Game #8: Toronto Raptors 129 (7-1) vs Philadelphia 76ers 112 (4-4)

[inthepaint]

Here's an idea. Use Wright as a PG, with Siakam there with the bench as secondary ball handler. Give Wright a pick and pop big so he can attack the rim in PnR. Surround them with guys who can shoot a bit (Miles, Norm, in theory at least).

When Kawhi is playing you can offset his and Lowry's minutes a bit to help the bench, but in the meantime there is still a lot we can do to put out a more functional bench unit.

Can Wright play though? He looks hurt/playing through pain out there. But yeah, if he can play that sounds like a really good way to go. Would prevent a big drop off when the starters sit, like last night.

This game will depend on whether or not we have decent backup PG play. If we do, we win, if not we'll drop this one as well unfortunately.

[KeonClark]

Can Wright play though? He looks hurt/playing through pain out there. But yeah, if he can play that sounds like a really good way to go. Would prevent a big drop off when the starters sit, like last night.

This game will depend on whether or not we have decent backup PG play. If we do, we win, if not we'll drop this one as well unfortunately.

That's my complaint is that Wright was behind brown on the depth chart yesterday.

If it's because hes hurt he shouldnt be playing. If it's because hes rusty he should get the time to play through it.

Basically, theres not an answer I would accept to make it justifiable

[slaw]

That's my complaint is that Wright was behind brown on the depth chart yesterday.

If it's because hes hurt he shouldnt be playing. If it's because hes rusty he should get the time to play through it.

Basically, theres not an answer I would accept to make it justifiable

Wright doesn't look right out there at all. He looked like he was still injured in that Minny game and he didn't look much better last night. The limited minutes are likely because they are trying to nurse him back into the rotation....

[G__Deane]

Wright doesn't look right out there at all. He looked like he was still injured in that Minny game and he didn't look much better last night. The limited minutes are likely because they are trying to nurse him back into the rotation....

I see what you did there

[KeonClark]

Wright doesn't look right out there at all. He looked like he was still injured in that Minny game and he didn't look much better last night. The limited minutes are likely because they are trying to nurse him back into the rotation....

That's thing though. He had a groin strain. You should not come back if you're still at all injured. And if you're cleared and pain free, then I think the best method would be giving him in game reps so he gets back up to speed.

"Nick Nursing" him back helps nobody except L Brown and his agent

[KeonClark]

Haven't seen it mentioned here but Kyle became franchise all time leader in steals last night (665)

[jacobdr4]

Let me guess, you panic, overreact, start shitting on every player that you were lauding just a couple of days ago, change your avatar (and possibly your username again) to something Bulls related?

So is Fury Trex? Or am I missing something?

[KeonClark]

So is Fury Trex? Or am I missing something?

[Scraptor]

Will be some interesting match ups against Philly. They like starting Fultz for some reason, so that's most likely Lowry's check. I'm assuming we'd see Serge start again. Embiid likes to shoot threes for some reason (takes more than 4 a game and is shooting at 23% so far), so Nurse will probably go with Ibaka.

That leaves Kawhi, Green and Siakam to cover Simmons, Covington, and Saric. Could really mix and match this coverage.

Should be fun.

Embiid's gotta shoot from outside to keep the spacing honest. Simmons can't shoot at all and Fultz while improving is still unreliable.

I'd say put Kawhi on Simmons, Lowry on Fultz, Danny on Covington, Pascal on Saric, and Ibaka on Embiid. But lots of doubles on Embiid. Hawks did that yesterday and it really kept him in check.

Redick has been excellent so we'll also need to make sure he doesn't go off for 30.

Saric has been terrible on D so I say we attack the shit out of him.

[The Great One]

This year’s dark horse MVP candidate: DeMar DeRozan.@HaleyOSomething: https://t.co/mQ9VYoNOg7

— The Ringer (@ringer) October 30, 2018

[KeonClark]

We always say "put Kawhi on this guy, put green on this guy" yet nba teams basically screen and switch every possession.

[S.R.]

This year’s dark horse MVP candidate: DeMar DeRozan.@HaleyOSomething: https://t.co/mQ9VYoNOg7

— The Ringer (@ringer) October 30, 2018

Look, I wish DeRozan all the best but there's a few things we know here:

1. DeMar has gotten better every year, so we should expect him to be better again this season. But he didn't just jump from the 20th-40th best player in the NBA (depending how bullish you were on him before) to top 5.

2. The Spurs have something like 54 point guards injured right now and are asking DeMar to do everything. There's a good chance the stat-stuffing opportunities don't continue for all 82. Credit to DeMar for being able to do what they need him to do, though.

3. DeMar DeRozan has had extremely hot starts to the season before (he led the NBA in scoring to open up the 2016-17 season, dropping 40 point games like nothing). The guy comes ready to play.

4. The Spurs are not very good. They're 25th in team DRTG. They have a negative net rating. And they've had a soft schedule. These clutch wins are coming against middling to bad teams.

It's good to see DeMar get some pub anyway and hopefully he and the Spurs have a good season, but a team anchored by DD, Rudy Gay, and LMA projects to be middling in the West at best and it's hard to win an MVP from that position.

[rightsideup]

If we reel off 10 straight Ws, I'd still trade Ibaka+Powell for Jimmy Butler.

I would much rather include miles in that deal

[Zainab]

I wish we would stop discussing Demar in every thread. I think there is a thread about discussing Raps alumni or something similar. Damn, lets just concentrate on what is happening with this team.

[KeonClark]

I wish we would stop discussing Demar in every thread. I think there is a thread about discussing Raps alumni or something similar. Damn, lets just concentrate on what is happening with this team.

They didn't want to give us a thread and these are the consequences