Raps vs Pellies Game 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday Dec 23rd 7:30pm on TSN (Merry Xmas Jack)

[The Claw Reborn]

By far and away the most depressing thing is that Siakam does not look very good. Ingram is so much better than Sikam its almost absurd. Its unfortunate that Siakam isn’t very good and it’s unfortunate that Houston will probably come to that conclusion if the Raps are indeed one of the teams exploring a Harden trade. I’m not worried about Fred or OG or anyone else. Just siakam.

Who are the competitions?

Simmons (Sixers)
Lavert and Harris (BKN)
Dragic/Hero and Robinson (Heat)

Siakam/ Powell/ TD (Raps)

[Kagemusha]

Of course Raptors will remain competitive, the question is are they able to surpass their performance last season and the playoffs? Without Serge, Gasol plus the aging Kyle?

First Round is an achievement for them. Going past that would be a miracle.

Nope.
This team is probably going to be lucky to snatch the 8th seed.
We all know this team is not good, let's just accept that.
But it's not the end of the world. Lol

[planetmars]

Fabulous start to the new season!

Start with the positives:
- Good first half by the team. Moved the ball well. Created good opportunities. Solid defense. Especially on Zion.
- Siakam looked like his old self. More confident with the ball. Made some good passes. Was okay in the paint.
- Lowry was really good in the 2nd quarter. Hit like three 3's. Old age didn't catch up quite yet.
- Boucher looked pretty good. He made a dumb 3pt attempt, but that's what he does. However overall I thought he was the best bench player. So not sure why the hate in this thread. He was also a +2 (which is great since we lost by 14) with only 2 turnovers, and 2 fouls.
- Baynes looked okay actually. Some poor defense, but his screens were reminiscent of a JV screen. Hit a 3 pointer, and has a quick release which is nice. He'll get there. I think I'm going to miss Serge less and less with him in the game.
- Nurse playing Thomas 20mpg was surprising. Kind of hope to see more of that.


Now the negatives:
- Terrible second half.
- OG just couldn't buy a bucket. So many open looks. What the hell man. You're extension is making you look bad!
- Our team just can't manufacture a bucket in the paint. Lowry seems like the only guy trying but he's so small and just looks awkward when he throws up something like he's fishing for a foul. Siakam is still scared to get hit and plays kind of dumb. OG always gets blocked. So frustrating!!! I kind of miss DeMar. He was able to score in the paint at ease. Or get fouled. We need that so bad. Powell got to the line but nobody else did. Pascal has to make that part of his game if he wants to be a star in this league.
- Fred was completely invisible. He hit 2 3's, and I only remember 1 which was near the end of the game. Not great defense. Worst Raptor of the night IMO. Team low -18 doesn't surprise me.
- Norm was doing dumb stuff again. He'll have a great game though again, but a bad one that follows it. Just so inconsistent. Need way more, otherwise what's the point of keeping him.
- When did Bledsoe learn to shoot? That guy stole whatever Marcus Smart got in the playoffs. He killed us from behind the arc and is the reason why the Pelicans took the lead.
- Then Ball for some reason was also nailing his 3's.
- Finally once Ingram and Redick took over the white flags went up. Great game from both of those guys.


It's just one game. It sucks. Not used to losing the first game like that. But whatever.. I still think we can be a top 4 team in the East. It's a long season and we'll hit our shots eventually. I don't see a complete doom. I never did like the Fred contract/extension, but he's a trade asset. Maybe we use it at the deadline.. but I think it will be used eventually.. just like DeMar's was. Fred has flaws and Masai will see those through the year, if he hasn't already.

[The Claw Reborn]

Nope.
This team is probably going to be lucky to snatch the 8th seed.
We all know this team is not good, let's just accept that.
But it's not the end of the world. Lol

Apocalypse not happening, I agree. But have to admire your misdirection, lol.

But going back to the team ...

Siakam will have to average 30 ppg. But on his off nights, Van Vleet/ OG and Lowry has to step up with combined 60 points at the very least. Then the bench (Boucher and Matt Thomas) have to patch the hole Serge left on offense. Very difficult task to follow for sure.

Then defensively, they have to limit the points of the opposing teams. Gasol and Serge were very instrumental last season.

So I understand your concerns haha.

[MixxAOR]

I'm still glad they didn't re-sign Ibaka & Gasol. It would've just prolonged the inevitable. Contending days are over. Just focus on developing talent and hopefully pick is decent. Maybe 15-20.

[planetmars]

Kings beat Nuggets in OT by a last second put back by Hield. And then the entire Kings team went running back to the locker room before the refs had a chance to review it lol.

[The Claw Reborn]

I'm still glad they didn't re-sign Ibaka & Gasol. It would've just prolonged the inevitable. Contending days are over. Just focus on developing talent and hopefully pick is decent. Maybe 15-20.

They did not offer Serge and Marc beyond the 1 yr because of the obvious main intention. I expected that you would have known that, lol.
That compounded the disappointment with Gobert re-upping too.

so Masai is forced to extend OG.

Masai has lofty goals, he would rather take his talent somewhere else than managing a middling team.

[A.I]

By far and away the most depressing thing is that Siakam does not look very good. Ingram is so much better than Sikam its almost absurd. Its unfortunate that Siakam isn’t very good and it’s unfortunate that Houston will probably come to that conclusion if the Raps are indeed one of the teams exploring a Harden trade. I’m not worried about Fred or OG or anyone else. Just siakam.

I mean Ingram was picked 2nd in his draft because he is supposed to develop into a star. Siakam being a star is a pleasant surprise. He was an All-star starter last season. He is a very good player.

[MixxAOR]

They did not offer Serge and Marc beyond the 1 yr because of the obvious main intention. I expected that you would have known that, lol.
That compounded the disappointment with Gobert re-upping too.

so Masai is forced to extend OG.

Masai has lofty goals, he would rather take his talent somewhere else than managing a middling team.

Of course because he knew that without Giannis there's no contending. That's why he was willing to give up on Ibaka and Gasol. If he thought we were contenders with Gasol and Ibaka he would've kept them. But they are not. Let's not pursue second round exits like it's achievements.

[slaw]

First game, first loss and it's the end of the world.
lol

It was a weird game. Raps struggled with pace, which hasn’t been an issue since the Derozan teams, and lost their composure, which has rarely happened over the last few years.

On the flip side, Pelicans shot the lights out (Ball and Bledsoe raining threes) and Reddick killed us. Their defense wasn’t good but Toronto bailed them out with missed threes so it didn’t matter.

I still hate the offense but done beating that drum. Is what it is. If Raps don’t make their threes they will lose. Team is all in on that approach, so here’s to hoping our guys make them.

[Yuri Gagarin]

Raptors cant shoot

[Yuri Gagarin]

Boucher is just gross to watch. The Raptors had a chance to cut the lead to 2 or 3 early in the 4th and Boucher for whatever reason shot a contested 3. Killed the Raptors momentum. Defensively he jumps at EVERY pump fake. He needs to use his brain at some point.

Oh god are we gonna hear about every missed shot boucher misses all year? Hes been playing ball for 8 years. He’ll be in the league for a long time. Sorry

[golden]

It was a weird game. Raps struggled with pace, which hasn’t been an issue since the Derozan teams, and lost their composure, which has rarely happened over the last few years.

On the flip side, Pelicans shot the lights out (Ball and Bledsoe raining threes) and Reddick killed us. Their defense wasn’t good but Toronto bailed them out with missed threes so it didn’t matter.

I still hate the offense but done beating that drum. Is what it is. If Raps don’t make their threes they will lose. Team is all in on that approach, so here’s to hoping our guys make them.

What’s the alternative to shooting 3s? We don’t have a post scorer. We don’t have a guy who can create his own shot. Our smallish guards can’t create an advantage in the half court and get consistently stuffed at the rim. Pascal and OG are still learning how to dribble.

Other than running more screens for Thomas and Lowry-Siakam pick and rolls, what type of offense would you suggest we run? Nurse & Finch want it to be read & react and unpredictable, which means it will gravitate towards each player’s natural offensive strengths, which are quite limited on this team.

The real answer is to start developing players with higher offensive upside, like TD and Flynn. Or trade some of that guard surplus.

[Rudy Bargnani]

[LJ2]

What’s the alternative to shooting 3s? We don’t have a post scorer. We don’t have a guy who can create his own shot. Our smallish guards can’t create an advantage in the half court and get consistently stuffed at the rim. Pascal and OG are still learning how to dribble.

Other than running more screens for Thomas and Lowry-Siakam pick and rolls, what type of offense would you suggest we run? Nurse & Finch want it to be read & react and unpredictable, which means it will gravitate towards each player’s natural offensive strengths, which are quite limited on this team.

The real answer is to start developing players with higher offensive upside, like TD and Flynn. Or trade some of that guard surplus.

Or take advantage of a down year and work towards acquiring higher draft picks. We need to look at developing more VC's and T-Macs and fewer Norms and FVV's. I love how far our late picks and undrafted players have grown, but they are showing their limitations. And that isn't a reaction to one loss.