cgf wrote:stuporman wrote:I knew that Masai was going to trade Siakam but I'm surpised at how badly that team has looked even before he did. They won 4 games in a row after the trade with the pieces they got in the trade but it rapidly deteriorated after that. Or maybe they are doing a masterful tank job.
Quickley began to show why he still needs to develop more as a full time point guard because being a bench spark scorer means you can have off nights and not tank the whole team but as the every game offensive engine as the PG that won't work.
RJ has always been able to get decent looking counting stats and after a few games with the Raptors it may have looked like a system change would reveal he wasn't inefficient as he was with the Knicks. Of course, then some more games actually revealed he's the same streaky player that gets decent counting stats.
Since their pick is top 6 protected, or it goes to SAS it might be they rather just bottom out and keep it, but none of their young 'core' players have been looking all that impressive. All the clamoring about their perfect fit it's looked rather awkward at times but I guess there's plenty of time for them to gel.
It's going to take a few years to see how much of a 'win' this win-win trade is for the Raptors and to be quite honest, it will take a few years to see how much of a win for the Knicks it has been as well. If they don't go on deep playoff runs through Brunson's prime then how much of a win is it really?
Their record is what it is, but I think you're being too harsh on our boys. RJ has just kept ripping it up for them. Despite the egg he laid in Utah, he's averaging 21-7-3.5 on 61.5% TS as a raptor. And he's doing it getting to the rim & FT line as his 3pt% has come back down to 36% without tanking his efficiency.
And though Quickley's scoring efficiency has dropped back down to his rookie & sophomore levels, he's creating for his team-mates more than ever before; as he's playing like way more of a traditional PG than he did for us.
If I was being harsh on 'our' boys I'd be saying 'it looks like RJ has reverted to his empty stats, losing impact again' but I didn't, I called him streaky. Are you saying he still isn't streaky?
Even Raptor fans have been commenting on how the team is falling behind in games with him on the floor even though he's still getting his. Of course there are more problems than just him.
IQ is still lacking in the 'code switching' or better said 'role switching' between scorer and facilitator, he either does one of the other and still can't to be able to simultaneously do both.
Although, it's not just them two either. Barnes has quite a bit of skills and abilty but he still looks rather awkward himself in applying those things.
Of course, this is a new group still going through roster changes and gelling as a team, they don't have the verteran leadership and culture to carry them so will experience growing pains.
This is a Knicks forum, not a Raptor forum, I won't fanboy over players who aren't Knicks anymore even if I wish them well...heck, I don't even fanboy over Knicks, I tell it like it is.