[Murphy] Raptors 8-Game Orlando Schedule

[Young Moosehead]

Not worried.

1) Philly is 10-24 without the home court advantage. We should get that one easy. Marc has gotten into better shape so he can spend more time playing with his son.

2) Orlando and Memphis are must wins.

3) Celtics have to drop Milwaukee, Heat and the Raps in their first 5 before we even need to worry about going better than .500. Celtics also have an inferior road record to ours, and these games are all going to be road game essentially.

4) If we cant go 4-4 on that schedule we shouldn't even be talking about getting past the second round. And that's all we need to do as long as we take care of Boston.

[mjd58]

I'm too lazy to do it, but a proper analysis would entail comparing the remaining schedules of Philadelphia, whose remaining 8 games have two games against opponents with a top record, and Toronto, whose remaining 8 games pit us six times against opponents with a top record.

Again, I am too lazy - or preoccupied with real stuff - to bother looking, but it wouldn't be too surprising to discover that the NBA is indeed showing a bias to making it easer for Philadelphia, and harder for Toronto.

But as others have already noted, seeding, or home court advantage, is no longer of relevance. On the other hand, the psychological effect of winning vs. losing, which itself is textured by the quality of the opponents you're playing, is definitely still a relevant factor. On this front, the Raptors have been sorely (if the above analysis shows this to be the case) screwed over by the NBA head office.

[g.muresan]

A good test before winning the championship. If we can’t fare well, then we have no business advancing deep.

[ItsDanger]

I think our team matches up well with every other legit contender. My only concern is that we did not have a lot of games with everyone healthy. When we did the performance was not great, we seemed to play better shorthanded. Nurse can use these 8 games to get the rotations down. I still wonder if we should rotate Gasol/Ibaka as starters depending on matchups. And I'm not sold on the starting smurf PG lineup. I guess there are pros and cons to either starting Fred vs Norm. Norm was providing that excellent punch off the bench.

[mjd58]

A good test before winning the championship. If we can’t fare well, then we have no business advancing deep.

That's not necessarily the case.

Shouldn't the quality of your opponent affect your stamina, durability and morale?

Of course, to begin with, I don't think Toronto is in that special group of contenders where the above consideration - energy level, the state of your body and fitness (which is effected by how much you need to exert yourself), and your psychological self-esteem - are tough enough to resist the wear and tear that are schedule can probably create.

I only see Milwaukee, and then to a lesser degree, the two LA's, as being of that calibre.

My overall point is that any team, in theory, can be overwhelmed by too much competitive firepower. Six of the eight teams we're playing are top seeds. Teams that are used to losing are easier to beat, and therefore require less energy to defeat. The reverse situation applies to good teams that are used to winning - they demand more, energetically, physically, and psychologically.

If we happen to finish the season with a poor outing, let's say 4 wins and 4 losses, those four losses are going to do a number on the psyche of the Raptors.

[Parataxis]

Sorry bout the format but here's the average winning % of the opponents for each team.

NOP 0.495

HOW? How is this even possible? You've already eliminated the bottom-feeder teams from the schedule, AND NOP is one of the weaker teams remaining.

That's some impressive scheduling.

[SFour]

Sorry bout the format but here's the average winning % of the opponents for each team.

NOP 0.495

HOW? How is this even possible? You've already eliminated the bottom-feeder teams from the schedule, AND NOP is one of the weaker teams remaining.

That's some impressive scheduling.

NBA has no shame, they aren't even trying to hide their thirst for Zion to be in the playoffs...especially since it would be Zion vs Lebron. Pelicans are also playing on "opening night" and they also have more nationally televised games than the defending champs...all this for a sub .500 team that is a 1st round exit...just because they have Zion.

[PT416]

Lets GOOOOO we need this, if we play this right we can use it to our advantage, we will be sharper and more tested.

[raptorstime]

Read on Twitter

they want zion in the playoffs so badly

[GoRapstheoriginal]

LETS GO 8-0! GO RAPTORS GO! WE GOT THIS! ! ! !

[Anticon]

Tough breaks for us, but the schedule for March and April was going to be pretty tough anyway. Take away the bottom feeders and this is likely what the schedule looks like.

End of March and April was Philly, Boston, Denver, LAL, Houston, Memphis x 2, Milwaukee x 2, and Heat. That's 10 tough games out of 18.

The only easy game we don't get from the teams in the bubble is against the Wizards.

[Mattd97]

Are ppl complaining about our difficulty/pets easiness completely unaware of how the schedule was made? It sucks, but its not rigged

[bon]

There's no homecourt anyways so it wouldn't even matter. We'd get a better draft pick too lol

Yeah I don't know why people are stressing about seeding

Currently the 7 seed is Brooklyn, the 6 seed is Philly. Who would you rather play in the first round?

4, 5 and 6 are all close. No need to stress

[Johnny Bball]

Why do we always get effed. Raptors 2nd toughest Schedule, Boston and Philly get cakewalks, when we would have had one of the easiest schedules that was left. At this point its way past the point of it being coincidence. Idiots. Not sure why they didn't factor in existing schedule.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-new-schedule-gauntlet-pivotal-games-playoff-implications/

[dalton749]

Why do we always get effed. Raptors 2nd toughest Schedule, Boston and Philly get cakewalks, when we would have had one of the easiest schedules that was left. At this point its way past the point of it being coincidence. Idiots. Not sure why they didn't factor in existing schedule.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-new-schedule-gauntlet-pivotal-games-playoff-implications/

We need to go 4-4 to keep the 2 seed. Not sure why people act like this matters, just some good comp to prepare for playoffs

[tanuki1031]

We're the defending champs. Every other team has to go through us, not the other way around.

[Mattd97]

Why do we always get effed. Raptors 2nd toughest Schedule, Boston and Philly get cakewalks, when we would have had one of the easiest schedules that was left. At this point its way past the point of it being coincidence. Idiots. Not sure why they didn't factor in existing schedule.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-new-schedule-gauntlet-pivotal-games-playoff-implications/

They literally used everyone's actual remaining schedule. Its just every teams next 10 games, minus teams that aren't in Orlando
And then when a team on your schedule is already done their 8, like Memphis on ours, it moves on to the next game

[Johnny Bball]

Why do we always get effed. Raptors 2nd toughest Schedule, Boston and Philly get cakewalks, when we would have had one of the easiest schedules that was left. At this point its way past the point of it being coincidence. Idiots. Not sure why they didn't factor in existing schedule.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-new-schedule-gauntlet-pivotal-games-playoff-implications/

They literally used everyone's actual remaining schedule. Its just every teams next 10 games, minus teams that aren't in Orlando
And then when a team on your schedule is already done their 8, like Memphis on ours, it moves on to the next game

First, it doesn't make it the same competitive balance for schedules. Raptors previous remaining schedule is not the 2nd toughest in the league in any way shape or form and was heavy on home games against teams they were in tougher against and on the road against teams they beat except two give or take. Any remaining back to backs were against bad teams. Not sure about the other way around.

Detroit - home
GSW - home
Sixers - Away
Boston - Home
Denver -Home
LAL - Home
Knicks - Away
Memphis - Away
Memphis - Home
Milwaukee - Away
Milwaukee - Home
Rockets - Away
Wizards- Away
Charlotte - Away
Atlanta - Home
Knicks - Home
Heat - Away
Magic - away

They didn't just use those remaining games because the wizards are not in it, nor do they play Memphis or the Bucks twice. There's slightly more to it than "literally" used the remaining schedule when you have to pick and choose.

[Mattd97]

Why do we always get effed. Raptors 2nd toughest Schedule, Boston and Philly get cakewalks, when we would have had one of the easiest schedules that was left. At this point its way past the point of it being coincidence. Idiots. Not sure why they didn't factor in existing schedule.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-new-schedule-gauntlet-pivotal-games-playoff-implications/

They literally used everyone's actual remaining schedule. Its just every teams next 10 games, minus teams that aren't in Orlando
And then when a team on your schedule is already done their 8, like Memphis on ours, it moves on to the next game

First, it doesn't make it the same competitive balance for schedules. Raptors previous remaining schedule is not the 2nd toughest in the league in any way shape or form and was heavy on home games against teams they were in tougher against and on the road against teams they beat except two give or take. Any remaining back to backs were against bad teams. Not sure about the other way around.

Detroit - home
GSW - home
Sixers - Away
Boston - Home
Denver -Home
LAL - Home
Knicks - Away
Memphis - Away
Memphis - Home
Milwaukee - Away
Milwaukee - Home
Rockets - Away
Wizards- Away
Charlotte - Away
Atlanta - Home
Knicks - Home
Heat - Away
Magic - away

They didn't just use those remaining games because the wizards are not in it, nor do they play Memphis or the Bucks twice. There's slightly more to it than "literally" used the remaining schedule when you have to pick and choose.

Thats because Washington plays 8 teams in Orlando before they meet us on their schedule. Theres not a lot they can do about home and away games. They just took your 8 next games and built a schedule off of it. So yes, they literally used the remaining schedule to build this one.

[YelloC]

Anyone else interested in seeing what Zion looks like after 3+ months off?