2021/2022 Raptors & NBA | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

2021/2022 Raptors & NBA

Evoex said:
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Yeah that was a hard game to watch last night. I try not to complain about the refs for a blown call here and there, because it seems to generally even itself out over the course of a game, but that was some serious 5 on 8 **** last night.

Glad the truth prevailed, cuz ball don't lie.
 
Nice story about becoming an NBA ref:
thehustle.co

The guy who quit medical school to become an NBA referee

Suyash Mehta was on the fast track to a successful career as a doctor. Then, he took an extreme pivot.
thehustle.co thehustle.co

Also Raps clinching 6th seed and possibly 5th seed is really good considering how solid the East is this year.
Now all we need is Thaddeus Young to make a last second, 5 bounce, corner 3, over Joel Embiid, with time expiring in game 7.

GO RAPS!!
 
Chaos said:
At the risk of being that guy, it will take everything to go the raptors' way to get into the playoffs.

1. Siakam has to get back to be pre-covid form. If he plays like last year, it will not bode well for them.
2. VanVleet needs to play near all-star level, and needs another (point) guard on the floor he can play off - he and Lowry were a potent combo because it was always random who played PG and who played SG on every possession. Maybe Dragic (assuming he doesn't get waived/traded) will be ok for a bit. Maybe Trent will play more with the ball. Maybe Malachi Flynn will take a step up - at least one of these has to happen.
3. Scottie Barns needs to be able to play quality minutes. I admit I don't know much about him, but given his high draft position, he has to show something next year.
4. Anunoby needs to have another upward step in his game
5. Boucher/Birch need to somehow create a strong Centre, or the raptors need to somehow find a proper Centre (which all of a sudden has become really difficult since centres are back in NBA fashion thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anothony Davis both playing a lot inside, and Deandre Ayton's play (to a lesser extent)
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The raptors have made the playoffs and I wanted to see how I did with respect to what I thought it would take to get into the playoffs.

1. I think this has mostly happened. Siakam's stats are back to his all-star year, and he does bring up the ball with more confidence than last year.
2. VanVleet is an all-star. Trent has been a solid 2nd guard. They are thin at depth here. Flynn has a few spurts of showing what he can do.
3. Barnes has played quality minutes and is a contender for ROY.
4. Anunoby has stepped up, but he's lost a lot of time due to injury. Barnes has really filled the forward void making Anunoby's loss not as critical.
5. I think Toronto's weakness is the middle, but between Siakam, Boucher and Birch, they've managed. However, they will be tested in the playoffs in the first round. Both Milwaukee (Antetekuompo) and Philly (Embiid) have dominant middle men (likely 1st round opponents).

It's been a fun season.
 
jdmsteR said:
He's ROTY or we RIOT

:cool:
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It's going to be Barnes or Evan Mobley. There is no clear cut favourite. I think Barnes should take it if for no other reason than be played more games. Also, the raptors finished higher than the Cavs in the standings.

American media favour the Cleveland story though. James leaves, Cavs tank. Mobley gets drafted and brings hope. It's your prototypical US Sports fairy tale


Also, gotta give Ujiri credit - everyone at the time thought Jalen Suggs was the clear #4 pick but Ujiri saw something few others did as well. Barnes had a much better season than Suggs (for a variety of reasons admittedly)
 
projects.fivethirtyeight.com

2021-22 NBA Predictions

FiveThirtyEight’s NBA forecast projects the winner of each game and predicts each team's chances of advancing to the playoffs and winning the NBA finals.
projects.fivethirtyeight.com projects.fivethirtyeight.com

538 puts the 76ers to be 77% chance to beat the Raptors (23%).
 
A chance at sneaking into the 2nd round, yes
But playing 5 on 8, freak injuries losing one of your core pieces and your 2 leaders/stars disappearing in the playoffs has lead to where we are now

The motive was to put up a good fight, yet they played like they didn't belong in said fight
 
I expected they would lose the series to Philly - but I thought they would have put up a better fight - certainly in games 1 and 2. Game 3 was better, but a loss is a loss.
 
I fully expected them to be competitive in the playoffs and thought they could have beat Philly if healthy.
Blowouts happen, so game 1 was fine. Losing Scottie really hurt them, since they weren't very deep to start with and having GTJ ill or whatever is a death blow if they are already missing Scottie, so I didn't even watch game 2 knowing the team as a whole would have very little fight.

Having Fred and Pascal so unproductive was not something I saw coming to this extent. I knew they were logging heavy minutes all season and Fred was a bit banged up, but they are both playing like utter offensive liabilities. Pascal was so dominant for the second half of the season - it would have been reasonable to think he could maintain it. Game 3 was very competitive, so I'm good with that loss too.

I'm happy for Embiid too, to make that last second shot, but have no idea why they wouldn't pressure the inbounder in Danny Green to make the entry pass even slightly difficult. We took Embiid's soul a few years ago and he also used to be such a cocky ***** on the court. Now he has elevated his game so much yet acts so much more humble in the process. I hope Raps win Game 4 to give something nice to the home crowd and then Philly wins Game 5 in Philly.

Raps have a very good core to build around and this was an amazing development season for them.
 
Where would they be if they hadn't lost that overtime game? They still have an hill ahead of them that no one has ever climbed. Good luck but my money is still on the sixers. But if they play like this they have a good chance. Harden isn't playing well and Embiid is obviously hurting/tired. Interesting game to come.
 
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