Everything Christian Koloko

[Hotshot]

I thought we have one of the best medical team in the league?
Kawhi was proof of that

Well they do but with Kawhi they allowed him to injury manage everything he wanted on the bench including bruising. FVV will run out on the floor with one leg (like Kyle) which is admirable but save that passion to the finals when there is really a do or die situation.

[slaw]

Agree.

NN and FVV himself need to revaluate the things that led to this breakdown again.

First of NN didn't bench FVV when he saw FVV wasn't moving right or hitting his shots.

Secondly FVV said he was good when he clearly wasn't and continue to play. Yes its pride thing and ego thing but you ain't helping yourself sitting injured the following games because of that.

There has to be something to stop this foolishness like last season where FVV clearly wasn't right prior to the All-Star break and still played, still went to the All-Star game which followed by him not playing well/injury management time off and missing the playoffs all together.

Players don't take themselves out of games short of serious injury. And coaches don't pull their top guys out short of extreme circumstances.

The issue is less about one game and more about Nurse managing the rotations to keep Fred healthy over 82 games cause we're into the second season of this and it's already trending in the wrong direction. Hopefully with Porter now available and Koloko playing well they can manage some minutes better.

[Primer]

Agree.

NN and FVV himself need to revaluate the things that led to this breakdown again.

First of NN didn't bench FVV when he saw FVV wasn't moving right or hitting his shots.

Secondly FVV said he was good when he clearly wasn't and continue to play. Yes its pride thing and ego thing but you ain't helping yourself sitting injured the following games because of that.

There has to be something to stop this foolishness like last season where FVV clearly wasn't right prior to the All-Star break and still played, still went to the All-Star game which followed by him not playing well/injury management time off and missing the playoffs all together.

Maybe Fred seeing the success we're having without him will give him the confidence to not play hurt. In the past he knew if he didn't play we probably lose, and that adds a lot of pressure to play.

[golden]

He's a perfect fit in the starting lineup. We don't need a 5th guy trying to score. Just contest shots and grab rebounds, which he is doing and the starting lineup is flourishing.

This should be obvious, but some people think your starting lineup is always your 5 best scorers.

[Primer]

This should be obvious, but some people think your starting lineup is always your 5 best scorers.

I think the issue until now is Nurse didn't have a reliable guy to put in there contesting shots and grabbing rebounds without trying to do too much on offense. Precious does the first two but not the latter. I think Nurse has the right mix here with Koloko starting and Precious off the bench. Plays to each guys game.

[G__Deane]

Maybe Fred seeing the success we're having without him will give him the confidence to not play hurt. In the past he knew if he didn't play we probably lose, and that adds a lot of pressure to play.

What was our record last year without Freddy?

[The Claw Reborn]

What was our record last year without Freddy?

https://www.basketball-reference.com...1/gamelog/2022

Last season He played 65 games, Inactive in 17 games

in 17 games he was out…the record was 9 wins and 8 losses
Raptors were +160 in those wins and -89 in those losses

[golden]

I think the issue until now is Nurse didn't have a reliable guy to put in there contesting shots and grabbing rebounds without trying to do too much on offense. Precious does the first two but not the latter. I think Nurse has the right mix here with Koloko starting and Precious off the bench. Plays to each guys game.

In theory, Birch could be that low-USG energy big ti balance things out. Holy… I’m starting to sound like Dan.

[Primer]

In theory, Birch could be that low-USG energy big ti balance things out. Holy… I’m starting to sound like Dan.

Unfortunately, Birch does not rebound and contest shots at a high level. Nurse definitely tried him out but Birch is a bench kinda guy.

[DanH]

In theory, Birch could be that low-USG energy big ti balance things out. Holy… I’m starting to sound like Dan.

As a plug and play guy absolutely. That's the whole reason he's here, they can plug him into that role and it will keep them afloat when better options aren't available.

But honestly this year I'm surprised how much he's being used. Koloko and Precious can cover off 48 minutes of C play every night.

[chris]

this jumped out at me from zach lowe's 10 things this morning:

Koloko is young and raw, but the Raptors are allowing only 97 points per 100 possessions in his minutes -- way stingier than the Milwaukee Bucks' league-best defense. Opponents are shooting 53% at the rim with Koloko nearby -- a mark that would typically rank among the lowest leaguewide.

need to keep him in the rotation all season.

[Primer]

this jumped out at me from zach lowe's 10 things this morning:



need to keep him in the rotation all season.

Further proof what a great fit he is in the starting lineup.

[JawsGT]

Yeah the rook has been amazing. His defensive instincts are not at all what you'd expect for a guy coming into the league. The length of the rest of the roster really shines too with koloko clogging the paint on D. I'm all for letting him start going forward, and don't really care which of Fred or Trent goes to the bench. I don't expect that to happen though, unfortunately.

[A.I]

Yeah the rook has been amazing. His defensive instincts are not at all what you'd expect for a guy coming into the league. The length of the rest of the roster really shines too with koloko clogging the paint on D. I'm all for letting him start going forward, and don't really care which of Fred or Trent goes to the bench. I don't expect that to happen though, unfortunately.

Trades could always happen. Raptors have the pieces to trade for a star somewhere. I talked highly about Precious and maybe its just an overreaction based on a small sample of size of this season but it feels like Koloko is making Precious tradeable.

Koloko though has been impressive. His positioning and shot contests have been very solid. I heard on a podcast that Koloko contested 14 shots last game. The next closest was Boucher with 4 contests.

[LJ2]

As always we are getting carried away. He is getting spoon fed on both ends right now and doing well to his credit. He's not been tested yet.

Precious is already a really good defender but people are down on him because of his offense. Koloko will need to add to his offense as well despite the recent comments on the forum about just needing a guy who rebounds. That's nonsense.