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Thomas' shot looks NBA elite. but his footwork and individual defense is something to be concerned about. team defense is fine.

I thought Thomas looked somewhat passable defensively, but Nurse actually winced when discussing the topic postgame - so that's not a great sign. He's close to automatic on open 3s, though, so I imagine he'll get some situational burn in the regular season.

Boogie! wrote:

djsunyc wrote:

Boogie! wrote:No one ralkinf about how great norm has been all around. Still...

2nd best player all preseason. His 3 looks much imoroved which is amazing considering he was already pretty decent and was never touted as a hooter. Making all the right passes and reads. Not one compliment. In fact someone **** on him earlier.

norm has been bad on defense. looks high as f ck.

Nope. Been getting deflections and hustling. Maybe missed a few coverages in the first quarter ever since then hes been great. But this is the norm style analysis that I said was gonna be the same type that delon got.

Im with you Boogie!

Norm is going to have a breakout year. His shot has looked like this for a bit (i think they changed it last yr) but now he is getting the time and not forcing much. Its alllll coming together for him.

MIP candidate.

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After the Raps game I flipped over to the Pelicans-Knicks game, and the difference between a well-coached championship Raptors team and a team like the Knicks is night and day. It almost looked like they were playing a different game. The hard work, unselfishness and ball movement, professionalism, and smooth yet methodical way that the Raptors go about their business has all the hallmarks of an elite team.

They're starting to remind me of the late Duncan-era Spurs, where people wouldn't really be talking about them much, but by the end of the season they still would have won between 50-60 games. It wouldn't shock me at all if at the end of the season the Raptors have just consistently played their way to 55 wins. I'll put my prediction at 52.

Watched pretty much the whole game last night. Pretty impressed with how we maintained our lead even when the Nets tried to make a run. There was always a key basket that helped us keep the lead. Lowry and FVV really are crucial as the dominant ball handlers and team floor generals. Gasol and Ibaka played great. Siakam nonchalantly doing his thing. I like Terence Davis as the 8th off the bench, hard working and explosive. OG looks as comfortable as he's ever been. Hope it translates into the regular season. Norm looks good. We just have such a calm demeanour out there. You can tell the championship really helped boost our confidence. I just hope Stanley Johnson and RHJ can be implemented into our system smoothly as they are known for their defensive abilities.

Lets face facts here guys.

We're spoiled as hell to be cheering for a team like this.

raptor jesus wrote:I thought Thomas looked somewhat passable defensively, but Nurse actually winced when discussing the topic postgame - so that's not a great sign. He's close to automatic on open 3s, though, so I imagine he'll get some situational burn in the regular season.

so he's basicall discount korver then. i'll take that

Dalek wrote:My favorite part of the night was this quote:

Read on Twitter

I guess Toronto had some special goggles to combat the lighting...

24/47 or 51% from 3.

The light illuminating from the champs you mean. Our defense is way better than nets and our offense is better. So they take harder shots.

Scott Hall wrote: I haven't read or watched any experts opinions on the NBA so far this year
other then stumbling upon Dennis Scott not picking us to make the playoffs and Sam Mitchell picking us 8th
with teams like Chicago and Atlanta ahead of us lol on NBA TV while flipping around.

Yeah I saw them both. Dennis said something like Toronto fans they need to show me first. We just won a championship. There are teams he picked over us who didn't even make the playoffs last year. I thought that was odd. Sam is on the one superstar and a bunch of solid role players message. Since we lost our superstar we're only a team of solid role players. However, Kyle is a perennial all-star. Siakam should make it. With a weak East either Gasol or Ibaka could make it. How many other teams could do that. Philly. Maybe Milwaukee. Maybe Boston. Possibly Detroit. That would put us around 4th - 5th which sounds about right. I wonder if Sam is trying too hard to not seem biased for us like he has in the past.

The combination of ball movement and the coaching on shot selection is a thing of beauty. Guys know where their spots are. The ball just zings around and when a guy has the ball in one of his spots and he's open he lets it fly.

The best thing about this game is that we didn't need superstar Siakim. Siakim recognized the fantastic ball movement and sharing that was happening on the floor and he played a complimentary role. He moved the ball and he stuck open shots.

Now the big question is, on the nights where our shot isn't falling, can he become an iso hero and bail us out here and there.

raptor jesus wrote:I thought Thomas looked somewhat passable defensively, but Nurse actually winced when discussing the topic postgame - so that's not a great sign. He's close to automatic on open 3s, though, so I imagine he'll get some situational burn in the regular season.

He puts in the effort but he's a bit slow and can be a bit small, not unlike many specialists.

Last year we had 0 guys in the rotation who could be taken advantage of on defense in their standard matchups, which really is the exception and not the rule. Most teams have 1 or more rotation guys who are defensive liabilities and that's where Thomas can be used if he if he's on the floor with our above-average defenders.

Looking ahead to the first few games of the regular season, Thomas can play against Redick, he could be on against Kemba, he could certainly play against Satoransky and/or Lavine, Augustin and Fournier are average or below-average defenders, and both Rose and Kennard are liabilities on defense.

If he can shoot at an elite level Nurse will find a way to put him on the floor. I'd take below-average defense (but probably adequate team defense) and elite 3 point shooting over someone like Stanley and his better defense but very poor shooting.

Davis is looking really good. Our top 7 is pretty cohesive so Davis should be able to just let the game come to him, where he can be very effective.

StopitLeo wrote:

raptor jesus wrote:I thought Thomas looked somewhat passable defensively, but Nurse actually winced when discussing the topic postgame - so that's not a great sign. He's close to automatic on open 3s, though, so I imagine he'll get some situational burn in the regular season.

He puts in the effort but he's a bit slow and can be a bit small, not unlike many specialists.

Last year we had 0 guys in the rotation who could be taken advantage of on defense in their standard matchups, which really is the exception and not the rule. Most teams have 1 or more rotation guys who are defensive liabilities and that's where Thomas can be used if he if he's on the floor with our above-average defenders.

Looking ahead to the first few games of the regular season, Thomas can play against Redick, he could be on against Kemba, he could certainly play against Satoransky and/or Lavine, Augustin and Fournier are average or below-average defenders, and both Rose and Kennard are liabilities on defense.

I don't think it works like that. Just because you can shoot doesn't mean you necessarily impact the offense in the same way as someone elite (like, say Redick). Someone as bad as Thomas could just be exasperating the advantage.

Or, Thomas could play in a line-up against a line-up that defends well but struggles to score and come out looking very good because he can cheat way off non-shooters.

ATLTimekeeper wrote:

StopitLeo wrote:

raptor jesus wrote:I thought Thomas looked somewhat passable defensively, but Nurse actually winced when discussing the topic postgame - so that's not a great sign. He's close to automatic on open 3s, though, so I imagine he'll get some situational burn in the regular season.

He puts in the effort but he's a bit slow and can be a bit small, not unlike many specialists.

Last year we had 0 guys in the rotation who could be taken advantage of on defense in their standard matchups, which really is the exception and not the rule. Most teams have 1 or more rotation guys who are defensive liabilities and that's where Thomas can be used if he if he's on the floor with our above-average defenders.

Looking ahead to the first few games of the regular season, Thomas can play against Redick, he could be on against Kemba, he could certainly play against Satoransky and/or Lavine, Augustin and Fournier are average or below-average defenders, and both Rose and Kennard are liabilities on defense.

I don't think it works like that. Just because you can shoot doesn't mean you necessarily impact the offense in the same way as someone elite (like, say Redick). Someone as bad as Thomas could just be exasperating the advantage.

Or, Thomas could play in a line-up against a line-up that defends well but struggles to score and come out looking very good because he can cheat way off non-shooters.

It doesn't necessarily but my point was just how Thomas might be able to play.

We are talking about the 9th spot in the rotation, at highest, so it would really just be spot minutes in a situation where it would be clearly advantageous for Toronto.

Caught some of the game, and while the ball movement was beautiful lets not forget that this style doesn't win in the playoffs. You need a dominant offensive player that can score in half-court sets, and Pascal hasn't shown he's there yet.

Now i'm not saying he won't develop into that as the year progresses, but if he doesn't, this is looking like one of those season where we win 50 odd games and struggle in the playoffs.

aminiaturebuddha wrote:After the Raps game I flipped over to the Pelicans-Knicks game, and the difference between a well-coached championship Raptors team and a team like the Knicks is night and day. It almost looked like they were playing a different game. The hard work, unselfishness and ball movement, professionalism, and smooth yet methodical way that the Raptors go about their business has all the hallmarks of an elite team.

They're starting to remind me of the late Duncan-era Spurs, where people wouldn't really be talking about them much, but by the end of the season they still would have won between 50-60 games. It wouldn't shock me at all if at the end of the season the Raptors have just consistently played their way to 55 wins. I'll put my prediction at 52.

Were also just more talented...

pilkoids wrote:Caught some of the game, and while the ball movement was beautiful lets not forget that this style doesn't win in the playoffs. You need a dominant offensive player that can score in half-court sets, and Pascal hasn't shown he's there yet.

Now i'm not saying he won't develop into that as the year progresses, but if he doesn't, this is looking like one of those season where we win 50 odd games and struggle in the playoffs.

That's kind of what we expected tho... No one is pegging us as a contender... That being said pascal has a whole season to figure it out.

Boogie! wrote:

aminiaturebuddha wrote:After the Raps game I flipped over to the Pelicans-Knicks game, and the difference between a well-coached championship Raptors team and a team like the Knicks is night and day. It almost looked like they were playing a different game. The hard work, unselfishness and ball movement, professionalism, and smooth yet methodical way that the Raptors go about their business has all the hallmarks of an elite team.

They're starting to remind me of the late Duncan-era Spurs, where people wouldn't really be talking about them much, but by the end of the season they still would have won between 50-60 games. It wouldn't shock me at all if at the end of the season the Raptors have just consistently played their way to 55 wins. I'll put my prediction at 52.

Were also just more talented...

yeah, people still just don't realize how rare our team full of 3+D talent right through the rotation really is. We are minimum 7 deep (but probably 8 and maybe even 9 with davis and boucher) in guys who can all defend multiple positions and rain 3s. And at least half those guys can initiate and create offense themselves, too.

We're still probably the only team in the league that can say that.