Who is the Most Overrated Team in the East ..aka.. Why Boston Sux.

[ogi]

On the other hand, when Cody posted that excellent breakdown of FVV, it got ONE fucking like from this board. You commented right after, so I'm guessing you actually bothered to watch it, but I wonder how many other people here did.

Watched it. It was great but I can’t like on mobile lol.

[SkywalkerAC]

Not sure I saw it mentioned, but in the loss to Denver, Tristan Thompson tweaked his ankle - he'll miss "multiple games".

Sprained foot, out indefinitely now?

[slaw]

The way the Raps are treated south of the border is completely unfair. They never talk abou them , it's like they don't exist. But when they talk about them they always talk about how Lowry and DeRozan struggles in the playoffs.

The average US basketball fan cares as much about Toronto as he does Utah, Portland, Minnesota and Milwaukee, San Antonio, Dallas, Indiana, Miami, etc.: little or not at all. Hence, the amount of coverage for all of those teams. It's not complicated and there is no conspiracy. The fact that the media in the US can't leverage Toronto for $ also plays a role in the coverage but that's largely driven by my first point.

[3inthekeon]

ESPN did have a lengthy story about DD around the AS break as well as another shorter one last week when DeMar opened up about his struggles with depression.

[S.R.]

The average US basketball fan cares as much about Toronto as he does Utah, Portland, Minnesota and Milwaukee, San Antonio, Dallas, Indiana, Miami, etc.: little or not at all. Hence, the amount of coverage for all of those teams. It's not complicated and there is no conspiracy. The fact that the media in the US can't leverage Toronto for $ also plays a role in the coverage but that's largely driven by my first point.

It's about marketable stars, and the Raptors don't have any. This wasn't a problem with Vince, but the Raptors just don't have a top 10 guy in terms of marketing. (The Bucks are higher profile right now purely because of Giannis.)

4th quarter 2017 jersey sales:
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors 2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers 3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors 4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
5. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks 6. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers 7. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 9. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs 10. James Harden, Houston Rockets 11. Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakeers
12. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics
13. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
14. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
15. Jimmy Butler, Minnesota Timberwolves

Top team merch sales:
1. Golden State Warriors
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. New York Knicks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Oklahoma City Thunder

Sent from my LG-H933 using Tapatalk

[S.R.]

It's about marketable stars, and the Raptors don't have any. This wasn't a problem with Vince, but the Raptors just don't have a top 10 guy in terms of marketing. (The Bucks are higher profile right now purely because of Giannis.)

4th quarter 2017 jersey sales:
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors 2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers 3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors 4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
5. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks 6. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers 7. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 9. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs 10. James Harden, Houston Rockets 11. Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakeers
12. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics
13. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
14. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
15. Jimmy Butler, Minnesota Timberwolves

Top team merch sales:
1. Golden State Warriors
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. New York Knicks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Oklahoma City Thunder

Sent from my LG-H933 using Tapatalk

Wack Tapatalk formatting, didn't come out the way it was put in at all.

Sent from my LG-H933 using Tapatalk

[KeonClark]

It's about marketable stars, and the Raptors don't have any. This wasn't a problem with Vince, but the Raptors just don't have a top 10 guy in terms of marketing. (The Bucks are higher profile right now purely because of Giannis.)

4th quarter 2017 jersey sales:
1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors 2. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers 3. Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors 4. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
5. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks 6. Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers 7. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
8. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 9. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs 10. James Harden, Houston Rockets 11. Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakeers
12. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics
13. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
14. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
15. Jimmy Butler, Minnesota Timberwolves

Top team merch sales:
1. Golden State Warriors
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. New York Knicks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Boston Celtics
8. San Antonio Spurs
9. Chicago Bulls
10. Oklahoma City Thunder

Sent from my LG-H933 using Tapatalk

Demar derozan is nearly a top 10 players and top 10 popular among his peers. Never mind the u s of a, I think CANADA is doing a poor job getting behind these guys.

I live in Calgary, and the local sports radio guys mock the team. In the morning rundown they go "and last night the Toronto rap-THIS HAS BEEN YOUR NBA UPDATE" and cut him off with the voice over guy. Only today did they go "we're lifting our ban officially and getting behind the first place raptors."

There's zero water cooler talk here. My friends don't know shit. It's easily the 2nd most popular sport in North America but it feels like some niche thing here. The blue jays on the other hand feel like "Canada's team"

[MixxAOR]

Demar derozan is nearly a top 10 players and top 10 popular among his peers. Never mind the u s of a, I think CANADA is doing a poor job getting behind these guys.

I live in Calgary, and the local sports radio guys mock the team. In the morning rundown they go "and last night the Toronto rap-THIS HAS BEEN YOUR NBA UPDATE" and cut him off with the voice over guy. Only today did they go "we're lifting our ban officially and getting behind the first place raptors."

There's zero water cooler talk here. My friends don't know shit. It's easily the 2nd most popular sport in North America but it feels like some niche thing here. The blue jays on the other hand feel like "Canada's team"

really fucking sad. Before complaining about US coverage Raps need to fix shit here.

[slaw]

Demar derozan is nearly a top 10 players and top 10 popular among his peers. Never mind the u s of a, I think CANADA is doing a poor job getting behind these guys.

I live in Calgary, and the local sports radio guys mock the team. In the morning rundown they go "and last night the Toronto rap-THIS HAS BEEN YOUR NBA UPDATE" and cut him off with the voice over guy. Only today did they go "we're lifting our ban officially and getting behind the first place raptors."

There's zero water cooler talk here. My friends don't know shit. It's easily the 2nd most popular sport in North America but it feels like some niche thing here. The blue jays on the other hand feel like "Canada's team"

Most of the basketball fans I know in Calgary cheer for the Lakers, Celtics, Blazers or Suns. Mostly they view the Raps as irrelevant because they've sucked for the better part of two decades. They view the Raps the same as a team like Minnesota. You add to that the fact that sports fans outside Toronto hate Toronto sports because of the outsized coverage it gets on TSN/Sportsnet as opposed to coverage of their local teams.

I actually don't know any Raps fans outside this board. Having said that, when the Raps went to the ECF, a lot of my friends and colleagues (i.e. 40-something year old white guys) were watching every game and were talking about it over beers. One of my buddies started following them afterwards and still watches quite a few games. I find that a lot of the younger guys I work with follow basketball more and they never talk about it cause they don't think anyone else does.

Your big problem is you're listening to Calgary sports radio. Why in the bloody hell would you do that to yourself?

[KeonClark]

Most of the basketball fans I know in Calgary cheer for the Lakers, Celtics, Blazers or Suns. Mostly they view the Raps as irrelevant because they've sucked for the better part of two decades. They view the Raps the same as a team like Minnesota. You add to that the fact that sports fans outside Toronto hate Toronto sports because of the outsized coverage it gets on TSN/Sportsnet as opposed to coverage of their local teams.

I actually don't know any Raps fans outside this board. Having said that, when the Raps went to the ECF, a lot of my friends and colleagues (i.e. 40-something year old white guys) were watching every game and were talking about it over beers. One of my buddies started following them afterwards and still watches quite a few games. I find that a lot of the younger guys I work with follow basketball more and they never talk about it cause they don't think anyone else does.

Your big problem is you're listening to Calgary sports radio. Why in the bloody hell would you do that to yourself?

I would agree with your assessment. We are a blue jays town for sure, although back to back championships made a permanent fan base last generation that also carried over to their kids. And let's face it, baseball is just bigger in Canada than basketball.

As for the last question, my satellite radio ran into issues I never got around to fixing, and I don't like music at 7 am, so it's mindless noise on the drive in to work.

[slaw]

I would agree with your assessment. We are a blue jays town for sure, although back to back championships made a permanent fan base last generation that also carried over to their kids. And let's face it, baseball is just bigger in Canada than basketball.

As for the last question, my satellite radio ran into issues I never got around to fixing, and I don't like music at 7 am, so it's mindless noise on the drive in to work.

I'm going to find out you work down the hall from me, aren't I?

EDIT: And have a nicer office....

[golden]

The average US basketball fan cares as much about Toronto as he does Utah, Portland, Minnesota and Milwaukee, San Antonio, Dallas, Indiana, Miami, etc.: little or not at all. Hence, the amount of coverage for all of those teams. It's not complicated and there is no conspiracy. The fact that the media in the US can't leverage Toronto for $ also plays a role in the coverage but that's largely driven by my first point.

Raps have no sizzle. Plain and simple, from a marketing perspective. Media sells ad space and Raps don’t generate clicks and eyeballs like Lavar Ball. And we don’t have rings like the Spurs to grudgingly earn the respect and adulation from band-wagoners that just love winners. I’ll take the lack of media attention, if it means we continue to win boring.

[Hotshot]

Better analysis then the so called experts in ESPN.

[KeonClark]

I'm going to find out you work down the hall from me, aren't I?

EDIT: And have a nicer office....

Only one way to find out. At exactly 2:30 pm mountain standard, I will yelp "raptors!" And wait to hear your response, "republic!"

[Demographic Shift]

Heres something that’s of interest… maybe only to me… but since it is I am going to expand on it.
Since “The Trade” the NewLooks have played 8 games.
Heres what Lebron James has done in those games.

He plays 40 minutes a game
He has averaged 29 points. His best game was 37 against OKC and his lowest output was 18 against Memphis.
He averages 10 rebounds a game.
He averages 10 assists a game
Shooting 53% overall from the field on 190 shot attempts.

And the NewLooks are 4 wins and 4 losses. A .500 team. 5 of those games were at home.

Just how much better can this guy play ? What gear is there to go up to or switch to flip when he is already in overdrive ?
And they are still the 28th ranked team in team defense.
Yet still the ESPN Huckleberrys are calling them to get to and win the ECF. Must be something in the water in Bristol.

On tap tonight in the East.

Tonight sees the NewLooks hosting the reeling Pistons. The Pistons are 4 games back in the loss column to the Heat with 19 to go. If the Heat play 500 ball and finish up 10 and 9 .. the Pistons will have to go 15 and 4 to finish ahead of the Heat. Pretty tall order for a team thats a robust 2 and 8 in their last 10. The NewLooks with Lebron getting a triple double take this one before they head out west on a 6 game roadie.

In the game of the night Milwaukee who got up off the mat last night goes to Indy to take on the Pacers. The Pacers were full value for their win over the Whiz. They hung on despite a run by the 2nd best team in the East at home. The Bucks let the Hinkies out to a 20 point first Q lead last night and then reeled them back in. The Hinkies are still learning how to close games which is why they won't be as big an speed bump in the playoffs as they are being made out to be. Both teams are on a B2B. Both teams have two really good young players in Victor Olidpio and the Alphabet with no quit in either of them. Think the Bucks are starting their climb up the ladder in the standings and eke out a win tonight.

Phenix is in South Beach... A win tonight for the Heat over the dysfunctional Suns coupled with a NewLook win over the Pistons and its 5 games in the loss column to make up with 18 to play. Its mathematically possible for the Pistons to catch the Heat... but not on the court. Dragic and Whiteside and Co chalk up a win tonight over the dog with fleas that are the Phoenix Suns.

Boston travels to Chicago. The Chowderheads played as good a game as they could in Houston and lost late. Its disheartening. TFB. Looks good on them. The Bulls are competing in this years Tankapolooza big time and need to lose a few to improve their odds of drafting a player that helps them down the road. In boxing the words "the fix is in" would be used. Calling a chowderhead win but hoping for a Bulls braincramp win.