Game 2. That series wasn't as competitive as the box scores indicate.

[The Great One]

That little video doesn't do it justice. He nailed a 3 in front of AD's face after AD tried to do the same on the other end but bricked it.

Giannis is a boss. The Bucks are scary good though. Let's see what they are made of in the playoffs though. It's all about that next step for them.

Giannis shot has improved a lot. He's shooting 3's with confidence now. This is what I'm saying about DeRozan. Why can't he improve his 3pt shot? he's been in the league for 10 years now.

Brook Lopez entered the league as a post up guy now he's knockdown shooter. Siakam couldn't shoot whatsoever when he first entered the league. Now he's creating 3's off the dribble - and he's only in year 4. Blake Griffin is another one. I can go on and on. Why can't DeRozan do the same?

[KeonClark]

Nah, Raps blew Game 1 in the fourth. The only game Toronto didn't outplay the Bucks was Game 2. That series wasn't as competitive as the box scores indicate.

Agree. The Raptors trusted the process, and were never worried. I too felt quietly confident going back to Toronto

The most underrated Kawhi quote of his entire tenure?

reporter after game 2: "Kawhi, where do the raptors go from here?"
Kawhi, monotone and without missing a beat: "we go back to Toronto for game 3."

[DanH]

Giannis shot has improved a lot. He's shooting 3's with confidence now. This is what I'm saying about DeRozan. Why can't he improve his 3pt shot? he's been in the league for 10 years now.

Brook Lopez entered the league as a post up guy now he's knockdown shooter. Siakam couldn't shoot whatsoever when he first entered the league. Now he's creating 3's off the dribble - and he's only in year 4. Blake Griffin is another one. I can go on and on. Why can't DeRozan do the same?

Now, Giannis has indeed improved his shot but he's always taken a decent number of them, and that's the main difference between he and DeMar in that regard. DeMar had a couple seasons where he took almost 3 and almost 4 attempts per game, and scored only about 30% of those shots. He had one season where he put up 34% on about 2 attempts per game.

Giannis is tossing up 5 attempts a game. But it's worth noting that he is only hitting on 34% himself, and before last night's scorcher of a game he was at 32% for the year (it's always tempting to quote numbers right after a hot game but this is where the term regression towards the mean actually applies - he's more likely to shoot like he did in his first 27 games this year than how he did in his 28th, moving forward). Now it is great that he can do that off the dribble (he's actually taking most of his threes off the dribble and hitting 32% on those and that includes last night). No doubt. But until his percentage takes another jump up, he hasn't really cleared the DeRozan three point shooting peak in terms of how it impacts how defences play him. That said, there is little doubt he will at some point (possibly even this season) fully clear that bar.

[golden]

Agree. The Raptors trusted the process, and were never worried. I too felt quietly confident going back to Toronto

The most underrated Kawhi quote of his entire tenure?

reporter after game 2: "Kawhi, where do the raptors go from here?"
Kawhi, monotone and without missing a beat: "we go back to Toronto for game 3."

Legendary moment. Kawhi even realizes the joke and holds back a laugh. This man had zero worry in him.

[planetmars]

This is pretty funny.. apparently they do this all the time before games:

[golden]

This is pretty funny.. apparently they do this all the time before games:

I'd like to see if they maintain this routine after a bad losing streak, or even worse.... on the brink in the playoffs.

[G__Deane]

I want Giannis here even more now.
Dude is a stud on and off the court and seems like a chill guy you could have a beer with anywhere.
-the anti-lebron