2018 Raptors/NBA | GTAMotorcycle.com

2018 Raptors/NBA

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
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Looking forward to this year! Lots of big changes across the league too.
Excited to see Anunoby and Miles provide some lift. Delon Wright and Norman Powell will have breakout seasons and Kyle, Demar and Serge will be a really good trifecta. What will become of Valancinus? Hopefully our youth keeps us one of the healthiest teams all year. We also need good three and d to be above 50 wins and playing in the east final - which we will be doing!
Go Raps!
 
Looking forward to this year! Lots of big changes across the league too.
Excited to see Anunoby and Miles provide some lift. Delon Wright and Norman Powell will have breakout seasons and Kyle, Demar and Serge will be a really good trifecta. What will become of Valancinus? Hopefully our youth keeps us one of the healthiest teams all year. We also need good three and d to be above 50 wins and playing in the east final - which we will be doing!
Go Raps!

I hope I am wrong, but I see this season being an exact copy of last in NBA. In the east, it will be Cleveland 1, Boston 2, Toronto and Washington 3/4 (i dont think either team is that much better/worse, but i don't follow washington too much, but I don't think Toronto improved over the offseason).

In the west, it'll be Golden State and more or less everyone else. Cleveland and GS in the finals, and GS wins again.
 
Cleveland's chances are totally dependent on how injured Thomas really is. Boston believes he is done. I tend to believe the same.

Boston should be the best team but it will depend on how well and how fast they can come together as a team.

If Toronto can jack up enough threes with consistency and not forget about JV then they may exceed what they did last year. I'm just leary of betting on any team "led" by Lowry.

The west is GS barring injury. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Oklahoma and Houston do with their new super teams. It should be fun.

Finals GS vs Boston with GS winning.
I hope I am wrong, but I see this season being an exact copy of last in NBA. In the east, it will be Cleveland 1, Boston 2, Toronto and Washington 3/4 (i dont think either team is that much better/worse, but i don't follow washington too much, but I don't think Toronto improved over the offseason).

In the west, it'll be Golden State and more or less everyone else. Cleveland and GS in the finals, and GS wins again.
 
With Cleveland imploding....the east will be a toss up between Bos and Tor....they have better coaching and defense

At least the raps are playing less ISO and shooting 3's now
 
I always end up feeling that this sport is too rich for my blood. Maybe I'll go watch some polo in the spring and work my way up?
 
How about them Raps and the east is there for the taking!

Clearly my prediction is not happening as I had originally thought. The team is certainly playing better with essentially the same team as the end of last season. Dwayne Casey ought to get Coach of the Year considerations.

They can win the east at this point. Matter of fact, i would make that a priority just to make their playoff bracket as 'easy' as possible.

I do have a slight concern though about how much heavy lifting the 2nd unit does, especially when the benches shrink in the playoffs. Will be interesting to see how that turns out.

Cleveland, as dysfunctional as they are, still have the best player in the planet and he can up his game when he needs to.
 
I'm sorry I lost any respect I had for casey when the raps got swept in the 1st round in the EAST against a 40 year old paul pierce.

Never gonna let that go
 
Exactly. It was meant to be and it's called learning and growth.
Life (and sports) would be lame if all we did was harp on the past.

They are a seriously fun team to watch.
 
Nuts. Cleveland just turned over half their roster today. Will be very interesting to see what that does for the Cavs.
 
@bigpoppa ISO? Idk what that means. I'm not a sports guy and my son is into bball so I'm trying to learn more

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Joe: ISO = Isolation ball.
For the last few years and up until this year, the Raptors have been well known to run almost their entire offense through Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry - therefore they were isolated against the opposing defender while their team mates would move away to give them room to operate. Essentially once one of those two guys got the ball in the offense they would either take their defender one-on-one, or jack up a long 2-point shot, with very few passes that led to that shot or drive to the rim. As a team they were also heavily reliant on the 2-point baskets, while the league trend was starting to incorporate way more 3-point shots. The Raps were pretty successful with this approach because Demar and Kyle are so talented, but come playoffs, other teams would really start to clamp down on those two and force the other Raptors to score - which routinely failed because the team was being forced into doing something they had not being practicing and developing all season long.

Now the philosophy is to pass the ball much more and this is evident in their increased assists and 3 point attempts per game. If they consistently made a little more of those shots, they would be close to Houston and Golden state. At the start of the season, they missed badly and often, but now they are starting to get settled into the offense and they have fewer sloppy moments in each game. Considering the youth of this team and the other two are clearly super teams, the Raps are awesome. 20 more games of this practicing the new approach and I expect the Raps to be a well oiled machine by the playoffs.

The only thing I wish for is for Norman Powell to get back on track.
 
Joe: ISO = Isolation ball.
For the last few years and up until this year, the Raptors have been well known to run almost their entire offense through Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry - therefore they were isolated against the opposing defender while their team mates would move away to give them room to operate. Essentially once one of those two guys got the ball in the offense they would either take their defender one-on-one, or jack up a long 2-point shot, with very few passes that led to that shot or drive to the rim. As a team they were also heavily reliant on the 2-point baskets, while the league trend was starting to incorporate way more 3-point shots. The Raps were pretty successful with this approach because Demar and Kyle are so talented, but come playoffs, other teams would really start to clamp down on those two and force the other Raptors to score - which routinely failed because the team was being forced into doing something they had not being practicing and developing all season long.

Now the philosophy is to pass the ball much more and this is evident in their increased assists and 3 point attempts per game. If they consistently made a little more of those shots, they would be close to Houston and Golden state. At the start of the season, they missed badly and often, but now they are starting to get settled into the offense and they have fewer sloppy moments in each game. Considering the youth of this team and the other two are clearly super teams, the Raps are awesome. 20 more games of this practicing the new approach and I expect the Raps to be a well oiled machine by the playoffs.

The only thing I wish for is for Norman Powell to get back on track.

This is is also why I am not a fan of casey...this trend started back in 2014 when san antonio beat lebron in miami for a title..team basketball and 3 pointers. Casey is like 4 years late to the party...They also traded lou williams(seriously underrated clutch player)...that guy is ballin out in LA right now....



(But i digress, im sure they'll keep getting better, maybe ill even start watching the games)

Saw this on my IG feed and honestly, I would love to see him back in TO:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...tial-return-to-raptors-its-supposed-to-happen

at 41 years of age? I'm sure masai can find better ways to spend that money on a productive player instead
 
Skip is a great offensive player, but his defense is soft like tissue. They didn't trade him, they let him walk in the summer with free agency and picked up Bizzy B and Cujo - two defensive stalwarts for essentially the same price as what Lou was going to get from LA.

I think it would be great to get Carter back for the final roster spot - likely he doesn't play, but he's been a great locker room guy for league minimum and help our young guys develop even faster.
 
Skip is a great offensive player, but his defense is soft like tissue. They didn't trade him, they let him walk in the summer with free agency and picked up Bizzy B and Cujo - two defensive stalwarts for essentially the same price as what Lou was going to get from LA.

I think it would be great to get Carter back for the final roster spot - likely he doesn't play, but he's been a great locker room guy for league minimum and help our young guys develop even faster.


I forgot what the league min is?
 
#1 seed for the second time this season. Let's hope they make it stick this time.

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