2015-16 Raptors and General NBA Thread

[bluejays]

And a really sloppy end to the 2nd quarter and suddenly they're down by 12. If only they'd settle down instead of every younger guy trying to be hero.

[St. Pats]

LOL they hung with them for awhile and then just poof. I'm hoping for a respectable loss this game. Then a win at home to avoid the sweep.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Lowry is really struggling so far in this game, and the series. Get him on track, it's a different series.

Valanciunas still being hurt really changes the dynamics. Relying on Biyombo leaves a massive hole on offense that forces all the shooting to the perimeter. Neither of Lowry, nor DeRozan are driving enough to the bucket; Lowry because of confidence and Derozan because he loves the mid-range game more.

Derozan has been carrying the offense by himself for the most part, but he needs more support.

Honestly, if the Raps get Lowry back on track and JV healthy, this is a different series. It'd be like Cleveland losing Irving and a combination of Love/Thompson.

I guess what I'm saying is, as long as this isn't another blowout, I have reason to believe this could be a different series going back to Toronto, even if they're down 2-0.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

OH yeah, and the Raptors can't buy a call, but every time James or Irving touches the ball they get a foul call. Can't stand the star player treatment double standard of NBA Refs.

[TheScorpion]

After my workout today, I felt like the Raptors: Cavs were just killing me.

[OzSome]

Damn, Raptors were just down by 1 in the 2nd quarter when I fell asleep. I woke up and they were down by 14. WTF??

[OzSome]

Kyle Lowry, Joseph, Patterson, Carroll struggles. Biyombo is playing too many minutes and getting tired. Derozan getting the good look but shots are not dropping. Ross were good offensively in the first half but he is always inconsistent and tend to make some boneheaded mistakes. I am not sure the Cavs is outplaying them really badly, it is the Raptors beating themselves with their mistakes. Frustrating.

[OzSome]

Good night everyone!! Done watching tonight's game.

[St. Pats]

Well so much for respectable unless they pull off a late run. Home court is going to have to be a HUGE advantage to avoid the sweep. Unless JV shows up and gives us a little hope.

[Jbo]

2 Brutal games. Can't make shots and just getting dominated.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Jbo

2 Brutal games. Can't make shots and just getting dominated.

I mean you would have to have been delusional to think they could win the series but I was hoping for a better showing. All that remains is can they somehow win one at home. Remotely possible?

[Hockey]

I figured the Cavs would win in 4 or 5 games, but I was expecting the games to come down to the last couple minutes. It be nice to see the Raptors pull of a miracle, but they gonna get smoked in the finals anyways. The way Cleveland is playing right now I can see them winning the whole thing. I'm a Lebron fan so I want to see him get more rings.

[zyzz]

Pretty crazy how large the talent gap is in the NBA.

[Senator Clay Davis]

JV isn't coming back and frankly he shouldn't at this point as they can't win the series anyway. Protect him for next year because this year's playoffs have shown how valuable he is to the Raps success and no point risking further injury for nothing. When LeBron is in full facilitator mode like he is now, and with teammates who can knock down the shots, this is when he's at his scariest. Basically can't stop him from scoring or distributing for easy buckets.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by zyzz

Pretty crazy how large the talent gap is in the NBA.

LOL, an extra $37 million in salary will do that for you. If we were talking about the big 3 of Toronto going up against the big 3 of Cleveland (Valanciunas, Lowry, Derozan vs. Lebron, Irving, Love) I can guarantee you this would be a very close series. As it is, the Cavs went out and got a ton of veteran bench players to to make the second unit an extremely strong group. Hell they even have a viable 3rd unit if you want to go that far. You want depth? You have to pay for it. Let's look at where the salaries are for the teams remaining in the playoffs, shall we?

1) Cleveland Cavaliers: $108 million.
...
3) Oklahoma City Thunder: nearly $97 million.
4) Golden State Warriors: nearly $94 million.
...
...
...
24) Toronto Raptors: $71 million.

The "salary cap" in the NBA this year was around $70 million. It's a bit of a joke honestly. Having a team over the cap by half of the original cap makes the cap meaningless. Either have one or don't. Quit pretending you're keeping a competitive balance. Luxury taxes don't really mean much if you're going this far in the playoffs as it would already be paid off by the extra tickets sold.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

JV isn't coming back and frankly he shouldn't at this point as they can't win the series anyway. Protect him for next year because this year's playoffs have shown how valuable he is to the Raps success and no point risking further injury for nothing. When LeBron is in full facilitator mode like he is now, and with teammates who can knock down the shots, this is when he's at his scariest. Basically can't stop him from scoring or distributing for easy buckets.

He's been great, but I'm also amazed at how Irving can't seem to miss a shot despite excellent defense in his face at most times. Not sure what else the Raptors could be doing. Even when they're playing perfectly, they're still getting beat. That's just how red hot the Cavs are at the moment, so all you can do is tip your cap and say "we'll get 'em next year".

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

LOL, an extra $37 million in salary will do that for you. If we were talking about the big 3 of Toronto going up against the big 3 of Cleveland (Valanciunas, Lowry, Derozan vs. Lebron, Irving, Love) I can guarantee you this would be a very close series. As it is, the Cavs went out and got a ton of veteran bench players to to make the second unit an extremely strong group. Hell they even have a viable 3rd unit if you want to go that far. You want depth? You have to pay for it. Let's look at where the salaries are for the teams remaining in the playoffs, shall we?

1) Cleveland Cavaliers: $108 million.
...
3) Oklahoma City Thunder: nearly $97 million.
4) Golden State Warriors: nearly $94 million.
...
...
...
24) Toronto Raptors: $71 million.

The "salary cap" in the NBA this year was around $70 million. It's a bit of a joke honestly. Having a team over the cap by half of the original cap makes the cap meaningless. Either have one or don't. Quit pretending you're keeping a competitive balance. Luxury taxes don't really mean much if you're going this far in the playoffs as it would already be paid off by the extra tickets sold.

In my opinion you're getting it backwards. Raptors bench is as good as anyone; Patterson, Joseph, Biyambo, Ross and Powell can handle the likes of Frye, Delvedova, Shumpert etc.

The massive gap is in the starting lineup. JV, even healthy is not all there yet. He may never be if they don't run the offence through him. DeRozen and Lowry are at their peak and they don't come close to Lebron and Irving (not many do). They can put in scrubs around Lebron and he will make them look a lot better then that are, thats why he's the best player in the game.

The NBA model is to have 2-3 superstars if you want to contend. Cavs have it and Raptors don't have one.

As for as the salaries go, Cavs are spending 80 mill of that 110 on their starting line up, again 2-3 superstars and you will spend like that.

Raptors for next year are already at 83 mill thats not counting derozen raise, which if the Raptors give him will put them around 95 mill. If they don't then they'll try to sign Biyambo, which will still put them over 90 mill.

It was nice they made it this far but Cavs are a far superior team because of Lebron and Raptors don't have anyone to stop that machine.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah with the way that Derozan and Lowry have played this postseason not sure how you can say the top 3 on each team are even close to matching up.

Lebron, Irving, and Love have stepped up come playoff time and their play has opened up a ton of open shots for the veteran bench players to drain.

Lowry and Derozan can't make a shot to save their lives and can't get to the foul line - ends up in a very lopsided series.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

LOL, an extra $37 million in salary will do that for you. If we were talking about the big 3 of Toronto going up against the big 3 of Cleveland (Valanciunas, Lowry, Derozan vs. Lebron, Irving, Love) I can guarantee you this would be a very close series.

No way the big 3 of the Raps and Cavs are equal. The Cavs big 3 will destroy the Raps. It doesn't look like the Cavs big 3 were even playing hard in the first 8 games of this playoff and yet they were blowing those weak Eastern teams away.

The weak Eastern conference is making the Raps and Cavs look good but more so the Raps. The Raps will have trouble beating the likes of the Rockets and the Clips if they were in the WC.

[Senator Clay Davis]

To me this series could have been close and competitve, but it's all about missing JV because he changes the dynamic of the series from a matchup perspective. The Cavs for instance could never play Love or Thompson at the 5 with JV out there because JV would abuse both of them down low. Biyombo is no offensive threat at all except to crash the offensive glass, otherwise they basically help off him non-stop or ignore him. With JV, now all of a sudden you basically force the Cavs to give minutes to Mozgov, and instead of a stretch shooting big man (Love) or an excellent help defender (Thompson), you have slow ass Mozgov out there.