When the bench appeared to be 3 deep it was worrisome. Now that Nurse was forced to use them they are proving they are more than pine sitters. This is one time when I don't mind being wrong.Pretty impressive West Coast road trip thus far; especially with all the injuries. The team with no bench, seems to have a pretty incredible one these days. Ujiri built this team around defense and it has been just smothering as of late, keeping us in games when our offense goes stale. Every team has some stale offensive moments, and the league is looking much more balanced without offensive juggernauts like Golden State knocked down several notches.
Pretty exciting to be a RAps fan still this year.
Pretty impressive West Coast road trip thus far; especially with all the injuries. The team with no bench, seems to have a pretty incredible one these days. Ujiri built this team around defense and it has been just smothering as of late, keeping us in games when our offense goes stale. Every team has some stale offensive moments, and the league is looking much more balanced without offensive juggernauts like Golden State knocked down several notches.
Pretty exciting to be a RAps fan still this year.
Guys, my conspiracy theory is as follows : Nick knew his depth all along and just kept pushing buttons... Wonk, not sure Masai and d-up approach as RHJ and SJ were more offensive plus guys. Dawg, I feel Nurse was showing his bench what his expectations were through words and playing time and now they've drunk the cool aid and playing Raps D.When the bench appeared to be 3 deep it was worrisome. Now that Nurse was forced to use them they are proving they are more than pine sitters. This is one time when I don't mind being wrong.
Nurse is proving to be a damn good coach. He is smart and innovative. He was under rated, not sure that is the case anymore!
Nurse is one of the new style coaches that builds a great level of trust with the players and implements a team oriented system. He doesn't rely on that combination of fear and authoritarian style that most of us grew up with as players. He is used to working with what he has and building them together instead of relying on established stars and his D-League experience taught him to be flexible with players. Of course this works because Masai chose players willing to put the team first instead of their ego.When the bench appeared to be 3 deep it was worrisome. Now that Nurse was forced to use them they are proving they are more than pine sitters. This is one time when I don't mind being wrong.
Nurse is proving to be a damn good coach. He is smart and innovative. He was under rated, not sure that is the case anymore!
I worry about how much this will be felt in playoffs. When teams play 7 straight, the spend a lot of time scouting normal sets and player tendencies so it sure helps to have a guy who just can't be stopped in crunch time....Last year we had Klaw to fall back on. ...
Crossed my lit thoughts too, but, to cliche it like the best, let's play it game by game and not deal with futures!! My feelings on this bcase, is that Spicy can get to that level over the next 70 games and become some of what the Klaw was in that intangible. If OG develops and the rest stay healthy and constant, I like the look they'll have to win "the16" again. If someone on this bench now or in the futures of trade deadlines becomes a rotational force, Raps can continue to be the one no one thought could. Let's enjoy the ride. Have a great one all!. Let's go Raptors :encouragement:I worry about how much this will be felt in playoffs. When teams play 7 straight, the spend a lot of time scouting normal sets and player tendencies so it sure helps to have a guy who just can't be stopped in crunch time.
I like Freddy as well. Replace KLO, not quite yet, Kyle has leadership skills that are hard to duplicate. Davis is a work in progress, skills appear to be there, a little rough and inconsistent but there for development. The Raptors over all appear to have a great work ethic and if Davis buys into that he should progress.we already have Van Vleet to replace Lowry for the future. I suspect FVV might already be the better point guard, but let's just say its nice to have both......but Terrence Davis will be able to learn from FVV and Lowry.(aspect to learn from both) Physically he's grabbing boards off the rim, dunking over defenders, and pretty quick on the defensive end. Definitely still raw, but the potential is there and we gotta keep an eye on the future.
I hope we're not getting too excited over this last stretch of games. Still a small sample size.
Yep, only players under two way contracts are actually raptors property (and they are the only ones actually getting paid).
I think basketcase was implying that only the 2 way players make good money, but I believe they only make more money pro rated for the days that they get sent up to play in the big league.They all get paid. I just explained this.....
In fact, they all now make $35,000, plus they get a bonus for making the playoffs and winning end of season awards.
Technically yes but $35,000 barely covers housing, meals, and training equipment.They all get paid. I just explained this.....
...
Technically yes but $35,000 barely covers housing, meals, and training equipment.
Most of those guys are some combination of still chasing the dream that passed them buy and enjoying a few more years of athletics.
I can't believe what I'm seeing from this team. The good west coast road trip, without key players, then to come back and absolutely destroy Charlette like that is crazy. This team is much better then I thought.Raps kicked ass last night Team was awesome. Once they got it going in the second half they kept piling it on. NUT CRUSHER! Loved it!
I was at the Raps game last night. I love watching this group play! Its amazing how much effort and passion all the players have when they are on the court! Not to mention an unbelievable amount of support from the fans!! Go Raps!!! Imho OG is on the way to all-star status.I can't believe what I'm seeing from this team. The good west coast road trip, without key players, then to come back and absolutely destroy Charlette like that is crazy. This team is much better then I thought.
To me, the impressive part is who they are killing teams without...… Lowry and Ibaka considered a big part of the team, OG missed a couple of games, and McCaw while not as crucial is still out.Rolling right along. Destroying the Magic tonight. That's the impressive part, they're not just winning. They're killing teams.