Zach's WTF Teams (Raptors 1 of 3)

[DreamTeam09]

OKC had Chet, Shai, Dort, Wiggins, Mitchell, Joe, Jaylin Williams, Kenrich Williams all shoot over 37% from 3 as guys who got more than 15 minutes in the regular season.

Indiana had Haliburton, Siakam, Turner, Nesmith, Walker as guys who shot over 37% from 3 who got more than 15 minutes in the regular season.

So 1% above league avg, would you consider any of the guys you listed knockdown shooters, shooters who shoot the lights out?

Nesmith shot 48% (!!) during the Playoffs, Pacers had 3 40+% shooters in the Postseason. Haliburton hits 3+ three pointer per game.

OKC also has a lot of guys that can shoot the ball at a high clip.
And obviously they are the best team and got the mvp. So don't compare them to us.

Korver, Redick, Danny Green etc all were Knockdown shooters, so is a guy like Nesmith. Let them shoot 8 or 9 threes per game and they will hit 3~5 threes per game, guys like these elevate a team and freeing up space. Something our guys can't do. Not yet. As we can see. If that would be the case we wouldn't be dead last on 3 point shooting. What's the problem with admitting?

I highly disagree Nesmith is in the same vain of shooters as the other guys you listed. My argument isn't that the Raptors are some prolific 3pt shooting team, I'm more say on the other side of the argument that 3pt shooting is the end all be all and that the Raptors do have several players who can & will hit the 3. Yes I would like Barnes & RJ to improve their numbers but IQ/Ingram/GD/Ochai/Mamu/Walter should all be "good 3pt shooters" but I digress.

[___Rand___]

It’s hard to gauge American media true opinion of the Raptors when they all admit that they know the Raptors have a huge online presence. All their opinions are being influenced by it, so they more likely give more extreme opinions of the Raptors.

Zach probably watch the Raptors the MOST closely of all the Americans who cover the NBA. His observations are more educated than the rest of American buffoons. His wife's also from Toronto.

[OhCanada]

Everybody is so worried about threes. Toronto is only worried about defensive pressure and creating turnovers.

[HiJiNX]

When the Raps win 45 games next year, media will still question what they are doing.

45?

More like 48. Maybe even 50.

[Tripod]

When the Raps win 45 games next year, media will still question what they are doing.

45?

More like 48. Maybe even 50.

I said 45 not wanting to draw a big debate.

I have said a few times I expect 45-50 wins if we got a reliable backup C and injuries were not crazy. We added Mamu who I think can do fine as a backup. A Yak injury could really hurt us though.

[HiJiNX]

When the Raps win 45 games next year, media will still question what they are doing.

45?

More like 48. Maybe even 50.

I said 45 not wanting to draw a big debate.

I have said a few times I expect 45-50 wins if we got a reliable backup C and injuries were not crazy. We added Mamu who I think can do fine as a backup. A Yak injury could really hurt us though.

Yeah I agree. If we are healthy we are a 5 or 6 seed in a battered and weak East.

Our fans underestimate how deep we are. We have ten legit rotation players which will allow us to play hard for 48 mins which is enough to grab a handful of extra wins in the regular season. Our ability to be successful in the post-season hinges on whether Ingram can be a three level scorer against tough defences and if Scottie can score efficiently enough to function as a hub.

[HiJiNX]

Do people really have hard time envisioning the type of basketball we can play with this roster? A futuristic style.

I can see it, CMB and Jakob (non-shooting, big duo) can work well. It just leans more to the defence.

We can be a "low scoring" team (avg 105 on a bad night) that just keeps our opponents to 90-100, with relentless defence.

More demoralizing for our opponents that on other nights average 110.


Is everyone just stuck on the current style of play?

What you're talking about it exactly what this team was doing during the Vision 6'9" fiasco. They tried to play a different way than everyone every other team with minimal 3 point shooting but a lot of good defensive switchy forwards. Gamble for steals score in transition, get lots of rebounds, play fantastic defence with no mismatches to attack. It worked for one weird season when teams didn't want to bring their stars to Toronto due to COVID and not wanting them to get trapped across the boarder, then fell apart the next season when teams figured out how to counter it.

OKC just won with this strategy. They just have an SGA to score when needed.

[ciueli]

Do people really have hard time envisioning the type of basketball we can play with this roster? A futuristic style.

I can see it, CMB and Jakob (non-shooting, big duo) can work well. It just leans more to the defence.

We can be a "low scoring" team (avg 105 on a bad night) that just keeps our opponents to 90-100, with relentless defence.

More demoralizing for our opponents that on other nights average 110.


Is everyone just stuck on the current style of play?

What you're talking about it exactly what this team was doing during the Vision 6'9" fiasco. They tried to play a different way than everyone every other team with minimal 3 point shooting but a lot of good defensive switchy forwards. Gamble for steals score in transition, get lots of rebounds, play fantastic defence with no mismatches to attack. It worked for one weird season when teams didn't want to bring their stars to Toronto due to COVID and not wanting them to get trapped across the boarder, then fell apart the next season when teams figured out how to counter it.

OKC just won with this strategy. They just have an SGA to score when needed.

The only sub 35% 3 point shooter in their main rotation is Hartenstein and he’s essentially their backup centre. Completely different than what we tried with the vision 6’9” concept which frequently had 2 or more poor 3 point shooters on the floor at the same time. OKC also has competent guard play, something our teams were extremely deficient in.

[Boogie!]

The take is a little out there, no one can shoot? Quick and Ingram are obvious shooters, you replace RJ with a shooter (Dick, Jakobe, Ochai) and it is balanced enough... Not may teams around the league with 5 shooters

Dick and jakobe aren’t even better shooters than rj at this point…