PG: Raps outpace Indy

[nestea]

This team is going to be a top 6 seed. Book it.

If we make the playoffs, I want the Bucks in the first round. Introduce Barnes to some playoff venison.

Easy now

[D3158]

Scottie Barnes has franchise player potential. He has all the tools. All of them. Including and especially the intangibles. Once he understands that he has a tremendous physical advantage against everyone in the league not named Giannis that’s when he will ascend to superstardom and we will be back in the finals. This is not hyperbole. I truly believe this. It’s ridiculous how easy he makes everything look. It’s like he’s playing by himself out there. Between his athleticism, awareness and intelligence, it’s as if everyone else is moving in slow motion when he has the ball. He just finds space so well on offence and takes space away so efficiently on defence. And he’s a natural leader without fear. And a lot of swagger. And some killer instinct. He’s going to be so f***ing special.

Great post. Also he doesn't give up on his missed shots near the rim, always tries to show right then and there. Happened few times playing Pacers this game.

[ATLTimekeeper]

The most impressive thing in this game BY FAR is holding Sabonis to 4 Field Goal attempts in 34 minutes!Unbelievable!

For real. That dude is a beast.

People were worried about Sabonis and Turner. I think OG pinned Turner to the bench. Carlisle was rolling with Isaiah Jackson.

One thing about being small, is that it's humiliating to bigger players when you push them around. Sabonis was getting swarmed, but Turner was just getting bullied.

[tdot_steel]

His poise at such a young age is uncanny. Scottie doesn't get flustered. The game slows down with the ball in his hands. When I see him dribble the ball upcourt it is controlled, unrushed assessing the situation. It appears like the moment isn't too big for him and he can see the court at a more elevated level. This cannot be taught.

He gives off Neo vibes.

[will]

The most impressive thing in this game BY FAR is holding Sabonis to 4 Field Goal attempts in 34 minutes!Unbelievable!

For real. That dude is a beast.

People were worried about Sabonis and Turner. I think OG pinned Turner to the bench. Carlisle was rolling with Isaiah Jackson.

One thing about being small, is that it's humiliating to bigger players when you push them around. Sabonis was getting swarmed, but Turner was just getting bullied.

ADOBE pocketing Jokic and Myles.

[tecumseh18]

The most impressive thing in this game BY FAR is holding Sabonis to 4 Field Goal attempts in 34 minutes!Unbelievable!

For real. That dude is a beast.

People were worried about Sabonis and Turner. I think OG pinned Turner to the bench. Carlisle was rolling with Isaiah Jackson.

One thing about being small, is that it's humiliating to bigger players when you push them around. Sabonis was getting swarmed, but Turner was just getting bullied.

We shouldn't be so surprised, having witnessed Lowry defending bigger guys in the low post for years. I remember back when DeMarcus Cousins was good, the only guy on the Raps that could even slow Boogie down was the Chuckster - all 6' 6" of Chuck Hayes. Casey was always reluctant to use him, but by the third quarter he had no other option. Some guys (who don't skip leg days) just know how to use their leverage against bigger players.

No it's the smaller guys who represent the biggest threat. Brogdon was cooking us before he went out with the hammy issue. Not sure who we have who can cover him.

[Gold Dragon]

1. Trent looks like he is gambling a lot with his steals but when he is winning more than he is losing, is it really a gamble any more? Excellent attack mentality creating fast breaks which is key to our system. Love the tenacity and effort. Even with the shot not quite there he made things happen with opportunistic timely cuts. Even his misses were good shots in the flow of the offense that our rebounders were able to turn into put backs. He is winning over his critics and I think will push Precious to the bench when Pascal comes back.

2. We are still struggling with converting on fast breaks. 2nd in the league in transition opportunities but in the lower half when it comes to PPP and scoring frequency. If we clean up these gimme points we could probably average 6-8 more PPG. Some of it is guys being too unselfish and passing when they should just keep it simple take it themselves and finish.

3. The defense on Sabonis was masterful. Fred getting into him and not allowing him to make anything happen. Nurse yelling out at Delano to get into Sabonis. Overall the defense creating turnovers and fast breaks by being aggressive was just a sight to behold. I would love adding Davion Mitchell to this smothering defense.

4. Duarte was also very impressive. What a solid rookie class this is turning out to be so far with early returns for many teams.

5. OG Anunooby taking ownership of the first quarter is going to be a trend going forward.
6. Svi coming up with some really sneaky plays just being aggressive.
7. Delano's playing his way out of 905 minutes if he keeps this up.
8. His name is Fred Van Vleet Sr.

[fbalmeida]

How fun was that yesterday.

Dalano and Barnes.

Fred and OG playing to their strengths.

Goran Tragic ...




Great stuff.

The Fred, OG, Barnes, Siakam, and Precious lineup is going to be a problem for this league. Bring it on.

[ash_k]

The most impressive thing in this game BY FAR is holding Sabonis to 4 Field Goal attempts in 34 minutes!Unbelievable!

For real. That dude is a beast.

People were worried about Sabonis and Turner. I think OG pinned Turner to the bench. Carlisle was rolling with Isaiah Jackson.

One thing about being small, is that it's humiliating to bigger players when you push them around. Sabonis was getting swarmed, but Turner was just getting bullied.

Looking at the last 3 Pacers games, Carlisle does not seem comfortable having both Turner and Sabonis out there.

[will]

For real. That dude is a beast.

People were worried about Sabonis and Turner. I think OG pinned Turner to the bench. Carlisle was rolling with Isaiah Jackson.

One thing about being small, is that it's humiliating to bigger players when you push them around. Sabonis was getting swarmed, but Turner was just getting bullied.

We shouldn't be so surprised, having witnessed Lowry defending bigger guys in the low post for years. I remember back when DeMarcus Cousins was good, the only guy on the Raps that could even slow Boogie down was the Chuckster - all 6' 6" of Chuck Hayes. Casey was always reluctant to use him, but by the third quarter he had no other option. Some guys (who don't skip leg days) just know how to use their leverage against bigger players.

No it's the smaller guys who represent the biggest threat. Brogdon was cooking us before he went out with the hammy issue. Not sure who we have who can cover him.

The (short-lived) legend of Chuck Hayes on the Raps locking down Boogie.

What.
A.
Time.

[TheDunc]

How fun was that yesterday.

Dalano and Barnes.

Fred and OG playing to their strengths.

Goran Tragic ...




Great stuff.

The Fred, OG, Barnes, Siakam, and Precious lineup is going to be a problem for this league. Bring it on.

Or a Banton, FVV, OG, Barnes and Siakam lineup has championship potential if Barnes and Banton can become average 3 point shooters

[fbalmeida]

The sky is the limit. Banton has all the physical tools and a much better head on his shoulders than TD2. What a gem.

[Clay Davis]

Anyone else find this to be the most entertaining team we've fielded in awhile?

We've had teams with AMAZING defense (like, all-time great level), but never one that was so focused on forcing turnovers and playing in transition. It's like watching high school ball.

Barnes is an absolute joy to watch. He has the ability to affect any play on either side of the court.

Only thing that sucks is watching Birch biff opportunities... And listening to Leo (or is it Jack? All these years and I still don't know their names) continuously repeat "Bonjour" and "get this garbage outta here". So **** annoying.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Anyone else find this to be the most entertaining team we've fielded in awhile?

We've had teams with AMAZING defense (like, all-time great level), but never one that was so focused on forcing turnovers and playing in transition. It's like watching high school ball.

Barnes is an absolute joy to watch. He has the ability to affect any play on either side of the court.

Only thing that sucks is watching Birch biff opportunities... And listening to Leo (or is it Jack? All these years and I still don't know their names) continuously repeat "Bonjour" and "get this garbage outta here". So **** annoying.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

its only entertaining because we finally have a high profile rookie on the team, who is WAY better than any of us thought he could be in his first year - I bet if we had finished in a playoff spot last year and drafted a guy in the late teens/ early 20s, with an unknown ceiling/floor, some of them would be calling for Nurse or Masai's head right now after the 1-3 start. Additionally with an injured Siakam, this team would be kinda blah to watch.

Barnes seems like he's about to be face of the franchise after these first 5 games. He's the perfect guy to be a lightning rod to the culture Masai/Webster are trying to build here in Toronto.

[Mikistan]

Anyone else find this to be the most entertaining team we've fielded in awhile?

We've had teams with AMAZING defense (like, all-time great level), but never one that was so focused on forcing turnovers and playing in transition. It's like watching high school ball.

Barnes is an absolute joy to watch. He has the ability to affect any play on either side of the court.

Only thing that sucks is watching Birch biff opportunities... And listening to Leo (or is it Jack? All these years and I still don't know their names) continuously repeat "Bonjour" and "get this garbage outta here". So **** annoying.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

its only entertaining because we finally have a high profile rookie on the team, who is WAY better than any of us thought he could be in his first year - I bet if we had finished in a playoff spot last year and drafted a guy in the late teens/ early 20s, with an unknown ceiling/floor, some of them would be calling for Nurse or Masai's head right now after the 1-3 start. Additionally with an injured Siakam, this team would be kinda blah to watch.

Barnes seems like he's about to be face of the franchise after these first 5 games. He's the perfect guy to be a lightning rod to the culture Masai/Webster are trying to build here in Toronto.

I mean I disagree with that. Of course it's more exciting due to Scottie but it's not just his physical profile it's his basketball iq that excites.

But even if we replaced him with some other random rookie, you still get to see OGs budding offensive game including absolutely dominating while stifling defense.
Our team defense concept actually starts to work/contest 3pters without 2 pgs on the floor so it's fun to watch that.
We don't have stopgap old centres we have another hyper athletic longboy in Achiuwa and we are way younger as a team which was always the most fun about being a treadmill team watching the yutes learn who/what they can be in the league

[will]

The sky is the limit. Banton has all the physical tools and a much better head on his shoulders than TD2. What a gem.

Watch on YouTube

[will]

Anyone else find this to be the most entertaining team we've fielded in awhile?

We've had teams with AMAZING defense (like, all-time great level), but never one that was so focused on forcing turnovers and playing in transition. It's like watching high school ball.

Barnes is an absolute joy to watch. He has the ability to affect any play on either side of the court.

Only thing that sucks is watching Birch biff opportunities... And listening to Leo (or is it Jack? All these years and I still don't know their names) continuously repeat "Bonjour" and "get this garbage outta here". So **** annoying.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

Just wait till PSizzle aka AAAAYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! aka OHMYYYyyGGGgawwwwwwDDDddd!!! comes back.

[BD006]

Gotta say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly the defense has come together. Maybe it was Tampa or the personnel (Baynes), but I felt it took much longer to get on the same page to begin last season.

I was having serious doubts after the first game against the Wiz

[raptorforlife88]

When Siakam is able to play, this team should really hit its stride off once he gets back into full game shape. It's clear that even though in the past two or three games OG and Fred have done better, Siakam attracts a completely different level of defending from opposing teams. His involvement is going to free up other guys.

Also Scottie scoring almost all of his points unassisted is super impressive. 72.2% of his FGs are unassisted. For reference that number is basically reversed for OG who has 75% of his FGs assisted. Scottie is basically finding his own offense in all five games.

[raptorstime]

The future is bright..