Player Rnkings Celtics vs Raptors series

[Jaqua92]

I'll take Smart down on the block against Lowry too.

It's obvious from this thread its that if the Celtics win it will have nothing to do with the Celtics. It will be that the Raptors didn't play up to expectations, or were victimized by the officials, or there were unlucky bounces, or lucky bounces that favored the Celtics (you know, like the one that enabled the Raptors to get past the Sixers last year). So get your excuses ready.

Looking forward to this series quite a bit.

If the Celtics want to feed Smart and "exploit a mismatch" on Lowry, Toronto lives with that 100% of the time -- and encourages it. That's exactly what Toronto will want to happen. Force players like Smart, Theis/Kanter and Wanamaker into more offensive responsibility.

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No matter what the Celtics can do, Raptors just know that they are playing into their hands. Doesn't matter. Raptors are more talented, better coached, Smarter.

Yikes


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[Jaqua92]

How Toronto will match up with Boston now that Hayward is out:

FVV on Kemba
Lowry on Smart
Siakam on Brown
OG on Tatum
Ibaka on Thies
Gasol on Kanter

Lowry is wasted on Smart. He isn't there to shoot. Smartest thing would be to zone off of him. Probably loosely double Tatum and force the ball into Smarts hands. He will hero ball it.

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[ballup]

I'm going with the tiered system.

Superstar: None
Higher end all star: None

Mid tier all star:

Tatum - His nuclear scoring and his great help defense are what sets him in this tier, but his inconsistency from inside the arc keeps him from the higher end.

Siakam - Last season, he was very efficient as the third guy thriving off chaos. This season, Siakam had trouble putting it all together at high levels with consistency. If he can replicate more of his first 30 games of the season, he can get into the next tier.

Lower tier all star:

Lowry - The fact that you can still get a consistent Lowry in his mid 30s is great. Offensively, I think he is a little less dangerous than his prime.

Kemba - His dangerous scoring is what gets him here. Being able to score on all areas of the court is valuable to opening the court for both himself and his teammates. Playmaking is a neutral. He's a poor defender, but the charge drawing doesn't make him a complete negative.

Brown - While Brown isn't as a dazzling shot creator as Tatum, he can score on on all spots on the floor. Some things he needs to improve to get on the next level are focus application and playmaking, which both need work but are on track to being decent.

FVV - He's always had a knack of making things happen through his dribble drive penetration. Coupled with his gunner scoring and handsy defense, . If he could bring up his interior scoring to a stronger range, he may knock onto the above tier.

Above average starter:

Ibaka - His shooting numbers all around are great and he can get his own shot in small doses. I don't think he is as good defensively as his previous explosive younger self, but solid all around.

Average Starter:

Powell: Pleasant surprise given how he became forgotten after some early hype. His strengths are not as extreme as the next two, but having more up to par skills is what plants him here.

Smart - He's like if you put an all nba defensive 4 into a guard's body. Underrated playmaker (imo, the best passer on the team and has been for years). The erratic shooting and poor inside finishing balances out his extreme strengths.

OG - Great man defender and capitalizes on the few opportunities he gets offensively. He's great at his role, but because it's so confined, I can't bring him to another level just yet.

[LoveMyRaps]

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred

Something like that, a lot of the players in the series have the capability to be the best on any given night.

Yeah I posted my list several days back but my top 5 was that.

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred
6. [Hayward]
7. Ibaka
8. Powell
9. OG
10. Smart

[SFour]

I'll take Smart down on the block against Lowry too.

It's obvious from this thread its that if the Celtics win it will have nothing to do with the Celtics. It will be that the Raptors didn't play up to expectations, or were victimized by the officials, or there were unlucky bounces, or lucky bounces that favored the Celtics (you know, like the one that enabled the Raptors to get past the Sixers last year). So get your excuses ready.

Looking forward to this series quite a bit.

If the Celtics want to feed Smart and "exploit a mismatch" on Lowry, Toronto lives with that 100% of the time -- and encourages it. That's exactly what Toronto will want to happen. Force players like Smart, Theis/Kanter and Wanamaker into more offensive responsibility.

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No matter what the Celtics can do, Raptors just know that they are playing into their hands. Doesn't matter. Raptors are more talented, better coached, Smarter.

Yikes


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Raptors might as well forfeit the series...I mean the Celtics did blow them out by 40 in the regular season....it's pretty much over, I don't know why they would even try....no wonder they are boycotting the games, they are scared of superstar Tatum

[LoveMyRaps]

The only one that's abundantly clear to me is Tatum at #1.

After that it's a bunch of really good players who can be ranked in a variety of ways depending on if you prefer apples or oranges.

I agree. Tatum is easily the best player in this series. Followed by Siakam, Lowry, and Kemba.
Him and Siakam were neck and neck going into the bubble IMO, but Tatum has established himself as the better player now.
This series can change that narrative.

[LoveMyRaps]

One thing about the Tatum-Lowry thing: Raptors fans need to remember this guy sounds like he won't be close to 100% in this series, at least at the beginning. Considering Tatum kinda shut him down the last game (to be fair Lowry missed some open shots and I'd put Smart on him personally to pressure him full-court to make him feel the ankle), it's going to be pretty tough for him to match Tatum in this series, unless OG and Siakam really shut him down.

Read on Twitter

Lowry is just faking an injury. It's all part of the plan. He's going to come out fully healthy and start running Nick Nurse's secret set of plays - you know, the ones they haven't used all year and are saving specifically for the 2nd round.

Ever seen a player draw two charges on one play? Well you're about to. KYLE LOWRY IN HIS FINAL FORM

[BillessuR6]

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred
6. [Hayward]
7. Smart
8. Ibaka
9. Powell
10. OG

[LoveMyRaps]

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred
6. [Hayward]
7. Smart
8. Ibaka
9. Powell
10. OG

What makes Smart better than Ibaka, Powell, and OG?

[everdiso]

Per 36

Brown: 21.6pts (58.3ts%), 2.2ast/2.3to, 1.2st/0.4bk, 16.9per, .123ws48, 0.8bpm, 1.4rpm, 1.1rptr, 0.6pipm
Norm: 20.2pts (62.4ts%), 2.2ast/1.9to, 1.5st/0.5bk, 16.8per, .150ws48, 2.0bpm, 2.0rpm, 0.8rptr, 0.5pipm

As starters:

Brown: 57gms, 33.9mpg, 20.3pts (58.3ts%), 2.1ast/2.2to, 1.1st/0.4bk, +5.8, +1nrtg
Norm: 26gms, 31.1mpg, 18.7pts (65.3ts%), 2.2ast/1.4to, 1.1st/0.8bk, +4.7, +13nrtg

[everdiso]

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred
6. [Hayward]
7. Smart
8. Ibaka
9. Powell
10. OG

What makes Smart better than Ibaka, Powell, and OG?

Smart is their version of OG - beastly elite defender. He can't finish but he's a good ballhandler/distributor, while OG can finish but isn't a good ballhandler/distributor.

[pingpongrac]

I'll take Smart down on the block against Lowry too.

It's obvious from this thread its that if the Celtics win it will have nothing to do with the Celtics. It will be that the Raptors didn't play up to expectations, or were victimized by the officials, or there were unlucky bounces, or lucky bounces that favored the Celtics (you know, like the one that enabled the Raptors to get past the Sixers last year). So get your excuses ready.

Looking forward to this series quite a bit.

If the Celtics want to feed Smart and "exploit a mismatch" on Lowry, Toronto lives with that 100% of the time -- and encourages it. That's exactly what Toronto will want to happen. Force players like Smart, Theis/Kanter and Wanamaker into more offensive responsibility.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using RealGM mobile app

No matter what the Celtics can do, Raptors just know that they are playing into their hands. Doesn't matter. Raptors are more talented, better coached, Smarter.

Yikes


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Am I on the Raptors? Am I the coach? No. I'm just stating that I think a best-case scenario for Toronto would be to take the ball out of the hands of the three scoring threats and force others to beat them -- like they've tried to do all year long. Toronto had a stretch earlier in the year where they held Lebron (13), Kawhi (12) and Lillard (9) to their lowest or 2nd lowest scoring totals of the year in three consecutive games. There has been numerous other occurences throughout the season too (the Embiid 0-point game stands out). They've mostly had success, as seen by the 2nd best record in the league, so why would they try to do anything drastically different now?

You make some really weird comments and take things to the ridiculous extremes. Any time someone says something that isn't the highest praise of the Celtics, you fire back with a sarcastic comment lol.

[Metallikid]

Someone please explain the FVV is better than Jaylen Brown take

Its very close

Defence is equal both score the same and Fred is a little better playmaker. The edge goes to Fred because i have seen him come up big in big situations (Final 4, GLeague championship and mvp, NBA championship) and hit massive shots when it matters most.

Fred has the clear edge due to defense and clutch shooting imo, but it is arguable. Keeping in mind Fred is 5'11" and Brown is 6'6".

20.3/6.4/2.1/1.1/0.4 with 2.2 TOV on .481/.382/.724

16.9 PER/.583 TS%/4.9 WS/.123 WS48/1.0 OPM/-0.2 DPM/0.8 BPM/1.4 VORP

vs.

17.6/3.8/6.6/1.9/0.3 with 2.2 TOV on .413/.390/.848

16.3 PER/.553 TS%/5.8 WS/.145 WS48/1.2 OPM/1.4 DPM/2.7 BPM/2.3 VORP

[Curmudgeon]

The Raptors will do their best to take the ball out of Tatum's hands. Every team does. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, because Tatum is unselfish and he's learning.

[LoveMyRaps]

1. Tatum
2. Siakam
3a. Lowry 3b. Walker
4. Brown
5. Fred
6. [Hayward]
7. Smart
8. Ibaka
9. Powell
10. OG

What makes Smart better than Ibaka, Powell, and OG?

Smart is their version of OG - beastly elite defender. He can't finish but he's a good ballhandler/distributor, while OG can finish but isn't a good ballhandler/distributor.

I like Smart but OG gets the edge over him for sure.

Per36:
PPG: Smart
APG: Smart
RPG: OG
SPG: Smart
BPG: OG
FG%: OG
3ptFG%: OG
TOV: OG
PF: OG

PER: Smart
TS: OG
OWS: OG
DWS: OG
WS: OG
ORTG: OG
DRTG: OG
VORP: OG

[phanman]

How Toronto will match up with Boston now that Hayward is out:

FVV on Kemba
Lowry on Smart
Siakam on Brown
OG on Tatum
Ibaka on Thies
Gasol on Kanter

Lowry is wasted on Smart. He isn't there to shoot. Smartest thing would be to zone off of him. Probably loosely double Tatum and force the ball into Smarts hands. He will hero ball it.

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It is exactly the reason why he is guarding Smart. So he can be a free-safety on defense, providing doubles when needed and using that big booty for them charges.

Tatum > Lowry
Siakam > Brown > Kemba > Freddy
Powell > OG > Smart
Ibaka > Theis > Gasol
Rest of Raptors > Rest of Celtics

Normally i'd put Gasol in a that 3rd tier but in this particular series there isn't that dominant big he can make his son. Plus his offensive has been dreadful in our series against the Nets.

[TheBoi10]

Delusional Celtics

[BigTrade92]

Oh look, Raptors fans overrating their guys and Celtics fans overrating theirs.

What a doozy of a thread....

Feel free to point out who's getting overrated.

The Celtics have the three best overall players in the series.

Feel free to get all mad now.

[Patsfan1081]

What makes Smart better than Ibaka, Powell, and OG?

Smart is their version of OG - beastly elite defender. He can't finish but he's a good ballhandler/distributor, while OG can finish but isn't a good ballhandler/distributor.

I like Smart but OG gets the edge over him for sure.

Per36:
PPG: Smart
APG: Smart
RPG: OG
SPG: Smart
BPG: OG
FG%: OG
3ptFG%: OG
TOV: OG
PF: OG

PER: Smart
TS: OG
OWS: OG
DWS: OG
WS: OG
ORTG: OG
DRTG: OG
VORP: OG

So it’s for sure because you cherry picked a bunch of stats off of just this one season? How about PER? Box +-? Smart was 12th among pg in rpm at 2.3, OG had a negative rpm this year! You conveniently left that out Home fans can’t be objective on this subject, it’s impossible. EverDiso is the biggest proof you need. We can cherry pick all the stats we want. What do non Celtic/Raptor fans think? What’s the media’s perception?

[Feed Your Head]

Smart is their version of OG - beastly elite defender. He can't finish but he's a good ballhandler/distributor, while OG can finish but isn't a good ballhandler/distributor.

I like Smart but OG gets the edge over him for sure.

Per36:
PPG: Smart
APG: Smart
RPG: OG
SPG: Smart
BPG: OG
FG%: OG
3ptFG%: OG
TOV: OG
PF: OG

PER: Smart
TS: OG
OWS: OG
DWS: OG
WS: OG
ORTG: OG
DRTG: OG
VORP: OG

So it’s for sure because you cherry picked a bunch of stats off of just this one season? How about PER? Box +-? Smart was 12th among pg in rpm at 2.3, OG had a negative rpm this year! You conveniently left that out Home fans can’t be objective on this subject, it’s impossible. EverDiso is the biggest proof you need. We can cherry pick all the stats we want. What do non Celtic/Raptor fans think? What’s the media’s perception?

I don’t know, with the exception of a few fans on both sides, I think both have been pretty fair, and complimentary of the other teams.