'17-'18 POY discussion

[Dr Spaceman]

I'll never trust the Raptors again. Done.

I TRIED TO TELL YOU

[MisterHibachi]

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[Texas Chuck]

So what year do they just rename the COY award the Brad Stevens trophy?

[iggymcfrack]

So what year do they just rename the COY award the Brad Stevens trophy?

Can you imagine what a joke it would be if Casey ends up winning over him this year?

[HeartBreakKid]

Man Kyrie Irving really missed out on this postseason

He'd have gotten so much undeserved credit if he had stayed healthy and it would have elevated him as a basketball player to a level that he has no business being in terms of perception.

probably get a finals appearance also

[GSP]

So what year do they just rename the COY award the Brad Stevens trophy?

Should Brad start getting Player of the Year discussion?

Only kidding...........







kind of

[iggymcfrack]

So what year do they just rename the COY award the Brad Stevens trophy?

Should Brad start getting Player of the Year discussion?

Only kidding...........







kind of

If I was combining players and coaches for value this year, I’d have Stevens 5th. Could argue him over Giannis for 4th.

[Dupp]

Lebron is just incredible. Every post season he shows hes clearly the best player... year 15.

[therealbig3]

Raptors in the playoffs since 2014:

2014 - lost with HCA in the 1st round to the freaking Nets
2015 - got SWEPT with HCA in the 1st round to the Wizards
2016 - got destroyed in the ECF in 6 games by the Cavs, after barely getting past Indiana and Miami in 7 games each
2017 - got swept in the 2nd round by the Cavs
2018 - currently down 0-2 with HCA to the Cavs

Keep in mind that the 2018 Cavs aren't even particularly good, it's just that LeBron is amazing.

It's one thing to lose to LeBron James, but they get absolutely wrecked every time. That 6 game series in 2016 was a bigger blowout than a lot of sweeps in terms of point differential, and they're on their way to their 2nd straight sweep this year.

[Dr Positivity]

Raptors in the playoffs since 2014:

2014 - lost with HCA in the 1st round to the freaking Nets
2015 - got SWEPT with HCA in the 1st round to the Wizards
2016 - got destroyed in the ECF in 6 games by the Cavs, after barely getting past Indiana and Miami in 7 games each
2017 - got swept in the 2nd round by the Cavs
2018 - currently down 0-2 with HCA to the Cavs

Keep in mind that the 2018 Cavs aren't even particularly good, it's just that LeBron is amazing.

It's one thing to lose to LeBron James, but they get absolutely wrecked every time. That 6 game series in 2016 was a bigger blowout than a lot of sweeps in terms of point differential, and they're on their way to their 2nd straight sweep this year.

Is making an ECF and 2nd round two other times that bad for Raptors talent level in this era? Having regular season success due to being well coached, playing hard and having depth elevated expectations but the reality is the team on paper shouldn't be more than second round fodder anyways. This is a team without a top 20 talent on its roster and the other 3/5s of their starting lineup besides Lowry/Derozan is not impressive at all, it's a limited 3/D rookie in Anunoby, Ibaka who was overrated in his prime and just straight mediocre now, and a center with antiquated style of play offensively and defensively in Valanciunas. The starting lineup doesn't even outclass teams like the Wizard and Blazers if you really look at it. It shouldn't even be compared to 90s Cavs or 80s Mavs of this era, those teams are better. The bench is great but predictably relying on a bunch of 2nd/3rd year bench players who can only play so many minutes in the game isn't really a great formula in the playoffs. I think the next generation won't be wondering why the Raptors didn't do better in the playoffs, they will be wondering how the Raptors won 56 and 59 games with this team

The Cavs on paper are not that bad. I like Lebron surrounded by Hill, Korver and JR, they are veteran guys who hit open 3s and can be responsible defensively which traditionally has led to great success with Lebron. Lebron has a 2011 Mavs thing going on where either you bring extra defenders and get destroyed by shooters or don't and get destroyed by him. Love when he is awake is an all-star. TT when he is awake is a solid role playing big. I don't like Jeff Green but he is doing ok I guess. The Pacers matchup threw people off the scent but the Cavs have a history of flipping the switch last season when they were a completely different team in the playoffs. This team *should* be better than the Raptors and Celtics if they play up to their potential and it looks like they are now.

[Clyde Frazier]

I just had this vision of the timelines matching up with Stevens coming into the league around the same time as LeBron and the two basically forming Spurs East... It's definitely Friday lol

[mikejames23]

From all I have seen out of Derozan this year, he is at a Top 5 matchup caliber level. Will not be voted in, but absolutely he has had a great year. As far as Toronto goes, there is something seriously off about the location/culture. There's no other logical conclusion I can come up with.

[MisterHibachi]

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~Secondary ball handler~

[clyde21]

From all I have seen out of Derozan this year, he is at a Top 5 matchup caliber level. Will not be voted in, but absolutely he has had a great year. As far as Toronto goes, there is something seriously off about the location/culture. There's no other logical conclusion I can come up with.

I'm not sure what location or culture have to do with anything.

Simply put, Toronto is both not as good as everyone thought, and have been completely mind **** by LeBron on multiple levels over the years. That's about it.

[Pillendreher]

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Two of the worst losses of this Thunder season. They destroyed them the first half of that game and then faltered, and then the epic 80 second choke,

[INKtastic]

From all I have seen out of Derozan this year, he is at a Top 5 matchup caliber level. Will not be voted in, but absolutely he has had a great year. As far as Toronto goes, there is something seriously off about the location/culture. There's no other logical conclusion I can come up with.

The answer is easy: LeBron james. Did you see the look in his eyes right before he demolished Toronto yesterday?

[dhsilv2]

From all I have seen out of Derozan this year, he is at a Top 5 matchup caliber level. Will not be voted in, but absolutely he has had a great year. As far as Toronto goes, there is something seriously off about the location/culture. There's no other logical conclusion I can come up with.

I honestly feel teams have absolutely no fear of Derozen.

[Texas Chuck]

I'm not sure what location or culture have to do with anything.

.

yeah this is odd. Culture of the team can matter a lot, culture of the city far less so. And I wouldn't say Toronto's culture is that different from a number of other NBA cities that have been successful.

Location can matter a bit--Denver for instance has a unique home court advantage with the altitude, but again not really applicable to Toronto.

I think the main issue is its really difficult to get to the Finals/win titles when your best player is probably the 20th? best player in the league. We saw the Pistons do it, tho Ben Wallace was underrated because of his offensive limitations. In the playoffs the best player's team wins the series the vast majority of the time. Especially when said player is a guy like Lebron, or more importantly, specifically Lebron.

[ShotCreator]

Really don't want to overreact but I just don't see 17 GS getting handled like this at all, even with an ailing Curry.

Their defense was absurd. I wasn't even impressed with their game 2 defense in this series. And their first round defensive output is tough to judge due to the absurd lack of skill and talent in SA.

[NinjaSheppard]

Rajon Rondo with the most Rondo game in the history of Rondo.