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GAME 5: Toronto Raptors vs Boston Celtics 09/07/20 6:30 PM ET TSN
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chris wrote: View PostOnly one thing matters: We The Champs.
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chris wrote: View Post
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inthepaint wrote: View Post
Yep. We're screwed. That's the one Centre we've got that know where the basket is.
Ibaka was putting up points/rebounds but man that guy misses rotations a lot. A lot of Boston's easy buckets at the rim come with Ibaka on the floor."We're playing in a building." -- Kawhi Leonard
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A.I wrote: View PostSo more small ball and more Boucher or potentially RHJ at C?"We're playing in a building." -- Kawhi Leonard
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S.R. wrote: View Post
I'd like to see some RHJ for his activity and hustle (this team has needed energy at times), but his lack of shooting will really shrink the floor vs Boston. They don't let you get away with that. I'd rather see a bit of Boucher + more small ball.
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S.R. wrote: View Post
I'd like to see some RHJ for his activity and hustle (this team has needed energy at times), but his lack of shooting will really shrink the floor vs Boston. They don't let you get away with that. I'd rather see a bit of Boucher + more small ball.
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The Great One wrote: View Post
The key adjustment that Brad Stevens did last night was he put his best defender Marcus Smart on the Raptors best player Kyle Lowry.
I saw this on twitter today: Raptors offensive rating was 85.2 in the 29 minutes Smart + Lowry shared floor.
So in his 18 minutes of action (albeit some of it being when the game was already decided), Thomas basically took out the Celtics best defender out of the equation for a good chunk of time, went 2 of 4 from deep for his usual 50% 3Pt%, dropped 2 dimes to Fred right on his shooting pocket, which also ended in triples for Fred (the only 2 triples Fred had that game were assisted by Thomas), played good defence, disrupted plays, grabbed 4 boards as a guard (same as Siakam in 28 minutes), and finished with 10pts and a team high +5.
He's been the de facto 8th man on this series, ahead of RHJ, Boucher and TD, and have played calm and composed. He not only earned the opportunity for more real minutes, but also, In times like these where our offence desperately needs gravity and space to operate, the team needs players like him. If Lowry is the engine, he's the Redick/Korver type of player that act as the oil for said engines to turn a labouring offence into something useful.
He won't get it though. He's new and unknown, and we're scared of change and enamoured with old songs and last year's analytics (a different team, playing different opponents). So we're gonna continue to start the slow, floor shrinking, non-shooting Gasol rain or shine, have Smart free to hound Lowry's ass, and Theis totally free to go double/help Siakam & FVV with impunity because they know Gasol will only look at the basket once or twice a game.
We'll dig ourselves our usual 1st quarter whole, THEN put floor spacers like Norm/Thomas/TD, out of rhythm, with a gun to their heads and a very short leash to make something happen. This is our first elimination game since Philly's game 7 last year. If there's ever a time to be bold is now. However, I have a feeling we'll just pound the rock and hope for a different result while doing the same thing the Celtics have long figured out how to defend.
Maybe the fact that Ibaka is out might just create enough chaos on the rotation that Nurse will run into something that can pass a decent half court offence. We can only hope.Last edited by inthepaint; Tue Sep 8, 2020, 02:52 PM.
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A.I wrote: View Post
Agreed. He'll be good defensively on Theis and when switching onto Kemba, Tatum or Brown, but the issue with RHJ becomes on offense. Boucher will likely take Serge's minutes and hopefully he plays well.
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