Is it just me...

[raptors999]

The easy sched is masking problems. Luckily the schedule gets tougher closer to the playoffs. Hopefully the team peaks then

[iblastoff]

If the Raptors aren't living up to your expectations at the moment, then your expectations were too high. The Raptors are in the second in the league in point differential, which means they've been beating their opponents pretty soundly. Meanwhile, the strength of schedule is not that far under .500. It's certainly not the .321 that the Bulls have faced so far.

I get it, we aren't used to having a good team, so we may not have real expectations of the type of games a good team should win. But good teams don't step out and beat every single bad team by 20 points or it's a failure, they have bad games that they squeak through, and they step it up against other good teams. And they still lose more than 20 games each year. The Raptors are playing really well. Don't be fooled into thinking every game against bad teams should be a rout.

My expectations have actually been pretty low. I don't expect us to win 50+ games this year like a ton of other people here do. No idea how you think we're actually playing really well though unless all you're referring to is our record. And who gives a shit about point differentials right after blowing out the worst team in the league and obviously adding a ton of padded numbers there.

We are playing shitty ball. We are worse than our record says we are, just like how Orlando is better than their record.

[Bendit]

Generally agree but with a caveat....we probably had really high expectations but it is still far too early to be a real nervy nellie. And w e are integrating a couple of newbies (who thankfully are playing well but may affect the older residents). My fears currently reside in Amir's wonky ankles and JV's seeming plodding movements...these go beyond rustiness and gelling. Btw... your comment re Fournier....apart from having a higher appreciation for his skills (and sneaky quicks) he was also drafted by our very own Masai for Denver (a low first rounder). Dont care for his birdtail coiffure though. He had another good game against NYK last night...good trade for Orlando.

[The Great One]

or does anyone else think this team is playing shit basketball? As far as I'm concerned, they have only played two good games, and one of them was against a team that could potentially be the worst team in league history. We are seriously lucky we have had a weak schedule with most of the games at home.

Many believe that this team lacks the talent to be a top team, but I think talent is the only thing that's keeping us above .500 at the moment. Lowry's talent saved the Boston game. LouWill's talent saved last night's game. I really think there is enough talent on the team to be a top team, at least in the East. We have guys that can take over games, we have guys that can shoot, guys that can penetrate.

But really, the game this team is playing has been awful and we are presently being very over-hyped. IF the team continues to play ball in the manner it has so far, we will quickly come back down to earth. Alot looks really good on paper. But I think the defense has been weak overall, and looks better due to the two blowouts and playing against some weaker teams. The ball movement has been awful, and the shot selection pretty sketchy. Demar isn't the only culprit. I feel both Kyle and Lou Will have taken some bad shots as well, but both have been lucky enough to sink alot of those shots. Vasquez has been a little wild as well, and Ross is putting up some wonky shots off the dribble. I don't understand why Lou has a green light. He's hitting shots no doubt, but he won't continue to do so at the clip he has been. The team is awful at getting the bigs involved. Yeah, Lowry gave Jonas plenty of opportunity last night, but those were mostly post ups which he is struggling with. He needs some easier buckets inside off the PnR. Not even Patterson is getting the shots he should be as far as I'm concerned. He knocked down a couple of key 3's last night, but I don't think the ballhandlers are running the PnR in a way to get the bigs some easier buckets. And given how absolutely atrocious Jonas is playing, he needs some gimmies generated by our ball handlers to get going. Also, does anyone on this team even know what a box out is? Body up, stop trying to out jump everyone.

Amir's got that look of disinterest again, like he did early last season. I recall one play last night where Amir literally was the only guy that rotated on 3 different Magic players while the rest of the guys just stood there with their thumbs up their asses. And he's the one with the fucking shaky ankles!! Seriously, it's looking like guys are playing for themselves and all this talk about being a team and all that is just gibberish.

Demar needs to get his shit together, getting blown by with the likes of Evan Fournier. There has to be better D at the point of attack, otherwise there is too much pressure on the bigs. Better shot selection, better ball movement, and better rebounding. I'm not at all comfortable with how this team is playing and I expect more.

I'm w/ you. I mentioned this on another thread. They've only played 3 "good teams" so far and they lost to one of them(Heat). The other 2? Hawks and the Beal-less Wizards.

[Fully]

If the Raptors aren't living up to your expectations at the moment, then your expectations were too high. The Raptors are in the second in the league in point differential, which means they've been beating their opponents pretty soundly. Meanwhile, the strength of schedule is not that far under .500. It's certainly not the .321 that the Bulls have faced so far.

I get it, we aren't used to having a good team, so we may not have real expectations of the type of games a good team should win. But good teams don't step out and beat every single bad team by 20 points or it's a failure, they have bad games that they squeak through, and they step it up against other good teams. And they still lose more than 20 games each year. The Raptors are playing really well. Don't be fooled into thinking every game against bad teams should be a rout.

Good post. I think it's important to hold the Raptors to the same standard that we have for other "good" teams. The Spurs and Clippers are 4-3. Chicago has lost to the Celtics. Cleveland lost to the Jazz and Knicks. Even the greatest teams are going to continually have off shooting nights, play down to their opponents, take the court with 0 energy, etc. You can't expect a perfectly executed 48 minute beat down of every opponent we face that we're technically 'better' than.

The team has played ugly at times but has found the resiliency to finish strong in every single game, leading to a 7-1 record. They have the highest points per game in the entire league. The second highest point differential in the NBA, and far and away the best margin in the East. They have a top 5 offence and a top 10 defence so far by most metrics. They still have lots of room for improvement but there's no reason to think that they aren't capable of doing just that - remember that we're still less than a year removed from the Raptors being terrible. You don't go from bottom feeder to world beaters overnight.

[MixxAOR]

Defense has been shit since last year. We played like one good month last year. Then we dropped to 16th DTRG. It is what it is.

[JawsGT]

With all due respect, you seem to be looking at teams from a Fantasy Perspective ie. when pre-season is done teams are supposed to be well-oiled machines and producing results.

At 7-1 the Raptors have the nucleus to become a very good team. They have a number of hurdles to overcome and bad habits to address but for the most part they are a solid team trying to find chemistry while trying to repeat the winning habits. This is usually a season long process with them - hopefully - peaking in April. Not November.

Fantasy perspective? Are you serious? Dude, I'm just watching the games and commenting on what I'm seeing, which isn't very good IMO. If I was approaching this from a fantasy perspective, I'd be ecstatic with the team. I certainly don't expect the team the be a well oiled machine. But if the team can win ball games playing crap ball, then that speaks to the fact that there is talent on this club. The fact of the matter is that the nucleus of this club has already played a season together for the most part, and already have established somewhat of an identity last season, and little of that has been on display so far. I think it's ok for me to be concerned about that.

If the Raptors aren't living up to your expectations at the moment, then your expectations were too high. The Raptors are in the second in the league in point differential, which means they've been beating their opponents pretty soundly. Meanwhile, the strength of schedule is not that far under .500. It's certainly not the .321 that the Bulls have faced so far.

I get it, we aren't used to having a good team, so we may not have real expectations of the type of games a good team should win. But good teams don't step out and beat every single bad team by 20 points or it's a failure, they have bad games that they squeak through, and they step it up against other good teams. And they still lose more than 20 games each year. The Raptors are playing really well. Don't be fooled into thinking every game against bad teams should be a rout.

My expectations have never been too high. I do not expect blowouts, even against weaker opponents. But I expect the team to play a brand of basketball that gives it the best chance to win. I expect the team to carry over the principles that got it to the playoffs last year and made it one of the surprises of the league. I haven't seen much of that so far this season and that disappoints me. The Raptors are playing really well...lol. If they play tonight a brand of basketball similar to most of the games so far, they will lose, despite the lovely point differential. There isn't a single statistic, or group of statistics that would convince me we are actually playing well. I watch the games, and outside of Washington and Philly, it's been kind of ugly. Alot of tough shots being taken, poor ball movement, we are getting pushed around inside, and the defense has been rather lousy. We have taken care of the ball, that has been the only thing that has impressed me...and yet we are 7-1. That's a bonus, not something to get over-excited about.

[MixxAOR]

No it's not just you

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/11/13/7...ern-conference

[Other Scott]

That's pretty crazy.

I like this Orlando team, and I was really impressed with how they played on Tuesday. But they are not a playoff team. They've only won like 3 games on the road in their last 40! Or something like that.

[enlightenment]

Crazy prediction of the year: Orlando makes the playoffs.

I think they are seriously talented, just young, but as the season goes on they will get better and better. I am so thankful we played them twice NOW and not in the later parts of the season.

Payton (possible ROY)
Oladipo (hurt currently, will boost the team)
Harris (Paul George 2.0!)
Channing Frye (Vet stretch-4)
Vucevic (Total stud)

Bench: Evan Fournier (can score in bunches), Aaron Gordon (Rookie with lots of potential), Harkless (LOTS of potential to be great), Andre Nicholson (steady big)

These guys have a great starting 5, and a deep bench. I see them going into the playoffs as soon as this season.

[Other Scott]

If the Raptors aren't living up to your expectations at the moment, then your expectations were too high. The Raptors are in the second in the league in point differential, which means they've been beating their opponents pretty soundly. Meanwhile, the strength of schedule is not that far under .500. It's certainly not the .321 that the Bulls have faced so far.

I get it, we aren't used to having a good team, so we may not have real expectations of the type of games a good team should win. But good teams don't step out and beat every single bad team by 20 points or it's a failure, they have bad games that they squeak through, and they step it up against other good teams. And they still lose more than 20 games each year. The Raptors are playing really well. Don't be fooled into thinking every game against bad teams should be a rout.

[Uncle_Si]

This article covers kinda what you're talking about. We're playing ugly and unconventional but some how effective bball.

http://bballbreakdown.com/2014/11/12...starting-unit/

[ghotte]

Even if they don't win, I want to at least see better ball movement, rebounding, and integration of our bigs in the offence.

With all due respect, you seem to be looking at teams from a Fantasy Perspective ie. when pre-season is done teams are supposed to be well-oiled machines and producing results.

At 7-1 the Raptors have the nucleus to become a very good team. They have a number of hurdles to overcome and bad habits to address but for the most part they are a solid team trying to find chemistry while trying to repeat the winning habits. This is usually a season long process with them - hopefully - peaking in April. Not November.

[JawsGT]

two things.... i agree for the most part, BUT Orlando is better than their record, Fournier is a good player.

But yeah, the record thus far.... well lets get by 5 more games and see where they sit.

I agree. I don't think Orlando is a pushover by any means, and Fournier is pretty good. But I feel if one (whether it's Ross or Demar) plays with some effort and defensive pride, they should be able to keep him out of the paint at least. Boston, too, I feel is a pretty good team and I think they should make the playoffs unless they unload players at some point. I really hope the Raps go after Chicago like they did with Washington, as it may help prop up my confidence level in the team. Even if they don't win, I want to at least see better ball movement, rebounding, and integration of our bigs in the offence.

[OldSkoolCool]

Demar needs to get his shit together, getting blown by with the likes of Evan Fournier. There has to be better D at the point of attack, otherwise there is too much pressure on the bigs. Better shot selection, better ball movement, and better rebounding. I'm not at all comfortable with how this team is playing and I expect more.

I think I should emphasis this. And no, I am not talking about DD here.

All of our wings have be terrible containing ball penetration. So far I thought our bigs (mainly JV so far) have been great at recovering for our shitty perimeter play and are protecting the rim very well.

I think this team will ultimately start clicking once JV, PP and Amir all get in a groove. So far they haven't found their footing. I also think that has to go a bit to how few touches they get from the wings every game, the posts don't even have their hands up for dump passes any more, they are all expecting the guards to throw up a shot.

We will live by the wings and die by the wings I guess....