2014 NBA Playoffs: Toronto Raptors (3) vs Brooklyn Nets (6)

[Amorphous Blob]

Experience is a little overrated.

[Trader_Joe]

And while I know it doesn't work like this:

PG: Lowry vs. Deron
Lowry has outplayed Deron this season handily. Lowry is basically unguardable when he's on.
22/6/5 on 50%/48% vs. BK
Deron only played 2 games and put up 13.5 pts on 42%

SG; Demar vs SL
Livingston played well enough vs. TOR, but he's prone to foul trouble at times and he needs to play better D.
DD averaged 22 points on 50% vs. the Nets.

SF: Ross vs. JJ
Ross hasn't played great on offense vs. the Nets but has played very good D holding JJ to 37%. If T.Ross is hitting his 3's the Nets will be in trouble.

PF: Amir vs. Pierce
Paul played very well vs. Toronto, but still has to help us on the glass as 4.5 rebounds doesn't cut it. Amir didn't play or rebound well vs. the Nets, but is still a tough match up.

C: Jonas vs. KG/Plumlee
IMO the x-factor match up. JV has the ability to hurt the Nets on the onside with scoring and rebounding and can play 40mpg while KG cannot. Plumlee is not strong enough to guard JV and tended to be in foul trouble.

Bench wise I like the Raps bench.

Vasquez, Salmons, Novak, Hansbrough, Patterson, Hayes
vs.
Guitterez, Thornton, Anderson, AK, Teletovic, Blatche, Plumlee

When the Nets bench is hitting their shots, they are hard to beat, but Toronto has a lot of depth to counteract the Nets with. However, the bench becomes less important in the playoffs, so even if the Nets have an edge, it's not as big as it would be during the regular season.

[Prokorov]

And while I know it doesn't work like this:

PG: Lowry vs. Deron
Lowry has outplayed Deron this season handily. Lowry is basically unguardable when he's on.
22/6/5 on 50%/48% vs. BK
Deron only played 2 games and put up 13.5 pts on 42%

SG; Demar vs SL
Livingston played well enough vs. TOR, but he's prone to foul trouble at times and he needs to play better D.
DD averaged 22 points on 50% vs. the Nets.

SF: Ross vs. JJ
Ross hasn't played great on offense vs. the Nets but has played very good D holding JJ to 37%. If T.Ross is hitting his 3's the Nets will be in trouble.

PF: Amir vs. Pierce
Paul played very well vs. Toronto, but still has to help us on the glass as 4.5 rebounds doesn't cut it. Amir didn't play or rebound well vs. the Nets, but is still a tough match up.

C: Jonas vs. KG/Plumlee
IMO the x-factor match up. JV has the ability to hurt the Nets on the onside with scoring and rebounding and can play 40mpg while KG cannot. Plumlee is not strong enough to guard JV and tended to be in foul trouble.

Bench wise I like the Raps bench.

Vasquez, Salmons, Novak, Hansbrough, Patterson, Hayes
vs.
Guitterez, Thornton, Anderson, AK, Teletovic, Blatche, Plumlee

When the Nets bench is hitting their shots, they are hard to beat, but Toronto has a lot of depth to counteract the Nets with. However, the bench becomes less important in the playoffs, so even if the Nets have an edge, it's not as big as it would be during the regular season.

For me the X factor is Lowry and Vazquez. he havent been able to gaurd either guy for 2 years now (both have hurt us regardless of what teams they were on). If dwill get drastically outplayed by that duo we have no real shot to win the series.

for us, i thinkthe X factor is plumlee. if he can give us close to 30 minutes without fouling it would be big. he balances the floor for us and gives us scoring at the rim that needs to be respected so the raps cant just help anytime we drive or JJ gets in the lane on deep post position.

im worried about our effort and energy level. we have seen high effort over a 7 game span pretty much all year. and especially on the road

[wolfv]

Nets in 6, sadly

[Prokorov]

Raps in 5 or 6

-Fresh young legs vs. old/tired ones
-TO will dominate the glass
-Lowry will dominate Deron (leading him to get a massive contract of 4/50 this summer)
-TO has an underrated bench that can actually keep pace with BK's
-BK will be overconfident going in, then quickly feel pressure once behind
-BK is not a good road team
-Raps are the better defensive team
-Raps have a nice balance of inside game and 3 point shooting and the Nets don't guard the 3 well

I won't be disappointed when the Nets lose (as I expect them too) but I will be disappointed if the Raptors don't put up much of a fight vs. Miami (Miami in 4 or 5 there) as I feel the Nets could have.

I think even most of the Raptors fans aren't this confident in a Raptors win. All the things you listed can be negated by play-off experience more or less. The Nets are too unpredictable. KG, PP, JJ, Deron, Livingston, Teletovic, AK47, Thornton, AA, Plumlee... Should be a very fun series nonetheless.

playoff experience? Joe johnson has been awful in the playoffs. pierce got locked down by fat raymond felton last year. deron williams made nate robinson look like god last season and couldnt carry his team over a depleted bulls squad game 7 at home. livingston doesnt have experience. KG plays like 20 mpg

experience might help if it gets to a game 7, where nervers really kick in. otherwise its mostly going to be a not so close 6 game raps win

[Palmeirense]

According to Hollinger, the Raps have a 16.8% chance of making it to the finals while the Nets have a 3.2% chance.

Hollinger stats had his own team with a 0.2% shot at making the playoffs back in december.

[mumoy]

I think the Nets just made their playoff path much more difficult by losing yesterday. Toronto+Miami are much tougher opponents for them than Chicago+Indiana. This should be one of the funniest 1st round series.

TOR/MIA is a more difficult path for most teams but not BKN. I think they are evenly matched against TOR and CHI but match up way better with MIA over IND.

Does anyone think that reffing might actually be fair this series or maybe even biased to...wait for it...Raps? I mean, wouldn't seeing Lebron in the finals make more $$ for the NBA rather than a MIA/BKN 2nd rounder leading to Pacers in the finals?

Edit. I just re-read my idiotic post. Ignore it

[N Ireland Nets]

Toronto are the Kings of the North (House of Stark) while Brooklyn are the Lannisters, they always pay their debts!!! I'd love it if Brooklyn played the Rains of Castamere for the Raptors player intros in game 3 at the Barclays Center...

Should be a really fun series, made a few little game of thrones type things for a bit of craic.

[DarkXaero]

Raps in 5 or 6

-Fresh young legs vs. old/tired ones
-TO will dominate the glass
-Lowry will dominate Deron (leading him to get a massive contract of 4/50 this summer)
-TO has an underrated bench that can actually keep pace with BK's
-BK will be overconfident going in, then quickly feel pressure once behind
-BK is not a good road team
-Raps are the better defensive team
-Raps have a nice balance of inside game and 3 point shooting and the Nets don't guard the 3 well

I won't be disappointed when the Nets lose (as I expect them too) but I will be disappointed if the Raptors don't put up much of a fight vs. Miami (Miami in 4 or 5 there) as I feel the Nets could have.

-No one has "fresh" legs at this point. Nets starters have received plenty of rest over the season by playing low minutes or rest days.
-Toronto will dominate the glass, that's true and a legitimate concern.
-I don't think Lowry will "dominate" Deron but will probably outplay him sadly.
-Toronto's bench isn't particularly great, statistically. Our bench is among the best in the NBA. We have the edge here.
-Brooklyn will be "overconfident" going in? That's just a stupid presumption on your part, with zero evidence to support it.
-Nets weren't a good road team in regular season, but all that can become irrelevant in postseason when you're a veteran team. Experience actually counts here.
-Raptors defense actually declined quite a bit in their final stretch. Nets didn't have KG for a long stretch. Nets with KG are either equivalent to or better defensively than Raptors.
-Raps are actually a 3 pt shooting team and while they have more of an inside threat than us, I wouldn't exactly say that they have an "inside game".

We already have so few Nets fans here that when around half of them turn out to be eternal pessimists, it can be pretty disheartening to see from a fanbase. I'm not guaranteeing a Nets win or anything, but I do have faith that Nets can pull this off. Wish some of you Nets felt the same way, instead of conceding defeat in 5 or 6 games.

[Raps Maniac]

[Umbooki]

I think RealGM (and basketball in general) is better with the Raps in the playoffs.

This thread is golden.

[Prokorov]

Raps in 5 or 6

-Fresh young legs vs. old/tired ones
-TO will dominate the glass
-Lowry will dominate Deron (leading him to get a massive contract of 4/50 this summer)
-TO has an underrated bench that can actually keep pace with BK's
-BK will be overconfident going in, then quickly feel pressure once behind
-BK is not a good road team
-Raps are the better defensive team
-Raps have a nice balance of inside game and 3 point shooting and the Nets don't guard the 3 well

I won't be disappointed when the Nets lose (as I expect them too) but I will be disappointed if the Raptors don't put up much of a fight vs. Miami (Miami in 4 or 5 there) as I feel the Nets could have.

-No one has "fresh" legs at this point. Nets starters have received plenty of rest over the season by playing low minutes or rest days.
-Toronto will dominate the glass, that's true and a legitimate concern.
-I don't think Lowry will "dominate" Deron but will probably outplay him sadly.
-Toronto's bench isn't particularly great, statistically. Our bench is among the best in the NBA. We have the edge here.
-Brooklyn will be "overconfident" going in? That's just a stupid presumption on your part, with zero evidence to support it.
-Nets weren't a good road team in regular season, but all that can become irrelevant in postseason when you're a veteran team. Experience actually counts here.
-Raptors defense actually declined quite a bit in their final stretch. Nets didn't have KG for a long stretch. Nets with KG are either equivalent to or better defensively than Raptors.
-Raps are actually a 3 pt shooting team and while they have more of an inside threat than us, I wouldn't exactly say that they have an "inside game".

We already have so few Nets fans here that when around half of them turn out to be eternal pessimists, it can be pretty disheartening to see from a fanbase. I'm not guaranteeing a Nets win or anything, but I do have faith that Nets can pull this off. Wish some of you Nets felt the same way, instead of conceding defeat in 5 or 6 games.

i agree on fresh legs. i cant see that even being a minor issue for the nets. especially since we play 10 guys and as mentioned by kidd, that wont change.

i disagree on defense. they are really good defensively. even if you want to go from feb on or march on. and since jan 1 they are better then us defensively. so its not just cause we started poorly

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Experience doesn't mean much when two guys that had experience winning are old and half of their former selves, and the other (Deron) has massively underachieved all season)

At the end of the day, its about who puts out more effort, and which team executes better. They are still playing basketball, its just that the stakes are higher.

These guys are all pros

[Effigy]

First of all, it doesn't matter what the adjusted expectations are. Its like the Lakers dropping the ball after getting D12. There was enourmous pressure on their shoulders and they failed overall as a team because no one expects a team with that kind of personnel to fail so bad.

Second of all, the Raptors have no allstars, no hofers, no playoff experience, and no notable coach either. I dont mean to say this to a RGM vet but youre full of ****. The raps dont win, it doesnt matter. The public will say theyre too young just like okc in 2012, not that theyre frauds. They werent expected to make the playoffs and everyone had them pegged as a lotto team for Wiggins. They blew past those predictions and made 3rd place in the east so now its just to see how far they can go. If the raps lose, they can use this experience and grow in the future since theyre all young. Nets dont win, its a massive disappointment, almost as bad as the Lakers. Theyre in a major market and have been the best team in the nba since the turn of 2014. They also clawed back from shame to making the standings so they have a chance to redeem themselves. Your head is full of pure horse **** if you think the raps have more pressure than the nets. Wake the **** up and use your head. "how far can they go" is the raps biggest question from the public.

Third of all, guess who Vegas has winning this series? Pressure through and through for the nets.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using RealGM Forums mobile app

The Lakers had pressure on them all season, but you really think they had any at all in the playoffs? I don't. Nobody thought they were going to win that series.

OKC didn't have home court advantage when they lost. They were the 8 seed I think. Nobody ever expects the 8 seed to win. If Toronto was the 8th seed I would agree they have no pressure on them, just like I think Atlanta doesn't.

The Raptors had as many all-stars this year as the Nets had. And really everyone knows Lowry got robbed. Sure they have hall of famers, but those hall of famers are way past their primes and didn't even make the all-star game this year. They aren't what they once were by any stretch.

Yes, the Raptors were expected to be crap, and they're not. They have the third best record in the East. But then you see things like Brooklyn intentionally losing to get to face them and it's clear that some do not really think they are as good as their record, and I think there's a lot of pressure on them to prove that they are.

And not to be rude, but the general public isn't thinking 'how far can they go." They're thinking "one and done."

So everyone thinking the Raps are "one and done" somehow puts pressure on them to win? Isn't that the exact opposite of feeling pressure to win?

I don't think so. Because I think they feel like they have something to prove. How often is the 3 seed the under dog to the 6? How often does a team (seemingly) purposely lose in order to drop in the standings and play a higher seeded team? (I know the Clippers did this a few years ago, but that was to exploit a rule that no longer exists that allowed them to get home court advantage) The Raptors don't consider themselves lucky or just happy to be there, I think they think they belong there, but not everyone else does. The pressure is on them to prove them wrong. Imagine what happens if they lose game 1? And winning it is little help, that's what they are supposed to do.

I want to reiterate that I am rooting for the Raptors. I hope they win. I like their fanbase on Realgm. They are huge and passionate. Just because I think there's more pressure on Toronto doesn't mean I don't think they can win, but if I were putting money on the outcome, it'd be on the Nets.

[DarkXaero]

Experience doesn't mean much when two guys that had experience winning are old and half of their former selves, and the other (Deron) has massively underachieved all season)

At the end of the day, its about who puts out more effort, and which team executes better. They are still playing basketball, its just that the stakes are higher.

These guys are all pros

Being old doesn't make you useless or incompetent. They're still good players despite their age. And experience is more about mindset/approach/leadership than anything.

[JD225]

According to Hollinger, the Raps have a 16.8% chance of making it to the finals while the Nets have a 3.2% chance.

That's quite the opposite to what Vegas thinks. Toronto is +3000 (3.2%) to win the east and Brooklyn is +1400 (6.6%).

[KB24TBOTB]

Hollinger is in love with numbers, I never put too much stock into what he thinks

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Experience doesn't mean much when two guys that had experience winning are old and half of their former selves, and the other (Deron) has massively underachieved all season)

At the end of the day, its about who puts out more effort, and which team executes better. They are still playing basketball, its just that the stakes are higher.

These guys are all pros

Being old doesn't make you useless or incompetent. They're still good players despite their age. And experience is more about mindset/approach/leadership than anything.

Never said they are incompetent

KG/Pierce/Deron are the only ones with "experience" on the Nets squad and none of them are at the peak of their ability. They all are vital components of the Nets gameplan, but their experience won't mean much to the other guys who've never seen the playoffs.

It comes down to players playing basketball. The Thunder made it to the Finals and lost because they were out matched, not out "experienced"

[ATL Boy]

Has it ever been more appropriate to say "Raps in 4?"

[pass first]

We The East would be a better slogan.