2016-17 Toronto Raptors and General NBA Thread

[GreenLantern2814]

I said when the Raptors acquired Serge Ibaka, I was going to watch basketball. They were going for it.

Still no. Someone help me. How do I watch the first 47 minutes of a basketball game on television?

[robaur]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

I said when the Raptors acquired Serge Ibaka, I was going to watch basketball. They were going for it.

Still no. Someone help me. How do I watch the first 47 minutes of a basketball game on television?

You watch the Gstate Warriors. That's about it.

If you can't get entertained by them....then you have no hope. lol.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by robaur

You watch the Gstate Warriors. That's about it.

If you can't get entertained by them....then you have no hope. lol.

I like basketball in person. I used to go to CIS games in uni and those were fun. I think being there live and watching a bunch of giants and superheroes fly through the air would be really cool.

Can't watch it on TV.

[octothorp]

I love basketball and I've put some thought into why it's my favorite sport to watch. I like that each game is divided into a hundred little tactical situations that are about finding and exploiting weaknesses in your opponent. No matter how impressive any single feat of athleticism is, it's going to result in a swing of only 2-3 points; there's something ironic and enjoyable about some massive dunk at one end being wiped out by a routine jumper at the other. Any real swing in the score of a game is about a sustained exploitation of the other team's weakness and covering of your own. This is exacerbated by the fact that you've got five positions that are filled by five prototypical players who actually rarely exist in real life; instead, the process of finding working lineups means using guys who fill maybe 80% of the positional prototype, plus transcend their prototype in some way, and then cover for what they're missing through a combination of other players who transcend their own prototypes but have their own weaknesses. To me, that in-game-lineup-building process makes it a great armchair coach game; as the teams try different things through the game and have different successes and failures, you can start to predict what you think the other team is going to try and do down the stretch, and how you can best counter.

For me, those are the joys of watching basketball. I get the sense that a lot of basketball fans watch the game for very different reasons and my reasons aren't going to work with most.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I love basketball and I've put some thought into why it's my favorite sport to watch. I like that each game is divided into a hundred little tactical situations that are about finding and exploiting weaknesses in your opponent. No matter how impressive any single feat of athleticism is, it's going to result in a swing of only 2-3 points; there's something ironic and enjoyable about some massive dunk at one end being wiped out by a routine jumper at the other. Any real swing in the score of a game is about a sustained exploitation of the other team's weakness and covering of your own. This is exacerbated by the fact that you've got five positions that are filled by five prototypical players who actually rarely exist in real life; instead, the process of finding working lineups means using guys who fill maybe 80% of the positional prototype, plus transcend their prototype in some way, and then cover for what they're missing through a combination of other players who transcend their own prototypes but have their own weaknesses. To me, that in-game-lineup-building process makes it a great armchair coach game; as the teams try different things through the game and have different successes and failures, you can start to predict what you think the other team is going to try and do down the stretch, and how you can best counter.

For me, those are the joys of watching basketball. I get the sense that a lot of basketball fans watch the game for very different reasons and my reasons aren't going to work with most.

Fair enough, but it's fast enough that throughout the game that there's not as much tactics as you're making it out to be, unlike a sport like, say, football where there are many breaks left right and centre to have plans for what to do next. I like basketball because most games come down to executing in the last 5 minutes of the game. What is frustrating is the officiating and how there's blatant selling of the game through closing gaps through foul calls and star treatment. No other sport manipulates the game as basketball does.

[St. Pats]

Lowry is now officially back at practise. Good sign though he wouldn't commit at all to a return date. Hope they don't have to ease him in while trying to win a first round matchup.

[Drake]

Russell Westbrook has tied Oscar Robertson's record for most triple-doubles in a season with 41.

[St. Pats]

Another ugly loss / Hurry up LOWRY!

[octothorp]

Listed as questionable for tonight, so maybe he gets into the lineup for 20 minutes. If not, then at least Friday at home looks more likely. 3 or 4 games to work back in before the playoffs should be fine.

Raptors not matching the late-game intensity of desperate teams in Charlotte and Indiana is worrying, but at the same time it's difficult to fake desperation when you don't have it. Detroit and Miami will be the same, so they've got to do a better job on these.

And it's still impossible to say whether it's better to finish 3rd or 4th. Celts and Cavs tonight will clear the picture up a little.

[octothorp]

Ridiculous game for Lowry for his first game back, and JV really solid, as he always seems to be against Drummond.

Meanwhile, Cleveland destroying Boston, which would give Cleveland the lead in the race for first, plus the tiebreaker, and make 1st very likely for them.

[puffnstuff]

Lowry played 42 minutes. Raps came back from a poor start.

[St. Pats]

3 or 4 games to gel with Lowry in the lineup. That's what I was hoping for and poof there it is. Lowry was great but the gel thing well that didn't happen. They looked like crap for a large part of the game as they have a lot lately. But hey they have got those games coming up to improve.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Locked into the 2/3 seed now, so as long as the Cavs don't choke they will avoid them until the ECF.

[octothorp]

Yeah, and with Cavs up big on Atlanta, and the Raptors with not a lot to play for, it makes sense for Raptors to rest some starters (at least for the second half), on Wednesday, which would also clinch 1st for the Cavs if they haven't by then. Probably better to give the starters a half game rather than going into the playoffs without playing in nearly a week.

A bracket where the Raptors are on the same side as Atlanta, Indiana, and Boston, while Cleveland, Washington, Milwaukee, and either Chicago or Miami on the other side of the bracket is just about a best case scenario.

And Brooklyn's been on a roll lately, so maybe knock off Boston on Monday and give Toronto a chance to play for 2nd in the conference Wednesday (which would also mean that Cleveland is resting their starters on Wednesday and likely trots out their B lineup).

[Senator Clay Davis]

Cavs trying to outchoke Sergio Garcia or something? 26 point fourth quarter lead blown.

[octothorp]

So odds of Cleveland dropping to 2nd just went way up (they play in Miami tomorrow night, and are 1-9 on the road in the second game of back-to-backs this season, after all of their big 3 playing 42+ minutes tonight). But Cleveland looks really vulnerable this year. That was the 27th most efficient offense in the league going off for 44 in the fourth quarter on them.

[Drake]

Russell Westbrook officially has the most triple doubles ever recorded in one season, 42.

[octothorp]

If I were voting Westbrook would be my league MVP. Really special season that deserves to be remembered more than anything else that has happened this season.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Can't see how he doesn't win it. Yeah Harden had a great year and the Rockets had a better season, but if you take Harden off the Rockets and put a league average PG instead, they are still a playoff team. If you take Russ off the Thunder and put a league average PG instead, they are fighting with the Lakers and Suns at the bottom of the conference.

[Senator Clay Davis]

No LeBron or Kyrie tonight. So still an outside shot at the #1 seed for the Raps, most likely #3 seed with the Cavs on tap for round 2, and the Celtics as the worst #1 seed in the history of the league.