Eastern Conference Standings Watch

[psrs1]

Also just a 1 game lead on 13th place (same number of losses), who have 2 games in-hand.

This season has been a disaster to date. I have a inkling that MU is going to ride things out much go the chagrin of many of us. I suspect we will end up in the 41-44 win range with a 6-7. If MU lets us fall out of playoff contention he should be fired. I suspect many MLSE big wigs don't watch the games but will start to notice if both Leafs(expected) and Raptors (unexpected) are not in playoff position come Jan/Feb.

[psrs1]

Maybe short term pain is best for long term success?

[Mapko]

I don't get the over reaction. Everybody knew this was going to be a tough schedule to start the year. I excepted us to be .500 after November.

You are correct (almost).
6 Losses at this stage is not bad, BUT:
In only 1 of those games were we outplayed by a team that played better (OK, Miami played 1 great Q against us, but that was enough). Other 5 losses we just blew it in a variety of ways:
-Insistence on ISO ball in critical late game situations;
-No D at the end
-Few lousy calls (livable vs GS, as we played solid against a great team, but not vs NY -should never have been in that situation);
-Poor coming out of timeouts late in the game (and unable to even inbound twice);
I am not worried about 7-6 record now, I am worried about how we are playing in critical close game situations.

[A.I]

I don't get the over reaction. Everybody knew this was going to be a tough schedule to start the year. I excepted us to be .500 after November.

Its not the record thats the problem, its the coaching.

[Demographic Shift]

Lots of road games to start the year and only one of them has been what you might consider a gimme (Philly) and yet they have posted a 4 and 5 record.

The struggle is in closing out games ...
a) thought they had Sacto and Utah as there were leads of 10 and 5 with 7 to go respectively... same with Magic as it was even from the 5 min mark.. and the less experienced team came out on top...
b) 50/50 with GSW as that was a one possession game with 2 and half to go.... but it just never had the feel they could pull it out at the end.. it was a great effort and we got jobbed twice by Ed Malloys soulmate Bill Kennedy... its not so much the phantom call but when they stick the knife in... really hurt on that CoJo call vs Thompson...
c) they just sucked canal water vs the Heat ..

They need to find a closer...Last one Los Raps had was Wince....
Not sure that the heir to VC is on this roster right now or in the 905.. If he is.. then like Slim Shady... Please stand up...They need you right now...

A win against the Lakers.. a day in the same town and maybe a win vs the up and down Clips sends us home 2 and 3 from the road and a positve road record.. If that happens and its better than 50/50 that it can... we will have weathered the worst of the month of November.

[The Great One]

I don't get the over reaction. Everybody knew this was going to be a tough schedule to start the year. I excepted us to be .500 after November.

They lost to the KNICKS, KINGS and MAGIC. All very winnable games. They should've been 10-3 not 7-6.

The offence is tough to watch. Completely unwatchable. They just play 1 on 1 every fucking possession. They run iso after a timeout lol. It's completely ridiculous.

[DanH]

First time since Dec 17th 2013 they've been out of a playoff spot (9 days after the Rudy trade).

In any case, the only value the record has at this point is that anyone who parroted "but they are 5-0" when concerns were raised early on can hopefully learn something. Just like 5-0 meant very little so does 7-6. But the way they are playing is really bad. The pattern in the record (5-0, and then 2-6 since with the two wins coming against two teams with a combined 1-23 record) points to more sucking yet to come, but it is early enough that the season can still go in any direction.

[OldSkoolCool]

with the two wins coming against two teams with a combined 1-23 record

[murphturph]

You guys gotta chill!
Every game has been hard fought and close for the most part. If the raptors won the game against the Knicks and one of the other close games their record would be 8-3. The raptors have played well. The defence has looked good. Casey is doing fine. The inbounds plays have been suspect, and the iso ball down the stretch has been questionable but sure Derozan and Lowry will make adjustments.. Its early in the season and this is easier to change then Defence. Cojo and Carroll and even Bismack have been great defensively. This team definitely looks better suited for the playoffs this year than rather than last year.

Also give Casey credit for how we have played coming out of halftime, for the most part.

[rocwell]

You guys gotta chill!
Every game has been hard fought and close for the most part. If the raptors won the game against the Knicks and one of the other close games their record would be 8-3. The raptors have played well. The defence has looked good. Casey is doing fine. The inbounds plays have been suspect, and the iso ball down the stretch has been questionable but sure Derozan and Lowry will make adjustments.. Its early in the season and this is easier to change then Defence. Cojo and Carroll and even Bismack have been great defensively. This team definitely looks better suited for the playoffs this year than rather than last year.

Also give Casey credit for how we have played coming out of halftime, for the most part.

I've told people to chill 3 years ago.. 3 freaking years ago!

[murphturph]

^ hahaha. I know. I like to stay positive about the Raps. But I genuinely feel we are in great hands with Masai. Demar and Klye have looked pretty darn awesome to me. There are only 8 other teams in the NBA that currently have a better point differential than the Raptors right now.

I can't emphasize enough the value of Carroll and Corey Joseph bring to his team. They complement Derozan and Lowry so well.

[Snooch]

I don't disagree with the COJO argument, I mentioned Joseph and BB more to show the depth we have defensively.

Among the starters, Carrol and Lowry are at among the best defenders at their positions in the league. Demar and Scola are both average to abave average. If we have a hole defensively right now, it's that JV is not an elite rim protector and I think he can get there by the end of this season, he had started to show improvement during our early win streak and I think he just needs consistency.

Demar and scola are neither at or above average and jv has one of the top defensive ratings of all starting centers

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

[guyroch]

Question ... Is there any senerio that no team from the Atlantic division can make the playoffs ? Or is a division winner at least
guaranteed a playoff spot ..

[Uncle_Si]

The biggest issue for the Raps is their offensive style. It's offensive.

If the raptors played a ball sharing system (for the whole game) it would be far more acceptable. Sometimes if the system is good and it's just a talent shortage it's repairable.

Our problem is a talent shortage, system issue (looking at you DeMar)AND a personnel issue in terms of style of play (looking at you DeMar).

That is a lot of issues to fix. And it's not something that gets better with time. The system is what it is, the mentality of the coach and of the highest usage player is what it is.

I understand that teams are going to have highs and lows, but we're seeing the same issues on O as we saw last year, and all of the apparent "problem" guys are gone.

There are foundational issues with this team. Any win streak is just a nice looking house built on swamp land, eventually that house is going to sink.

[Snooch]

Agreed, there does seem to be a bit of a sacrifice being made because we want two point guards on in the fourth quarter. I'd be curious to know which line up is better defensively, our normal starters or the unit we usually finish games with.

Scola is all right, it would be nice to get someone with a bit more foot speed but I don't think it's holding us back that much so far.

So if we look at the top 10 - 5 man units, out most used lineup is
Lowry, Demar, Carroll, Scola and JV and that lineup has a net rating of -2.2
That lineup has been used for 159 minutes

The lineup of
Demarre, Demar, Joseph, Lowry and JV has the best net rating at 27.2
but has only been used for 34 minutes.

top 3 offensive lineups are:
Carroll,DeMarre - DeRozan,DeMar - Lowry,Kyle - Patterson,Patrick - Valanciunas,Jonas - Used 13 minutes
DeRozan,DeMar - Joseph,Cory - Lowry,Kyle - Scola,Luis - Valanciunas,Jonas - used 12 minutes
Carroll,DeMarre - DeRozan,DeMar - Joseph,Cory - Lowry,Kyle - Valanciunas,Jonas - used 34 minutes

Top three defensive lineups are
Biyombo,Bismack - Johnson,James - Joseph,Cory - Lowry,Kyle - Patterson,Patrick - Used 13 minutes
DeRozan,DeMar - Joseph,Cory - Lowry,Kyle - Scola,Luis - Valanciunas,Jonas - used 12 minutes
Biyombo,Bismack - Carroll,DeMarre - Lowry,Kyle - Patterson,Patrick - Ross,Terrence - Used 10 minutes