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Post by Money_Ball on Oct 15, 2022 11:54:54 GMT -5
Didn't want to over hype Koloko but after 4 pre season games it sure looks like he'll at least become a solid bench guy. First Banton and now this guy. I now value 2nd round picks more than I ever have before. sure seems like the type of guy the Raptors just have more Intel on than other teams and I expect he was extremely likely to be picked at their original draft spot before the Thad trade. He might be that 7 foot guy that fits perfect on this team. Pretty sure Webster said they had other guys higher on their draft board but they were already taken. Who knows. I'm just happy we're properly developing these guys. Flynn has been one of the bigger disappointments so far, as far as the draft is concerned. This year might his last shot to stay on the team.
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Post by haisan on Oct 27, 2022 4:23:02 GMT -5
Five games into the season, the Raptors have the 2nd-best 3-point percentage in the NBA. I assume that's going to change ... but for now, it's pretty funny.
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Post by scully19 on Oct 27, 2022 7:20:43 GMT -5
Five games into the season, the Raptors have the 2nd-best 3-point percentage in the NBA. I assume that's going to change ... but for now, it's pretty funny. I expect it to change as well but it's not going to be like last year. This is the work of the coaching staff teaching shooting as well as how much time the guys spent training. Siakam had a full uninjured off season for the first time in 3 years or something like that. I have no doubt his shot is better. Scottie spent a lot of time improving the shot too and Precious should hopefully keep carrying on. My bar for Scottie is lower on making 3's but he is shooting them with confidence right now and if he can hold onto even 33 to 35% range then we can really become threatening. I laughed when I saw the Sixers go to zone, that worked last year in the playoffs with worse shooting and no FVV. Good luck working now.
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Post by haisan on Oct 27, 2022 9:03:00 GMT -5
My other fun, way-too-early observation on our team: the Raptors currently have 4 players with a PER of 20 or better! • Scottie – 20.0 • FVV – 21.2 • Pascal – 22.5 • And leading the way, as usual, Boucher! With 22.9
You can do a lot of damage with four guys playing that well.
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Post by scully19 on Oct 27, 2022 9:53:31 GMT -5
My other fun, way-too-early observation on our team: the Raptors currently have 4 players with a PER of 20 or better! • Scottie – 20.0 • FVV – 21.2 • Pascal – 22.5 • And leading the way, as usual, Boucher! With 22.9 You can do a lot of damage with four guys playing that well. I love that and suits this team well that they are largely a collection of good players that work together not a superstar team. The more there the better.
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Post by haisan on Oct 31, 2022 10:16:32 GMT -5
FVV’s PER now 16. That last game just killed his stats bad. (Granted, the year is early, but still…)
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Post by haisan on Oct 31, 2022 10:17:25 GMT -5
What’s funnier — that the Cav’s lone loss was to the Raps, or the Nets’ lone win?
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Post by scully19 on Oct 31, 2022 11:10:13 GMT -5
Funny with some tears is the Nets lone win. The best time to play the Nets is the start of the year while they figure stuff out and Ben is still so lost, and we missed the chance to capitalize while everyone else is.
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Post by Money_Ball on Oct 31, 2022 12:37:26 GMT -5
Not sure where to write this but if you had told me that both the Jazz and Spurs would have started the season 5-2 I would laughed and dismissed you as a loon.
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Post by scully19 on Oct 31, 2022 13:13:30 GMT -5
Not sure where to write this but if you had told me that both the Jazz and Spurs would have started the season 5-2 I would laughed and dismissed you as a loon. There's quite a bit of loony shit going on here. Sixers 1-4 (now 3-4 and less loony) Wizards 3-1, reminded me of last year where they were briefly first and i laughed at how fake that was. Heat 2-5 Nets 1-5, they might be crazy but this is a team with Durant and Kyrie and they can't win. Cavs 5-0 without Garland Clippers 2-4, maybe shouldn't be so crazy but i thought Kawhi was coming back after 1.5 years off with those jacked legs ready to play, him coming off the bench then out again is not a good sign. Lakers starting 0-5 - Ya we know they aren't good, but they look abysmal. Portland 5-1 We'll see how everything looks 20 games into the season as there's some stat that on average 7 of the 8 teams at the top are decided by that point.
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Post by haisan on Nov 6, 2022 20:44:28 GMT -5
6-4 to start for the Raps ... Totally decent (especially considering the competition).
I think 6-4 for the next 10 is totally realistic. Even 7-3. Not a bad way to start the season.
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Post by haisan on Nov 13, 2022 20:33:05 GMT -5
So ... Scottie for SGA, straight up (well, once he becomes tradeable) ... Who says no?
Why would Oklahoma do it? Because they don't want to win this year. SGA is too damn good and Scottie is still learning and developing. Scottie will almost certainly become awesome, but he'd help with the Wembanyama sweepstakes now.
Why would Toronto do it? Because SGA is awesome now. And SGA and Pascal would be an amazing combo.
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Post by zugzwang on Nov 13, 2022 21:00:50 GMT -5
No, knock on SGA - love to see him here, but I'd decline a straight up trade if it included Barnes, even straight up. His contract is so valuable.
Interesting scenario though!
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Post by scully19 on Nov 14, 2022 8:58:33 GMT -5
Early season recognition for OG Anonuby for DPOY: www.theringer.com/nba/2022/11/14/23456714/nba-awards-luka-doncic-jayson-tatumDefensive Player of the Year: O.G. Anunoby There’s a chance O.G. Anunoby isn’t even the best defender on his own team. (Holy Koloko!) I don’t care. Anunoby is everywhere, doing a little bit of everything. The Raptors forward regularly assumes the most difficult assignments within a scheme that can best be described as “organized confusion” and currently ranks in the top five in defensive rating with him on the court. The man is a pickpocket ar-teest, snatching a league-high 2.9 steals per game. He’s also third in total deflections and recovers more loose balls per game than anyone else. Anunoby is a brick wall defending the post against those who actually test him—few bother—and will sometimes unleash enough ball pressure on the perimeter to convince you that the matchup is personal. When the Raptors hosted the Hawks on Halloween, I was curious to see how Anunoby would act toward De’Andre Hunter, another burly wing who had just received $23 million more on his contract extension than Anunoby got back in 2020. (Yes, the cap is higher now than it was two seasons ago but that’s still quite a big difference!) Then stuff like this happened, (possibly) confirming my suspicions: ( Video here on the site if you want to watch it)The beauty of Anunoby is that he can do it all. He’s both versatile and strong. He knows when to thwart a drive in the gap and when to rotate back to the perimeter to force a drive. He’s a fire-repellant blanket, snuffing out sparks before they incinerate Toronto’s defensive effort. Of course, sometimes he gets burned on closeouts, reaching for a steal, or freelancing off his man in search of an interception. But the Raptors would have a much harder time playing how they want (blitzing the second-most ball screens per 100 possessions) without his impulsive activity.
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Post by Money_Ball on Nov 16, 2022 13:05:31 GMT -5
So ... Scottie for SGA, straight up (well, once he becomes tradeable) ... Who says no? Why would Oklahoma do it? Because they don't want to win this year. SGA is too damn good and Scottie is still learning and developing. Scottie will almost certainly become awesome, but he'd help with the Wembanyama sweepstakes now. Why would Toronto do it? Because SGA is awesome now. And SGA and Pascal would be an amazing combo. I say no, but it's close. I get too attached to these players emotionally. I probably wouldn't have had the guts to pull the trigger on the Kawhi for DD trade. If it turns out that Scottie for whatever reason doesn't like it here, only then would I go for it.
Best part about the deal though is you get to keep the ideal role player in OG and keep all your picks. You also take full advantage of Siakam's prime years, which is a pretty big deal.
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Post by Money_Ball on Nov 16, 2022 13:10:35 GMT -5
Here's another one. BRK is apparently not happy with Simmons' play, would you give up GTJ + filler (no picks) for him?
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Post by scully19 on Nov 16, 2022 14:50:53 GMT -5
Here's another one. BRK is apparently not happy with Simmons' play, would you give up GTJ + filler (no picks) for him? I was somewhat intrigued just because of the height and how he would fit on defense, but to be blunt...no, fuck that guy. He's not only broken in having no confidence, he had 1.5 years without playing and in that time improved nothing. He should have come back able to shoot FTs at the very least considering how the playoffs went and he was embarrassed at the line that you would come back able to do it. He's not going to improve anything. Out fully.
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Post by freewheel on Nov 16, 2022 16:12:02 GMT -5
Im still intrigued with Simmons however his salary scares me off more than his attitude issues. Its too big an investment. He needs to be fixed and brought back to what he was. I don't care about his shooting issues. I thought the the player that he used to be was pretty damn good and the Raps need playmakers. But 35 million is too much to gamble.
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Post by scully19 on Nov 16, 2022 17:54:28 GMT -5
He's not going to be able to be a playmaker until he can shoot FTs. He wants nothing to do with the ball to be able to make a play for fear of getting fouled. He's only good for a dunker spot and clogging the lane.
I guess this would be a good time to buy low on him though, his value is rock bottom you might actually be given a pick to take him.
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Post by haisan on Nov 16, 2022 20:10:34 GMT -5
I was intrigued by Simmons a year or so ago. But to be playing so poorly and *still* be so arrogant? No thanks.
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Post by haisan on Nov 17, 2022 3:18:10 GMT -5
Huh. OG and FVV are Nos. 1 and 2 in the entire NBA for steals -- 2.7 per game for OG and 2.3 for FVV. That's ... kind of impressive. Gary Trent Jr. is doing pretty good too. No wonder they're the top team overall in the NBA for steals.
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Post by scully19 on Nov 17, 2022 15:47:49 GMT -5
Siakam GTJ Precious Banton
Good thing FVV came back.
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Post by haisan on Nov 17, 2022 20:03:39 GMT -5
Trouble with being a deep team is that you can just sit one or two guys and hope to tank your way to the top of the lottery. Winning the 4th pick a couple of years ago took an amazing accumulation of bad luck.
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Post by scully19 on Nov 18, 2022 8:30:49 GMT -5
Trouble with being a deep team is that you can just sit one or two guys and hope to tank your way to the top of the lottery. Winning the 4th pick a couple of years ago took an amazing accumulation of bad luck. Whole team getting COVID for a month while not ever playing a home game, plus other injuries. Pretty brutal but great year.
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Post by Money_Ball on Dec 1, 2022 12:02:05 GMT -5
So ... Scottie for SGA, straight up (well, once he becomes tradeable) ... Who says no? Why would Oklahoma do it? Because they don't want to win this year. SGA is too damn good and Scottie is still learning and developing. Scottie will almost certainly become awesome, but he'd help with the Wembanyama sweepstakes now. Why would Toronto do it? Because SGA is awesome now. And SGA and Pascal would be an amazing combo. Am I too late to change my mind? I'd easily trade Barnes for SGA. I'd even add Precious and a pick.
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Post by scully19 on Dec 1, 2022 13:19:10 GMT -5
Not directly about that trade, because SGA is amazing and who knows realistically if Scottie will get there...but I see of bunch of it on Reddit for example, people ripping on Scottie for a poor sophomore year. Cool, he is having a harder time, but people need to dial back expectations. I think people expected him to be SGA level this year, but SGA is in year 5 and he was not great in year 2. Tatum is the leading odds for MVP right now, and remember how much he got ripped on for being really bad in year 2 when people expected him to improve. Improvement isn't linear. Scottie is expanding his skill set and being put in roles that are just outside of what he can do...for his betterment in the future, not right now. He's in year 2, this isn't his peak, this isn't his final product. Frankly I don't want to hear shit about ripping on Scottie unless you're ready to not celebrate him when he improves (not you specifically here money, you in the general term sense). This is EXACTLY how improvement happens, they need room to grow. Look at Siakam, his first year as "the man" he struggled because he was facing different defenses and focuses he never had to before...now look at him? Practice is doing something just beyond your skill level always. Give him time.
/rant
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Post by Money_Ball on Dec 1, 2022 20:42:11 GMT -5
Some of the criticism I've seen was quite disgusting. People saying he's the next Michael Carter Williams. Although I don't fully understand it, the sophomore wall is a real phenomenon.
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Post by haisan on Dec 1, 2022 23:56:10 GMT -5
Feeling pretty good about calling Scottie's sophomore slump a few months ago. Well, not good-good ... But it seemed like a real possibility. raptors.freeforums.net/post/20974Personally, when I call for the SGA-Scottie trade, it's not because I don't like Scottie. It's more about being worried about the team. Pascal is there now. FVV and OG, too. Who knows how they'll be once Scottie is coming into his own. It's more a timing issue than a knock on Scottie.
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Post by zugzwang on Dec 2, 2022 8:01:16 GMT -5
I still believe!
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Post by scully19 on Dec 2, 2022 10:46:02 GMT -5
I still believe in Scottie too, it's all about growth. Agree with what was said above, some of the comments are disgusting and that was really who my rant was directed at.
Haisan, I don't really disagree with you there on player timing, but i think Raptors management does, i think they like the differences in ages not just for longevity but also the differences in contracts. Rookie scale contracts are a bargain if the rookie is good.
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