Everything Kawhi Leonard

[Puffer]

I'd go after his injury hard...make him run, bang him off screens, and I'd personally fall on the side of his knee at least once or twice a game to put more stress on it.

Yep.

Eff him

Superjudge, you are a BAD MAN. Bad. Bad. Bad. Good for you.

[Apollo]

Gasol is a much more difficult match up for Embiid. When Gasol was traded here a bunch of people in the media were talking as though it were a lateral move. Think again. Defense. Passing. Hitting open shots from anywhere. He's a much better overall player than JV.

[DanH]

Gasol is a much more difficult match up for Embiid. When Gasol was traded here a bunch of people in the media were talking as though it were a lateral move. Think again. Defense. Passing. Hitting open shots from anywhere. He's a much better overall player than JV.

The concern was that Gasol had not played like THIS in quite some time in Memphis. If he was going to return to this form here (which we all hoped for) the trade was a good one. The problem was that there was no guarantee of that at the time. Thankfully it has all worked out great so far.

[G__Deane]

Gasol has pretty much owned Embiid for the last couple years. I wouldn't be entirely shocked to see a similar disappearing act from Embiid. Especially with him limping.

Did you watch Embiid last night? I don't see him disappearing personally. And Marc isn't built to make him run the floor which would normally be a good game plan if he continues to be hobbled.

[Apollo]

Did you watch Embiid last night? I don't see him disappearing personally. And Marc isn't built to make him run the floor which would normally be a good game plan if he continues to be hobbled.

Marc is going to hammer him. He's gonna lean on him. He's going to make Embiid's life difficult. Will he rise above it? Probably but it'll impact the game favorably for the Raptors somewhere.

[JawsGT]

Marc is going to hammer him. He's gonna lean on him. He's going to make Embiid's life difficult. Will he rise above it? Probably but it'll impact the game favorably for the Raptors somewhere.

Hopefully, but you gotta be expecting a quick whistle on gasol. Im expecting he wont make it past the first 4-5 mins without picking up a couple of questionable fouls.

[KeonClark]

Marc is going to hammer him. He's gonna lean on him. He's going to make Embiid's life difficult. Will he rise above it? Probably but it'll impact the game favorably for the Raptors somewhere.

From ESPN:

After his final news conference, Clifford likened the Raptors' defense to a skilled NFL secondary that can account both for individual matchups and open space, citing Leonard and Gasol in particular. Gasol noted that it was unlikely Vucevic had ever been doubled on cuts: "I'm sure that he didn't like that as much." Indeed, Toronto presents an unlikeable brand of defense if you're a big man trying to carve out space to operate. Embiid is more creative than Vucevic, but no more appreciative to defenders cramping his style.

[Apollo]

Hopefully, but you gotta be expecting a quick whistle on gasol. Im expecting he wont make it past the first 4-5 mins without picking up a couple of questionable fouls.

I hope we're past the shady officiating now. I think someone in the league head office must have addressed it heading into game four because things started to change. If not then its a bad look for the league who preaches taking their business global but who in fact throws everything but the kitchen sink at the one international team in order to block their success. Anyway, if Gasol goes down to shady officiating then they have Serge who can step in and I don't have the stats on Serge versus Embiid but Serge is a very good defender and will not be the weak link out there. Life goes on.

[JawsGT]

I hope we're past the shady officiating now. I think someone in the league head office must have addressed it heading into game four because things started to change. If not then its a bad look for the league who preaches taking their business global but who in fact throws everything but the kitchen sink at the one international team in order to block their success. Anyway, if Gasol goes down to shady officiating then they have Serge who can step in and I don't have the stats on Serge versus Embiid but Serge is a very good defender and will not be the weak link out there. Life goes on.

I hope youre right. It was actually just that one game with brothers where the officiating was blatantly awful. But now we have to play one of the leagues darling teams, the whistle might be consistently worse than we've seen.

[Apollo]

I hope youre right. It was actually just that one game with brothers where the officiating was blatantly awful. But now we have to play one of the leagues darling teams, the whistle might be consistently worse than we've seen.

I don't know, the Raptors are getting mostly respect from the American media which is uncharacteristic. Also there are various ways to gauge popularity but one measurement would be to look at FB follows. The Raptors are in the middle of the pack where as the 76ers are at the bottom of the barrel. Would the league really try to fix the playoffs to block the Raptors? I don't think so and I think if the officiating is poor again you'll start to see the Raptors get more public with it and that's not a good look on the league. The Raptors have an NBA finals MVP and even he struggled to get calls in the first three games. That can't continue.

[JawsGT]

I don't know, the Raptors are getting mostly respect from the American media which is uncharacteristic. Also there are various ways to gauge popularity but one measurement would be to look at FB follows. The Raptors are in the middle of the pack where as the 76ers are at the bottom of the barrel. Would the league really try to fix the playoffs to block the Raptors? I don't think so and I think if the officiating is poor again you'll start to see the Raptors get more public with it and that's not a good look on the league. The Raptors have an NBA finals MVP and even he struggled to get calls in the first three games. That can't continue.

Struggling to get calls against the magic makes less sense than struggling to get calls against the 6ers, if you think about. Its hard to make the leap to 'fixing', but when the pattern of foul calls goes against the raps, it makes ya wonder. Right now, its hard to believe the whistle will be fair or in the raps favour for this series.

[Apollo]

Struggling to get calls against the magic makes less sense than struggling to get calls against the 6ers, if you think about. Its hard to make the leap to 'fixing', but when the pattern of foul calls goes against the raps, it makes ya wonder. Right now, its hard to believe the whistle will be fair or in the raps favour for this series.

The fouls were there, they just didn't get the calls. If the fouls are there again and they don't get the calls then there will be problems for more than the Raptors, that's my guess. I know that "a foul is a foul" in the NBA isn't a thing but blatantly obvious fouls are fouls and those are the calls the Raptors weren't getting which cause the stir online.

This is the best Raptors team ever. Many high profile players and lots of eyes on the games.

[GOLDBLUM]

I hope our media learned a lesson last night. Probably not. It started with Kate Bierness, who's usually great, and then somebody in the presser afterward... They asked Kawhi questions where I think they thought they were being clever and backing Kawhi into a corner to speak about what it means to be a part of this Toronto team, or the legacy here -- to frame himself as part of the narrative. It's valiant, it's well-intentioned. But it ain't. Gonna. Work. Kawhi came to an awkward dead stop both times, asking them to repeat the question (cause he doesn't know what the hell to say to that) and both reporters were left with egg on their face.

I believe as much or more than anybody that there's a good chance he stay. But if he does it'll be on his terms. He ain't sentimental or poetic. Ask him straight up basketball questions or leave the man alone.

[GOLDBLUM]

I hope we're past the shady officiating now.

I hope our media learned a lesson last night.

Two posts on this page (one of them is my own) with two impossibilities in the first sentence.

(re officiating: Hopefully we'll find ourselves past a situation where the league is actively trying to tank us because we're a less desirable market as Canadians. But no team in the NBA will ever be past shady officiating, come on now. )

[KeonClark]

I hope our media learned a lesson last night. Probably not. It started with Kate Bierness, who's usually great, and then somebody in the presser afterward... They asked Kawhi questions where I think they thought they were being clever and backing Kawhi into a corner to speak about what it means to be a part of this Toronto team, or the legacy here -- to frame himself as part of the narrative. It's valiant, it's well-intentioned. But it ain't. Gonna. Work. Kawhi came to an awkward dead stop both times, asking them to repeat the question (cause he doesn't know what the hell to say to that) and both reporters were left with egg on their face.

I believe as much or more than anybody that there's a good chance he stay. But if he does it'll be on his terms. He ain't sentimental or poetic. Ask him straight up basketball questions or leave the man alone.

Not only that, but he's extremely calculated and I'm pretty sure is not 100% one way or the other yet (who would be?)

The last thing he wants is to be public enemy again in another city that he leaves. If he hands a good run here and then leaves he'll probably get a "thank you" applause his next time here. If he teases too much and then walks people will feel resentful. Better to have many thinking you'll leave and bless them with a good surprise, than thinking you'll stay and give them a mean surprise