2015-16 Raptors and General NBA Thread

[octothorp]

Yeah, the broken bone is bad for four reasons:
1: It's his second broken bone in hand injury for him. That's a sign that maybe there's a long-term issue there.
2: Missing a key player gives Casey cover for a mediocre record... I anticipate Casey placing a lot of the blame for mounting losses on the fact they're missing their starting C (even if the way he uses JV wouldn't make a difference in a lot of those losses).
3: The offense is going to go back to all the bad perimeter habits that they were beginning to show signs of moving away from; they can't make Biyombo a regular part of the offence, and unless Bebe is a major revelation, this is going to be a truly awful offense for the next while.
4: More losses, and a worse playoff position (which honestly is the least of the worries).

[kmart]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Yeah, the broken bone is bad for four reasons:
1: It's his second broken bone in hand injury for him. That's a sign that maybe there's a long-term issue there.

It's the other hand this time around. So no lingering injury concerns.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by kmart

It's the other hand this time around. So no lingering injury concerns.

Yeah I know, but not common for a guy to break the same bone in both hands.

[Senator Clay Davis]

So looking at Warriors schedule until their Christmas day Finals rematch with the Cavs, 28-0 is certainly possible. Next up there is...

LAL
@PHX
SAC
@UTAH
@CHA
@TOR
@BKLN
@IND
@BOS
@MIL
PHX
MIL
UTH

Maybe the Raps get them since they have them a lot of trouble in Oakland, but no Jonas will hurt. Phoenix might be a good bet too. Otherwise they may be getting to Christmas undefeated.

[jayswin]

I don't care about their win streak in the least, the NBA ****s around way too much, and this is a big storyline for them. There were a number of posters in this thread when the refs insured a GS victory over the Raptors.

I know you can never say for sure what would have happened, but I think everyone watching that game agrees without the "incompetent" calls that's about as close to a guaranteed Raps win as you can get. I say incompetent, but I think everyone is able to recognize that the "incompetence" of the refs always seems to come at the same time; Big missed calls with under 5 mins in games and surprise, surprise it benefits certain teams.

[jayswin]

The only way this win streak is ending anytime soon is if Golden State gets outplayed so badly that they're down by like 15 points or more with a few minutes left. If they can keep games close, they're getting the calls to win those games, absolutely guaranteed.

Even if they're down that big I guarantee you'll see a huge run by the Warriors with plenty of "WTF" looks from the other teams bench on almost every drive, and then if GS can ride the wave smartly they'll get back.

[Da_Chief]

I don't think they'll be undefeated heading into that Cavs finals re-match.

They'll lose to a mediocre team on an off night. I don't see them with more then 2 losses by xmas.

If they're undefeated when they face the Raps again, I'm hoping they beat the Raps and continue this historical run. Plus they're fun to watch.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Kobe went 1-14 last night with several hilarious bricks, and is on pace right now to have one of the worst seasons ever based on his FG% versus his usage rate. Laker fans probably cannot wait for him to be gone at this point, he like Peyton Manning needs to retire ASAP. Watching greats go out as some of the worst in the league is sad. Shows how rare what Tim Duncan is doing still playing at a high level.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Kobe went 1-14 last night with several hilarious bricks, and is on pace right now to have one of the worst seasons ever based on his FG% versus his usage rate. Laker fans probably cannot wait for him to be gone at this point, he like Peyton Manning needs to retire ASAP. Watching greats go out as some of the worst in the league is sad. Shows how rare what Tim Duncan is doing still playing at a high level.

Pop has been managing Duncan's minutes for a long time. In the last 6 seasons he's averages 30 or less minutes per game. Where's Kobe has been high 30 minutes. That adds a lot.

You're right though, to see an all-time great struggle like this in the end is sad.

[kmart]

Originally Posted by jayswin

The only way this win streak is ending anytime soon is if Golden State gets outplayed so badly that they're down by like 15 points or more with a few minutes left. If they can keep games close, they're getting the calls to win those games, absolutely guaranteed.

Even if they're down that big I guarantee you'll see a huge run by the Warriors with plenty of "WTF" looks from the other teams bench on almost every drive, and then if GS can ride the wave smartly they'll get back.

Let's not act like its the refs getting the Warriors their calls though. They're a damn good team. They've finished a couple of teams in the third quarter already. If you watch any of their games they are never really out of it, which makes it incredible to watch.

That Raptors game was tough, but the Raptors are just as much in the fault. I mean the game blew wide open in the second quarter. That Lowry screen at the end of the game could've gone either way, it was just frustrating to see it at the end of the game.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by kmart

Let's not act like its the refs getting the Warriors their calls though. They're a damn good team. They've finished a couple of teams in the third quarter already. If you watch any of their games they are never really out of it, which makes it incredible to watch.

That Raptors game was tough, but the Raptors are just as much in the fault. I mean the game blew wide open in the second quarter. That Lowry screen at the end of the game could've gone either way, it was just frustrating to see it at the end of the game.

Sorry man, the reasonable sports fan in me tries to think like this, but I just can't. The NBA is different the other major sports, too many people see it, too.

[Karl]

Originally Posted by kmart

Let's not act like its the refs getting the Warriors their calls though. They're a damn good team. They've finished a couple of teams in the third quarter already. If you watch any of their games they are never really out of it, which makes it incredible to watch.

That Raptors game was tough, but the Raptors are just as much in the fault. I mean the game blew wide open in the second quarter. That Lowry screen at the end of the game could've gone either way, it was just frustrating to see it at the end of the game.

My god. You are sounding like such a referee apologist with this post. Stop it.

The officiating was flat out garbage throughout that whole game. I get the fact that a few of the calls (and I mean just a few) also went against the Warriors and benefited the Raps. That said there's no denying that not only did most of the ref's calls go against the Raps, many of those calls (or no-calls) were not just questionable or bad, they were downright mind-boggling.

There was a reason why about 7 other people including myself were bitching about the officiating during the game, and it was way more than justified.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by kmart

Let's not act like its the refs getting the Warriors their calls though. They're a damn good team. They've finished a couple of teams in the third quarter already. If you watch any of their games they are never really out of it, which makes it incredible to watch.

That Raptors game was tough, but the Raptors are just as much in the fault. I mean the game blew wide open in the second quarter. That Lowry screen at the end of the game could've gone either way, it was just frustrating to see it at the end of the game.

Sorry, it just happens way too much for this not to be an issue. The Warriors are a great team, likely the best in recent memory, but they benefit from calls their superstars gets that other teams do not. They do not need outside help. This is professional sports, not the WWE. The NBA barely does anything to even hide this. They'll legitimately say on a broadcast that "So and So" would have gotten that call, but X player hasn't earned that right yet. Like give me a break. What a load of crap! The Raptors openly admitted this when they traded for Rudy Gay. They are on record saying they needed a star player to get respect around the league and this would get some calls to go their way.


When is the last time you saw someone like Lebron or Curry get a call go against them when the game was on the line. I can't honestly remember ever. Do you think they would have assessed Curry a blocking foul if the roles were reversed? Not a friggen chance.

[kmart]

Originally Posted by Karl

My god. You are sounding like such a referee apologist with this post. Stop it.

The officiating was flat out garbage throughout that whole game. I get the fact that a few of the calls (and I mean just a few) also went against the Warriors and benefited the Raps. That said there's no denying that not only did most of the ref's calls go against the Raps, many of those calls (or no-calls) were not just questionable or bad, they were downright mind-boggling.

There was a reason why about 7 other people including myself were bitching about the officiating during the game, and it was way more than justified.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400828051

You're telling me that the Raps got the worst end of the bargain when the fouls were close to even (Warriors losing the "foul" battle) and the Raps shot 12 more FT.

Look it sucked that at the end of the game Lowry got called for a foul. I get it I hated it too, but lets not act like on a given play that isn't called.

https://twitter.com/raptorsrepublic/...60113861468160

Theres another look. At first Lowry tugs on Igoudala, which would be a foul on Lowry. Then when the ref made the call, thats really up to discretion I thought it was a bad call at the end of the game. But you can't tell me that Lowry wasn't flirting for a call there. I recall the CoJo foul and agree with that call.

What really grosses me out is that, we have posters here just not appreciating how that Warriors team plays. The Spurs, Warriors, and old Heat have really revolutionized the way the NBA game is played and its really awesome to watch.

[kmart]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Sorry, it just happens way too much for this not to be an issue. The Warriors are a great team, likely the best in recent memory, but they benefit from calls their superstars gets that other teams do not. They do not need outside help. This is professional sports, not the WWE. The NBA barely does anything to even hide this. They'll legitimately say on a broadcast that "So and So" would have gotten that call, but X player hasn't earned that right yet. Like give me a break. What a load of crap! The Raptors openly admitted this when they traded for Rudy Gay. They are on record saying they needed a star player to get respect around the league and this would get some calls to go their way.


When is the last time you saw someone like Lebron or Curry get a call go against them when the game was on the line. I can't honestly remember ever. Do you think they would have assessed Curry a blocking foul if the roles were reversed? Not a friggen chance.

And Rudy Gay screwed up the Raptors. Thank god they got rid of him for the Raptors' sake. It's not like you have 3 superstars together then you instantly get calls to being a championship team. Remember that Howard, Gasol, Kobe, MWP, and Nash line up that the Lakers' iced, yeah bunch of superstars that sucked together.

If you watched one of the Clippers Warriors game were Curry left 3 minutes into the first quarter on what could be bad calls you'll know that there is just incompetence at times. I'd say in a game against the Clippers losing your best player 3 minutes in is pretty much game on the line. Except, they won both games.

There are a lot of posters acting like the Warriors get all the calls in the world after watching one game against the Raptors. They don't, they're just a damned good team. They literally almost beat the Lakers yesterday by half time alone.

If you think the Warriors' and Curry have always gotten the "calls" you are sadly mistaken. They were one of those lower playoff seeds "no one knows what they are doing" type of teams, until last year.

If they could've chose, I'm almost certain the NBA wouldn't choose the Warriors at the beginning of last year. They'd probably rather have the Clippers or the Spurs.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by kmart

And Rudy Gay screwed up the Raptors. Thank god they got rid of him for the Raptors' sake. It's not like you have 3 superstars together then you instantly get calls to being a championship team. Remember that Howard, Gasol, Kobe, MWP, and Nash line up that the Lakers' iced, yeah bunch of superstars that sucked together.

If you watched one of the Clippers Warriors game were Curry left 3 minutes into the first quarter on what could be bad calls you'll know that there is just incompetence at times. I'd say in a game against the Clippers losing your best player 3 minutes in is pretty much game on the line. Except, they won both games.

There are a lot of posters acting like the Warriors get all the calls in the world after watching one game against the Raptors. They don't, they're just a damned good team. They literally almost beat the Lakers yesterday by half time alone.

If you think the Warriors' and Curry have always gotten the "calls" you are sadly mistaken. They were one of those lower playoff seeds "no one knows what they are doing" type of teams, until last year.

If they could've chose, I'm almost certain the NBA wouldn't choose the Warriors at the beginning of last year. They'd probably rather have the Clippers or the Spurs.

I was simply using the Warriors only as an example. My complaints are just focused on the Warriors/Raptors game, I'm saying there is a league wide issue where certain fouls get called against certain teams that don't get called for others. The criteria for making the call depends solely on whether the teams have a collection of star players or not. There's no way you can watch any amount of basketball and deny this. As I previously said with some examples, the league doesn't even bother to go out of their way to deny this is the case. They'll even almost admit it to be the case.

I'm not saying some star players don't get star treatment in other leagues (NFL/NHL/MLB), but I don't routinely see this treatment to the extent that it directly effects the outcome of the game on a routine basis like I do in the NBA. It's blatant and obvious and takes away from the integrity of the game.

Look at the Miami Heat. They got every call in the book up until the minute LeBron James left. I've watched a handful of games since, and low and behold, the team playing now actually has a chance of a call going their way.

[jayswin]

Hahaha, is anyone else watching right now? Here comes the predictable finish to the game. Jack Armstrong calls it for what it is right away. Horrible call, and look at the score and the time left. We'll probably see one more "mistake" in favour of the Cavs and we'll lose a by a couple or few points. Grass is green.

[Street Pharmacist]

I don't disagree, but the real problem is how important officiating is. Basketball comes down to the last few possessions and there's inevitably way more contact. It's up to the refs to decide who shoots and who gets the ball. Terrible way to decide games

[TheAlpineOracle]

LeBron didn't throw an elbow there at all on that last possession.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Did Cleveland really just drain a wide open three with 3 seconds left after Toronto had just given up their Possession? LeBron just turns whatever team is on to a collections of asses.