The Misunderstanding of the Raptors.

KnightofHyrule · Post #1 » by **KnightofHyrule** » Fri May 20, 2016 10:53 pm

Why is the hate on the Raptors at an unreal level? I have never seen any team that has had all of the major players dealing with injuries (DeRozan's thumb, Lowry's elbow, Carroll's left wrist and knee, Valanciunas's ankle) that has been so disrespected. It baffles me even making this thread.

I understand....they played nowhere to the level of the Cavaliers in the first two road games, and took 7 games to take out both the Pacers and the Heat. The 5th ranked offense in the NBA who shot the 3 well, is now struggling to hit open shots. Yet, there are 13 other teams in the Eastern Conference that aren't playing right now. Sitting on their couch or fishing lol. Against the teams in the west that aren't playing now, the Raptors were 1-1 vs. Spurs, 2-0 vs. Clippers, and 2-0 vs. Portland. If all players were healthy, I would only give the Spurs a chance to oust the Raptors. Not Clippers, certainly not Portland, AND DEFINITELY not Charlotte (as some Heat fans seem to suggest before Raptors ended their season with a near 30 point win.)

Raptors no better than a 46-win 6th seed? Wrong.
Raptors another first round exit? Wrong again.
Heat in 6? Haha wrong again. They KNEW Bosh wasn't playing and still said Heat in 6. And then Valanciunas, who was a plus-39 (+10, +17, +12) proceeded to dominate Whiteside, who was a minus-8 (+7, -10, -5), in the first 3 games before they both went down. I am of the mindset that the Raptors would've won that series in 5 had Valanciunas been healthy. And Bosh wasn't going to stop Valanciunas from scoring and grabbing boards, so even if both teams were playing at full strength Raptors were taking that series.

People gave LeBron a pass last season because of injuries. Nobody's giving the Raptors a pass this season. In fact, dudes like Gilbert Arenas are calling them a D-League team (which is laughable because dude only made playoffs 5 times in his 12 seasons, 3 as a starter, and never made it past the second round), and fans of other teams are calling them the worst Conference Finals team in history (which is even more laughable because I can show you teams that scored 68 points at home en route to getting swept). Out of all the teams not in the playoffs, only the Spurs could oust the Raptors. Raptors have not only beaten, but dominated the Clippers and Blazers. Only the last game against Portland was close.

Bottomline is this. The Raptors are banged up. And their most consistent player isn't playing. It's baffling to me how they can be considered a historically bad team WHEN THEY STILL HAVEN'T PLAYED A HOME GAME IN THIS SERIES. They are hurt and struggling right now. A fully healthy Raptors team would probably put up as much of a fight as the Thunder (won game 1, lost by 27 in Game 2) are right now, so you could see why they struggled in the 2nd half of both games. Credit HAS to go to Cleveland and Golden State.

Also, The Raptors are one big free agent away from being a dominant, championship caliber team....

Team Salaries of Conference Finalists:
1st. Cleveland - $108,300,458
3rd. Oklahoma City - $96,680,659
4th. Golden State - $93,631,286
24th. Toronto - $71,337,189

Wow....AND they have the 9th pick. Raptors are stickin' around. Bad team? Gotta laugh at that.

MotownMadness · Post #2 » by **MotownMadness** » Fri May 20, 2016 10:56 pm

I think people love to knock them while they are down because of how cocky and trolling the fan base has become on here.

Statlanta · Post #3 » by **Statlanta** » Fri May 20, 2016 10:57 pm

People knock on them cause this board doesn't have #TeamPositivity

WeTheNorth123 · Post #4 » by **WeTheNorth123** » Fri May 20, 2016 10:59 pm

i think its more of an anger towards playoff structure.....some western teams could have brought a better show but we have to watch the Raptors because of the conference they are in

Post #5 » by **Domejandro** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:02 pm

WeTheNorth123 wrote:i think its more of an anger towards playoff structure.....some western teams could have brought a better show but we have to watch the Raptors because of the conference they are in

This is the primary reason, Toronto is a team that has capitalized on a horrid eastern-conference; they are rather mediocre. Along with this, the size of the fan-base leads to really, really annoying individuals.

Tron Carter · Post #6 » by **Tron Carter** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:05 pm

BlzMwt · Post #7 » by **BlzMwt** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:08 pm

I don't disagree, the disdain for the Raptors is ridiculous at times, but I'm not so sure about the championship potential coming up. If you resign Derozan at the price he is likely seeking, what money do you really have left to add "one big free agent"?

And I don't really agree that the Raptors at full health would have beaten the Clippers at full health.

ReKon · Post #8 » by **ReKon** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:08 pm

There are a lot of points you re making.I personally haven t hated on the Raptors but i did predict the Heat to win in 6 and i did say they are going to get swept by the Cavs.Not hating on them just calling it like i see it subjectively

I don t think there s anything wrong with the Raptors but i believe that people have every right to be talking about the huge disparity in the EC right now.The Cavs are 5 steps ahead of everyone in the EC while in the WC the Thunder if they make it to the finals will have to win against both the Spurs and the Warriors without homecourt advantage and then go and face the Cavs who have been doing more resting than playing in the whole playoffs again without home court advantage.It is an unfair issue and the Raptors are just the victim of it.If the Heat had advanced in the ECF it would be the Heat taking all this crap because they would be down 2-0 right now.

The injuries.That s not really an excuse now.Last year the Cavs made it to the ECF without their top two players losing only to the Bulls.So they gave LeBron a pass because he managed to take his team to the finals on his own and he managed to on his own again beat them twice.It s only a hypothesis that if you had Valanciunas you would have made it a closer series but i m not going to talk hypothetically.The actual result is that the score is 2-0 and the Cavs are having a cakewalk to the finals

To conclude my main issue is not with the Raptors.The whole EC needs to somehow shake things up because the Cavs right now are making the EC boring and predictable.I haven t watched a single full game of the EC playoffs after the Pacers-Raptors series because it doesn t really matter since the Cavs will go to the finals in the end

Post #9 » by **Texas Chuck** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:10 pm

If it makes you feel better I think the Raptors are better than my Mavericks....

But instead of getting all worked up, it just takes a touch of objectivity to see that the Raptors are clearly the worst team left standing. That's all. Of course they have advanced further than the majority of the league and you should be proud of your team for this achievement. But it's not hate when people point out that they are rightfully heavy underdogs at this point.

Oh and I'm guessing you are salty at Bosh for leaving but suggesting a player of his caliber wouldn't impact a series that went 7 games is probably taking it too far, eh?

Sedale Threatt · Post #10 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:17 pm

Welcome to big boy territory. When your team gets this far and plays like crap, people are going to dump on them.

Green Backpack · Post #11 » by **Green Backpack** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:19 pm

Who cares what other people think. Some of the best advice I can give you.

KnightofHyrule · Post #12 » by **KnightofHyrule** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:20 pm

WeTheNorth123 wrote:i think its more of an anger towards playoff structure.....some western teams could have brought a better show but we have to watch the Raptors because of the conference they are in

Completely disagree. The Spurs are the only eliminated team that would brought a better show than Toronto. The Clippers and Blazers would've gotten mauled by the Cavs as well. AND the Raptors have yet to play a home game. Look at the NBA League Standings. East teams in bold:

Golden State 73
San Antonio 67
Cleveland 57
Toronto 56
Oklahoma City 55
LA Clippers 53
Miami 48
Atland 48
Boston 48
Charlotte 48
Indiana 45
Detroit 44
Portland 44
Dallas 42
Chicago 42 (no playoffs)
Memphis 42
Washington 41 (no playoffs)
Houston 41

The West is just Top Heavy.

Post #13 » by **Latrell** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:22 pm

I think Raptors fans need to not care what everyone thinks of them all the time.

Raptors have the 7th youngest team in the NBA, are in the ECF's and have a 9th overall pick in the draft. There are far worst situations than that. Doesn't mean you should be happy to settle for a Cavs ass-whoopin. But certainly shouldn't be on the ledge either.

DeezRaptors · Post #14 » by **DeezRaptors** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:26 pm

As a Raptors fan, we all know they have injuries. They get hate cause some raptor fans r unrealistic and honestly boost this team way to damn high. Getting to the ECFis an accomplishment and anyone who believed they had a chance against the Cavs is lieing to you. This is their max potential as a squad and they wont get higher with this squad. People hate on them cause they arw tired of hearing about this team. In any sense though the Raptors are my favorite NBA team, but chill out on expectations, its annoying. Also they get hate cause they are actually the worst team left atm in the playoffs (record excluded).

Vince_Carter15 · Post #15 » by **Vince_Carter15** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:29 pm

Latrell wrote:I think Raptors fans need to not care what everyone thinks of them all the time.

Raptors have the 7th youngest team in the NBA, are in the ECF's and have a 9th overall pick in the draft. There are far worst situations than that. Doesn't mean you should be happy to settle for a Cavs ass-whoopin. But certainly shouldn't be on the ledge either.

Exactly, even Cleveland got a lot of hate this season despite being a 57 win team and number #1 seed. That's what happens when the attention is on you.

Post #16 » by **BBallFreak** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:32 pm

Sedale Threatt wrote:Welcome to big boy territory. When your team gets this far and plays like crap, people are going to dump on them.

BINGO!

If Miami had won game 7 and were playing like this against the Cavs, don't you think Heat fans would be getting this kind of talk right now?

If you're going to play with the big boys, you gotta get a thicker skin. Comes with the territory.

Did you know that every...EVERY...EVERY...Heat championship has an asterisk in front of it? In 2006, it's the refs. In 2012 LeBron needed help to win so therefore they don't deserve it. In 2013 it was a lucky bail out shot by Ray Allen. The team hasn't won a single ring by their own merits. Did you know that? We Heat fans have heard it for years.

Congratulations, you've graduated to the next level...

KnightofHyrule · Post #17 » by **KnightofHyrule** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:33 pm

BlzMwt wrote:I don't disagree, the disdain for the Raptors is ridiculous at times, but I'm not so sure about the championship potential coming up. If you resign Derozan at the price he is likely seeking, what money do you really have left to add "one big free agent"?

And I don't really agree that the Raptors at full health would have beaten the Clippers at full health.

If we land a Kevin Durant or a scorer/distributer of all-star caliber, DeRozan won't be resigned. And honestly, Clippers lost to the Raptors by 12, 16, 11 and 18 in the last 4 games, and they were at full strength for majority of them.

Texas Chuck wrote:Oh and I'm guessing you are salty at Bosh for leaving but suggesting a player of his caliber wouldn't impact a series that went 7 games is probably taking it too far, eh?

Definitely not salty. But I have watched Bosh play countless games, and I know him well. He is overrated. Nobody gave him the time of day when he was in Toronto...and now all of a sudden he's a game changer? I said the series would go 5 with a healthy JV. With Bosh he could've pushed it to 7. Maybe even have won. But money would undoubtedly be on Toronto with home court advantage.

Tron Carter wrote:

Haha I'm not even going to lie....I am crying lol. Too bad though.....people are looking at the situation with bias. They won't even let these dude play home games before hating.

Dupp · Post #18 » by **Dupp** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:33 pm

Well for starters I think raptors fans are leading the charge on the Lowry and derozen "hate"

No excuse injury wise except Val. If you're on the court you're good to go.

That payroll is interesting but I bet it's about to take a big leap.

In the end the raptors are gonna achieve as much as 99% of us thought was their absolute peak before the season even started. Even though it was ugly they got to the ECF's and had their best season as a franchise ever both in the reg and post season.

dho4ever · Post #19 » by **dho4ever** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:35 pm

I think it's more of a knock on the Cavs than the Raptors. It seems like people just want evidence that shows that LeBron never faced serious competition in the East.

KnightofHyrule · Post #20 » by **KnightofHyrule** » Fri May 20, 2016 11:44 pm

BBallFreak wrote:
Sedale Threatt wrote:Welcome to big boy territory. When your team gets this far and plays like crap, people are going to dump on them.

BINGO!
Did you know that every...EVERY...EVERY...Heat championship has an asterisk in front of it?.....

Congratulations, you've graduated to the next level...

I guess so. Worst conference finals team in history though? F**k that. They were some nasty teams in the past with wouldn't hold a candle to Toronto's slashers. I can't even say last year's Hawks were better.....Raps 6-2 against them in the past 2 seasons.

I gotta find that thicker skin that everybody is talking about.