Grizzlies at Raps Saturday May 8th 7:30 on TSN

[bertarapsfan]

JV asking Kyle where the fuck that ring you promised me

[G__Deane]

I guess this officially shuts down any talks of potentially making the Play-in.

That was already over to anyone who was sane

[golden]

That was already over to anyone who was sane

Some people on here called for a tank job after the 2-8 start.... some even earlier.

[Kagemusha]

I called for it even prior to the start of the season.
Team just isn't that good, plus game being played in Tampa, plus a deep draft.
Everything was just lining up, imo

[MixxAOR]

It was a weird season and management hardly commited to one direction so it could've went either way.

[Jclaw]

So....we control our destiny? Lose out and the 7th worst record is ours. Still having fun watching Malachi and Harris. Can’t believe there’s only 4 games left.

[Dvdvideo]

I guess this officially shuts down any talks of potentially making the Play-in.

I think if we win all games and pacers lose we can still make it, them.losing tonight helped.
Pacers play cleveland, 3 good teams then the raps. Raps play clippers then 2 bad teams, then pacers. I'd say it comes down to the next game......if pacers lose and raps win, it could be Indiana vs raps for the last spot in the last game.
All even less likely through with siakam out.

[G__Deane]

It was a weird season and management hardly commited to one direction so it could've went either way.

I think Bobby and Masai set the team up with a middling ceiling (4-6 in the East) by signing Baynes and Len to replace Gasol and Ibaka that ended with whiffing on Giannis. What can you do?

But then after the rough 2-8 start, they blew out Len for absolutely zero and apparently abandoned the middling aspirations by replacing him with another absolutely zero only this one was literal.

Many fans knew what they were signalling, many didn't ....

Folks, they have been sitting people out for weeks/months, sitting people longer than necessary, games off where they just had games off, strategic sitting of multiple starters, often when starters were already out and the team was shorthanded. We've been 5-6 players down and they still "rested" players when they were within striking distance of the play-in. They didn't want it.

Lowry being sat out and basically smirking to the media about being very rested and healthy was just the latest and most public admission. imo it was just another whiff to be be able to extract value for him at the trade deadline and more people would understand what they're trying to accomplish; the tankathon, highest draft possible below the absolutely hopeless teams and professional tankers.

Masai and Bobby have been largely silent this entire season compared to the last two years .... at this point, is it 50/50 that Masai is even coming back....or less?

[G__Deane]

I think if we win all games and pacers lose we can still make it, them.losing tonight helped.
Pacers play cleveland, 3 good teams then the raps. Raps play clippers then 2 bad teams, then pacers. I'd say it comes down to the next game......if pacers lose and raps win, it could be Indiana vs raps for the last spot in the last game.
All even less likely through with siakam out.

Talking statistical chance is foolish; there's no chance.
If it came down to the final game and we needed a win, or a better draft position came with a loss, Masai and Bobby would sit the top 6, 4 with mysterious injuries and 2 for rest lol

[The Great One]

I think if we win all games and pacers lose we can still make it, them.losing tonight helped.
Pacers play cleveland, 3 good teams then the raps. Raps play clippers then 2 bad teams, then pacers. I'd say it comes down to the next game......if pacers lose and raps win, it could be Indiana vs raps for the last spot in the last game.
All even less likely through with siakam out.

Man it's over. Siakam is likely out for the season. And you know Nick will keep resting Kyle. It's over.

The battle for the 10th spot is going to be between the Bulls and the Pacers.

[planetmars]

Bit of a boring game unlike the previous few. Memphis is a good scrappy team but pretty much playing above their heads. I don't think they have a chance in the play-in tourney just like last year where they pretty much got smoked by Portland.

JV was a terror. Like Lopez the previous night. These big centers will be a handful unless we can get a legit center, even as a backup. A guy like Kanter for example. Even a Biyombo. Birch has been cooling off a lot since his hot start. Speaks to his role playing abilities more than starting center abilities. He's missing short little bunnies. You can't miss those.

The starters were pretty bad. Flynn was pretty much garbage until the final quarter where he tried to take over. Loved that he pretty much single handily tried to get us to a 5 point game down the stretch. Trent had some ugly shots. He really knows how to empty a clip though. Ended up 5-20 gross. Siakam didn't really look like he wanted to be out there.. or maybe the plan was to try to get others going. At least for the first half of the first quarter, Siakam was playing more decoy than trying to score every time. Could have been a tactic in the last few games left of the year. But that injury of his definitely means he's done for the year now.

Overall the bench was great. Feel bad for Hood even though he's a bad player. Wonder if that injury pretty much seals his NBA career now? Not that he was really worthy of another contract. Harris was awesome. His shot is pretty sweet. His defense needs work though, and the game is still really fast for him, but that makes sense. Stanley had a McCaw type of line (had 1 steal). I thought Gillie was working hard, but was over matched.

Good luck to Memphis, but just hoping they lose out now so we get a better second round pick

A little nervous of finishing 7th. It's a good luck charm since the 7th place team moved up in the draft 3 times in a row.. but eventually that streak has to stop. I think I'd feel better at the 8th spot. But it's all really random at the end of the day.

[G__Deane]

"Of note for the Grizzlies, former Raptor Jonas Valanciunas finished with 18 points and 21 rebounds, following up on the 27-point, 20-rebound outing he had the last time Memphis played Toronto. There was simply no answer for him"

Give him his damn ring

Birch is not the answer, maybe backup, Gillespie is not the answer, maybe end of the bench guy or when a big fouls out or blowouts. Bouchard is not the answer at centre.

Can't carry 4 undersized C's and don't want to draft a centre: move Bouchard out of C, Birch to backup, release Dizzie and sign a widebody starter?

[golden]

Man it's over. Siakam is likely out for the season. And you know Nick will keep resting Kyle. It's over.

The battle for the 10th spot is going to be between the Bulls and the Pacers.

[KHD]

so can we re-acquire JV with Marc Gasol as his personal assistant coach next season?