Game #40 Raptors @ Spurs

[Chr1s1anL]

I have never been on the trade JV train.

He's a dbl dbl machine when given the minutes and actually fed inside once in awhile. Lowry and DD virtually ignored him for long stretches and Casey evidently hated him, sitting him for long stretches after starting a game hot. Not sulking, actually the opposite off the bench and putting up high NBA PER numbers, lauded as a great teammate. Funny guy too.

You do know JV is playing less minutes and loss his starting spot under Nurse. I guess Nurse obviously hates him too.

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[S.R.]

You do know JV is playing less minutes and loss his starting spot under Nurse. I guess Nurse obviously hates him too.

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Ibaka was lights out the first couple months, if he continues to struggle once everyone's back and the lineups are intact, this should be revisited.

[sanyo]

-not good optics. Games like this give other teams confidence when they meet us down the road....but still Im confident and hopeful - we all are thats why we’ll ne back.

-3 point shooting has to be addressed theres no question. Lowry isnt going to save us. He’ll help but hes been in a slump and who knows how much he’ll play?

- why on earth doesnt boucher get more burn? He can shoot!!!!! And I dont care if he gets confused on D he probably has 8/9 blocks in a per 36 that makes up for it.

- OG I know a lot of guys like OG I did too. Ya hes young but surely you can tell he lacks the coordination to be anything better than a sub par NBAer. Kris Humphries has better handles than OG. He might be “ok” when players lose track and leave him open for a corner 3 but he has zero capability in creating his own shot. Trade him while we can.

Watched with my “kids” both teens. Even my daughter is back into raptors this year I used to take them to games all the time. Once when she was about 4 we were in lower bowl and the raptor tried picking her up and she pushed him away haaaard. Everyone laughed. I remember paying under $400 for those seats. They both want to see spurs here. I looked - same seats $4000 for three tickets that is fucking insane!

$4000 lol... man prices have shot up. Buy a nice Sony OLED for that price and watch the Raps in 4k like I do (well 4k for home games only)....

[sanyo]

As someone who's been a pretty significant DeMar fan over the years, I've been following the Spurs pretty closely this year. DeMar hasn't been the bellweather for the Spurs, he provides pretty consistent production, win or lose, and is rarely the reason for the Spurs winning or the reason for them losing.

The Spurs rely on two things to go right for them to win, the first is Aldridge. LaMarcus can shoot 20% in a game or 80%, if he's closer to the former they lose and the latter they win. The second is the defense, it can be great or awful. The Raptors got the good Spurs on both accounts last night. They should have been able to keep it closer, but missing 2 of their 4 or 5 most important players, the Raptors aren't good enough to beat "good Spurs."

Spurs also lead in 3% shooting this year... it's helped them immensely in the last 3-4 weeks especially (since the Lakers game the Spurs have been on a roll).

[Chr1s1anL]

Ibaka was lights out the first couple months, if he continues to struggle once everyone's back and the lineups are intact, this should be revisited.

No it wont.

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[sanyo]

Yeah that sucked last night. Fred & Serge were terrible. Serge is shooting around 27% from 3 this year. I guess we can't call him a stretch big anymore.

Casey+DeMar are now 2-0 against the Raps. Masai must be hungover.

If you got rid of Casey, you needed to replace him with a name coach....Nurse isnt getting it done... he even admitted he didnt get the guys ready for last night -- thats inexcusable, considering you know this game was circled on the calendar for Kawhi and it's the small things like this that makes a guy like Kawhi question why he would ever sign in the off season when he can go play with Doc in LA...things need to change fast!

[Puffer]

List of excuses on why this loss doesn't matter, not in order of importance:
1. Pop was motivated to game plan the shot out of this one to vindicate himself as not being evil and careless with Kawhi
2. DeMar was motivated to prove he's a winner and all his teammates wanted to win this one for him
3. Lowry out
4. JV out
5. Some Raptors players shaken by all the media attention and importance the media had attached to a nationally televised game
6. Nurse more focused on experimenting with roster than maximizing effectiveness
7. Danny and Kawhi were nervous about playing back in San An, despite saying it was no big deal
8. Fred being used inappropriately (see #6)
9. Excessive nerves lead to specific mistakes - turnovers, passing up shots, missing shots, poor defensive decisions
10. Statistical variance. Sometimes a bunch of stuff happens at the same time - brain farts, misses, stone hands etc.

I think that covers it.

There were lessons learned by players and, more importantly, the coaching staff.

I would have preferred the win but the team, and I, can handle the loss.

I believe at some point (hopefully starting this weekend) Nurse will stop the experimentation and start implementing what he and the coaching staff have learned and start refining roles, sets, and strategy.

[planetmars]

If you got rid of Casey, you needed to replace him with a name coach....Nurse isnt getting it done... he even admitted he didnt get the guys ready for last night -- thats inexcusable, considering you know this game was circled on the calendar for Kawhi and it's the small things like this that makes a guy like Kawhi question why he would ever sign in the off season when he can go play with Doc in LA...things need to change fast!

It's hard to gauge a regular season game. Casey was great last year too but really failed in the playoffs. Nurse's problem is the talent he's playing with. I'm not really sure what he could have done differently. Delon isn't really a good offensive coordinator and no better than Fred really. Greg Monroe is awful so you have to give Serge more minutes just because that makes sense.

What made Casey bad were those little moments that made you laugh when you saw them. Like CJ covering Love for like 3 or 4 possessions in a row.. or not double teaming Lebron when the game was on the line, etc. Or Bebe coming in and letting the Cavs go on a 10-0 run or whatever it was.

Nurse can make mistakes, but he hasn't done anything that makes me want to scream at him.

The biggest issue with the team is not coaching it's the talent. In my opinion Fred, Serge and CJ are seriously under performing. CJ will not whiff the playoffs so I'm not worried there. Lowry will move Fred back to the bench which should definitely help there. And I'm hoping that Lowry will be able to put Serge in a better position to succeed like he did early in the year. Or at worse we'll have JV to come in if Serge continues to struggle like he did last playoffs.

As for Kawhi.... if he does leave I doubt it will because of games like last night. It will be because of his family. We are still a good team, and will still have home court in the first round and possibly the 2nd. You can't say the same about the Clippers this year.

[golden]

If you got rid of Casey, you needed to replace him with a name coach....Nurse isnt getting it done... he even admitted he didnt get the guys ready for last night -- thats inexcusable, considering you know this game was circled on the calendar for Kawhi and it's the small things like this that makes a guy like Kawhi question why he would ever sign in the off season when he can go play with Doc in LA...things need to change fast!

Keep forgetting that Doc has an NBA championship and 2 Finals appearances under his belt. And then there's Jerry West. Damn.... these Clippers are really annoying.

[G__Deane]

You do know JV is playing less minutes and loss his starting spot under Nurse. I guess Nurse obviously hates him too.

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Casey used to inexpicably bench JV after scorching hot starts. Apples and oranges.....

[golden]

You do know JV is playing less minutes and loss his starting spot under Nurse. I guess Nurse obviously hates him too.

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Yeah, but you were leading the charge saying that Serge is a full-time center, which he clearly is not. Basically, you wanted any reasonable facsimile of center not named JV (e.g. DoMo, lol). You must realize by now that you still need toughness in the middle, especially this year when big centers are back in vogue.

[KeonClark]

Yeah, but you were leading the charge saying that Serge is a full-time center, which he clearly is not. Basically, you wanted any reasonable facsimile of center not named JV (e.g. DoMo, lol). You must realize by now that you still need toughness in the middle, especially this year when big centers are back in vogue.

Yeah, Serge needs his safety net of the 60/40 split, situational minutes. And most importantly, serge needs Kyle.

Most of Kyle's assists came from running around basically using his 2 big men to score for him. He would do all the ball handling and getting it set and then once they're in the perfect spot, boom, easy 2 points. That was literally Kyle's m.o. this year. Even monroe would be getting easy points right now.

I really really hope he's back against Milwaukee. Without Kyle and jv it appears we're a .500 team that just wins off individual huge kawhi games. Basically we're Charlotte with kemba. Its unacceptable and to me it's a knock on nurse. You cant be coty when your team becomes mediocre without 1 guy

[Other Scott]

Yeah, Serge needs his safety net of the 60/40 split, situational minutes. And most importantly, serge needs Kyle.

Most of Kyle's assists came from running around basically using his 2 big men to score for him. He would do all the ball handling and getting it set and then once they're in the perfect spot, boom, easy 2 points. That was literally Kyle's m.o. this year. Even monroe would be getting easy points right now.

I really really hope he's back against Milwaukee. Without Kyle and jv it appears we're a .500 team that just wins off individual huge kawhi games. Basically we're Charlotte with kemba. Its unacceptable and to me it's a knock on nurse. You cant be coty when your team becomes mediocre without 1 guy

I'm actually fine with the fact the Raptors are a mediocre offensive team without Kyle and JV. Those are two of the three most important offensive players on the Raptors most likely and those losses hurt.

I'm not fine with the fact they're a mediocre defensive team. These players are better than that.

[The Claw Reborn]

Raptors already played a total of 40 games while the Bucks only played 36.

Raptors were outside of their comfort zone for 21 games while the Bucks were away for only 16.

This is going to be a battle this Saturday, I think its a must win...especially they already won the first two. HCA is very important.

[The Great One]

It's all about 3pt shooting. This team can't shoot. OG, Wright, Miles, Fred, Ibaka, Siakam, Powell....these guys are all horrendous shooters. If you're going to chuck 30 threes a game then you better have good 3pt shooters.

Masai needs to address this.