Where Do The Raptors Rank In The East?

[Demographic Shift]

Harden doesn’t need to be a gimmick player. He wasn’t his first year in Houston. Darryl Morrey got him his MVPs but at the expense of his chances to win.

They had 2 golden (pardon the pun) chances to beat the warriors, and they blew it. 2018, they were up 3-2 and choked. 2019, durant went down, and they lost the elimination game at home. It could have easily been a raptors rockets finals. But they whiffed. Now, the clippers, lakers and everyone else passed them and they're just another good team in the league.

Put a fork in the James Harden Rockets, that team is not a contender.

Every time I think .. yep thats it they're toast... The Rockets go on a bit of a run and climb back into the 3 to 5 range in the wests seedings. They are scuffling lately but I still think they can get to the second round. But ...this time I think thats the ceiling for them this year.

They play a style that no other team plays. 7 seconds or less. If they are hitting those shots they are really tough to knock off. They can also go 0 for 27 and get crushed. Thats the risk.

The winds of change will be blowing down the streets of Houston regardless at the end of the year unless they win it all and thats just not very likely,.The first guy with a new mailing address is probably D'Antoni. Morey is going to have to do some real magic to unload Westbrooke but lurking in the brushline are the ever surprisingly foolish New York Knicks.

The Knicks have a good young player in RJ Barrett , enough cap space to absorb a big salary and 6.. yep.. 6 first rounders in the next 4 years and are always a threat to make the bone headed move for a marquee player like MVP James Harden.

Barrett... Robinson and two firsts for MVP and scoring champ Harden.
No other team makes that deal but the Knicks.

[S.R.]

Raptors vs top teams record is going to be a problem as long as Toronto doesn't have a top 5 (or even top 10) guy and other teams do. That's going to be the ceiling for this team until:

- Siakam becomes that guy
- Masai gets that guy
- They become the very, very rare exception where the team synergy is so good they don't need that guy. With Lebron, Kawhi, Giannis etc. in the way, I wouldn't hold my breath for that one in the NBA playoffs. Sooner or later you just have to have the guy who hits The Shot.

[chris]

Another interesting stat is looking at road wins vs home losses. I think it was from Howard Beck on a Lowe post. Raps would be. The Raps would be 14-7 which is respectable. Incidentally, when I was looking at team stats, I noticed a little "1st in the Atlantic Division" by their name. Nostalgic. Haven't seen that for a while

not to be pedantic or anything but it doesn't come from howard beck on a lowe post podcast. road wins minus home losses is something jeff van gundy has brought up for as long as i can remember him broadcasting and has apparently been a thing in nba coaching circles for decades as a quick and dirty diagnostic of the strength of a team you might be facing on a given night.

[S.R.]

Went on Twitter for all of 10 seconds and got reminded today is the 14th anniversary of That Game. foh we got to hear about this every year.

At least now this makes me feel better (much better):

[slaw]

Been saying it for years. Harden is a gimmick player and D'Antoni is a gimmick coach. They're trying to hack the system, but winning a championship is hard.

Harden is not a gimmick player. He's probably the greatest scorer in NBA history. That isn't a gimmick. Alex Caruso is a gimmick.

Mike D'Antoni is one of the best coaches in the NBA over the last 20 years. His SSOL offense in Phoenix was the genesis for fundamentally changing how the NBA game is played.

Again, this 'championship or bust' mentality is the worst thing about the NBA, the NBA media and NBA fans.

[bertarapsfan]

Prediction for Zion debut? Keep in mind he probably only play 20 or so minutes
ill say 14 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast and a block. One ally opp from lonzo

[Jclaw]

Prediction for Zion debut? Keep in mind he probably only play 20 or so minutes
ill say 14 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast and a block. One ally opp from lonzo

anyone see where they are showing the game in Canada? I think TSN is showing Rockets/Nuggets for the late game.

[bertarapsfan]

anyone see where they are showing the game in Canada? I think TSN is showing Rockets/Nuggets for the late game.

ESPN bumped the nugs/rockets game when they found out this was going to be Zions debut. So it may actually be on TSN the guide probaly just hasn't updated.

[SkywalkerAC]

Today (PST) there are three 4pm starts, four 4:30pm starts, a bunch after but only one at 7pm!

And, suprise, surprise, it's the mothafuckin' Warriors.

[golden]

Harden is not a gimmick player. He's probably the greatest scorer in NBA history. That isn't a gimmick. Alex Caruso is a gimmick.

Mike D'Antoni is one of the best coaches in the NBA over the last 20 years. His SSOL offense in Phoenix was the genesis for fundamentally changing how the NBA game is played.

Again, this 'championship or bust' mentality is the worst thing about the NBA, the NBA media and NBA fans.

Harden pushes the NBA rules to the extreme to bait fouls. D'Antoni coaches only 1 side of the ball and let's one guy go ISO @ 99% USG and not play defense. They are both innovators and all-time greats, for sure. But it's a flawed approach (i.e. gimmick) that won't win a championship, particularly because they can't stop anybody on defense.

[slaw]

Harden pushes the NBA rules to the extreme to bait fouls. D'Antoni coaches only 1 side of the ball and let's one guy go ISO @ 99% USG and not play defense. They are both innovators and all-time greats, for sure. But it's a flawed approach (i.e. gimmick) that won't win a championship, particularly because they can't stop anybody on defense.

Somebody better tell the Dallas guys......

[The Great One]

Yeah it's gross.. and it's not just an ESPN problem. If you have time, read this twitter thread:

ESPN and all these other networks are now driving the Giannis to LA/Miami bus. They all want the best players in the league to play in a big market team.

The Heat for whatever reason have become the Lakers of the East. They love to hype them up. Look at all the Kendrick Nunn for ROY talk lol. Nunn is a good player but nowhere near in Morant's level.

[The Great One]

Speaking of the Heat, of the top 6 teams in the East, I still think they're the worst of the bunch.

[DanH]

Speaking of the Heat, of the top 6 teams in the East, I still think they're the worst of the bunch.

Bball-ref's simple rating system (opponent adjusted margin of victory) would almost agree with you, with them in 5th ahead of Indy. Of course Indy is getting Oladipo back at some point soon and may be significantly better than they've been so far.

[golden]

ESPN and all these other networks are now driving the Giannis to LA/Miami bus. They all want the best players in the league to play in a big market team.

The Heat for whatever reason have become the Lakers of the East. They love to hype them up. Look at all the Kendrick Nunn for ROY talk lol. Nunn is a good player but nowhere near in Morant's level.

David Stern, RIP, was the driver behind this mentality. I think there was that draft where he got openly upset that a draftee didn't go to a big market. And he also loved the rotisserie player movement & free agency because it kept the NBA "in the headlines" during the off-season. For all the incredibly great things he did, I feel like Stern over-prioritized marketing, big markets and the star system at the expense of customer (fan) loyalty. Fans don't have the attachment to their teams like they used to, because the player don't care about the teams & cities they play for anymore.... now the players only care about their "brand" and "the NBA brotherhood". Stern encouraged what's happening today.