The Raptors a Top 5 Team?

[Steelo Green]

I actually couldn’t believe how many normally smart media people were falling for it AGAIN this year.

These are all fundamentally valid points...and yet, they are also fundamentally flawed opinions.

Things do indeed change. Teams get better and teams get worse. Teams that historically couldn't get past teams eventually can find a way. The Cavs are a very old team that is leaning even heavier on LeBron this year. They don't have Kyrie and I don't think Isiah Thomas is going to make up for that. And the Raptors are a fundamentally different team this year, playing a very different style of basketball with some very different players. And in all respects, the changes should make us a much better matchup against the Cavs.

If you want to find a precedent, look to the Detroit Pistons. No...not those Pistons...look at the Bad Boys. They were an up and coming team that had three straight playoff disappointments. After the third, they made significant changes to their style of play. They failed to get past the Celtics for a second time, but then broke through and won the championship the next two years. And like the Cavs, the Celtics were a dynasty approaching the end of its run.

So yes, things change. Maybe this is the year they will change. Maybe not. The flaw is in thinking that anything is certain.

Meh. LeBron is as good as he’s ever been right now. That alone is more than enough to make the Cavs heavy favourites for the finals. Anything they get out of IT is a bonus.

I'm appalled people still doubt Lebron.

It's been a few years of him coasting through the regular season record wise and sure, he's having an incredible season numbers wise, so they whole "he's not coasting this year" theory is not necessarily the same as other years, but like the Heat, it took them a bit of time to adjust to the changes and they're now flying.

They have 3 more losses than Boston with 50+ games to go, it is not even close to ridiculous to think Cleveland will be best record wise as well.

[alevirfe]

^ I honestly think the Raptors are better than both Boston & San Antonio. I also think the Wizards will eventually be in this group as well (they are struggling/injured so far)

Add in Golden State, I thnk we are better but they are the champs we have to prove it. Wizards are the opposite of us. Mediocre regular season, go HAM in the playoffs. They look like first round fodder but always make it out every year.

Easy now, we are certainly not better than Golden State

I think we are in the Boston, San Antonio, Wizards tier

[711takeover]

^ I honestly think the Raptors are better than both Boston & San Antonio. I also think the Wizards will eventually be in this group as well (they are struggling/injured so far)

Add in Golden State, I thnk we are better but they are the champs we have to prove it. Wizards are the opposite of us. Mediocre regular season, go HAM in the playoffs. They look like first round fodder but always make it out every year.

Wait do you actually believe you're better than Golden State or is this some sort of inside joke?

[LoveMyRaps]

We're a very good REGULAR SEASON team.
Playoffs are always a different story.

[johanliebert]

We're a very good REGULAR SEASON team.
Playoffs are always a different story.

Results say the raptors do well before playing the cavs.

So does that make every team besides the cavs in the east and dubs in the west good regular season teams only?

Why only the raptors?

[johanliebert]

There are six teams this year that have clearly been better than everybody else so far.

In the West, you have Houston, Golden State, and San Antonio
In the East, you have Boston, Toronto, and Cleveland

You can arrange these teams in various orders, but Toronto definitely belongs in that group. A point differential of +7.8, with a difficult early season schedule, is very impressive.

We have had great starts to the season in recent years. Last year, at this point in the schedule, our offense was producing better than any offense in NBA history. A few years ago, the Lou Williams team started out something like 24-7. Those teams regressed heavily during the middle of the season, and couldn't sustain their dominant play. This team, however, just feels different to me. The style of play is different, our typically great depth is at an even higher level, and the team is doing well on both offense AND defense at the same time. Another trip to the conference finals is certainly a possibility, and beyond that, the games themselves are really fun to watch this year. I love this current team, and think that it has a pretty good chance to outperform our team of two years ago, and put up the best Raptors season of all-time.

I hope they don’t have to face bron before the ecf. I think they can beat the Celtics/wiz...but as the roster stands can’t beat the cavs.

[johanliebert]

Lastly why are the raptors ranked 14th in offense on nba 2k? They’ve been a top 10 offense for like 5 years now but can’t get respect .

[Kabookalu]

Lastly why are the raptors ranked 14th in offense on nba 2k? They’ve been a top 10 offense for like 5 years now but can’t get respect .

Cause we lost Patrick Patterson's spacing.

[416]

^ I honestly think the Raptors are better than both Boston & San Antonio. I also think the Wizards will eventually be in this group as well (they are struggling/injured so far)

Add in Golden State, I thnk we are better but they are the champs we have to prove it. Wizards are the opposite of us. Mediocre regular season, go HAM in the playoffs. They look like first round fodder but always make it out every year.

Wait do you actually believe you're better than Golden State or is this some sort of inside joke?

lol too many inside jokes brother. But yea, I'll give you some context as an example.

95% of Raptor fans gamble on games. 85% of those bets are always against the raps; we know better than to expect a win, as is tradition. The remaining 15% bet on the raps just for the lulz or we mis-clicked.

thats the fan base you're dealing with.

[RaptorsLife]

Lol lebron is better than last year

[alevirfe]

Also, the Raps "not doing well in the playoffs" is exaggerated. You can say it about Lowry, but Demar and the TEAM have done well overall. The only team to beat us in the playoffs the last two seasons is Cleveland:

Loss to Brooklyn 0-1
Loss to Washington 0-2
Win against Indiana 1-2
Win against Miami 2-2
Loss to Cleveland 2-3
Win against Milwaukee 3-3
Loss to Cleveland 3-4 (overall game record 17-23)

Let's compare the world beating Celtics:
Loss to Cleveland 0-1
Loss to Atlanta 0-2
Win against Chicago 1-2
Win against Wizards 2-2
Loss to Cleveland 2-3 (overall game record 11-17)

[Raptorstopfan]

We're a very good REGULAR SEASON team.
Playoffs are always a different story.

We will do well with this lineup in the playoffs...this is not the same lineup as last season.

[hankscorpioLA]

These are all fundamentally valid points...and yet, they are also fundamentally flawed opinions.

Things do indeed change. Teams get better and teams get worse. Teams that historically couldn't get past teams eventually can find a way. The Cavs are a very old team that is leaning even heavier on LeBron this year. They don't have Kyrie and I don't think Isiah Thomas is going to make up for that. And the Raptors are a fundamentally different team this year, playing a very different style of basketball with some very different players. And in all respects, the changes should make us a much better matchup against the Cavs.

If you want to find a precedent, look to the Detroit Pistons. No...not those Pistons...look at the Bad Boys. They were an up and coming team that had three straight playoff disappointments. After the third, they made significant changes to their style of play. They failed to get past the Celtics for a second time, but then broke through and won the championship the next two years. And like the Cavs, the Celtics were a dynasty approaching the end of its run.

So yes, things change. Maybe this is the year they will change. Maybe not. The flaw is in thinking that anything is certain.

Meh. LeBron is as good as he’s ever been right now. That alone is more than enough to make the Cavs heavy favourites for the finals. Anything they get out of IT is a bonus.

I'm appalled people still doubt Lebron.

It's been a few years of him coasting through the regular season record wise and sure, he's having an incredible season numbers wise, so they whole "he's not coasting this year" theory is not necessarily the same as other years, but like the Heat, it took them a bit of time to adjust to the changes and they're now flying.

They have 3 more losses than Boston with 50+ games to go, it is not even close to ridiculous to think Cleveland will be best record wise as well.

I think I was pretty clear that I wasn't doubting LeBron. It's the rest of the team I have concerns about. You can say that LeBron alone makes them favorites, but last year they got incredible shooting from Kevin Love (45% from 3 in the playoffs), JR Smith (50% from 3), and Channing Frye (51% from 3). At the moment, those guys are shooting 37%, 35%, and 32%, all of which are close to their career averages (Frye is below). If they get mid-30s from those three guys in the playoffs, I think that would present a problem.

And last year they had Kyrie Irving. Now maybe Isaiah Thomas fills that hole for them on offense, but his presence on the floor is going to make a bad defensive team even worse.

[PhilBlackson]

^ I honestly think the Raptors are better than both Boston & San Antonio. I also think the Wizards will eventually be in this group as well (they are struggling/injured so far)

Add in Golden State, I thnk we are better but they are the champs we have to prove it. Wizards are the opposite of us. Mediocre regular season, go HAM in the playoffs. They look like first round fodder but always make it out every year.

Wait do you actually believe you're better than Golden State or is this some sort of inside joke?

No he is a notorious "overly positive" troll that annoys multiple posters because he just knows he can't get banned for making positive comments so he says over the top nonsense all the time to get a response. He will commonly make trolling comments about being a dynasty, having the best this or that or "X" player being generational talent on our roster etc, etc. Don't take the bait.

[Joker]

Also, the Raps "not doing well in the playoffs" is exaggerated. You can say it about Lowry, but Demar and the TEAM have done well overall. The only team to beat us in the playoffs the last two seasons is Cleveland:

Loss to Brooklyn 0-1
Loss to Washington 0-2
Win against Indiana 1-2
Win against Miami 2-2
Loss to Cleveland 2-3
Win against Milwaukee 3-3
Loss to Cleveland 3-4 (overall record 17-23)

But we were higher seeds with the home court advantage in all of those series except the Cleveland ones. That has to be taken into context.

Lost in first round as higher seed. Lost game 7 - AT HOME.
Swept as higher seed
Struggled and nearly lost to the lower seed. Needed come from behind game/Indiana collapse. Won game 7 at home.
Struggled against Miami but pulled it out. Whiteside injury. Fans here at the time felt this series was needlessly close.
Lost to Cleveland - fine.
Struggled against injury-riddled low seed team in their playoff debut, but pulled it out.
Lost to Cleveland - fine.

zero game 1 victories?

As a hypothetical perennial 6 or 7 seed you could say we did great in the playoffs. But as a perennial 1-4 seed, you can make the case we've been mediocre at best.

What's our most impressive series win over that time? Miami??

[Basketball_Jones]

^ I honestly think the Raptors are better than both Boston & San Antonio. I also think the Wizards will eventually be in this group as well (they are struggling/injured so far)

Add in Golden State, I thnk we are better but they are the champs we have to prove it. Wizards are the opposite of us. Mediocre regular season, go HAM in the playoffs. They look like first round fodder but always make it out every year.

Wait do you actually believe you're better than Golden State or is this some sort of inside joke?

We have multiple stars, budding young star talent off the bench, I don't see why not?

[GreatWhiteStiff]

As doublehelix so skillfully and underhandedly pointed out in the general board I'm not sure the saltics can maintain their #1 overall defence for the rest of the season. If they play even at a 5th best level for the rest of the year their differential could plummet. That said I think the raps are a regular season team, but I'll take a top5 regular season from this team. We also have the potential to make a move with our younger players to fix holes in our roster (starting center perhaps).

[alpngso]

Show me in the playoffs then I’ll believe.

Reg. Season is just tune up for the new culture settling in. Let’s see it work in the playoffs.

[Alfred]

I think you're going to have to wait a while for that. Creampuff schedule coming up.

Didn't stop us from losing to the Knicks and Pacers back-to-back. If it weren't for those 2 games we'd be at like 12 in a row right now.

I'm not sure why you included the Pacers. The Pacers are good. They're 16-11 and Oladipo looks like a superstar.

[LRJ]

Lastly why are the raptors ranked 14th in offense on nba 2k? They’ve been a top 10 offense for like 5 years now but can’t get respect .

2k always **** us. Lowry's only an 85 and was an 83 recently too. foh