Eastern Conference Playoff Preview: Predictions on Rounds 1 and 2. Whose going to the Finals ?

[Demographic Shift]

No Irving, Hayward, or Marcus Smart.

If you took off Kyle, DeMar, and Delon and made our starters Freddy/Norm/OG/Serge/JV, we wouldn't get very far against Bledsoe/Middleton/Giannis and company.

The legend .....that goes by the name of “Brad” ... grows.

[Demographic Shift]

Well a day later and it still burns for the fanbase.... Imagine how the players feel about whiffing on an opportunity to come back home with a split on the road and up 3 games to 1... but not to be after a feel bad loss to the Wizzers on their home court. The good news is that Raps will be at home where they have shown over the course of the year they are a pantload and a half to deal with on their home floor. Wednesday will be a better day.

Tonight in the East...

Nada...Niente....Nichego....Niks...Rien...

So... out west we have

Houston in Minnesota The Timberpups took one from the Rockets and are looking to draw even in the series tonight. The Rockets have handled the Pups pretty well all year but things do change in the playoffs. Can Wiggins and Towns step up again with Jimmy Butler to press the Rockets ? Will Harden and Paul take control of the game early and not let up and subsequently head back to Houston up 3 games to 1. Lets go with Towns and Wiggins stepping up again and a Minny win. This will create another 2up and 2down 1-8 seeding. The crazies in Houston will be beside themselves. Street light stanchions will have to greased and the Toyota Centre would have to prep for the pitchfork and torches marchers. Houston fans would do well to observe the stoic measured response from the Raptor fanbase for perspective.

Chokelahoma @ Utah Game of the night. Those mormons are tough ... and really tough at home. Do it all guard and fashion mogul Russell Westbrook has vowed that Ricky Rubio won't get the better of him anytime soon. Probably not. But Gobert and Mitchell will get the better of the Thunder again and the Curse of Carmelo lingers on as the Thunder head back to OKC down 3 games to 1.

[The Great One]

Would love to see nothing more than Rubio light up Westbrook's ass again tonight.

Go Jazz.

[Demographic Shift]

So in the spirit of diversity took in the Leafs game last night with "the boys" and couldn't help but notice the difference between Leafs fans and Raptors fans as they follow their teams. Where both the Leafs and Raps share an on the court/ice deficit of success over the past years there is a marked difference in attitudes...

1. Leafs fans are much louder and have a brash swagger to them and expect to win any game they play even if they are a bit of an underdog. Raps fans are prototypical Canadian in that they almost apologize for their success and generally fear games against quality opponents.

2. Where Raps fans longingly look to ESPN for acceptance and validation of their team... Leafs fans by and large think that ESPN might be a minor pro league somewhere where the Leafs don't play and could give a phyling phuck about what some American publication thinks of their team.

3. Raps fans believe that showcase games on US national television are of great importance. Leafs fans get pissed off that their team has to play at non Leaf times of 7:00PM to accommodate some podunk city that really doesn't matter.

4. When the Leafs lose the other team was simply lucky and they will curb stomp them the next time out. Raptors fans want to fire the coach.. trade everyone they can't cut and if possible just burn the team to the ground and start over.

5. Both sets of fans think the ref's are out to get them

Just sayin....

[Nilanka]

I think a large part of that can be attributed to hockey being "Canada's game". ESPN (and the likes) aren't known for their hockey knowledge/coverage.

For hockey, the worlds looks up to Canada. For basketball, the world looks up to the US.

[Zainab]

So in the spirit of diversity took in the Leafs game last night with "the boys" and couldn't help but notice the difference between Leafs fans and Raptors fans as they follow their teams. Where both the Leafs and Raps share an on the court/ice deficit of success over the past years there is a marked difference in attitudes...

1. Leafs fans are much louder and have a brash swagger to them and expect to win any game they play even if they are a bit of an underdog. Raps fans are prototypical Canadian in that they almost apologize for their success and generally fear games against quality opponents.

2. Where Raps fans longingly look to ESPN for acceptance and validation of their team... Leafs fans by and large think that ESPN might be a minor pro league somewhere where the Leafs don't play and could give a phyling phuck about what some American publication thinks of their team.

3. Raps fans believe that showcase games on US national television are of great importance. Leafs fans get pissed off that their team has to play at non Leaf times of 7:00PM to accommodate some podunk city that really doesn't matter.

4. When the Leafs lose the other team was simply lucky and they will curb stomp them the next time out. Raptors fans want to fire the coach.. trade everyone they can't cut and if possible just burn the team to the ground and start over.

5. Both sets of fans think the ref's are out to get them

Just sayin....

<3

[KeonClark]

I think a large part of that can be attributed to hockey being "Canada's game". ESPN (and the likes) aren't known for their hockey knowledge/coverage.

For hockey, the worlds looks up to Canada. For basketball, the world looks up to the US.

Exactly. Beat me to it. The leafs are the biggest Canadians in a Canadian league. They're the Knicks or the Lakers minus the titles. Raptors on the the other hand are the only Canadian team in a VERY American culturized sport (it gets very little support outside the GTA)

Almost polar opposites of the spectrum yet playing in the same building

[Demographic Shift]

Well... the Mormons hung another serious beat down on Chokelahoma. In the parlance of Leaf fans... they popped out their eyeballs and skull phucked them . Other than Stephen Adams.. it couldn't happen to a more deserving team of preening pretenders. Another TNT favourite is on the brink of extinction....

Houston vs Minny... boiled down to a monosyllable...ditto. It was a beatdown.... except the Wolves however are a far more likeable team than the Thunder and they will be back... however there just might be an opportunity here as Thibs (who will live on in Minny as coach/gm/president/dictator when Minny loses) might think he can get by without two ball dominant SF in Wiggins and Butler and perhaps entertains the notion that he can improve his team if he quietly shops Wiggins before the draft... So the question arises...how much, or little, would he take from Ujiri if the Raps GM wanted to get a very young hometown boy home and on the court at the ACC....


On to tonights games... in the East

The Deer into Chowdaville Teams love the home cooking in the NBA. The Deer aren't as bad as they looked in TD Garden in the first two or as good as they looked in Milwaukee in the last two. The reciprocal is true for the Chowderheads. The diety .. an almost Brazilian like soccer legend.... who like Pele, Oscar, Renaldo and Neymar only needs to go by his first name "Brad" has his work cut out for him to manufacture enough offence to beat the Bucks.. can the Horizon League coach of the year with a playoff winning percentage of 39% find a way to get the pluckiest of the plucky over the top tonight....? He can...love that home court.....I am cheering like mad for the Chowdas to blow a tire though.

Heat into the City of Brotherly Love The Heat have struggled to score all season long but their defense has made up for it... however against the Hinkiess, the Heat have been unable to impose their will to get into a transition game via turnovers. The Hinks have simply stopped turning the ball over. In a half court game the Heat don't have the people to get it done. The Hinks put a stake into the Heat's heart tonight and are the first team in the East to advance.

[MACK11]

OKC going down in the 1st round would be disastrous for them based on all the hype coming into the year, and PG13 is gonna bolt in the summer

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[Scraptor]

OKC going down in the 1st round would be disastrous for them based on all the hype coming into the year, and PG13 is gonna bolt in the summer

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Plus paying the carcass of Carmelo Anthony $28 million next year. And he was never that good to begin with.

[Demographic Shift]

Plus paying the carcass of Carmelo Anthony $28 million next year. And he was never that good to begin with.

Somewhere..maybe in Montana...the voice of a mysterious bearded zen master says..” I told you so”.....


And just noticing that the price to unload Demarre Carroll and keep the Raptors core together while staying under the cap is the 29th and 59th picks in the draft....who are unlikely to put either of the raps or nets over the top.......Masai Ujiri is the exec of the year.

[Scraptor]

And just noticing that the price to unload Demarre Carroll and keep the Raptors core together while staying under the cap is the 29th and 59th picks in the draft....who are unlikely to put either of the raps or nets over the top.......Masai Ujiri is the exec of the year.

I don't think they give exec of the year awards for fixing your own mistakes, unfortunately. It's probably Morey's award this year unless the other execs still hate him.

[Demographic Shift]

I don't think they give exec of the year awards for fixing your own mistakes, unfortunately. It's probably Morey's award this year unless the other execs still hate him.

So it would have been a better move to sit on his hands and do nothing?
Why the cynics take ?

[GOLDBLUM]

So it would have been a better move to sit on his hands and do nothing?
Why the cynics take ?

Not cynical really, just realist. I absolutely agree for our purposes here that we can look at what he's done and put him in the category of exec of the year. Your pointing out of the positioning of those draft picks speaks incredibly highly of the soundness of that decision, despite the cries of many here in giving up two picks at the time. While we can fully appreciate it though, that kind of minutia won't land on voters. We all know him to be the most valuable GM in the league but I don't see the award going his way this time round, based on the criteria that people will be evaluating. They'll wanna see something splashier, I suspect.

[Scraptor]

So it would have been a better move to sit on his hands and do nothing?
Why the cynics take ?

No, it's good he made the move, but it's not a stroke of genius to dump two picks for an overpaid contract you signed two years prior. You're viewing those picks as not being able to help us, but picks--even late ones--are valuable trade currency. Kudos to Masai for snagging OG and CJ but I doubt that will be enough to win him the award.