2022 Toronto Raptors Thread

[Da_Chief]

Another win against Washington Bullets. FVV stepping up.

[Mathgod]

How good is this team gonna be when Siakam returns?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Siakam's return actually presents a dilemma. The current starting lineup is clearly working well. Taking out Achiuwa doesn't work because it takes out the most effective big man they have. Barnes has been exceptional, OG and FVV their usual strong selves, and Trent has been very strong to start this year too. Unless someone begins to regress it's tough to see where Siakam starts.

[devo22]

this Sarver thing is turning into Sterling 2.0 quickly.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1456319311476412422

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Siakam's return actually presents a dilemma. The current starting lineup is clearly working well. Taking out Achiuwa doesn't work because it takes out the most effective big man they have. Barnes has been exceptional, OG and FVV their usual strong selves, and Trent has been very strong to start this year too. Unless someone begins to regress it's tough to see where Siakam starts.

Is it? Achiuwa has looked out of place and has bogged down the offense with his bad shots/decision making more often than not. I have no idea where he developed such an irrational confidence in his jumper but he has not been good at all lately (props to him for his huge dunk vs Washington, that was a beauty). Pascal starts at the 5 and you don't give it an extra second of thought IMO. If you want him at his more traditional 4 during the course of the game you can play him there with Birch at the 5 to do the dirty work.

This isn't a Precious hate post at all, it's obvious the guy has a ton of talent but he's a guy who will be well served by more situational minutes and a greater continued focus on working with the Raps skill development assistants on the side.

Whatever they decide, the versatility is endless with how long and athletic they are. If they figure out the right formula as the season moves along they are going to have a very solid starting 5 and the foundation for Bench Mob 2.0. Exciting times.

[octothorp]

Eventually I’d like to see a Siakam, Barnes, OG, FVV, and GTJ starting five, but for the short term I’d rather see Barnes coming off the bench, but still getting 30+ minutes including end games. I think it’s too easy for opposing teams to go at a guy like Siakam or Barnes in the post. If I was an opposing team, I’d be dumping it into a big C in the post and see if I can get Siakam into foul trouble. (Siakam is a great defender but best in help scenarios or in his own weight class.) Especially true since we don’t know Siakam’s weight this year. He lost a bunch of weight post Covid, and said that he liked the lighter playing weight. Not sure if he kept it off or not.

[The Big Chill]

I would guess they’d start one of Precious or Birch just to absorb some of the difficult minutes against the opposing big on defence, but then the small ball lineup will be the main lineup the rest of the way. GTJ makes the most sense to drop to the bench since he could provide the most offence for the second unit, but i could see it being Barnes as well if they felt that was best for his development.

It’s a nice problem to have too many guys good enough to start. The roster looks deeper than expected as well with Svi and Dalano playing so well, and Yuta due back soon.

[Harry Lime]

Maybe they are waiting for Siakim to come back, so they can finally trade Dragic to Milwaukee. He can't be happy not getting any minutes at all. That way they can move Trent to the bench if they want to match a bigger lineup.

[Hockey_Ninja]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1456741299525128196

[Senator Clay Davis]

Despite the loss I continue to be blown away by Trent's defensive performance this season, what a revelation.

[The Big Chill]

Tough loss to take. Just lacked a bit of offensive fire power (and composure) in the 4th.

[mile]

Tough loss in a nail biter. Winning streak over, it was a good run.

[bluejays]

Sam Dekker waived. Wonder what's going on behind the scenes with that as he looked fine on the court.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by fleury

Sam Dekker waived. Wonder what's going on behind the scenes with that as he looked fine on the court.

This was the deadline to cut him before his contract becomes guaranteed, and his (and Bonga's) contract put the Raptors over the luxury tax threshold. Probably means that there's no trade for Dragic on the horizon.

[Trojan97]

Respect to Cleveland, every time we started to pull away a bit they'd make a few nice plays/shots and tighten things back up, we just could never shake them tonight. Good things happen to teams who hang around and tonight it worked out in their favour.

-Happy to see Malachi Flynn etching out a bit of a role for himself after not seeing the floor to start the year, he's a good basketball player and has had a strong start in the minutes he has gotten.

-Delano Banton is such a baller.

-Scottie Barnes throwing Jarrett Allen to the floor like he was a child was great. That was a big statement from him on a vet. Seriously impressed with the mentality he plays with this early in his career.

[octothorp]

Siakam returns on Sunday! Sounds like a minutes restriction for now. Pretty good for the Raptors to manage 6-4 without him. Schedule amps up in difficulty now though, with 8-of-10 on the road including visiting the top 3 current teams (Philly, GSW, Utah). Getting through this stretch around 500 would be impressive and set them up well for the rest of the season.

[mile]

OG - Siakam - Barnes - GTJ - FVV

Excited to see that starting 5

[Hockey_Ninja]

You know what…..I honestly ain’t mad at KD for leaving OKC anymore. Russ’ basketball IQ is so bad

[octothorp]

Such a great first half and then awful second half. But that's a sign of a young team. I was reasonably satisfied with how Siakam looked for a first game back. He's still able to more easily get to the line than anyone else on this team, but there's obviously some kinks to work out on offense, since so much of his game is based on making the extra pass.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

The concern is that with Siakam back Barnes seemed far less involved for the most part. Also dropped his minutes a bit, but not THAT far (31 vs season average of 35.4).