This team isn't going to the finals

[planetmars]

Knee jerk threads are hilarious. I'm feeling pretty blue myself but needed a few hours to give me a chance to calm down a bit. Raptors put up a stinker today and a few times the past week have not been themselves. DeMar has been playing poorly. The bench hasn't been as sharp as we've seen. Ibaka has been a disaster. Casey has made some odd decisions and now we're looking at the standings and seeing Boston inch closer to that first seed playing with Kyrie, Smart and a bunch of other guys.

I still think they end up with that #1 seed. Boston has to lose eventually. Magic number is 6, and that's a pretty low number. We still face Boston twice. Beat them both times, and that number goes down to 2 without playing any other games. The first game is after 3 days rest as well.

Finals will all depend on Lebron and when/if we face him. If we duplicate the effort we had last time out, we could win a series. Lebron was god like, and only won by 3. We weren't playing our best in that second half either.. and rest was definitely a concern/issue. Plus we'll have home court. And outside of tonight are pretty damn good at home. Outside of Lebron I really don't see an ECF team that could give us fits with home court advantage.

All in all.. I'm just hoping this ends up being a reverse-jinx thread.

[MixxAOR]

Going to the Finals wasn't guaranteed anyway. Conference Finals is still within reach.

[Maury]

At this point our guys are tired of regular season ball and they’re waiting till playoffs. That’s all it is. It’s a long season to stay locked in and give consistent high effort. The fact that we can turn it on against bad teams and win 9/10 times shows how good we are. Like I said, get to the playoffs, the intensity will go back up.

[gk17]

What were the expectations before the season? Certainly not to reach the final or even the ECF. Therefore, I do not understand the overreaction in both directions. The season has been great and has exceeded all expectations so far. What will happen in the Play Offs is a bonus for me. I wouldn't be so disappointed, if we lose in round 2 (maybe a little bit), to reach the ECF would be outstanding, considering how balanced the East is. Of course you can dream of the finals, but you certainly you cannot expect it from this team. You have to be that realistic.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

What were the expectations before the season? Certainly not to reach the final or even the ECF. Therefore, I do not understand the overreaction in both directions. The season has been great and has exceeded all expectations so far. What will happen in the Play Offs is a bonus for me. I wouldn't be so disappointed, if we lose in round 2 (maybe a little bit), to reach the ECF would be outstanding, considering how balanced the East is. Of course you can dream of the finals, but you certainly you cannot expect it from this team. You have to be that realistic.

Who cares what the expectations were before the season?

If you're the #1 seed you should be able to get to the finals. Any less than that is failure.

[NeedTristanThompson]

Who cares what the expectations were before the season?

If you're the #1 seed you should be able to get to the finals. Any less than that is failure.

So... have you ever heard of this man called Lebron?

[gk17]

Who cares what the expectations were before the season?

If you're the #1 seed you should be able to get to the finals. Any less than that is failure.

You can see it that way, but I do not. For me it's not all about winning, but fun. And this team was a lot of fun. No matter how the season ends.

Besides it is by no means certain that we are #1 seed. And your view ignores all factors that can affect both the season and the playoffs: injuries, team priorities (resting players),....

[Puffer]

Who cares what the expectations were before the season?

If you're the #1 seed you should be able to get to the finals. Any less than that is failure.

I can't be bothered to look it up, but what was your prediction for where they would finish the year? I don't recall it as being 1st seed. I'm pretty sure you had them 3rd or 4th. So if they finish 1st they have wildly exceeded your expectations. The fact that you have new expectations and are afraid they might not reach them is on you, not the Raptors.

So far, I see a team full of guys that desperately need days off. I see guys who, despite talking about how important it is to reach the 60 win mark, don't care that much about it. I see Casey slightly reverting, Demarr having a few bad games , and the second and first year guys slipping back a bit. Playoffs and rest will likely cure those ills.

I hate seeing them play like this, because this is how they used to play. No reason to think they can't refocus.

[KHD]

Shaolin coming in with the reverse jinx thread I see.

Last time he went on a long rant about how JV needed to come off the bench. Since then JV has pretty solidly cemented himself as our 3rd best player lol.

[golden]

Shaolin coming in with the reverse jinx thread I see.

Last time he went on a long rant about how JV needed to come off the bench. Since then JV has pretty solidly cemented himself as our 3rd best player lol.

He is fulfulling his destiny...

[DanH]

What do you think has caused the slippage Dan? The lack of defence lately and Casey going back to some of his old habits with lineups and lack of adjustments is a little concerning. Also Serge just looking horrible more often than not is also worrisome. Do you really think it's just fatigue and the tough schedule in terms of a lack of days off?

Fatigue is a big factor. And we've been missing various guys for rest or injury, messing with that carefully calibrated chemistry we had going. Serge and DeMar have looked horrid for a solid two weeks now, coincidentally the two weeks with the roughest schedule on the year. Serge needed games off and it's super dumb the team didn't give him that, but it won't be an issue in the playoffs. DeMar needs to get his head on straight, because he's been super sloppy the last while (and doing nothing defensively), but I wonder how hard it is to grind out the season knowing they essentially have the 1st seed locked up.

The Boston games will be interesting, as they are the only games they really need to win if they want to lock down the 1 seed. If the effort is lacking then I'll be concerned.

As for Casey, he's been worrying me a bit lately, but on the year he's been pretty solid with his rotations compared to usual. His use of the small ball recently... I don't know whether to see that as problematic that he's using it wrong and too much, or just to assume he's getting that look some run thinking that they'll need it against small ball looks in the playoffs (while also explicitly NOT using it against the Cavs, to avoid letting that be scouted). Like, I've criticized Casey in the past for coaching to win every game too much with too little regard for the long term plan, and if what he's doing now is the opposite how can I complain? That said, there's every possibility he's just reverting to old ways, which would be bad, but with how well he and the team have done this season, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

I don't like the reappearance of the 3 C rotation (plus Ibaka), but Poeltl does seem a little winded and this could just be letting him get his legs back under him. I don't like that OG doesn't play late in games, but the same logic could apply. I don't like that FVV has become a crutch in the 4th Q, but that's been one of the little issues all year. I don't like that Serge gets so many minutes when he clearly needs rest, but he'll get that rest come the playoffs so that could solve itself.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

I can't be bothered to look it up, but what was your prediction for where they would finish the year? I don't recall it as being 1st seed. I'm pretty sure you had them 3rd or 4th. So if they finish 1st they have wildly exceeded your expectations. The fact that you have new expectations and are afraid they might not reach them is on you, not the Raptors.

So far, I see a team full of guys that desperately need days off. I see guys who, despite talking about how important it is to reach the 60 win mark, don't care that much about it. I see Casey slightly reverting, Demarr having a few bad games , and the second and first year guys slipping back a bit. Playoffs and rest will likely cure those ills.

I hate seeing them play like this, because this is how they used to play. No reason to think they can't refocus.

My prediction was mid-high 40s in wins and 3rd or 4th seed.

They've obviously exceeded that by leaps and bounds. However with that excellence, comes expectation. By every advanced metric we are BY FAR the best team in the eastern conference. Failing to win the east would be drastically underperforming vs. our regular season and a disappointment.

I don't care if the Cavs have LeBron, it's not an excuse. He's been beaten before in the east playoffs many times by teams who did not have superstars at his level.

[DanH]

My prediction was mid-high 40s in wins and 3rd or 4th seed.

They've obviously exceeded that by leaps and bounds. However with that excellence, comes expectation. By every advanced metric we are BY FAR the best team in the eastern conference. Failing to win the east would be drastically underperforming vs. our regular season and a disappointment.

I don't care if the Cavs have LeBron, it's not an excuse. He's been beaten before in the east playoffs many times by teams who did not have superstars at his level.

Yeah, and the Raptors will beat him (if he makes it to them). Why the ridiculous post now before they've lost to him?

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Shaolin coming in with the reverse jinx thread I see.

Last time he went on a long rant about how JV needed to come off the bench. Since then JV has pretty solidly cemented himself as our 3rd best player lol.

I just want to point out that when I said JV should come off the bench, I agreed that he was the 3rd best player on the team. In fact I think I specifically stated that sometimes teams do that with their top players because of fit. Starting Poeltl over him wasn't because Poeltl is better than JV but because he was better defensively, and because I thought the bench would need a talisman offensively given how offensively challenged most of these guys appeared to be prior to the season starting.

The Thunder brought James Harden off the bench for a similar reason as did the Spurs with Manu. They were still the third (arguably 2nd) best players on their teams.

I turned out to be wrong about it during the regular season, but don't act like I said JV was garbage or something. I just thought it was a better fit for the team overall. Plus it still might end up happening anyway in the playoffs.

[Shaolin Fantastic]

Yeah, and the Raptors will beat him (if he makes it to them). Why the ridiculous post now before they've lost to him?

Idk what's ridiculous about it? All the concerns I've raised are valid. Having a strong bench does not matter as much in the playoffs. Our stars have traditionally played worse in the playoffs than the regular season, and typically the playoffs are when you need your stars to do the opposite.

Like I said, I'm happy to end up being wrong, but I'm concerned. Even Philly in the 2nd round to prove to be a potential stumbling block for us if Embiid and Simmons show out and Lowry/DeMar check out.