Raps V. Kings - Preseason - Wed, Oct 8th, 2025 - 10PM EST

[YogurtProducer]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

[GLF]

The offence looks much better tonight.

Of course.
Level of opponent.

the key to the season will be how we perform against .500 and below teams.

let's say 42 games are against mediocre/bad teams and 42 are against good teams, the breakout for a solid year would be this:

27-15 against mediocre/bad teams
21-21 against good teams

= 48 win season.

That’s what people don’t understand. To be a playoff team you just have to take care of business, meaning you have to beat the below .500 and .500 teams. The above .500/contenders are not something we have to worry about until we ourselves are a contender. Not being able to beat the OKC, Denver and Clevelands of the world for example won’t be why we don’t make the playoffs or play-in. Losing to the below .500 and .500 teams would be what prevents us from being a playoff team.

[And1+2]

BI is such a joy to watch. We finally have a dynamic scorer, I think I'm in tears.

[GLF]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Exactly. This talking point people have of our guys all needing the ball in their hands to be successful just isn’t true. Most of our guys are better off ball and when they’re forced to initiate that’s when they aren’t as good. BI is the only player in that starting lineup who is good with the ball in their hands initiating, everyone else is better off ball and when an advantage is already created for them. They’re better as secondary or tertiary ball handlers. Also if BI and RJ keep shooting the 3 like this all season and IQ shoots like we know he can, the spacing will be just fine.

[DreamTeam09]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Exactly. This talking point people have of our guys all needing the ball in their hands to be successful just isn’t true. Most of our guys are better off ball and when they’re forced to initiate that’s when they aren’t as good. BI is the only player in that starting lineup who is good with the ball in their hands initiating, everyone else is better off ball and when an advantage is already created for them. They’re better as secondary or tertiary ball handlers. Also if BI and RJ keep shooting the 3 like this all season and IQ shoots like we know he can, the spacing will be just fine.

Not to mention our offense breeds passing and off ball movement, and our defense plays the position game, so even if we had guys that “needs the ball in their hands” well there are plenty of possessions to go around. We already got Bi cutting, we got IQ in the corner, RJ is a good cutter, we got Barnes and jakob as a hub. Plenty to be optimistic about

[ConSarnit]

The offence looks much better tonight.

Of course.
Level of opponent.

the key to the season will be how we perform against .500 and below teams.

let's say 42 games are against mediocre/bad teams and 42 are against good teams, the breakout for a solid year would be this:

27-15 against mediocre/bad teams
21-21 against good teams

= 48 win season.

I think you’re overestimating how well we’ll do against +.500 teams. In an average year there are maybe 6-7 teams who finish above .500 against .500 teams and those teams are almost always a top 3-4 seed in their conference. You’re also underestimating the amount of games played against .500 or better teams as that number is usually closer to 50.

Most ~45 win teams go 3-5 games under .500 against +.500 teams. The average team also plays more games against +.500 teams than they do under .500 teams.

50 games against .500 or better teams: 23-27

32 games against under .500 teams: 20-12

42-44 wins seems more likely.

[causal_fan]

I'd go best case scenario:

42 games against plus .500 teams - 15- 26
42 games against sub .500 teams - 24-17
Total: 39-43

[Boogie!]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Only thing I disageee with is Rj does have some on ball creation ability.

[Sandman88]

As I suspected, Ingram healthy is a problem he needs to be the hub/focal point

[ATLTimekeeper]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Scottie shot 38% on C&S 3s in 2024, but in 2025 he shot 27%, and in 2023 he shot 30%. He is more than capable of being a good outlet, but he could also be an awful one.

I think ideally IQ's role on offense is closer to Derrick White's on Boston, whereas his role here has been more like Derrick White in San Antonio.

[Duffman100]

BI is such a joy to watch. We finally have a dynamic scorer, I think I'm in tears.

Ingram slipped on your tears and is now injured.

[NBA Sheady]

Why is it like a definitive narrative everywhere that this has to be a bad offensive team?

For me the biggest reasons are we don't have a starting point guard and we have two starters who are non-shooters.

[mihaic]

Of course.
Level of opponent.

the key to the season will be how we perform against .500 and below teams.

let's say 42 games are against mediocre/bad teams and 42 are against good teams, the breakout for a solid year would be this:

27-15 against mediocre/bad teams
21-21 against good teams

= 48 win season.

I agree with your assessment, but that is 84 games... so taking into account 2 fewer games, let's call it a 47 win season

Perhaps he accounted for 2 playin games we will end up in.

[DreamTeam09]

Why is it like a definitive narrative everywhere that this has to be a bad offensive team?

cuz ppl aren't fans of us or are just aren't all that knowledgeable about the Raptors. Our offensive principles are top tier

[djsunyc]

Of course.
Level of opponent.

the key to the season will be how we perform against .500 and below teams.

let's say 42 games are against mediocre/bad teams and 42 are against good teams, the breakout for a solid year would be this:

27-15 against mediocre/bad teams
21-21 against good teams

= 48 win season.

Well, that is also 84 games, but I get your point.

or another way to split it up is home vs. road. take care of business at home and play decent on the road.

30-11 at home, then 18-23 on the road gets you to 48 wins.

[YogurtProducer]

the key to the season will be how we perform against .500 and below teams.

let's say 42 games are against mediocre/bad teams and 42 are against good teams, the breakout for a solid year would be this:

27-15 against mediocre/bad teams
21-21 against good teams

= 48 win season.

Well, that is also 84 games, but I get your point.

or another way to split it up is home vs. road. take care of business at home and play decent on the road.

30-11 at home, then 18-23 on the road gets you to 48 wins.

To be fair, only 4 teams won 30 games at home last year.

[YogurtProducer]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Only thing I disageee with is Rj does have some on ball creation ability.

I didn't say he doesn't, but his best stretch of his career was when we limited that.

[ConSarnit]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Scottie shot 38% on C&S 3s in 2024, but in 2025 he shot 27%, and in 2023 he shot 30%. He is more than capable of being a good outlet, but he could also be an awful one.

I think ideally IQ's role on offense is closer to Derrick White's on Boston, whereas his role here has been more like Derrick White in San Antonio.

He is not capable. He got hot from 3 for 30 games. Post Jan. 1 2024 he was back to shooting 30% on C&S 3’s. The last time Barnes shot over 30% from 3 on a full months worth of games was in 2023.

Here is Barnes 3pt shooting by month since Jan 2024:

27%
23%
40% (1 game)
18%
28%
28%
27%
27%
25%
35% (5 games)

In almost 2 years he’s had 1 month shooting above league average from 3 and that was a 1 game sample size.

Barnes is one of the least capable outlets in the entire league.

[NBA Sheady]

The other thing is that 4 out of our 5 starting lineup play the best with the ball in their hands, so you get diminishing returns. The most efficient offenses have guys that compliment each other. Shooting, shot creation, ball movement, finishing. Guys are efficient mostly based on the quality of shots they’re taking.

This really is not true at all.

IQ is a great spot up shooter and does a lot of damage off the catch.

RJ's most productive run of his career was late 2024 when he was relegated to playing off people, and creating nothing for himself.

Yak is 100% a guy who doesn't need the ball

That leaves Ingram and Barnes, and lets be honest, Barnes is not a good on-ball or off-ball player. He needs to learn to be a good off-ball guy though, as it is clear he is not a good enough scorer or decision maker to have the ball in his hands often.

Exactly. This talking point people have of our guys all needing the ball in their hands to be successful just isn’t true. Most of our guys are better off ball and when they’re forced to initiate that’s when they aren’t as good. BI is the only player in that starting lineup who is good with the ball in their hands initiating, everyone else is better off ball and when an advantage is already created for them. They’re better as secondary or tertiary ball handlers. Also if BI and RJ keep shooting the 3 like this all season and IQ shoots like we know he can, the spacing will be just fine.

Es from Raps Republic made the comment about the 4 guys in the SL needing the ball. I appreciate you guys "debunking" that take.

[MEDIC]

As I suspected, Ingram healthy is a problem he needs to be the hub/focal point

If this team starts winning & he stays healthy, I could easily see him as an allstar candidate this season.