PG: Clear Path FTL

[hyper316]

GV and Hansbrough lost the game, especially GV giving 2 uncontested 3's in OT to Batum, I think this is where we needed either DD or Fields.

If you are going to pick another for the lost, at least pick Lou Williams shooting 1/10. Vasquez made shots, and Hansbrough play decent defense and got a key block on Lillard in OT

[Omzz]

this game really made me want demar back in the lineup

vasquez is such a liabilty on defense

[ruckus]

Great game last night. A win would have been amazing but, the fact that we are currently 2-1 on this West Coast Swing when many predicted we would be 1-2 at best at this point speaks volumes as to how good this team really is and where they could be with a bit of tweaking.

[Natural11]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

[ruckus]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

Thing is, that was a broken play where Amir backed down Freeland. They were obviously going to go to Lowry to end the fourth and who knows whether it would have been a 3 or another attempt at driving into the lane.

I guess Amir could have kicked it back out but, I don't really recall seeing if he had anyone open.

[Mikistan]

someone tell me WHY DID CASEY TAKE VAL OUT THE GAME DOWN THE STRETCH?? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHYWHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY??????????????????????????????

I had no issue with it. Val seems to get nervous and do stupid things in the 4th quarter. He gets easily rattled when he doesn't get a call and turns the ball over, he also forces bad shots at times. Overall his play was sloppy and I'd rather have Amir and Patterson in there.

Agreed. Not to mention Val didn't dunk that easy gimme in front of the rim in the 4th, instead he got block laying it up. And got T'ed up for a dumb gesture towards the ref. He was also forcing his shot when he didn't have good footing.

That 'dumb gesture' was NOT towards any ref. Get your head out of your ass that was a bull tech

[Lord Eder]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

Thing is, that was a broken play where Amir backed down Freeland. They were obviously going to go to Lowry to end the fourth and who knows whether it would have been a 3 or another attempt at driving into the lane.

I guess Amir could have kicked it back out but, I don't really recall seeing if he had anyone open.

Amir was out there with four 3 point shooters. Ross, Lowry, Patterson and Williams. The play was definitely Amir to hand back off to Lowry, set a screen and the probably Lowry drive and dish for a 3, all the guys were spaced on the other side for Lowry to drive left and then pass out to wherever the help come from. Batum denied the play well, REALLY well, and I don't doubt that Amir back down was probably option 2 if Kyle couldnt get the ball. The guys were all spaced out to open up the paint for someone to get in there. But I think Amir was option 2 because as soon as Amir starting making the turn to go up for his hook EVERYONE come in for the offensive putback, noone even let their defender sag in for help. They all drew them inside lol, had to have been by design to get the 2 points at all costs if option 1 fell through.

[Undefeated]

He was also forcing his shot when he didn't have good footing.

Freeland gave him a slight forearm push when he made his drop step which forced him to lose his balance.

[hell_razor]

He was also forcing his shot when he didn't have good footing.

Freeland gave him a slight forearm push when he made his drop step which forced him to lose his balance.

The refs were just bad for both teams

At least it's good to see that every raptor possession is worth a review now for the league

[Randle McMurphy]

Seriously? 35-40%? Based on what?

Based on what the average 3PT shooter on this team hits that shot at. Using the larger sample size of season/career rates make more sense than looking at a single game for this. Obviously you can reducce that number by a bit for the reasons stated (better defense in end of game situations and Portland's desire to prevent that kind of shot), but what the exact percentage is really changes nothing about my point. There is an enormous benefit of going for the win in that situation (and not allowing Portland both their own shot to win in regulation as well as another entire OT period where they'll have the major home/ref advantage, which is what happened). Especially when you consider that the alternative of hitting a contested 2 PT shot to tie is not a very high percentage maneuver either.

[RaptorsFan100]

1. WE NEED DEROZEN BACK'
2. AMIR JOHNSON DOESNT GET CALLED FOR AN ILLEGAL SCREEN ALL SEASON AND GETS 3 IN ONE GAME!?!?!?!?!!!! My ass

[Randle McMurphy]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

Yeah, didn't make much sense to both give them the ball back for their own final shot to win in regulation and have home overtime at worst as a fallback. At that point, it was likely to be the best chance the Raptors had left of winning that game and they didn't take the opportunity (which was obviously Portland's intention on that defensive possession, so the Blazers succeeded).

[Steelo Green]

It's not as though this is just a normal play in the game, the game winning 3 point shot is at a much lower clip.

Taking into account the level of defense being played at that point in the game, sure, it's lower than normal. But whether it's a 1/3 or or a 1/6 chance, I'll still take a shot at outright victory there (with a chance for a tie on the boards as well) over giving Portland another shot in regulation to win and letting them get to overtime at worst (where they most certainly have the advantage at home). They could have ended it then with an opportunity that they weren't likely to get again.

Obviously in retrospect at the loss, it was a poor decision, but given the shooting on the night, mixtured in with the fact that overall percentages go out the door in these situations, it would have been more like 1/20.

Not saying I wouldn't go for the win, I don't know what I would have done, I probably would have gone OT given how poorly we shot and the fact not one player on this team has ever scored a game winning 3 in their careers at the buzzer.

[tecumseh18]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

Yeah, didn't make much sense to both give them the ball back for their own final shot to win in regulation and have home overtime at worst as a fallback. At that point, it was likely to be the best chance the Raptors had left of winning that game and they didn't take the opportunity (which was obviously Portland's intention on that defensive possession, so the Blazers succeeded).

Raptors were on their third game in four days. They weren't hitting 3s all game, or even mid-range jumpers in the 4th. So at the time, I didn't mind going inside just to get the sure tie.

But of course, Ross then proceeded to sink the three ball at the beginning of OT. In retrospect, Lowry didn't have the gas to survive a road overtime period, and Casey should have known that. I would have tried harder to get P-Pat a clear shot, with T-Ross as a bail-out. I don't care how many (hopefully non-moving) screens it would take.

[Mikistan]

Good game to watch. Sucks to lose after handling them for 44 minutes, but that's how it goes. They have a good team.

The only call I disagreed with was Casey going for the tie on the final possession of the fourth. Playing a tough team on the road, amidst a shift in momentum to their favor, I would have gone for the win there.

Yeah, didn't make much sense to both give them the ball back for their own final shot to win in regulation and have home overtime at worst as a fallback. At that point, it was likely to be the best chance the Raptors had left of winning that game and they didn't take the opportunity (which was obviously Portland's intention on that defensive possession, so the Blazers succeeded).

Raptors were on their third game in four days. They weren't hitting 3s all game, or even mid-range jumpers in the 4th. So at the time, I didn't mind going inside just to get the sure tie.

But of course, Ross then proceeded to sink the three ball at the beginning of OT. In retrospect, Lowry didn't have the gas to survive a road overtime period, and Casey should have known that. I would have tried harder to get P-Pat a clear shot, with T-Ross as a bail-out. I don't care how many (hopefully non-moving) screens it would take.

after Ross hit that 3, they ran a play the next possession and Ross was WIDE OPEN on the right side as the play developed, Lowry proceeded to look him off to get Lou or whomever the ball on the left side. Pissed me right the **** off...

[artsncrafts]

Who do I hate more, Casey or GV? Tune in next game to find out!

[Randle McMurphy]

Raptors were on their third game in four days. They weren't hitting 3s all game, or even mid-range jumpers in the 4th. So at the time, I didn't mind going inside just to get the sure tie.

If it was the sure tie, it would be a little more palatable. But what they ended up getting was a contested two anyway.

But of course, Ross then proceeded to sink the three ball at the beginning of OT. In retrospect, Lowry didn't have the gas to survive a road overtime period, and Casey should have known that. I would have tried harder to get P-Pat a clear shot, with T-Ross as a bail-out. I don't care how many (hopefully non-moving) screens it would take.

Yeah, Lowry looked completely gassed down the stretch, Batum was making it hell for him, and this team obviously goes as he does. Made the decision to play 5 more minutes (and remember that was at best too because they gave Portland another chance to win in regulation) more puzzling to me. It's largely philosophical, but it just seemed to be the perfect time to take that kind of risk and get out of Dodge before Portland started playing even better in their hostile home environment. Even a miss there (with the knowledge that they at least tried to go for it and had the game in their hands) would be pretty easy to take.

[J-Roc]

I blame Vasquez for waiting for the guy to get by him. WTF.

And the Raps need to be able to adjust when refs aren't giving calls. That's a huge problem which will bite them in the butt come playoff time.

So we have to adjust to opposing teams AND the refs?

Yes, we agree the NBA is the worst officiated sport. Don't tell that to fans of other sports, but we realize it.

So yes, adjust. And actually, it happens in baseball for example. You can tell early in a game if the home plate umpire has a small or big strike zone. Pitcher and hitters then have to adjust.

I am not even talking about bad calls by refs. Fwiw, Leo pointed out early in the game the refs were letting things go. And it carried on like that till the end. And so when Kyle was driving inside, looking for calls, they weren't going to come. Going inside for fouls is a great way to play most nights, but if the refs won't allow, you can't waste possessions hoping for calls. If you go inside, go inside with the purpose of making the basket, not the foul. Or pull out new plays from the playbook.

[kayliecee]

Seriously? 35-40%? Based on what?

Based on what the average 3PT shooter on this team hits that shot at. Using the larger sample size of season/career rates make more sense than looking at a single game for this. Obviously you can reducce that number by a bit for the reasons stated (better defense in end of game situations and Portland's desire to prevent that kind of shot), but what the exact percentage is really changes nothing about my point. There is an enormous benefit of going for the win in that situation (and not allowing Portland both their own shot to win in regulation as well as another entire OT period where they'll have the major home/ref advantage, which is what happened). Especially when you consider that the alternative of hitting a contested 2 PT shot to tie is not a very high percentage maneuver either.

I can see your point. I just don't think 35-40% is realistic based on the situation and how they were shooting it. No one was hot, so at that point, in that situation, I would have thought 25%, maybe 30%. Then you have to ask, what are their chances in OT, which I wasn't even that confident in TBH. Three big games in four days on the road seemed to reduce their leg stamina. KL was missing shots he'd normally make. Oh well, it's all conjecture now. can see the reasoning for both decisions.

[chuckdevlin]