Raptors in the Media: Share Stories, Articles & Videos you find on our Raps

[DanH]

Not necessarily about being scared of anyone, but if you think team A is a tougher out than team B, why not hope Cleveland has to deal with team A and we deal with team B? The easier road gives you an advantage later on. Some guys seem offended on here that we even talk about preferring one opponent over another, to me it's a rather simple concept

Meh, I guess to me it's in the range of "sure, why not" but I find it hard to give the slightest crap. Only team beating the Raptors in round 1 (or even forcing a long series) is the Raptors. There are no tough outs at the bottom of the East. And hoping for a certain matchup smacks too much of the idea of targeting a specific matchup and that idea I do not like at all.

I would prefer not to match up with Cleveland until round three. That's the only team in the East I think can surprise us relative to their regular season performance. Everything else is noise at this point.

[KeonClark]

All that "proven" talent and they're still the definition of mediocrity.

Giannis has been pretty healthy all year and they're still the 8th seed. I get that they're a dangerous team because of him, but they're not actually a serious threat.

Of course the ideal matchup is Miami/Indiana, but it's silly to worry about that as the #1 seed.

Not necessarily about being scared of anyone, but if you think team A is a tougher out than team B, why not hope Cleveland has to deal with team A and we deal with team B? The easier road gives you an advantage later on. Some guys seem offended on here that we even talk about preferring one opponent over another, to me it's a rather simple concept

[tDotted]

Again, flawed logic. Many factors determine where a team finishes. At the end of the day I want the team who's best players are Oladipo and Lance Stephenson part 2..not Greek Freek, Bledsoe and the gang.

I'm scared of neither, but it's proven top end talent wins series. The no names get chewed up like a stick of trident and spit out. I'd prefer to let Cleveland wrestle the Freak

All that "proven" talent and they're still the definition of mediocrity.

Giannis has been pretty healthy all year and they're still the 8th seed. I get that they're a dangerous team because of him, but they're not actually a serious threat.

Of course the ideal matchup is Miami/Indiana, but it's silly to worry about that as the #1 seed.

[DanH]

That's great. But i'd rather deal with Dwyane Wade and Dragic than Giannis.

Sure. Either one would be no issue though. This worrying about 1st round opponents is below this team.

[The Great One]

Uh, yes? Once the Raps broke the Bucks' traps, the series was no contest.

That's great. But i'd rather deal with Dwyane Wade and Dragic than Giannis.

[DanH]

It's about having an EASY matchup(for a change).

Raptors took 6 games to beat the Bucks in the 1st round last year - could've easily been a 7 game series. Would you like to play the Bucks in 1st round again this year?

Uh, yes? Once the Raps broke the Bucks' traps, the series was no contest.

[KeonClark]

If they can't do better than 8th place, then yeah I'd like to play them.

If the Bucks can't win enough games to place higher than 8th seed then they aren't good enough to take more than a game off this current Raptors team. Last year Lowry was still being integrated with the team after missing 2 months of basketball, JV and DeRozan were worse players, and the bench wasn't nearly as formidable.

Again, flawed logic. Many factors determine where a team finishes. At the end of the day I want the team who's best players are Oladipo and Lance Stephenson part 2..not Greek Freek, Bledsoe and the gang.

I'm scared of neither, but it's proven top end talent wins series. The no names get chewed up like a stick of trident and spit out. I'd prefer to let Cleveland wrestle the Freak

[planetmars]

It's about having an EASY matchup(for a change).

Raptors took 6 games to beat the Bucks in the 1st round last year - could've easily been a 7 game series. Would you like to play the Bucks in 1st round again this year?

Yeah I would. I think we beat them in 4 or 5 games. Bucks are going nowhere. Pretty overrated team in my opinion. No front court at all. They have no defense. Norm of all people shut down Middleton last year. DeMar has grown. Lowry is healthy and well rested. JV can be a beast. Our bench is way too good. And they have a rookie head coach.

I mean we played like garbage last time out, and it still went to OT.

[tDotted]

It's about having an EASY matchup(for a change).

Raptors took 6 games to beat the Bucks in the 1st round last year - could've easily been a 7 game series. Would you like to play the Bucks in 1st round again this year?

If the Bucks can't win enough games to place higher than 8th seed then they aren't good enough to take more than a game off this current Raptors team. Last year Lowry was still being integrated with the team after missing 2 months of basketball, JV and DeRozan were worse players, and the bench wasn't nearly as formidable.

[3inthekeon]

It's about having an EASY matchup(for a change).

Raptors took 6 games to beat the Bucks in the 1st round last year - could've easily been a 7 game series. Would you like to play the Bucks in 1st round again this year?

If they can't do better than 8th place, then yeah I'd like to play them.

[The Great One]

Plenty of folks here don't see Raptors as an elite team. Scared of playing a team that can't even climb to 7th place in the East. smh

It's about having an EASY matchup(for a change).

Raptors took 6 games to beat the Bucks in the 1st round last year - could've easily been a 7 game series. Would you like to play the Bucks in 1st round again this year?

[3inthekeon]

A supporting tweet

Note from this weekend: That was the largest national US media presence I've seen at the ACC for regular season games. Not sure how many fans see the Raptors as an elite team (even locally), but I can tell you folks around the league are starting to.

— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 14, 2018

Plenty of folks here don't see Raptors as an elite team. Scared of playing a team that can't even climb to 7th place in the East. smh

[golden]

The decision makers at the top of the networks may not be paying attention to Toronto. But I really get the feeling that a lot of the reporters, who spend time in the game, are enjoying what the Raptors are doing and the story lines that are involved. Whether it's the great SI story today on Casey, the Woj podcast with Demar or even the broadcasters on ESPN saying they wished they covered more Raptor games, you can see that there is an appreciation there. Let's see where it goes.

At this point we're pretty much down to: Shaq, Kenny Smith, Stephen A Smith & Paul Pierce who aren't jumping on the Raps bandwagon. And no reason to gripe about lack of articles anymore, because we've had tons this year, beyond ESPN & SI..... like Washington Post & NY Times. Big time.

[Jclaw]

The decision makers at the top of the networks may not be paying attention to Toronto. But I really get the feeling that a lot of the reporters, who spend time in the game, are enjoying what the Raptors are doing and the story lines that are involved. Whether it's the great SI story today on Casey, the Woj podcast with Demar or even the broadcasters on ESPN saying they wished they covered more Raptor games, you can see that there is an appreciation there. Let's see where it goes.

[SkywalkerAC]

We're Mike Conley, if he were more like Kyle Lowry.

I fucking love this team.