Eastern Conference | Round 1 | (4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Toronto Raptors

LBJKB24MJ23 · Post #501 » by **LBJKB24MJ23** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:30 pm

Marty_Budda wrote:
Raps in 4 wrote:
Tripod wrote:If only Siakam was top end talent this year.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Cameroonian Jokic

Not gonna lie, having Vuc in there kind of sours it for me lol

lmao Vuc gets unwarranted hate but he was a good player in his prime

Post #502 » by **Duffman100** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:41 pm

JXL wrote:Who does the Raptors have to throw at Embiid? Khem Birch? Boucher? Young? Don't see anyone stopping him, but their length can bother the rest of them, especially Maxey and Harden. Harden looks washed, and his ISOs go nowhere but brick laying jump shots.

I can see the Raptors pull the upset in 7. VanVleet, OG, Siakim, and GTJ can turn the series if they get hot.

They don't have anyone and yet they've somehow bothered him by constantly swarming him with length and then recovering. It's actually incredible... see how that plays out in the playoffs.

Deimos · Post #503 » by **Deimos** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:45 pm

raptors are actually a great team defensively when theyre all healthy. and with OG back, its going to be really tough to sustain consistent offence against them for multiple games.

everdiso · Post #504 » by **everdiso** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:46 pm

JXL wrote:Who does the Raptors have to throw at Embiid? Khem Birch? Boucher? Young? Don't see anyone stopping him, but their length can bother the rest of them, especially Maxey and Harden. Harden looks washed, and his ISOs go nowhere but brick laying jump shots.

I can see the Raptors pull the upset in 7. VanVleet, OG, Siakim, and GTJ can turn the series if they get hot.

Which teams have done a better job on Embiid than the Raps?

rzzzzz · Post #505 » by **rzzzzz** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:47 pm

LBJKB24MJ23 wrote:lmao Vuc gets unwarranted hate but he was a good player in his prime

Will always hate Doug for not playing Vuc during the team’s one playoff run under him. Could have taken the Celtics with any kind of presence at center. Then Doug refused to consider drafting Cousins, who would have, again, filled the one spot we really needed. Doug finally recognized it, and proceeded to ruin the roster outright trading for Bynum, who never played a single game for us.

Vuc was in the right situation in Philly, but the wrong coach.

ATLTimekeeper · Post #506 » by **ATLTimekeeper** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:51 pm

It's troubling that the Raptors starting 5 haven't played all that much this year and don't have any defensive 5s to commit fouls. It means that one of Barnes or Anunoby will have to take early possessions on Embiid, because Siakam is going to be playing 40+ minutes in this series. They'll really have to weather the storm in each game and try and wear him out as the series progresses.

MoMoneyMoProbs · Post #507 » by **MoMoneyMoProbs** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:57 pm

visionquest wrote:
aminiaturebuddha wrote:
Don't take this board as indicative of the overall narrative though. The ESPN poll of its writers went 12-5 in favour of the Sixers. However, every voter had it going 6 or 7.

Good news.

Raptors excel when people count them out.

Visionquest is right.

ESPN also projected Raptors to go 35 - 47 this year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32399420/nba-preview-2021-22-power-rankings-projections-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams

Post #508 » by **Duffman100** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 1:59 pm

MoMoneyMoProbs wrote:
visionquest wrote:
aminiaturebuddha wrote:
Don't take this board as indicative of the overall narrative though. The ESPN poll of its writers went 12-5 in favour of the Sixers. However, every voter had it going 6 or 7.

Good news.

Raptors excel when people count them out.

Visionquest is right.

ESPN also projected Raptors to go 35 - 47 this year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32399420/nba-preview-2021-22-power-rankings-projections-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams

Honestly, I had a similar projection. I think I had them at 32 wins.

Hoop Heavy · Post #509 » by **Hoop Heavy** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:03 pm

The Comedian wrote:/Raps in 4.

Come on! Go out on a limb already. How about ... Raps in 3!!!

aminiaturebuddha · Post #510 » by **aminiaturebuddha** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:04 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
MoMoneyMoProbs wrote:
visionquest wrote:
Good news.

Raptors excel when people count them out.

Visionquest is right.

ESPN also projected Raptors to go 35 - 47 this year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32399420/nba-preview-2021-22-power-rankings-projections-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams

Honestly, I had a similar projection. I think I had them at 32 wins.

Interestingly, 538 was closer (at 41 wins), and also had lower estimates for both Brooklyn and the Lakers. Their models obviously pick up some things that others don't.

I believe I settled on 42 wins as my prediction for the Raptors, which still didn't really come that close.

JShuttlesworth · Post #511 » by **JShuttlesworth** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:05 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
MoMoneyMoProbs wrote:
visionquest wrote:
Good news.

Raptors excel when people count them out.

Visionquest is right.

ESPN also projected Raptors to go 35 - 47 this year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32399420/nba-preview-2021-22-power-rankings-projections-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams

Honestly, I had a similar projection. I think I had them at 32 wins.

I had us at 38 wins, I doubt many had us making it out of the first round before the season started.

Objectively, I'd say Sixers in 6. But the Toronto fan in me still says Raps in 5. I'll go down with my squad every time

everdiso · Post #512 » by **everdiso** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:18 pm

Personally I had the raps challenging for home court. And based on the previous two seasons and the roster additions I'm not even sure how they could have been projected to be a below average team tbh. Especially after what Barnes did in summer league and preseason as a 4th overall pick.

I find that people have a really hard time accepting the idea that Siakam and VanVleet are really really good and absolutely legit all-stars. Once you get past that hurdle, it's not hard to understand why the raps are good.

And it's hardly like things went particularly well for the raps this year - they were as injured as any team, the hoped for breakout for OG never happened, all their big men (Boucher Birch Achiuwa) were absolute disasters for at least the first half of the year, while all their deep bench hopefuls also flopped completely.

Of course some things went right - Barnes and Trent played like quality starters from the start, while Siakam finally got healthy and back on track midway through the year.

And now late in the season even more things are starting to go right - Siakam is playing at a new stud level, Achiuwa and Boucher have both been impact bench pieces for the last few months, and Thadd has been a quality addition too. The one worrying thing lately has been Fred's knee.

Time for Change · Post #513 » by **Time for Change** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:36 pm

It will be interesting if it goes 7 games. Doc’s on a four game losing streak in game 7s, and three of the four were blowout losses and three of the four were at home as the favorite.

MoMoneyMoProbs · Post #514 » by **MoMoneyMoProbs** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:48 pm

JShuttlesworth wrote:
Duffman100 wrote:
MoMoneyMoProbs wrote:
Visionquest is right.

ESPN also projected Raptors to go 35 - 47 this year.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32399420/nba-preview-2021-22-power-rankings-projections-breakout-stars-storylines-all-30-teams

Honestly, I had a similar projection. I think I had them at 32 wins.

I had us at 38 wins, I doubt many had us making it out of the first round before the season started.

Objectively, I'd say Sixers in 6. But the Toronto fan in me still says Raps in 5. I'll go down with my squad every time

I had pegged Raps at being 500 at least. The core was still relatively intact. Kyle did not play much last year and if it wasn't for the outbreak/tampa, I beleive the team would have made the playoffs.

Post #515 » by **Duffman100** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:56 pm

everdiso wrote:I find that people have a really hard time accepting the idea that Siakam and VanVleet are really really good and absolutely legit all-stars. Once you get past that hurdle, it's not hard to understand why the raps are good.

I think it's a few things.

They were on the national stage as role players in a title run (Siakam as an elite roleplayer) and so people remember them in that construct.

Siakam had a terrible year that was highlighted and people don't follow him closely enough this year to realize he's been incredible.

FVV just doesn't fit the mold of a 'star'.

There are a bunch of objective, rational, non-troll fans on the GB that can see they're really good. Because otherwise, how are the Raptors the 5th seed?

It was always my argument with Lowry. Clearly the Raptors are winning for a reason so...

everdiso · Post #516 » by **everdiso** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 3:53 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
everdiso wrote:I find that people have a really hard time accepting the idea that Siakam and VanVleet are really really good and absolutely legit all-stars. Once you get past that hurdle, it's not hard to understand why the raps are good.

I think it's a few things.

They were on the national stage as role players in a title run (Siakam as an elite roleplayer) and so people remember them in that construct.

I mean they took a good (and favored) Celtics team to 7gms.

Siakam had a terrible year that was highlighted and people don't follow him closely enough this year to realize he's been incredible.

Fair.

FVV just doesn't fit the mold of a 'star'.

ok sure but still kinda dumb.

And let's be honest - even when we get a 4th overall pick elite talent like Scottie everyone STILL pretends that the rap isn't really star material.

There are a bunch of objective, rational, non-troll fans on the GB that can see they're really good. Because otherwise, how are the Raptors the 5th seed?

It was always my argument with Lowry. Clearly the Raptors are winning for a reason so...

Lowry is an interesting part of the equations, because obviously people saw him leaving as us losing our biggest star. But they didn't realize that the last couple of years it was Fred that was carrying the load defensively at the PG position against all the top offensive quick guards, while Lowry was allowed to roam as the help defender without needing to keep up with the quick guards.

And of course, we were lucky enough to instantly replace Lowry with an elite talent in Barnes.

Heck, look at 2yrs ago when we were a 60-win (pace) team....this team is obviously much younger and less experienced and far less of a sure thing, but i'm not sure they're any real downgrade from that team talent wise, and are even more versatile defensively:

Fred ---> Fred
Siakam --> Siakam
OG -----> OG

Lowry ---> Barnes
Norm ----> Trent
Ibaka ----> Boucher
Gasol ----> Achiuwa

Los_29 · Post #517 » by **Los_29** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:28 pm

pingpongrac wrote:
T_Brandon wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:
only a Raps fan would believe Siakam is on par with Booker, those homer goggles are on a little too tight

They live in their own little world

If you don't want to watch any Raptors games, you can just look at the stats.

Siakam: 22.8 PPG, 8.5 REB, 5.3 AST, .565 TS%, 25.8 USG%, .151 ws/48, 3.5 BPM, 3.6 VORP, 2.3 EPM, 5.11 RPM, 2.26 LEBRON, +7.4 on/off

Booker: 26.8 PPG, 5.0 REB, 4.8 AST, .576 TS%, 32.0 USG%, .156 ws/48, 4.1 BPM, 3.6 VORP, 4.5 EPM, 4.93 RPM, 2.70 LEBRON, +4.8 on/off

Outside of Booker scoring an extra 4 PPG on much higher usage and Siakam grabbing an extra 3.5 REB in a few extra minutes, their numbers are almost identical across the board. I don't know why I'm even responding to people who have no evidence for their claims though lol.

Exactly, it's amazing how strong their opinions are despite not looking at the numbers and/or watching either of them play.

Mik317 · Post #518 » by **Mik317** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:50 pm

Raptors either swarm Biid and make the other players beat them. Or let him get his; get tired and then again let the others who are now cold beat them.

They have the bodies to do both. It will be on Biid to not force the issue and for others to step up and make shots...in particular one bearded one.

Not sure the stats back it up but it feels like the Sixers have had a big lead in most of the matchups only to blow it thanks to Doc being Doc lol. So maybe the shortened lineups helps prevent that but I doubt it. Nurse seems to prioritize making sure the star player of the other team hates life more than winning at times lol and our second best player has been washed for a bit and/or young and hasn't experienced real playoff hours yet...so that strat might work out.

I wish I didn't have rooting interest because it will be a great coaching series...one sided tho lol.

everdiso · Post #519 » by **everdiso** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 5:02 pm

Mik317 wrote:Not sure the stats back it up but it feels like the Sixers have had a big lead in most of the matchups only to blow it thanks to Doc being Doc lol.

Gm 1: Q1 PHI +3, Q2 PHI +2, Q3 TOR +8, Q4 TOR +3
Gm 2: Q1 PHI +3, Q2 PHI +4, Q3 TOR +3, Q4 PHI +1
Gm 3: Q1 PHI +10, Q2 TOR +13, Q3 PHI +8, Q4 TOR +10
Gm 4: Q1 PHI +7, Q2 TOR +2, Q3 TOR +6, Q4 TOR +3

Of course part of the Q1 problem for the Raps those last two games seems to be Nurse's decision to start Khem Birch in those last two games, where he managed to have the worst +/- in each game despite having the least or close to least minutes played - a -16 in 21min in game 3 and a -13 in 12min in game 4.

So yeah, hopefully Nurse doesn't start Khem Birch in the playoffs.

ATLTimekeeper · Post #520 » by **ATLTimekeeper** » Wed Apr 13, 2022 5:05 pm

Mik317 wrote:
Not sure the stats back it up but it feels like the Sixers have had a big lead in most of the matchups only to blow it thanks to Doc being Doc lol. So maybe the shortened lineups helps prevent that but I doubt it. Nurse seems to prioritize making sure the star player of the other team hates life more than winning at times lol and our second best player has been washed for a bit and/or young and hasn't experienced real playoff hours yet...so that strat might work out.

You have it mostly right, although I think Nurse has had some epic fails against Harden in the past. I have some nightmares about Ben McLemore going off. Philly will have loads of opportunities to shoot from the corners and build massive leads.

I've noticed since about mid-season that whenever there's a 7 footer starting the Raptors just run on makes early and it can lead to some erratic play and they dig a hole for themselves, but by the mid-3rd those 7 footers are wiped and then the Raptors take control of the game from there.

Series Prediction for 76ers vs. Raptors?