2018/19 Toronto Raptors Season Thread !! Go Raptors Go !!!
- Thread starter raptorizedguy
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Wow Raps beat Hawks but barely! That was awful basketball! After defeating the Bucks and Pacers with solid efforts they get lucky against a nothing team like the Hawks. Raps have the potential to compete for a ring but there is something missing. I think the physical elements are pretty much there, but, they don't appear to have the mental focus it takes to put it all together every night!
Dawgger do you only follow the Raptors in the East, which team in the East has more mental focus that the Raptors, 82 games is long and there are bigger games than others. Except for Vince playing last night, it can be hard for the team to get up for a game against the lowly Hawks. The good thing with the Raptors this year is, they are able to win the games they are supposed to win, Kawii is a superstar and he was the difference in the last few defensive possessions.
Admittedly I rarely watch a full game in which the Raps are not a participant. I will give you the Hawks should not be much competition. As such you should be able to rest some of your starters and give your deep bench some playing time, not having your starters out there at the end scrambling for the win. I grant you Leonard was the difference maker as too many of our guys were having brain farts. So getting up for the Hawks was tough, why was getting up for the Spurs tough? Against the Spurs the Raps looked like the Cavs, DD kicked ass and the Raps let him.
still begs the question, if there is so much criticism of how we win games, what are people saying about every other team in the league with a worse record than us? Valunciunas is still being missed too.
Remember we may not step up for every sub 500 team, but they are now stepping up to play us, the #1 team. I'm pretty happy we've been playing pretty well against all the top tier teams. Hopefully Norman Powell has turned a corner and starts playing at a high level with some consistency. He starting to look like a veteran on the floor. Give the ball to Chris Boucher outside for a 3 every time!!!
Remember we may not step up for every sub 500 team, but they are now stepping up to play us, the #1 team. I'm pretty happy we've been playing pretty well against all the top tier teams. Hopefully Norman Powell has turned a corner and starts playing at a high level with some consistency. He starting to look like a veteran on the floor. Give the ball to Chris Boucher outside for a 3 every time!!!
Raptors released 28 yr old PG Brown and signed 23 yr old PG McCaw. McCaw is younger with some upside. That may be your trade!
I hope your wrong lol. This is the year raps can go all in since we can not rely on kawai re-signing. Siakam is our biggest chip with the biggest upside, i just hope if masai pulls something it will not include him
Imho i have said it before and will say it again.. Its time to move on from Kyle Lowry. The reason for this has nothing to do with performance and everything to do with culture.. Thoughts?
I'd rieally be surprised if Lowry got traded. Don't get me wrong, it could be good, but I'd be surprised. Delon Wright really needs to get more of an offensive game. He seems to only feel he go all the way to the basket either side, but he's got no back to the basket, or inside the paint stop and shoot. He can take a decent 3 point shot, and pretty accurate but he doesn't really look for it. I gotta think the brass was looking for more out of him?? He's great on defense. He can grab boards both sides. I just think he actually gets out hustled by Lowry all the time. Lowry just has more heart. Maybe its all the injuries Delon has had. He's playing a little shy for all his potential.
If Leonard moves at the end of the year Lowry is probably on the block. If they can get some young players and a first round draft pick, it may make sense then. Right now Fred and Delon are legitimate bench players with upsides. We have yet to see how, where and if McCaw fits. Without Lowry we won't go far come playoff time unless you can come up with a PG that is better than and younger than Lowry and that you don't have to break up the team to get and is actually available.
On another note, everyone happy with the double OT victory over Washington yesterday? Should have been a cake walk but ……… Oh yeah, a win is a win!
It seems to me that players influence players when it come to where they will or wont sign.. I hope Kyle is making an effort to influence kawhai free agency decision.. I wont hold my breath as I truely believe Kyle has a grudge against Masai...
I have no idea if Kyle does or doesn't have a beef with Masai, my thoughts are Kyle wants to win! Masai, as he admitted, could have and should have handled the trade better than he did. While the trade was the right move, telling DeRozan he wouldn't be traded then trading him before speaking to him again was wrong! Lowry saw his friend devastated and IMO is not happy with the way it was handled. I don't see where it has effected his play or his attitude towards his team mates. He has been a true professional. As for Leonard, my understanding is he has few close friends, keeps pretty much to himself and only he and a couple in his inner circle may know what his plans are. Only Leonard knows if he has made a final decision.
yeah don't know if Lowry has a grudge against Masai; we know Derozan does. And I can tell you Blake Griffen has a grudge against the Clippers. 
Just like we played Golden State like world champs without Kawhi, the Wizards did their thing against us. Any team in this league can go off on any given night. We're more worried about winning a 7 game series against anyone. Keep in mind we beat Washington in the double O/T in Washington. We also beat Golden State without Kawhi at Golden State!!! Everyone shoots better at home. We staved off Washington, at Washington and beat Golden State at Golden State.
Just like we played Golden State like world champs without Kawhi, the Wizards did their thing against us. Any team in this league can go off on any given night. We're more worried about winning a 7 game series against anyone. Keep in mind we beat Washington in the double O/T in Washington. We also beat Golden State without Kawhi at Golden State!!! Everyone shoots better at home. We staved off Washington, at Washington and beat Golden State at Golden State.
Agree Raps are better with KLo. His attitude.... some call him arrogant, others refer to his demeanor as swagger.....I like the attitude because I see it as an "I want to win" attitude. I just have a concern as to what is left in the tank as he plays hard. The number of charges he takes has to be hard on the body!
On a non-raptor note .... Holly Crap James Harden .... He is averaging 46 points a game in a 5 game stretch ... 19 straight 30 games ...
