Raptors reaching historical mark in wins for 3 years in row

[guyroch]

Question in reflection ... Why did the VC era only achieve at most 46 wins ? Heck they were a basket away from Conference Final but never achieved the win total as this existing team .

[Nilanka]

Question in reflection ... Why did the VC era only achieve at most 46 wins ? Heck they were a basket away from Conference Final but never achieved the win total as this existing team .

Seemed like there was a bit more parity in 2000-01. 10 teams finishing with 50+ wins, but none reaching the 60 win mark.

It just seemed like anyone could (and did) beat anyone.

[92TillInfinity]

I'm sure that somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the East just had more strong teams back then. There wasn't as much discrepancy in talent. Sure, Charlotte and Atlanta were pretty shit, but I think the rest of the conference was all pretty even in talent level.

[JWash]

It's significant but we really need to get a playoff series win or two to show some progress.

Not just for sanity's sake but its' going to be huge when it comes to recruiting free agents. We need to be able to present ourselves as the team that can take that next step, leapfrog Cleveland and start challenging the oligarchy in the West (Golden State, San Antonio and to a lesser extent OKC and LAC).

[Scraptor]

We won 47 in 2000-01, but there's a few reasons.
1. The competition was tougher. We're 10-1 vs our division this year. We were 18-10 that year. The East as a whole is much weaker now imo. Crappy teams don't make the playoffs, which is one reason why our regular season record is not a great predictor of playoff outcomes.
2. We're deeper now. '01 Vince took 22 shots a game. (Interestingly his TS% was the exact same as DeMar's this season.) We have more scoring options now. But depth matters less in the playoffs.
3. Experience matters in the playoffs. 'O1 Raps were 29.9 years old by weighted minutes played; this year we're still only 26.5. Tough vets like Oak and Davis help you win playoff games.

[KeonClark]

It's significant but we really need to get a playoff series win or two to show some progress.

Not just for sanity's sake but its' going to be huge when it comes to recruiting free agents. We need to be able to present ourselves as the team that can take that next step, leapfrog Cleveland and start challenging the oligarchy in the West (Golden State, San Antonio and to a lesser extent OKC and LAC).

For us to be viewed in that light we need to go the ecf and take them to 6 or 7 games. Just getting out of the first round puts you on nobodies contender map

[Jangles]

Regular season matters