TRex wrote:
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Game #72: Toronto Raptors 129 - Cleveland Cavaliers 132
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So I've been tracking the team's performances all year on a game to game basis as I usually do.
Game performance is basically in-game net rating, adjusted for strength of opponent, inherent home/away advantage, and any rest advantage either team has.
So each game is simplified down to a single number, and that number correlates to what "sort" of team they played like that night.
Game performance values would break down as follows, based on the current net ratings league wide (if you doubled net rating to take into account the extremes of single game outcomes):
>+15: Elite championship contenders.
+5 to +15: Solid playoff team, good chance at home court.
-5 to +5: Borderline playoff team, very average.
-15 to -5: Lotto chasing team.
<-15: 1st overall pick.
Single game results tend to be skewed to extremes (hence the very large buckets above), but still, looking at the season as a whole through this lens is another way to consider how consistently good the team is.
So, how many of the Raptors' games have fallen into each bucket?
Elite: 18
Good: 21
Average: 24
Bad: 8
Terrible: 0
So, that's good to see. They haven't really laid any eggs all year, and have been really bad in only a handful of games. In about a third of their games, they play poorly and grade out as essentially an average NBA team. In another third, they grade out as a rock solid playoff performer. And in about a quarter of their games they play like a powerhouse.
Now, I don't have the data for all the other teams (or the time) to do game by game analysis, but looking just at game net ratings, we can get an idea of how other top teams break down, roughly.
GSW:
Elite: 22
Good: 26
Average: 9
Bad: 11
Terrible: 2
HOU:
Elite: 25
Good: 28
Average: 4
Bad: 12
Terrible: 2
BOS:
Elite: 7
Good: 30
Average: 17
Bad: 12
Terrible: 5
UTA:
Elite: 17
Good: 16
Average: 15
Bad: 11
Terrible: 12
OKC:
Elite: 14
Good: 20
Average: 17
Bad: 13
Terrible: 9
That's the top 6 teams in basketball-reference's SRS. No other team replicates Toronto's lack of bottoming out. When Toronto plays bad, they mostly play like an average team. Other teams put up stinkers far more often than the Raptors. They also post good-great performances at a slightly greater rate than teams like BOS and OKC, a little ways back of the West powerhouses.
The strength of this team appears to be it's floor. They have a very solid ceiling too, better by this measure than anyone else in the East, don't get me wrong, but the team posting around an NBA-average performance or better in close to 90% of its games is the key to their winning so many games. It's also a great sign for the early rounds of the playoffs - on good nights, this team can beat any team in the East. And on bad nights, well, they'll still have a shot, because they don't really have many bad nights, just average ones.
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TRex wrote: View PostHe's been studying the Raptors.
Here's LeBron James listing off his Raptors prey. Help. pic.twitter.com/HrUVi6WIf8
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) March 21, 2018
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This game is all about the Raps sending a message to the Cavs ....... not this year, chumps.
In big games, the first 5-10 minutes usually tells the story for the Lowry/Derozan led Raps: are they still afraid of Lebron and playing uptight, or are they relaxed and just playing within the flow? I haven't seen that nervousness in this team since the Golden State game, when they blew us out in the first half.
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Mack North wrote: View PostHe's the best player for a reason. If anyone doesn't know the names of all the guys on their opposing team, they're not prepared and I wouldn't want them on my team.[FONT=Comic Sans MS]There's no such thing as a 2nd round bust.[/FONT][FONT=Comic Sans MS][FONT=Comic Sans MS] [/FONT]
- TGO[/FONT]
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golden wrote: View PostThis game is all about the Raps sending a message to the Cavs ....... not this year, chumps.
In big games, the first 5-10 minutes usually tells the story for the Lowry/Derozan led Raps: are they still afraid of Lebron and playing uptight, or are they relaxed and just playing within the flow? I haven't seen that nervousness in this team since the Golden State game, when they blew us out in the first half.
What is curious to me is how little interest this game, a likely ECF preview, seems to be generating in Raptorland. Maybe I'm misreading the mood....
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slaw wrote: View PostI'm reminded of a game late last year where the Celtics hosted Cleveland and the storyline going in was that Celts were going to send a message to Lebron. And then the Cavs ran them out of the building before halftime. OTOH, this Cleveland squad doesn't beat good teams.
What is curious to me is how little interest this game, a likely ECF preview, seems to be generating in Raptorland. Maybe I'm misreading the mood....
Fuck Austin matthews. Let's talk about demar derozan at the water cooler.9 time first team all-RR, First Ballot Hall of Forum
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