Where Do The Raptors Rank In The East?

[bertarapsfan]

Where did this idea of Bledsoe, Middleton and Lopez choking in the playoffs come from? Is it because the Raptors beat them in the playoffs last year? A Kawhi lead Raptors team? Bucks ran through the competition in the first two rounds last year, one of which was Boston a fairly good team.

Bledsoe has earned the moniker. He was handly out played by Terry Rozier the first time he was in the playoffs. Made big time mistakes in huge moments vs us. Remember when the bucks had a chance to tie game 5? He sprinted down the court for no reason with only one guy on the bucks with him, jumped in the air and just threw the ball to Brogdon in the corner who was quickly trapped and dribbled the ball of his leg. Giving the raps the game and eventually the series.
Middleton in the confrence finals put up the following points. 11 pts, 12 pts, 9 pts, 30 pts, 6 pts, 14 pts. Thats your # two option. 1 good game out of 6, you cant get that if you want to win a title.
Lopez is the only one who i think the criticism was unfair i though he was the bucks 3rd best player last playoffs, behind brogdon and giannis. I was more scared when Brook got an open 3 then Krhis or Bledsoe

[S.R.]

Lebronto was a whole next level narrative compared to the losses vs Brooklyn and Washington. That's for sure.
​​​​​​New playoff teams get a kick or two at the can before anything is definitive about their clutchness, or lack of it. The need to learn through experience in the playoffs is expected.

The Lebronto exits were an embarrassment. There's losing in 7 games then there's losing to a guy who spins the ball in your face before drilling 3's because he's just playing with you.

Toronto taking 4 straight from Milwaukee was not quite as bad, but everybody certainly noticed that it was a sweep once Nurse put Kawhi on Giannis. That was more of a statement than just a hard fought exit.

Bud's playoff exits certainly loom over Milwaukee and last year played into that. Opposing coach makes an adjustment and Bud can't, he watched his team play the same way through 4 straight losses.

But yeah, all that can change in a single post season. Narratives are descriptive and not prescriptive.
​​​​

[KeonClark]

We're too quick to assign "choke" to everything. Milwaukee got beat to be sure. There's 2 teams, and only one can win.

[Zainab]

RAPTORS WINNING THE FINALSSS AGAINNNN!!

We da champs. No further discussions, please.

[G__Deane]

Yea, the bucks are really good. Of their 9 losses this year here is their opponent's 3PT % in those games:

36.4% Miami
41.5% Celtics
41.7% Utah
39.0% Dallas
47.7% Philly
54.3% Spurs
47.8% Denver
33.3% Indy (Giannis didn't play)
48.6% Miami.

I really don't like them, but they are a good team. You have to shoot the ball really well to have a chance of beating them.

And I think of their 5 straight wins before last night's weird loss, the Bucks avg margin of victory was 18-19 points.
Point being that they are absolutely blowing teams out with regularity and Giannis has had a ton of rest, sitting out huge portions of 4Q

What is it, something like the 4th best record at 60 games all time? Last year was Giannis' first year of dominance. They haven't choked.

[bertarapsfan]

And I think of their 5 straight wins before last night's weird loss, the Bucks avg margin of victory was 18-19 points.
Point being that they are absolutely blowing teams out with regularity and Giannis has had a ton of rest, sitting out huge portions of 4Q

What is it, something like the 4th best record at 60 games all time? Last year was Giannis' first year of dominance. They haven't choked.

I wonder if all the blow outs will impact how these guy play in tight playoff games in the 4th? I mean reps are always important and if your not getting practice playing those close game making quick decisions, having to establish a pecking order for crunch time, developing pet plays to get a bucket when you really need one, switching and recovering on defense. Something to think about for these guys.

[slaw]

That's a good point about coach Bud, but to be honest I haven't heard of anyone referring to the Bucks and being chokers other than here recently. Could be I'm just not in tune with what's out there as others.

Oh, I certainly don't think they choked against the Raps last year. They just got beat a better team. Raps blew game 1 and Bucks couldn't close in game 3 but it wasn't about choking.

[The Great One]

What the hell is going on with Spike Lee and the Knicks? lmao

[slaw]

What the hell is going on with Spike Lee and the Knicks? lmao

Something about Lee using the employee entrance to get to his seats or something. The Knicks, ah, and right after Barrett had arguably his best game of the season and they beat the Rockets. Can't pass up an opportunity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...

[inthepaint]

It's not hard to see why people are skeptical about Harden in the playoffs. He has been averaging almost 15 FTA per game in the regular season the last 2 years. But in the playoffs, that drops to about 8 or 9 FTA. It's basically the same problem we had with DeRozan.... relying on the refs, which is out of your control.

Harden is an average to below average 3pt shooter. Sounds like an insane thing to say but it's true. He's at 35.8% this year, league average is around ~36%. Over his 10yrs career, he's at 36.4%. There are tons of better shooters in the league. It's just that he chucks so many of them, often from very far beyond the arc, so people think he's this magnificent shooter, but the numbers don't lie. He's a volume shooter that gets to the line a lot. We've seen that before. That's a shaky recipe in the playoffs.

[KeonClark]

Harden is an average to below average 3pt shooter. Sounds like an insane thing to say but it's true. He's at 35.8% this year, league average is around ~36%. Over his 10yrs career, he's at 36.4%. There are tons of better shooters in the league. It's just that he chucks so many of them, often from very far beyond the arc, so people think he's this magnificent shooter, but the numbers don't lie. He's a volume shooter that gets to the line a lot. We've seen that before. That's a shaky recipe in the playoffs.

You kind of contradicted yourself. He chucks so many, from so very far, with such a high degree of difficulty, its frankly amazing hes near league average.

thats what made curry so special that I've been trying to get across to some of you guys. You can't compare % of catch and shoot role players to primary creators that are launching from the parking lot.

[bertarapsfan]

You kind of contradicted yourself. He chucks so many, from so very far, with such a high degree of difficulty, its frankly amazing hes near league average.

thats what made curry so special that I've been trying to get across to some of you guys. You can't compare % of catch and shoot role players to primary creators that are launching from the parking lot.

Harden good, the best SG in the league, a generational scorer.
All that being said i hate watching him play.
That being said i actually think Rockets may have a real chance with that style. The west doesnt have the post presence that make you pay. AD doesnt really play in the post. If they face the Laker i actually envision Bron abusing their lack of size more then AD. Rudy isnt much of an offensive threat and pulling him to the perimeter takes away his best skill.
Jokic is the only big in the west that a team can just feed him down low and say win us this game. Rockets may have to just let him score at will cause if they send any extra help he will just dime up a shooter for a open 3.
Like the old system it all going to come down to a cold streak. Shot dont fall in a big game and they screwed like always, But for some reason i believe more in this version of the rockets then the old ones.

[Demographic Shift]

Bucks asphyxiation tendencies aside....
Norm is back and is carrying the mail..
Like to see OG with a few more games in a row where his offence gets a boost from finishing at the rim where he has struggled. OG's defense is really really good.

If these two guys can keep it going in the post season we are in great shape with a 7 man rotation.

Nick may opt not go any deeper. If he does .. its looks like its going to be McCaw or Davis as 8 and RHJ as a very distant 9.

[S.R.]

You kind of contradicted yourself. He chucks so many, from so very far, with such a high degree of difficulty, its frankly amazing hes near league average.

thats what made curry so special that I've been trying to get across to some of you guys. You can't compare % of catch and shoot role players to primary creators that are launching from the parking lot.

Yes and no. Curry takes really difficult shots at a high volume and also hits them at an insane rate, 40-45%. Harden takes really difficult shots at an insane rate and manages 35%. That still makes him a better shooter than a Joe Harris, who shoots at a nice rate but can't do what Harden does.

Personally, I think Harden's offence is overrated when people are giving him GOAT labels in a league with Curry, Lebron, and Durant. Harden's amazing but those guys are all better.

[G__Deane]

I wonder if all the blow outs will impact how these guy play in tight playoff games in the 4th? I mean reps are always important and if your not getting practice playing those close game making quick decisions, having to establish a pecking order for crunch time, developing pet plays to get a bucket when you really need one, switching and recovering on defense. Something to think about for these guys.

That's glass half full thinking for sure.
But they won't face a team that going to put them in too many close games in the first two rounds and the reality is they will likely have played less games and Giannis logged less minutes than who ever they face., Huge advantage in the post season slog. It seemed like Golden State would just about run the table and wait resting at home for the Finals.