Game #39 Raps at Pistons Wednesday March 17th 7pm on TSN4

[slaw]

By the way, credit to Powell. He was great. He carried this sorry bunch and deserved a win.

[LJ2]

Not gonna win with Lowry, FVV and Siakam shooting a combined 7-37, yuck.

[KeonClark]

The dreaded half season treadmill.

I'm not trying to be a downer because it's been a great ride. We reached the mountain top, and then brought all the supporting cast back for a great year last year to prove the naysayers that these guys were more than just kawhi. But the partys over, and it's time to retool, or really get left behind.

[inthepaint]

Norm is so inconsistent. You never know if he's gonna put up 25, 27 or 30 (or explode for 40) these days. All the guy does is put the ball in the damn basket. Sure, he's dropping 3's like crazy, exploding to the rim and also hitting the midrange, plus finding open teammates with great passes, generating a ton of space on our overall offence, for long stretches singlehandedly carrying our offence, plus increasing his usage AND efficiency at the same time this year, but like, can he do anything else? He's clearly the same as he's ever been in years past, so we should trade him no matter what. Sure, he's the same age as Siakam/FVV, but we should give another long and expensive contract to Lowry instead (unless Lowry graciously gives us permission to trade him).

[LJ2]

I'm not trying to be a downer because it's been a great ride. We reached the mountain top, and then brought all the supporting cast back for a great year last year to prove the naysayers that these guys were more than just kawhi. But the partys over, and it's time to retool, or really get left behind.

I agree, just don't think they need to rush into making desperate changes so they can win a few more games this season. We get back to the top by taking our time and making calculated decisions. Get guys that fit this system well, not just get guys to replace the ones we currently have that suck.

And I'm going to keep harping about the draft. We need that to be a big win for us this year. Both picking at a great spot and finding the best talent.

[slaw]

I'm not trying to be a downer because it's been a great ride. We reached the mountain top, and then brought all the supporting cast back for a great year last year to prove the naysayers that these guys were more than just kawhi. But the partys over, and it's time to retool, or really get left behind.

It does put in stark relief how special last season was.

[Dvdvideo]

Norm is so inconsistent. You never know if he's gonna put up 25, 27 or 30 (or explode for 40) these days. All the guy does is put the ball in the damn basket. Sure, he's dropping 3's like crazy, exploding to the rim and also hitting the midrange, plus finding open teammates with great passes, generating a ton of space on our overall offence, for long stretches singlehandedly carrying our offence, plus increasing his usage AND efficiency at the same time this year, but like, can he do anything else? He's clearly the same as he's ever been in years past, so we should trade him no matter what. Sure, he's the same age as Siakam/FVV, but we should give another long and expensive contract to Lowry instead (unless Lowry graciously gives us permission to trade him).

Well put! You guys are such debbie downers, half our team was missing, so we lost some games.
First game back against a team that lately gives us trouble, and two of our players have noticeable rust, or this game is an easy win.

What's our record if covid doesn't hit the team, 23 and 17 after that horrible start? Good for 4th in the east, and all that with the nba's worst center?
Put Ibaka back on this team and they are probably 1st or second in the east right now......

[Yuri Gagarin]

a lot of shitty detroitesque teams have been collecting talent and ready to leapfrog us while we lose a few key players every year.

this team cant shoot. Time after time major bad shooting streaks. Fred, lowry, og and pascal arent reliable at all. 100 million and they cant shoot. This is basketball. We’re fukd

[Rudy Bargnani]

So if the season ended today we get a top 10 draft pick eh?

[planetmars]

That felt like a covid game. Just without Bembry or Davis. Not having a center has really f@cked us up this year. What I thought was the most inconsequential position in the game now.. I was completely wrong. Baynes/Boucher make an awful pair. Nobody can grab boards. Nobody can defend the paint. And because of that we over help and get guys wide open looks.

Lowry was beyond awful. Had a couple of nice passes though. Bubble P showed up again. Want to blame rust/covid, but not something you ever want to see.. because that inconsistency is a team killer. Glad Fred got that one 3 to keep his streak alive I guess. Norm was great. Anytime you can score 40, yet alone at that efficiency, hat tip to you.. but was still a team low -11 (with Boucher) and didn't produce anything else (3 boards, no dimes, steals or blocks).

First time watching Jerami Grant as the man.. and he's really good. Reminded me of Tatum out there. A lot of composure. Doesn't panic. Uses his size to get off clean shots. And plays great defense on the other end.

[golden]

Our 3 best players (Lowry, Siakam, FVV) shot 1 for 17 from 3. I had to double check that stat when I read it. And 7 for 37 overall. No further analysis required. That’s the entire game recap right there.

[G__Deane]

I just got off the phone with Masai. The Grand plan is to bring back Kawhi and Ibaka this summer. Giannis was just a distraction. Masai had an agreement with Kawhi and ibaka long ago that they would sign here this summer. This is why Masai has been standing pat. What a relief!

Who was saying Masai has been doing a lot of interviews? I still haven't seen any video. I did see a Giants of Africa piece

[G__Deane]

The dreaded half season treadmill.

A half treadmill would be hard to run on!

[LJ2]

a lot of shitty detroitesque teams have been collecting talent and ready to leapfrog us while we lose a few key players every year.

this team cant shoot. Time after time major bad shooting streaks. Fred, lowry, og and pascal arent reliable at all. 100 million and they cant shoot. This is basketball. We’re fukd

The thing is, you can add a star to any of those Detroitesque teams and they would still be a non contender. You add one to this team and we're right there among the better teams, top 7-8 for sure.

GOtta give management the time to get the $$ back in order and the roster filled out again.

[DanH]

The point being is that we should be blowing teams like that out of the water... easily. Or, we should be tanking and developing players. We’re squarely in no man’s land, without a clear direction how to get out.

I'm sorry is this take really based on the first game back for guys recovering from COVID? Yeesh.