2020 End of Season / Playoffs

[G__Deane]

I'm not missing the crowds as much as I thought I would

Same number on my couch as a regular game .....

[S.R.]

Regular 'don't get no R-E-S-P-E-C-T' update from Raptorville:

Raptors are 26-7 in the year 2020, best record in the league. Also notably, OKC is 24-10 right on the heel of Lakers & Bucks for 4th best record in 2020.

What do the Raptors and OKC have in common? No superstar on the approved list of 'the 10 NBA stars we constantly talk about on national talk/TV shows.' CP3 apparently fell off that list after leaving LA, I never hear about him anymore. But national shows can't get enough of Russ and Harden, a decent 13-7 since committing to their super small lineup but still well behind the run Toronto and OKC are on.

I get that the league is star-driven, but the gap between what's actually happening on-court and what's discussed on air is hilariously wide at times. How many national broadcasters are actually just casual NBA fans? They tune in for Lebron and Kawhi and Harden and Giannis and that's about it. That's the definition of a casual fan.

Along the respect lines - tired of hearing last year's chip dismissed because "Durant and Klay were out." Two things:
- Klay played 32+ min in 5 of the 6 Finals games. Raps went 3-2 in those games and Klay was a -11. Klay wasn't swinging that series, the Raptors were beating the Warriors with Klay.
- Durant is different, they were an all-time superteam with Durant but still a championship team without him. They won before he got there. They were 31-1 overall and 6-0 in the playoffs without Durant heading into the Finals. The chatter after they finished off Houston and Portland without him was actually cranking up the "Are the Warriors actually better without Durant?" angle. I mean a quick Google and you get a couple pages of those stories written up after the WCF. All conveniently forgotten as soon as the Raptors won, now it's a championship with an asterisk because it's Toronto. F* that, I will maintain Toronto beat 3 contenders in last year's playoffs, a far tougher road than most championship teams face. No asterisk.

[LJ2]

I'm not missing the crowds as much as I thought I would

I wouldn't have minded seeing a crowd reaction to the Booker game winner, but being that the game wasn't in LA or Phoenix I guess it wouldn't have been as intense any way.

Does anyone else find the players/games to be....less intense? Like I don't miss it when LeBron makes a play then stares or screams at the crowd, but I kind of miss the intensity it would create. Not quite as hype, but I'm just happy there's basketball.

[S.R.]

I don't miss the crowds at all during the game, you just get into it anyway. But then I see clips of big moments with the crowd there, going nuts for a game winner or whatever and you realize what's missing. 18,000 people going bananas puts the big moments over the top.

[G__Deane]

I wouldn't have minded seeing a crowd reaction to the Booker game winner, but being that the game wasn't in LA or Phoenix I guess it wouldn't have been as intense any way.

Does anyone else find the players/games to be....less intense? Like I don't miss it when LeBron makes a play then stares or screams at the crowd, but I kind of miss the intensity it would create. Not quite as hype, but I'm just happy there's basketball.

Yeah the games aren't quite the same but if you read the quotes by Nurse recently, the NBA is experimenting with piping in fan noise from each individual home team's court, turning up the music, stadium fans will be more actual home teams fans, family etc that are more recognizable to the "home" team. Should make it somewhat better

[Jclaw]

That's one thing I don't understand about how the video fans work. They're watching in real time like a massive Zoom call. There were several fans putting their hands on their heads in fear when Booker released that shot as if they were there. Impressive.

[The Great One]

Regular 'don't get no R-E-S-P-E-C-T' update from Raptorville:

Raptors are 26-7 in the year 2020, best record in the league. Also notably, OKC is 24-10 right on the heel of Lakers & Bucks for 4th best record in 2020.

What do the Raptors and OKC have in common? No superstar on the approved list of 'the 10 NBA stars we constantly talk about on national talk/TV shows.' CP3 apparently fell off that list after leaving LA, I never hear about him anymore. But national shows can't get enough of Russ and Harden, a decent 13-7 since committing to their super small lineup but still well behind the run Toronto and OKC are on.

I get that the league is star-driven, but the gap between what's actually happening on-court and what's discussed on air is hilariously wide at times. How many national broadcasters are actually just casual NBA fans? They tune in for Lebron and Kawhi and Harden and Giannis and that's about it. That's the definition of a casual fan.

They love flashy players. If you're flashy, you're going to be the headliner even if you're not that great. Harden and Trae Young are the perfect example of this. Ben Simmons is another one.

Kyle Lowry is a much better player than Trae Young and Ben Simmons but Trae and Simmons are WAY more popular than Lowry. Simmons btw continues to struggle as a PF.

Another great example is Duncan vs Kobe/Shaq/Iverson. Tim Duncan is one of the top 5 greatest players of all time. But in his time, he was never the headliner, it was always Kobe and Shaq and Iverson. Heck, I think KG is more popular than Duncan lol.

[LJ2]

The type of respect being talked about comes with a lot of scrutiny. As much as media love to talk about certain teams and players they also love to absolutely murder them when they fail. I'm really glad the Spurs are synonymous with winning and absolutely nothing else.

[MixxAOR]

I do feel bad for our players because getting votes for All-Team and All Defensive team are very hard for our players. They get bonuses for those achievements

[The Great One]

Another proof that these people don't watch Raptors games. Siakam? SERIOUSLY?

[planetmars]

Ben Simmons has a partially dislocated knee cap:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ocated-kneecap

Not sure how long he'll be out.. but that sucks.

[planetmars]

I do feel bad for our players because getting votes for All-Team and All Defensive team are very hard for our players. They get bonuses for those achievements

They should create an all-defense third team, and put the entire Raptor starting 5 there.

[Kagemusha]

Ben Simmons has a partially dislocated knee cap:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ocated-kneecap

Not sure how long he'll be out.. but that sucks.

Might be Ben's last game as a 76er.

[Demographic Shift]

As both the Excremento Kings and the Memphis Grizz circle the drain as the seeding phase comes to a close they share one thing in common. They each have a highly thought of and super skilled PG's who upon closer inspection make absolutely no one around them better as they hero ball it on almost every possession.

[slaw]

As both the Excremento Kings and the Memphis Grizz circle the drain as the seeding phase comes to a close they share one thing in common. They each have a highly thought of and super skilled PG's who upon closer inspection make absolutely no one around them better as they hero ball it on almost every possession.

That's a little harsh, especially with respect to Morant who is a rookie and is a big part of the reason the Grizzlies are ahead of schedule. Morant's issue is that he has too many holes in his game right now that can be exploited by defenses, so he ends up in tough spots in high leverage situations. Memphis also desperately needs another ballhandler. Brooks does a lot of stuff but he's unreliable and he's not much of a playmaker. Their second, third, and fourth best players (Jackson, JV and Clarke) all need to play off the guards which makes life tough when you're the only playmaker on the floor.

Fox I haven't seen enough of to comment but the Kings are always in such disarray it's hard to evaluate players.