Everything Marc Gasol

[KHD]

lets see if guarding lopez instead of embiid lets Gasol get have some energy to get a bit of offence going.

[KeonClark]

I think we lost the JV trade but if we beat the bucks no one will care

[007]

I am interested to see what role he will play against Milwaukee, as after guarding the first option for both Orlando and Philly he will be guarding Lopez, the 4th or 5th option on the Bucks and predominantly a three-point shooter

[Jclaw]

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[sanyo]

JV putting up numbers when he gets touches and minutes isn't a surprise. The question has always been if that can be turned into winning consistently against high level competition. Case and point last nights game where he has a huge night and Memphis still loses by 15. Raptors weren't able to do it. Good luck to Memphis if they plan on building around the big fella.

Difference between him having Kawhi and Siakam by his side vs Mike Conley

[inthepaint]

I feel like I might be picking on Nurse too much, but sometimes I can't help thinking the way we're using Gasol is just wasting a huge offensive potential. Not just the actual on-court usage, but this whole identity that somehow got imparted into him, this veteran facilitator persona. In reality, dude is bucket getter, and it feels like we neutered him in this Nurse system.

Like, this are highlight of his last season (age 33). You can't tell me that from one year to the next he just forgot how to do that. These are not athletic plays, these are just smart positional plays leading to high % shots, that he would totally be capable of right now if we somehow hadn't neutered him.

I just don't buy it that he simply doesn't feel confident, motivated or able to have that kind of game anymore after looking at these. The system gotta have something to do with it.

[RandomGuy]

He lost so many playoffs runs it seems that the guy has a phobia of missing the shot himself. If JV was hesitant to shoot (and that was his biggest con), when he decided to shoot he at least made those shots most of the time. Gasol doesn't hesitate, he just passes the ball. Yeah, that makes him look smarter, but way less efficient or impactful on offense...

[MACK11]

Gasol needs to realize the more aggressive he is on offense the passing lanes will naturally open up. Philly is just anticipating the pass because he refuses to be aggressive

[GOLDBLUM]

Bring your nutsack Sunday Marc.

[inthepaint]

There's a lot of talk about Gasol & Lowry, but one unexpected adjustment to get more scoring with size & athleticism would be to use Ibaka more ..... and specifically more Ibaka/Lowry pick & pop. People forget that Serge was our second leading scorer for almost half the season, and he was damn consistent... literally automatic from inside 18ft. Sprinkle in a few Ibaka/Gasol & even Siakam/Ibaka/Gasol frontcourt lineups and there's a potential adjustment Nurse can make that solves a few problems with one change.

Golden for coach

[Puffer]

There's a lot of talk about Gasol & Lowry, but one unexpected adjustment to get more scoring with size & athleticism would be to use Ibaka more ..... and specifically more Ibaka/Lowry pick & pop. People forget that Serge was our second leading scorer for almost half the season, and he was damn consistent... literally automatic from inside 18ft. Sprinkle in a few Ibaka/Gasol & even Siakam/Ibaka/Gasol frontcourt lineups and there's a potential adjustment Nurse can make that solves a few problems with one change.

You called it.

[golden]

If you look back to game 1, the success formula was a combination of great performances by Kawhi (45) and Pascal (29) and tough defence limiting Sixers under 100 points. The role players did not contribute much (no one else in dbl digits). Game 2 was similar to Game 1 except Kawhi (13/24) and especially Pascal (9/25) still scored (51 pts) but less efficiently. Kyle contributed 20 pts including a couple of late 3's. The role players again contributed little (actually less - 13 pts for 6 players combined). We kept Sixers under 100 with a good 2H defensive effort, however our offence could not break 90. Now in last nights game our defensive pressure was soft, Kawhi had a similar performance (33 points) as in Game 2, however committed 5 turnovers. Siakam had his 20 on ~50% shooting, but Kyle 2/10 with no 3's, FVV 0/7 and Gasol (2/6) 7 pts were no shows. Sixers got what they wanted, when they wanted.

The storylines (Raptor perspective) of this series are becoming clear.

1. Starting with our PG's. They are just not good enough offensively to make up for their liability on defence - too small and too slow to deal with Philly's size. The problem is magnified when Nurse goes to his 3 guard line-up. Two guy's barely 6' tall cannot deal with 6'8" and bigger guards. The 3 guard has line-up Nurse likes to employ is getting killed. The problem is that he continues to throw them out there at critical times of the game.
2. With OG's injury we also lack a 3 / 4 player to back-up Kawhi / Pascal. Alarmingly, this teams depth is suddenly non-existent as for 3 games now the bench has contributed practically no offence while allowing the Sixers to go on game defining runs.Looking at the Sixers line-up (and some other teams), they have picked up a couple of players who provide bench depth and are making meaningful contributions. Our pick-ups (JLin, Meeks) have provided nothing so far.
3. Kawhi is backing up his superstar status while Pascal is putting an exclamation mark after his MIP year. The unfortunate problem is for 3 games now, there just hasn't been any consistent contribution from the other 3 starters and sadly nothing of consequence at all from the bench.

Game 4 is now by far the most important game of the year. The Raptors need Kawhi and Pascal to go for 35 / 25 with the others an additional 50 + points as it will prove difficult to hold the Sixers under 100. We've had 2 sub par shooting games and are now due for a change. Providing a couple more players hit double digit scoring and hold the fort defensively we have a chance to head back home with series all tied up otherwise it's over.

There's a lot of talk about Gasol & Lowry, but one unexpected adjustment to get more scoring with size & athleticism would be to use Ibaka more ..... and specifically more Ibaka/Lowry pick & pop. People forget that Serge was our second leading scorer for almost half the season, and he was damn consistent... literally automatic from inside 18ft. Sprinkle in a few Ibaka/Gasol & even Siakam/Ibaka/Gasol frontcourt lineups and there's a potential adjustment Nurse can make that solves a few problems with one change.

[Zak24gege]

I agree, but he needs to get selfish quick.

when he got here he struggled to find his place. Then he seemed to find it, as the swing guy, glue guy, defense, find his people open looks. And that was gravy, back when Kyle and fred and norm and well, everybody, could still shoot.

now, we need a pinch of Memphis Marc. Stat. Kyle is scared. Marc needs to take his role of 15 points a game. Let kyle be the defense, glue guy, swing guy. I guess.

If you look back to game 1, the success formula was a combination of great performances by Kawhi (45) and Pascal (29) and tough defence limiting Sixers under 100 points. The role players did not contribute much (no one else in dbl digits). Game 2 was similar to Game 1 except Kawhi (13/24) and especially Pascal (9/25) still scored (51 pts) but less efficiently. Kyle contributed 20 pts including a couple of late 3's. The role players again contributed little (actually less - 13 pts for 6 players combined). We kept Sixers under 100 with a good 2H defensive effort, however our offence could not break 90. Now in last nights game our defensive pressure was soft, Kawhi had a similar performance (33 points) as in Game 2, however committed 5 turnovers. Siakam had his 20 on ~50% shooting, but Kyle 2/10 with no 3's, FVV 0/7 and Gasol (2/6) 7 pts were no shows. Sixers got what they wanted, when they wanted.

The storylines (Raptor perspective) of this series are becoming clear.

1. Starting with our PG's. They are just not good enough offensively to make up for their liability on defence - too small and too slow to deal with Philly's size. The problem is magnified when Nurse goes to his 3 guard line-up. Two guy's barely 6' tall cannot deal with 6'8" and bigger guards. The 3 guard has line-up Nurse likes to employ is getting killed. The problem is that he continues to throw them out there at critical times of the game.
2. With OG's injury we also lack a 3 / 4 player to back-up Kawhi / Pascal. Alarmingly, this teams depth is suddenly non-existent as for 3 games now the bench has contributed practically no offence while allowing the Sixers to go on game defining runs.Looking at the Sixers line-up (and some other teams), they have picked up a couple of players who provide bench depth and are making meaningful contributions. Our pick-ups (JLin, Meeks) have provided nothing so far.
3. Kawhi is backing up his superstar status while Pascal is putting an exclamation mark after his MIP year. The unfortunate problem is for 3 games now, there just hasn't been any consistent contribution from the other 3 starters and sadly nothing of consequence at all from the bench.

Game 4 is now by far the most important game of the year. The Raptors need Kawhi and Pascal to go for 35 / 25 with the others an additional 50 + points as it will prove difficult to hold the Sixers under 100. We've had 2 sub par shooting games and are now due for a change. Providing a couple more players hit double digit scoring and hold the fort defensively we have a chance to head back home with series all tied up otherwise it's over.

[bertarapsfan]

Both of these were off the bench BTW

[bertarapsfan]