Game #72: Toronto Raptors 129 - Cleveland Cavaliers 132

[Demographic Shift]

It's not just the offense. Norm lacks the ball-handling skills other than straight ahead drives to be effective at the NBA level. He has ZERO craftiness in his game. Zero, zilch, nada. It's a red flag when you see a guy like Pascal, who in one off-season developed some basic ball skills and timing to actually beat guys off the bounce with a slight hesitation dribble, plus a cross-over. Norm has no such rudimentary trickery in his arsenal. He needs at least one full off-season training at the Manu Ginobili Institute of Old Man Game.

Delon can teach him the Euro step over the summer in Drew League in LA..... Norm has the god given talent with that accleration off the bounce.....he can just go....

If Demar can improve his handles to the point where he is the primary ball handler for stretches of the game... so too can Norm improve his to the point where he isn't flumoxed going right or left or down the pipe at speed....

Theres a ball player in there dying to get out again.... So far the Raps development coaches have been very successful in helping guys make strides forward....

[KeonClark]

33 years young last December...not that thirty three is old..
but .....
in pro sports you may not be at the end of the road.. but you can see it...

Every year after 31 in sports is exponentially longer. No difference in 25 and 27. Huge difference in 31 and 33. Even moreso 33 to 35 and so on

[tDotted]

Norman averaging 13-15 points a game on good efficiency while in the starting lineup the past 2 seasons wasn't an accident; he's a good player. The new system has just been hard for him to mentally adjust to. It's amazing how far his defense and offense fell off a cliff though

[tDotted]

This

Serge and OG can't do shit on LeBron. Jonas is a problem overall but he can score easily. Siakam is the only one who can reasonably check LeBron 1 on 1 without allowing easy peneration that leads to scrambles and open threes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

LeBron might try to bully siakam in the post but you take your chances there and stay at home on the shooters.

Cavs defense can't stop anyone it's really funny to watch sometimes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

I guess I have to watch the highlights again but I really don't think OG was that bad at guarding LeBron on the ball. Ibaka was terrible though

[Demographic Shift]

I guess I have to watch the highlights again but I really don't think OG was that bad at guarding LeBron on the ball. Ibaka was terrible though

Trust your eyes and judgement first time through...

William Lou is a guy with a twitter account who has an opinion ... which is not exactly a unique set of circumstances ..
Not that he is wrong ... its just sports.... everyone has an opinion...

[JimiCliff]

This

Serge and OG can't do shit on LeBron. Jonas is a problem overall but he can score easily. Siakam is the only one who can reasonably check LeBron 1 on 1 without allowing easy peneration that leads to scrambles and open threes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

LeBron might try to bully siakam in the post but you take your chances there and stay at home on the shooters.

Cavs defense can't stop anyone it's really funny to watch sometimes.

— William Lou (@william_lou) March 22, 2018

This take is medium-hot. Give OG a few games to get comfortable, and I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised.

[RaptorsVictim]

I am very happy that we lost this game. This loss might prove so precious for us in terms of preparation for the playoff.

[KeonClark]

I am very happy that we lost this game. This loss might prove so precious for us in terms of preparation for the playoff.

This is a man who knows inner peace.

[rocwell]

This is a man who knows inner peace.

fake news

[G__Deane]

I don't really know if this is true or not. But if this is true and if therr are NBA players who are on roids and the NBA don't care about it then shouldn't Barry Bonds be in the HOF?

Really really twisted logic there Rex

[G__Deane]

Who the fuck cares about double double unless you're in Tim Hortons drive thru

Casey and myself care about one thing in crunch time

You picked out two words in the whole post. The point is JV was having another good/decent/fine game before being basically nailed to the bench. Better?

[The Great One]

🔥😲😳 Shannon Sharpe with some harsh words for the Toronto Raptors. Do you agree? 😂 (via @ShannonSharpe) pic.twitter.com/xaoaYnpfcy

— Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) March 22, 2018

[KeonClark]

������ Shannon Sharpe with some harsh words for the Toronto Raptors. Do you agree? �� (via @ShannonSharpe) pic.twitter.com/xaoaYnpfcy

— Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) March 22, 2018

Shannon looks like that crackhead on your block that's 50 but thinks he's still 22 and bragging about the chicks he banged, working his way around to askin you to buy his PlayStation 2 for 50 bucks

[GOLDBLUM]

....

I like that he said sometimes he makes himself sick

[Puffer]

Shannon looks like that crackhead on your block that's 50 but thinks he's still 22 and bragging about the chicks he banged, working his way around to askin you to buy his PlayStation 2 for 50 bucks

Nominated for best post of the last month.... and a contender for post of the year.