Post-game: Ingram-Scottie-CMB-RJ lead Raps to victory!

[Mikistan]

CMB back go bsck layups then an alley pop dunk in the second??

[Godaddycurse]

RJ mentioned something interesting in his post game. He said Darko told him he would be starting the first game when he first got traded here but didn't guarantee that he would stay starting going forward. So, the seed seems to have always been planted that he could go to the bench.

He was playing like garbage on the Knicks at the time of the trade

[anotherhomer]

RJ is my player of the game tonight.

RJ game was the loudest, but when raps needed buckets, BI was there

[gp2015]

If you compare Demar’s prime, which was SAS/CHI - not his Toronto years cuz he definitely wasn’t efficient here - he’s definitely been a more efficient scorer than BI

Demar has consistently had a better TS% and points per possession than BI if you compare them over the last few years, going all the way back to BI’s all star year (19-20)

I was going by his best years as a Raptor. Why would we care about his performance on other teams?

If you go back, the original comments were about his play as a Raptor.

Who you tellin? Lol the original comment was made by me.

I said BI was giving off Derozan vibes. And when I made the comment I was thinking of his prime years. If YOU go back, no one said anything about his time as a Raptor

No, I mean the replies after that, hence "original comments".

No one was talking about his time as a Raptor huh??

Shooting is actually a big gap between the two. Besides 2018, DD was always a reluctant shooter, and even then 31% on 3.6 3PA is still a non shooter. That alone makes BI more valuable

"Besides 2018, DD was always a reluctant shooter, and even then 31% on 3.6 3PA is still a non shooter." -- DD as a Raptor

Please no Demar comps.

BI is longer smoother far better touch and better vision. Demar needed the ball in his hands every possession BI can score in the flow with no need to dominate the ball. BI also not a complete liability defensively like DD.

"Demar needed the ball in his hands every possession" -- DD as a Raptor
"complete liability defensively like DD" -- DD as a Raptor

I will not let you slander my guy DeRozan like that. BI is slow like molasses on defense, turns the ball over way more than DeRozan ever did and shockingly is less effecient on offense too. I'm rooting for BI and he'll come in handy, but let's not pretend like Ingram is on another level than prime DeRozan lol

"turns the ball over way more than DeRozan ever did" -- DD as a Raptor

Yes I saw the prime part but that can also mean his best years as a Raptor.

We're comparing BI's current play with the Raptors aren't we? Why do we care how he or DD played elsewhere?

[links135]

BI gives off a lot of Derozan vibes. Obviously shoots the 3 better but in general, it’s a lot of patience and footwork in the mid range. He can carry the offense for long stretches.

Still don’t know how IQ managed to play 31 mins and Shead only 16. Are we playing guys impacting the game or just playing the guy with the bigger contract??

Please no Demar comps.

BI is longer smoother far better touch and better vision. Demar needed the ball in his hands every possession BI can score in the flow with no need to dominate the ball. BI also not a complete liability defensively like DD.

I will not let you slander my guy DeRozan like that. BI is slow like molasses on defense, turns the ball over way more than DeRozan ever did and shockingly is less effecient on offense too. I'm rooting for BI and he'll come in handy, but let's not pretend like Ingram is on another level than prime DeRozan lol

I literally have no idea what you mean, at least so far. Currently Ingram is shooting 64.1% TS. Derozan's best year in Toronto was 55.5%. His career high is 60.3% while this year it's 57.8%.

To be fair before this season yes Ingram wasn't above Derozan, still dude can ACTUALLY shoot the 3. That's like, a huge difference. Like hey he can play modern day off-ball to kind of thing.

[Syd-TK3]

Even tho the defense has clearly been the main problem with this team I gotta mention just how horrible the "shooters" on this team have been to start

IQ
Gradey
Ochai
Jakobe
All shooting terribly from three. Ochai is literally 1 for 12

[ImaBeatDatAzz]

RJ value skyrocketing!

[ImaBeatDatAzz]

I would consider bringing Poeltl off the bench and just preserving him. We need him for tough games and can't do well with him out long term.

We should also be sitting Ingram out against weaker teams once we catch our stride. We need him to be healthy this season and occasional time off worked for us before.

CMB / Poeltl
Barnes / Poeltl
Ingram / Battle or Agbaji
RJ / Walter or Dick
IQ / Shead

This should be the line up most nights.

Swap Shead with IQ. Then the starting lineup is more balanced with better defence. Also, that way you let IQ play with Poeltl to destroy other team’s 2nd unit.

Holy our bench lineup would just be Poeltl and full of shooting:
IQ/Dick/Battle/Mamu/Poeltl

[S.W.A.N]

I would consider bringing Poeltl off the bench and just preserving him. We need him for tough games and can't do well with him out long term.

We should also be sitting Ingram out against weaker teams once we catch our stride. We need him to be healthy this season and occasional time off worked for us before.

CMB / Poeltl
Barnes / Poeltl
Ingram / Battle or Agbaji
RJ / Walter or Dick
IQ / Shead

This should be the line up most nights.

Swap Shead with IQ. Then the starting lineup is more balanced with better defence. Also, that way you let IQ play with Poeltl to destroy other team’s 2nd unit.

Holy our bench lineup would just be Poeltl and full of shooting:
IQ/Dick/Battle/Mamu/Poeltl

even if they stay 'starters' IQ and Yak spending lots of time with bench units makes a lot of sense

[Appostis]

People just giving up on Yak is pretty amazing.

Don't get me wrong, CMB coming out of the gate this great has me excited but come on guys...Yak is good and asking CMB to keep banging with true centers is going wear him down fast.

Yak in the starting lineup with 25 mins and give CMB backup 4/5 minutes.

[Brinbe]

I think Scottie/CMB, RJ and BI have shown that they do complement each other well as they score in different ways and have differing tempos to their game which can look haphazard when initially forced together but they're now showing better chemistry and playing well off each other.

RJ is like a relentless freighter that's gonna keep continually steamrolling to the bucket. Not much bag, very straightforward but he only plays hard. He's the consistent scorer. BI will pick his spots a bit more, plays at his own pace (which isn't a bad thing) and can self-generate/make those high degree of difficulty contested buckets in the halfcourt that we've lacked since Pascal. CMB/Scottie can get theirs just by being skilled hustle guys. Creating for others and themselves while boarding in the halfcourt and scoring in transition. If IQ just makes his 3s at his usual career volume/percentage then he rounds that out just fine.

Mamu works well with them too if they wanna switch small for big. And Shead vice-versa.

Once they figure out the defensive stuff (at least enough to where they're closer to lg average) and make a continued effort at team rebounding I think they'll be okay. I think if they had a Gasol and Lowry archetypes on this team in terms of 3+D point and stretch defensive big they would be pretty formidable.

[Shakril]

I believe someone got to Darko and explained to him, that overly aggressive Defensive scheme doenst work. Of course we played two injured teams, but we all could see they played better defensivly regardless. So essentially we are back on track.

[Shakril]

People just giving up on Yak is pretty amazing.

Don't get me wrong, CMB coming out of the gate this great has me excited but come on guys...Yak is good and asking CMB to keep banging with true centers is going wear him down fast.

Yak in the starting lineup with 25 mins and give CMB backup 4/5 minutes.

Many here hated Yak from the start. His injury gives them excuse to be dismissive of him and to already replace him.
Saying that he is washed and so forth. Never ever has an NBA Player had such a drop off, unless they had a serious injury, like an Achilles for example.

[Shakril]

Scottie in the postgame when asked about his 3 point shooting:

"If they play off me... give me an easy one. I need that"

"When an easy one goes in another one is going up right away"



Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

Oh we know... you dont shoot below 30% from 3 by taking only smart ones loll

That was always the issue, he was missing a lot of those open ones. Now he seems to hit them, that opens up for him a lot. I hope he can sustain his shooting.

[CPT]

i really love the core of cmb, scottie, ingram, and rj...we just gotta keep adding more size and defense and shooting

I think it’s reasonable to like all of those players, but unless you’re sending 1-2 of them to the bench, you’re asking for that size, defense, and shooting to all come from one player.

Then you still need a PG.

[Kingsway_fan]

It's still quite early in the season and no need to panic... small sample size but as far as Team stats to date:

Positives:
5th FG %
3rd 3pt FG %
2nd Assists per game
10th points per game ...

Negatives:
Amongst worst teams in rebounds and blocks per game .
FT % also amongst worst.

If IQ can get back to his normal FG shooting %, this team can score points, with good percentages, and have offensive threats with three starters exceeding 20 points per game for the season. Not certain last time Raps had 3 20+ players one season... [ChatGPT says never .. so this could be a franchise FIRST].

A healthy Yak will help with defense, rebounding and solid FG %.

We could be a .500 team going into 2026...

[Dexjackson]

Even tho the defense has clearly been the main problem with this team I gotta mention just how horrible the "shooters" on this team have been to start

IQ
Gradey
Ochai
Jakobe
All shooting terribly from three. Ochai is literally 1 for 12

This is true. Both IQ and Gradey do not bring much to the table when they aren't making their shots. At least Ochai and Jakobe are good defenders (although I do find Ochai's defense to be a bit overrated).

[MEDIC]

i really love the core of cmb, scottie, ingram, and rj...we just gotta keep adding more size and defense and shooting

Yeah. I feel the exact same. I like all of those guys.

You add a healthy Yak, legit backup C & a good 2 way PG & I think they start to have the makings of a 50 win team.

Time for Bobby to start thinking about consolidating youngsters & trading for something useful to address team needs.

Get guys like AJ Lawson & Chucky Hep to backfill some end of the bench roles

[MiamiSPX]

You've lost the plot if you sit there and nitpick in which particular game(s) Barnes has been bad. Overall he's been really good so far, and every counting stat backs that up. I had become cynical with my expectations so it's been a pleasure to see.

I'll take 3-4 with our 3 best players playing like our best players, and our rookie not looking out of place. Tons of stuff to improve on but things are not that bad.

[Jerry Lucas]

Game #7 Win Shares summary:

Yesterday the players combined for 0.9 Win Shares, and got the 3rd W of the season.

Scottie: 0.2 WS
RJ: 0.2 WS
Ingram: 0.1 WS
CMB: 0.1 WS
Shead: 0.1 WS
Gradey: 0.1 WS
Mamu: 0.1 WS

Everyone else that played yesterday had between -0.04 to 0.04 Win Shares (either rounds up to 0 instead of down to -0.1, or rounds down to 0 instead of up to 0.1).

The totals (so far) are 3.1 combined Win Shares for the team, and 3 real wins.