Raptors pelicans opening night

[720]

i don't believe all the hype on Zion.....but Pascal is gonna have his hands full on game 1.

Zion's athleticism will easily match Pascal's which will take away arguably his biggest advantage.

I think OG is going to take on Zion for defensive duties.

Pelicans have ingram too so it could go either way

Yeah, I'll let Ingram take his trash ass mid range pull up jumpers. I'm fine with that.

[TOStateofMind]

Pels get opener and Christmas. Damn talk about Zion hype. Nba knows they’ll get ratings in his his first game ever so i don’t exactly blame them.

[SkillzFromThe6]

I think OG is going to take on Zion for defensive duties.

Pelicans have ingram too so it could go either way

Yeah, I'll let Ingram take his trash ass mid range pull up jumpers. I'm fine with that.

I expect lineups/matchups to be:

Lowry - Holiday
Powell - Redick
OG - Ingram
Siakam - Zion
Gasol - Favors

[XxIronChainzxX]

Lakers Pelicans and Raps Clips would be better tbh

They want to guarantee that we get at least one game this year where Kawhi & co goes against Lebron & co without either guy being a dnp due to injury or load management.

Is PG going to be ready to play? He's still got to recover from his shoulder injury.

[Kingsway_fan]

Pelicans will surprise teams. Pick them to win.

[Randle McMurphy]

This is a lot of hype for a guy who can't shoot at all.

[Bank Shot]

Zion's getting in foul trouble in his first game. Dicey move NBA.

[Wo1verine]

Wish we could fast forward to the playoffs lol

[Kurtz]

Wish we could fast forward to the playoffs lol

Not me, man. This promises to be the most interesting season in a long time, with relative parity among the top 6-8 teams in the EAST and also relative parity among the top 8-9 teams in the WEST.

From the Raptors standpoint, we get to enjoy a full season of being referred to as the reigning champs, and we'll get to see our team surprise folks with another 50 win season while we witness the continuing development of Spicy, Fred, OG, Norm and our myriad new young guys, along with seeing what a fully integrated Gasol, along with Kyle and Surge in their contract years can accomplish.

This might be the most fun regular season for the Raps, ever. Sure, we were a bigger championship threat last year, but we had lots of drama to deal with, including the "will he or won't he" re-sign or even dress on any given night with Kawhi. Now that drama is gone - and the pressure is off. Let's have fun.

[Klayforspicy]

Wish we could fast forward to the playoffs lol

In a year were we just signed every scrub available ? nah

i will enjoy our first crack at Zion

[Danny1616]

Hopefully we smack the crap out of the Pelicans and we get the hype back.

I want Siakim to finish with 35, dominating Zion on both ends.

[Buddythefriend]

The last time an NBA Champion opened the following season on the road: Lakers in 2000. NBA obviously makes a point to ensure Champs start at home.

[ReaLiez]

I like this as the first game - new phenom vs champs

[SFour]

Siakam will drop at least 30

[Sandman88]

Gonna be fun

[Valard]

Wish we could fast forward to the playoffs lol

Not me, man. This promises to be the most interesting season in a long time, with relative parity among the top 6-8 teams in the EAST and also relative parity among the top 8-9 teams in the WEST.

From the Raptors standpoint, we get to enjoy a full season of being referred to as the reigning champs, and we'll get to see our team surprise folks with another 50 win season while we witness the continuing development of Spicy, Fred, OG, Norm and our myriad new young guys, along with seeing what a fully integrated Gasol, along with Kyle and Surge in their contract years can accomplish.

This might be the most fun regular season for the Raps, ever. Sure, we were a bigger championship threat last year, but we had lots of drama to deal with, including the "will he or won't he" re-sign or even dress on any given night with Kawhi. Now that drama is gone - and the pressure is off. Let's have fun.

Full agreement with everything you are saying.

I think this team has the makings to still go for a deep run and the best part is they have ZERO pressure to make that run. There are no dark clouds hanging over the team, no questions, just go out and ball.

With how deep the league is there will be compelling match ups every night that don't just include Raps.

I'm excited for this season. I do not want to rush through it. Last year I was SCREAMING for the playoffs to start.

[Bobby Plump]

This is a lot of hype for a guy who can't shoot at all.

Are we talking Zion here? Williamson FG% at Duke was 68%, and it wasn't just dunks. He was 34% on 3 point attempts which is pretty average, I'll grant you, but overall he was a low usage high output guy at Duke against top level competition.

[RapsFanInVA]

Home or road game? Youd like to think the NBA would have the NBA champions start at home but they probably only care about Zion

Doesn't it have to be a home game for the ring ceremony and banner unveiling?

Already got a sneak peak of the headlines from opening night:

"Zion Crowned as 19-20 NBA ROY in Toronto Ceremony"

and

"NBA Forgets to Make Rings for Raptors' Championship"

[RapsFanInVA]

This is a lot of hype for a guy who can't shoot at all.

Are we talking Zion here? Williamson FG% at Duke was 68%, and it wasn't just dunks. He was 34% on 3 point attempts which is pretty average, I'll grant you, but overall he was a low usage high output guy at Duke against top level competition.

Also 64% on FTs. That's bad. And the vast majority of his buckets were at the hoop, muscle drives through smaller defenders as well as offensive rebound put backs again over smaller college players. He can't dribble with his right hand. Basically he has enough weaknesses that NBA defenses should be able to exploit, but the dude is an absolute freak athletically that needs to refine his game and I'm betting that he will.

[TheRealDeal]

Good. The NBA owes us now after what they allowed the Clippers to do