If you're a Siakam Fan then post here!

douggood · Post #21 » by **douggood** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:47 pm

checking in

Post #22 » by **Duffman100** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:55 pm

I definitely am. I just Siakam to get back to what was making Siakam, Siakam.

Start rim running more. Get more active off the ball.

Parataxis · Post #23 » by **Parataxis** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:00 pm

RaptorsNorth wrote:he guy is not a first option player but he’s being paid like one.

He isn't though. He's being paid like a quality player. There's a common misperception that a 'max contract' is only for first option players on contending teams, but that couldn't be further from the truth. It's a salary ceiling for lots of very good, but not superstar players.

There's 40 other players in the NBA who are paid roughly what Siakam (+/- 2mil) is paid, or more. That's more players than teams, so they can't all be 'first options' by any definition of the word, and certainly not all people who SHOULD be a first option on a contending team.

Siakam isn't being paid like a first option player. He's being paid like a max contract player - because he is one.

tecumseh18 · Post #24 » by **tecumseh18** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:03 pm

Am I fan of a Raptors player who started the last ASB and is second team All-NBA? Yes indeed.

Sure Pascal had a slump in the bubble, but I blame Nurse for not making adjustments. Why keep dumping the ball into Siakam on iso plays? I've said this many times, but it's hard to believe Nick was coaching to win in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Celtics. Even Casey would bench DeMar in that circumstance.

pr0gr4m · Post #25 » by **pr0gr4m** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:07 pm

He is going to regress this year from what I've seen so far. His game has been figured out. I would hope Masai can sell high on him after next summer

pr0gr4m · Post #26 » by **pr0gr4m** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:08 pm

tecumseh18 wrote:Am I fan of a Raptors player who started the last ASB and is second team All-NBA? Yes indeed.

Sure Pascal had a slump in the bubble, but I blame Nurse for not making adjustments. Why keep dumping the ball into Siakam on iso plays? I've said this many times, but it's hard to believe Nick was coaching to win in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Celtics. Even Casey would bench DeMar in that circumstance.

Incorrect.

His struggles have been there before the bubble. Defending Siakam isn't that hard. When we play the Rockets I want you to pay attention to Bruno guarding him on switches or whatever. You'll see what I mean. He lacks elite explosiveness or shooting.

Mack11 · Post #27 » by **Mack11** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:10 pm

he sucked in the playoffs no doubt but i felt like he got way more hate than deserved.. some of the comments from the fans were ridiculous. Its like people were expecting us to win a title last year or something

Green Backpack · Post #28 » by **Green Backpack** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:12 pm

I'm a huge Siakam fan. He struggled down the stretch last year obviously, but I still have faith. He was also a huge part of our Championship team, so he'll always have my respect for that.

Post #29 » by **Morris_Shatford** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:18 pm

OakleyDokely wrote:MIP.
All-NBA 2nd team.
2nd most win shares from his draft class.
2nd highest usage on a championship team.

...by the age of 26, from the 27th pick in the draft.

Yet still worse than Bargnani..... :lol:

theonlyeastcoastrapsfan · Post #30 » by **theonlyeastcoastrapsfan** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:20 pm

I'm with it.

rarefind · Post #31 » by **rarefind** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:22 pm

I Just hope he understands the optics of his piss poor play in the bubble and a lack of putting in work prior and learns.

Marty_Budda · Post #32 » by **Marty_Budda** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:27 pm

RaptorsNorth wrote:Just say you’re talking about me and keep it as that. Pascal is not being called out because it’s his fault. It’s actually this organizations fault! They did the same thing with Demar. The guy is not a first option player but he’s being paid like one. This was the same issue with Demar! There’s smart raptors fans that know this already. He had a good run playing behind kawhi and the organization thought they could resign kawhi. Pascal was plan B and he’s just not that guy! The fans that know better know he’s not the main man!! Come on if middleton has a good season behind Giannis is now the man on another team looking to win a championship ? Pascal is a 2nd option guy. I actually blame the organization for putting him in this position by paying him superstar money and letting fans believe he’s that guy. I truly believe Masai and Bobby now realize he’s not that guy which is why they created cap space for that guy to come in. If they believed he was the guy to run this team Serge would be here, gasol would be here. They created cap space because they know pascal is not that guy so why do you believe he’s that guy when Masai and Bobby is looking for a superstar? Come on man it’s common sense. Why are they trying to create cap space for a superstar “if they have one in pascal ?” It’s because they know he’s not that guy.

You can take guys with 1 or 2 option move and turn them into your first option player smh

You do realize that 2nd options on championship teams are still max players right?

First options typically make more than siakam. It’s called a supermax. Giannis just signed one if you haven’t heard.

Aside from a select few special players like luka and lebron. Please tell me which players have been legit number 1 options 4 years into their nba careers.

DreamTeam09 · Post #33 » by **DreamTeam09** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:28 pm

Again, the struggles Siakam went on to have, are the same ones, DD n Lowry had, are the same ones, Giannis has, the same one Harden has, the same issue KD went thru pre-GS, the same thing lebron has went thru for a few years, the same thing PG went thru last year, the same thing KD went thru game 7.

Players are going to struggle in the playoffs unless you're KD and Lebron for the most part, and even they have struggled in years past. Playoff basketball is hard for star players. I ride out with our stars no matter what because ino how hard it is for Toronto to even have a star, and I have a realistic understanding of how stars are going to perform or not perform in the playoffs.

I'm probably harder on the role players in the playoffs because they're the ones who can potentially steal and sway a series. Gasol was ass for us last playoff and marcus smart stole a couple games against us, which turned into winning the series. We've seen norman powell steal us several playoff games, FVV came alive and helped steal us the GS series.

As far as Pascal goes tho, he can't do any wrong in my eyes. He, like Demar, was never suppose to be a star in this league, they weren't ready made stars that's for sure, so for their hardwork I have to salute them.

NBA Sheady · Post #34 » by **NBA Sheady** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:32 pm

1) This is his first year getting paid max money. So that type of evaluation shouldn't even start until this year.

2) I've never in 30 years of watching basketball seen a guy completely stink it up on the offensive end and continue to defend at a high level. That tells us so much about his mental makeup.

3) I genuinely believe this guy can still be a #1 option.

4) I think many of us expected him to suck during his first playoffs as our #1 option.

mdenny · Post #35 » by **mdenny** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:34 pm

Siakam is worth the max.

But he will get killed by this lame fan base because he is not a #1 scoring option.

Raptors fans should be happy winning because of his (and our team) defense. They won't be.

But we'll still win more than we lose. And our lame fans will still cry more than they appreciate.

If our fans watch him with the understanding that he's not a first scoring option than they will see him for what he brings rather than what he doesn't.

Marty_Budda · Post #36 » by **Marty_Budda** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:38 pm

pr0gr4m wrote:
tecumseh18 wrote:Am I fan of a Raptors player who started the last ASB and is second team All-NBA? Yes indeed.

Sure Pascal had a slump in the bubble, but I blame Nurse for not making adjustments. Why keep dumping the ball into Siakam on iso plays? I've said this many times, but it's hard to believe Nick was coaching to win in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Celtics. Even Casey would bench DeMar in that circumstance.

Incorrect.

His struggles have been there before the bubble. Defending Siakam isn't that hard. When we play the Rockets I want you to pay attention to Bruno guarding him on switches or whatever. You'll see what I mean. He lacks elite explosiveness or shooting.

Siakam averaged almost 23ppg in the 2019 playoffs on over 50% shooting against Jonathan Isaac when we played Orlando but yeah...Bruno is the guy to stop him.

The stupidity of some people amazes me.

JShuttlesworth · Post #37 » by **JShuttlesworth** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:59 pm

I like Siakam -- I've always felt that Pascal looks sloppy when he has the ball, but he has improved every year. He's not a number one option, but he's a solid player who works hard and still has a ton of potential. We have him under contract for his prime years, so we'll get to see what kind of player he develops into.

Both Fred / Siakam are going to feel the same type of criticism that DeMar / Lowry got early on. People will be hard on him because he's getting paid $30 million a season. The haters comes along with the contract.

Danny1616 · Post #38 » by **Danny1616** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:00 pm

DreamTeam09 wrote:Again, the struggles Siakam went on to have, are the same ones, DD n Lowry had, are the same ones, Giannis has, the same one Harden has, the same issue KD went thru pre-GS, the same thing lebron has went thru for a few years, the same thing PG went thru last year, the same thing KD went thru game 7.

Players are going to struggle in the playoffs unless you're KD and Lebron for the most part, and even they have struggled in years past. Playoff basketball is hard for star players. I ride out with our stars no matter what because ino how hard it is for Toronto to even have a star, and I have a realistic understanding of how stars are going to perform or not perform in the playoffs.

I'm probably harder on the role players in the playoffs because they're the ones who can potentially steal and sway a series. Gasol was ass for us last playoff and marcus smart stole a couple games against us, which turned into winning the series. We've seen norman powell steal us several playoff games, FVV came alive and helped steal us the GS series.

As far as Pascal goes tho, he can't do any wrong in my eyes. He, like Demar, was never suppose to be a star in this league, they weren't ready made stars that's for sure, so for their hardwork I have to salute them.

I have no idea why people don't realize that most great players didn't become true superstars that early in their career, and even the generational superstars like KD, Kobe, Lebron, Steph etc. all had their playoff struggles early on. Moreover, even current MVP caliber players have playoff struggles (look at Harden, Westbrook, Embiid, Giannis etc.).

pingpongrac · Post #39 » by **pingpongrac** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:03 pm

MadDogSHWA wrote:1) This is his first year getting paid max money. So that type of evaluation shouldn't even start until this year.

2) I've never in 30 years of watching basketball seen a guy completely stink it up on the offensive end and continue to defend at a high level. That tells us so much about his mental makeup.

3) I genuinely believe this guy can still be a #1 option.

4) I think many of us expected him to suck during his first playoffs as our #1 option.

All very good points/things I agree with, especially #2. Obviously it doesn't happen often that a star performs as poorly on the offensive end as Siakam did in the playoffs a few months ago, but his defence was as good as it has ever been in those 7 games against the Celtics. You'd almost expect a dip on the defensive end too, but he stepped it up a few notches.

Badonkadonk · Post #40 » by **Badonkadonk** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:04 pm

Mans puts his heart and soul into the team and his craft and gets crucified for not having an elite offensive game.

Yes, I'm a fan, but I'm also a fan that understands his strengths and weaknesses. In the current CBA, the former comfortably make him a max player, but for some reason there's a contingent of fans that also expect him to bring a KD-like fluidity to his offensive game. That'll never happen, but that doesn't make him not valuable or unlikeable.

How do you NOT like a guy like Siakam, given his story and attitude?