ESPN Forecast pegs Raps at 51 wins (tied with Boston)

[dalton749]

The Celtics always get over hyped, Stevens can only boost them up so much. They still don't have a guy that you can call a legit allstar. Undersized at all positions in the starting lineup, and still a team of above average players, will stay in that above average range. They'll likely stay in the 46-49 wins range again.
I don't think they have a single above average rebounder on their team at any position, they will get out rebounded by at least 3 boards a game next year, which is bottom 5.

[raptoradical]

Real talk though, I can't say we ever had an actual rival team, but Boston is turning out to be that team.

[VinBaker6]

I would bet everything in my bank account that the Raps win less than 57 games this coming season.

Yes maybe but your 44 prediction last year bordered on self trolling.

No it didn't.

Unlike many Raptor fans who simply believe on blind faith (this sounds like you, but feel free to correct me), I backed it up with solid reasoning. The Raps had just been swept in the playoffs on the heels of a 4 months stretch of losing basketball to finish the previous season which included Lowry playing like absolute crap. We gained Carroll but lost Amir and had a 35 year old Scola starting which didn't look pretty. Casey was so badly out-coached in the playoffs and most of us were shocked he was returning and nobody was viewing it as a positive. I thought the team may have started to quit on Casey based on how the previous season finished.

What happened was that Joseph and Biyombo grossly exceeded anyone's expectations while our 2 stars both had by far their best NBA seasons. And Casey played his 2 stars far too many minutes which resulted in more regular season wins but almost proved costly as they both ran out of gas in the playoffs.

Either way, regular season wins don't matter, only peaking for the playoffs does. I'm hoping Casey finally figures that out this season and don't care if the Raps win 45 games as a result.

Ah, the all knowing, better than everyone else Raptor fan.

So if someone had the Raptors at 50 wins last season they were going by blind faith? I mean there's a big difference between 44 and 50 wins.

Unlike most Raptor fans, I am superior! I use reason and logic! Loooool

[Volcano]

I don't think people realize where the increase in wins came from last season. Is it because of DD/Lowry's good play? Sure that was a part of it, but mainly because we lost two defensive sieves, added veteran depth and defense. People really underrate the value of defense. If we rely more on rookies and sophomores next year, then our projection is even tougher to predict as players may break out or struggle.

[young11a]

Raptors will finish first as the cavs will coast thru the season

[MVP-]

Raps gonna **** around and finish 60-22 quote me heaux

[Parataxis]

My 100% scientifically calculated and tested, fool-proof predictions for next season:

Spoiler:

1.W
2.H
3.O
4.R
5.E
6.A
7.L
8.L
9.Y
10.K
11.N
12.O
13.W
14.S?
15.Philadelphia

The Whore Ally Knows? Need to talk to some pimps, I suppose.

[Salted Meat]

My 100% scientifically calculated and tested, fool-proof predictions for next season:

Spoiler:

1.W
2.H
3.O
4.R
5.E
6.A
7.L
8.L
9.Y
10.K
11.N
12.O
13.W
14.S?
15.Philadelphia

The Whore Ally Knows? Need to talk to some pimps, I suppose.

[Volcano]

I would bet everything in my bank account that the Raps win less than 57 games this coming season.

Yes maybe but your 44 prediction last year bordered on self trolling.

No it didn't.

Unlike many Raptor fans who simply believe on blind faith (this sounds like you, but feel free to correct me), I backed it up with solid reasoning. The Raps had just been swept in the playoffs on the heels of a 4 months stretch of losing basketball to finish the previous season which included Lowry playing like absolute crap. We gained Carroll but lost Amir and had a 35 year old Scola starting which didn't look pretty. Casey was so badly out-coached in the playoffs and most of us were shocked he was returning and nobody was viewing it as a positive. I thought the team may have started to quit on Casey based on how the previous season finished.

What happened was that Joseph and Biyombo grossly exceeded anyone's expectations while our 2 stars both had by far their best NBA seasons. And Casey played his 2 stars far too many minutes which resulted in more regular season wins but almost proved costly as they both ran out of gas in the playoffs.

Either way, regular season wins don't matter, only peaking for the playoffs does. I'm hoping Casey finally figures that out this season and don't care if the Raps win 45 games as a result.

I don't see how BB or CoJo grossly exceeded expectations, unless you don't follow the NBA. Both were already reputable defensive players.

BB was a one way player and was a big factor in Charlotte not completely falling off the previous season when he was starting. A lot of Charlotte fans credited his impact when he got the PT and didn't want to lose him in the off-season. It's not like BB suddenly turned into Hakeem on offense. His O still sucked.

CoJo was actually a little disappointing and inconsistent offensively (slashing game is ok, but not at a high enough level to be an offensive spark. His playmaking/passing is also below average. Shaky jumper was expected). While he's not an impact offensive player, he is a stellar defender.

You probably put too much value in one way players like Lou and GV. Amir's play + body already regressed. What, were you afraid that losing Amir and adding 2-3 defenders would make us worse defensively? We were already near the bottom of the league on D and still got 49 wins. Were you afraid of losing out on offense? People don't seem to realize that there's only one ball. Those one and done jumpers..even if efficient, have decrementing value when it becomes predictable, or when you take out consistency (stat padding against weaker defenses isn't going to get you more wins), or when you put the team in weak vulnerable fast break situations. If you're not being efficient at those one and done jumpers and you're a guy like GV/Lou, then wtf value do they have.

This is what I said last year:

I'm a big fan of defense and two-way players (who isn't). This team became a lot more likeable this off-season. I feel like we have solid support players with a weak core.

And that's what it was. Centering the team around Lowry and DD is going to limit our ceiling (more so DD of course, Lowry more due to age and end of season regression). They are just pieces and can be pieces of the puzzle, but we treat them like centerpieces.

The team quitting on Casey doesn't seem plausible when you take into consideration the characters of most of the rotation players on the team plus the additions we made (I don't see BB, Carroll or CoJo not following the game plan). Thinking he'd get fired or not brought back is also highly delusional. Seems like you're out of touch with reality.

So when you say solid reasoning, it just wasn't.

[steamed hams]

Call me a hater if you will but I just don't see how so many people put the Celtics over the top just because they signed Al Horford. It's not like he's some superstar big man, its Al Horford for **** sake.

Seriously, every time someone mentioned trading for Horford on our team I barfed a little.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

If you look at their last years projections, you realize they don't get many right (or even close).

Two of the five teams they had ahead of us last year didn't even make the playoffs.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13431310/2015-summer-forecast-east-standings

[Anatomize]

Detroit is really flying under the radar this year, I'm interested to see how they do with all of these players having an additional year under SVG..

Drummond will improve, you have KCP with another year under his belt at age 23 (had a nice mini breakout), Tobias Harris with a full year there (and he's still relatively young), Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson coming into his 2nd year (his body looked ridiculous in summer league it's hard to believe he's 20), and made great depth signings with the underrated Ish Smith, Jon Leuer, and Marjanovic, as well as drafting Ellenson.

They are missing a superstar talent, but that's a good team with decent depth and lineup versatility.

[The_Hater]

Yes maybe but your 44 prediction last year bordered on self trolling.

No it didn't.

Unlike many Raptor fans who simply believe on blind faith (this sounds like you, but feel free to correct me), I backed it up with solid reasoning. The Raps had just been swept in the playoffs on the heels of a 4 months stretch of losing basketball to finish the previous season which included Lowry playing like absolute crap. We gained Carroll but lost Amir and had a 35 year old Scola starting which didn't look pretty. Casey was so badly out-coached in the playoffs and most of us were shocked he was returning and nobody was viewing it as a positive. I thought the team may have started to quit on Casey based on how the previous season finished.

What happened was that Joseph and Biyombo grossly exceeded anyone's expectations while our 2 stars both had by far their best NBA seasons. And Casey played his 2 stars far too many minutes which resulted in more regular season wins but almost proved costly as they both ran out of gas in the playoffs.

Either way, regular season wins don't matter, only peaking for the playoffs does. I'm hoping Casey finally figures that out this season and don't care if the Raps win 45 games as a result.

Ah, the all knowing, better than everyone else Raptor fan.

So if someone had the Raptors at 50 wins last season they were going by blind faith? I mean there's a big difference between 44 and 50 wins.

Unlike most Raptor fans, I am superior! I use reason and logic! Loooool

That's not even close to what I was saying. I was responding to a person who accused me of trolling but I guess it didn't stop you from acting like a jackas.

[Kingsway_fan]

I think Raptors will be battling for 2-6 spots behind Cleveland... all depends on how healthy the backcourt is and how well jv plays... Don't expect much from carrolle, and our bench....

[OakleyDokely]

Low 50's, high 40s sounds about right.

Honestly though, I'd rather win 48 games and finish 4th with Lowry/DD playing less then win 55 games and finish 2nd with DD/Lowry playing heavy minutes.

[Too Late Crew]

Not enough will be made about the benefit of what Demarre Carroll for 36mpg over 60+ games will mean in comparison to 26 he played last year. Even in the 26 he played in he was dealing with plantar fasciitis early on. Him coming in healthy will be big for the always important SF spot in the East because there's a lot of SF talent in our conference.

Sullinger's ability to play both power spots also helps offset for the loss of Biz. He likely starts at PF and is an upgrade over Scola but even if JV was to get hurt we can roll out a mix of Sully, Bebe and Poeltl there to make up for the loss of Biz.

Carroll has NEVER played anywhere near 36 mpg. Why would you even suggest that?

Even before last year and his 26 game season he missed 16,9 and 12 games in each season. There is no good reason to think he is going to be considerably healthier playing big minutes in 60 plus games given the nature of his injuries (structural)

[VinBaker6]

No it didn't.

Unlike many Raptor fans who simply believe on blind faith (this sounds like you, but feel free to correct me), I backed it up with solid reasoning. The Raps had just been swept in the playoffs on the heels of a 4 months stretch of losing basketball to finish the previous season which included Lowry playing like absolute crap. We gained Carroll but lost Amir and had a 35 year old Scola starting which didn't look pretty. Casey was so badly out-coached in the playoffs and most of us were shocked he was returning and nobody was viewing it as a positive. I thought the team may have started to quit on Casey based on how the previous season finished.

What happened was that Joseph and Biyombo grossly exceeded anyone's expectations while our 2 stars both had by far their best NBA seasons. And Casey played his 2 stars far too many minutes which resulted in more regular season wins but almost proved costly as they both ran out of gas in the playoffs.

Either way, regular season wins don't matter, only peaking for the playoffs does. I'm hoping Casey finally figures that out this season and don't care if the Raps win 45 games as a result.

Ah, the all knowing, better than everyone else Raptor fan.

So if someone had the Raptors at 50 wins last season they were going by blind faith? I mean there's a big difference between 44 and 50 wins.

Unlike most Raptor fans, I am superior! I use reason and logic! Loooool

That's not even close to what I was saying. I was responding to a person who accused me of trolling but I guess it didn't stop you from acting like a jackas.

It's pretty clear what you were saying lol.

[slothrop8]

Low 50's, high 40s sounds about right.

Honestly though, I'd rather win 48 games and finish 4th with Lowry/DD playing less then win 55 games and finish 2nd with DD/Lowry playing heavy minutes.

Agreed 100% - though if LeBron is first - I don't want 4th. 2nd, 3rd, 6th, or 7th please - gotta keep that dream of getting to the ECF alive.

[Baashha]

lowry > thomas
demar > bradley
demarre = poor man's demarre (crowder)
sullinger < horford
JV > amir

casey << stevens

cojo/powell/ross/pp/poetl/wright >> smart/r.j. hunter/brown/jrebko/olynyk

call be bias, but the just arent as good as us, all they have going from them over us is their coach.

[VinBaker6]

lowry > thomas
demar > bradley
demarre = poor man's demarre (crowder)
sullinger < horford
JV > amir

casey << stevens

cojo/powell/ross/pp/poetl/wright >> smart/r.j. hunter/brown/jrebko/olynyk

call be bias, but the just arent as good as us, all they have going from them over us is their coach.

How is Amir better than JV lol