Raptors or Indiana

[Jermainevent]

Bump

Why?

Why not? It's always interesting to look back on predictions.

[Scoot McGroot]

Bump

Why?

Why not? It's always interesting to look back on predictions.

I guess, as a moderator, I would've liked to have seen you add something to promote discussion. Don't just "bump" a thread. Raise a question. Make an observation. State a fact. A blind post of just "bump" comes off as, well, unproductive, and you'll rarely get to see what you hope to see discussed. And if you didn't want anything discussed, well, why bump it?

[basketballwacko2]

I'm a raptors fan, butI would like to hear your honest opinion of whether your team is better than ours and why... and dw I won't be offended

I'd give The Raps a B+ and the Pacer B at this point.

The Raps have Lowery as their best player, Derozen is good but might be gone after the season. I like the Center Val, and Carroll at SF, I see PF being a weakness, although Scola works hard and Patterson looks good at times.

The Pacers best player is Paul George I believe that over all he's better than anyone on the Raps. Point is George Hill who is very underated. Monta is above average at SG, but I wish he was a better shooter. We can play big or small with PG moving between pf and sf. Our Center is Ian Mahinmi or Myles Turner depending on how we're playing. And then there's Turner he's the future gonna be a stud!

[CoachD]

I'd be willing to bet my house that Derozan doesn't leave Toronto. He has put down roots in the community - loves the multiculturalism of the city, and loves his teammates... especially Kyle.

Kyle is legitimately an MVP candidate - he will get votes, and he is a top 3 PG in the league. His stats alone don't do him justice.
While I believe that PG-13 is the better overall talent, I don't think his impact on his teammates is nearly as significant.

Yes there is a hole at PF for Toronto, but what they lack offensively they make up defensively at that spot - with both Patterson and now Jason Thompson. When they play small, Carroll slides to the 4 and they can match up with anyone.

Valanciunas scores very well considering his low useage, and his reb% and rebounds in traffic are at the top of the league.

I think they match up well with Indiana in a playoff series - but not as well against a team like Chicago.

Funny enough, I also agree with Stephen A that they match up better against Golden State than Cleveland does.

[Flight33]

Would be a fun series if they met in the 1st round. Not sure the national tv stations would like 2 "small market teams" matching up though lol.

[basketballwacko2]

Game on 1 tomorrow night. I saw the Raps sat DeRozen the other night to give him some rest. I'd like to see the pacers able to do that for PG and George Hill, we've got a game coming up against Philly so maybe then.

[Jermainevent]

This has been a peculiar season for the Pacers, because I don't think any of us could have predicted how poorly this team would perform down the stretch of close games. They missed the calming, veteran presence of David West. But, if they are to reach that 45 win mark like many of us had anticipated, they'll need to find a way to knock off either Cleveland or Toronto, in addition to winning four games against non-playoff teams.

My decision before the season to say that the Raptors would be ahead of the Pacers in the season was because of continuity of its roster and experience of its stars. Toronto has went on to have a franchise record number of wins and looks poised to make a deep run in the playoffs, whereas Indiana is backing its way into the postseason. Not to mention, Toronto has played without its number one offseason addition, DeMarre Carroll, for most of the season. The team's starting center Jonas Valanciunas has missed a significant amount of time as well.

And while my predictions have held up, for the most part, the Pacers could very easily be five to six games better in the win column, if this team knew how to close or had a closer. Whatever the case maybe, Bird will have to do a lot of evaluating this summer, because this team has fair too many square pegs for a bunch of round holes.

[Morse Code]

You guys seems really level headed and aware. I'm hoping for a 1st round matchup against Detroit but a series against Indy would be both exciting and competitive. I think the Pacers roster scares a lot of Raps fans. Detroit's does as well but we would fill their building with our fans, and Indy is a better team. That's why I want Detroit. If it ends up being Indy vs Toronto, it will be a great test for us though. Good luck to you all this postseason, unless you face us of course lol.

[Wizop]

Lebron sat out last night's game which handed us a win at makes it much more likely we'll be facing Toronto. Have to think the Cavs would rather face Detroit than us.

[bingolong]

Lebron sat out last night's game which handed us a win at makes it much more likely we'll be facing Toronto. Have to think the Cavs would rather face Detroit than us.

Well it looks like you'll be facing the Cavs. I just hope you guys get your game together before the end of the season. Good luck.

[Par36]

Raptors fan here.
May the best team win.

[GoSu]

The raptors Will hâve the better standing but if they face in the playoffs they Will certainely loose because of Paul George and vogel (and casey). They really hâve no one you can give the ball and expect that he Will score or creat for others in crunch Time. Éven monta is better than lowry or derozan at it

Well, you were right on the first part and we will have a chance to see if the second predicament also true.

I would say Raps in 6, simply because PG can pull couple wins on his own.

[Jermainevent]

Of course it would come down to this.

Do the Pacers possess the talent to knock off the Raptors? Yes. PG13, if engaged and focused, is the best player on the court and can shut down anyone he's matched up against. Ty Lawson looked great last nite and has an assist/turnover of over 5 to 1. Rodney Stuckey has provided a nice spark off the bench here lately, as has Solomon Hill.

Do the Pacers possess the coaching to make it past the Raptors? While Indiana fans have been mostly critical of Vogel, he has proven he can coach in the postseason.

Do the Pacers have the heart to get it done? Remains to be seen. In high-pressure situations, this team has come up short more often than not this season. This team failed to close out many games this season, so why would anyone think this will change when the lights are the brightest.

Will the Pacers win? Maybe, my heart says yes, my head says Raptors in six.

Nonetheless, should be some good fun!

[Jermainevent]

If we are a couple of years away, we shouldn't have signed Ellis. He's not as close to the edge as Gore and Johnson (the guys the Colts signed should any of you not be American football fans), but he's close enough that the front office must think we are in win now mode. Now Turner could be a couple of years away and DWest certainly agrees that this won't be our year. If the standard is getting past a healthy Cleveland, I'm not sure either team is up for that. Assuming they do change the playoff seeding to a straight 1-8, I think we'll both be shooting for the 2 or 3 so we don't hit Cleveland before the ECF.

I don't really understand the logic of not signing Ellis if we are a couple are years away from competing for a Eastern Conference Title, he's still going to help keep us relevant. I see us winning around 45 games pushing for a 5th of 6th seed where I could see Toronto winning closer to 50 wins and a top three seed. I guess I should have specified that I feel like Toronto is a greater threat to Cleveland than we are, currently.

Congrats on the win Toronto, it is now up to you to keep LeBron from making it to his sixth straight finals.