Eastern Conference | Round 1 | (4) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (5) Toronto Raptors

[Tomhomes33]

I have my popcorn ready,...,and I truly hope Raps take game 1..
Would need a lot more popcorn to follow Doc-Harden-Embiid drama through the series:)
And someone fly Marc Gasol from Spain please..and sit him next to Drake !
Actually I wouldnt be so surprised if Gasol does show up himself for game 3 and 4..that alone would be hilarious:)

[Duffman100]

Great analogy. I guess the only difference between a passport and a Covid vaccine is that one of them you have to inject inside of your blood stream despite it being completely experimental and rushed to the market by an industry that is notoriously corrupt and untrustworthy, and that also happens to be one of the biggest and most powerful lobbies of our government. The same industry that helped pass a law in 1986 to shield themselves from liability and use tax money to fund settlements paid to victims of vaccine injury.

But other than that, you really made me look stupid. Maybe I should just shut up and take my shot so we can flatten the curve and get back to normal.

Isn't there a dedicated social media network / echo chamber for you to spout your garbage? Join the other Great Reset conspiracy folks and have fun waiting for 2030.

Why can't I have a discussion here and express my opinions like everyone else?

See, this is all you people do. Gaslight and censor people with differing ideas. There's no room for discourse anymore. It's the definition of an echo chamber lol. You completely ignored a great point I made about the 1986 NCVIA, and went straight to the same old snarky little quip about conspiracy theorists. You sir have been trained by the media to do this and you don't even realize it. Wowzers.

Because it's a thread about Philly vs Toronto and you're spouting the same conspiracy garbage I can find anywhere else.

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Isn't there a dedicated social media network / echo chamber for you to spout your garbage? Join the other Great Reset conspiracy folks and have fun waiting for 2030.

Why can't I have a discussion here and express my opinions like everyone else?

See, this is all you people do. Gaslight and censor people with differing ideas. There's no room for discourse anymore. It's the definition of an echo chamber lol. You completely ignored a great point I made about the 1986 NCVIA, and went straight to the same old snarky little quip about conspiracy theorists. You sir have been trained by the media to do this and you don't even realize it. Wowzers.

Because it's a thread about Philly vs Toronto and you're spouting the same conspiracy garbage I can find anywhere else.

I made one comment that said I'd like to see Toronto lose so the mandates were no longer a factor in the playoffs, and I got jumped on by 12 different posters. The same thing happens in every thread that is actually about vaccines (and there's many of them). But go right ahead, carry on. I'd much prefer to speak about basketball only, which again is why I'd rather just eliminate Toronto and keep it moving. God forbid the Nets wind up in a series with the Raptors.

[stormi]

Read on Twitter

boo !

Yeah one of those 'you can see it real time metrics'. Honestly a lot had to do with the fact that Greg Monroe was also terrible.

The quietly amazing thing about Joel Embiid is that, when he's locked in, he's an even better defensive player than he is offensive. Embiid dropping 20 on so/so efficiency in a bad night but still coupled with his all world dominant rim protection still usually has him grading out as a net positive against anyone. I think the stat is, Joel was +90 against the Raptors those playoffs and then in second place, Butler was like +15 with the other 3 Sixers starters that year being a negative across all 7 games.

[Duffman100]

Why can't I have a discussion here and express my opinions like everyone else?

See, this is all you people do. Gaslight and censor people with differing ideas. There's no room for discourse anymore. It's the definition of an echo chamber lol. You completely ignored a great point I made about the 1986 NCVIA, and went straight to the same old snarky little quip about conspiracy theorists. You sir have been trained by the media to do this and you don't even realize it. Wowzers.

Because it's a thread about Philly vs Toronto and you're spouting the same conspiracy garbage I can find anywhere else.

I made one comment that said I'd like to see Toronto lose so the mandates were no longer a factor in the playoffs, and I got jumped on by 12 different posters. The same thing happens in every thread that is actually about vaccines (and there's many of them). But go right ahead, carry on. I'd much prefer to speak about basketball only, which again is why I'd rather just eliminate Toronto and keep it moving. God forbid the Nets wind up in a series with the Raptors.

God forbid a Raptors player wasn't vaccinated and wasn't allowed into the United States? Oh wait...would you care about that? Probably not.

[everdiso]

Why can't I have a discussion here and express my opinions like everyone else?

Sir this is a basketball playoffs series thread.

[User_denied]

My god. Can we NOT turn this series into a vax/ant-vax rant?

To those slandering Raps/Canada for their policies. They are very similar to ALL western countries. If your upset with the policies don't single out one country and find another forum to discuss your displeasure. Whether you agree with it or not it's a rule that is above and beyond basketball and no different then needing a work permit/citizenship or proof of many other vaccines required to visit other countries.

Save this thread for actual basketball discussion.

[everdiso]

Read on Twitter

boo !

Yeah what's interesting about this is that it sure seems like the Raps have figured out a better way to guard Embiid by going small than they ever did going big, even with a defender like Gasol.

[stormi]

I have my popcorn ready,...,and I truly hope Raps take game 1..
Would need a lot more popcorn to follow Doc-Harden-Embiid drama through the series:)
And someone fly Marc Gasol from Spain please..and sit him next to Drake !
Actually I wouldnt be so surprised if Gasol does show up himself for game 3 and 4..that alone would be hilarious:)

vibes, dude.

Watch on YouTube

[GeorgeSears]

This is a toss-up series. I'm going with Raps in 7.

[Gorilla Monsoon]

Because it's a thread about Philly vs Toronto and you're spouting the same conspiracy garbage I can find anywhere else.

I made one comment that said I'd like to see Toronto lose so the mandates were no longer a factor in the playoffs, and I got jumped on by 12 different posters. The same thing happens in every thread that is actually about vaccines (and there's many of them). But go right ahead, carry on. I'd much prefer to speak about basketball only, which again is why I'd rather just eliminate Toronto and keep it moving. God forbid the Nets wind up in a series with the Raptors.

God forbid a Raptors player wasn't vaccinated and wasn't allowed into the United States? Oh wait...would you care about that? Probably not.

Yes I would. I'm completely against mandates of any sort. How can you not see that? This isn't an anti-Raptors or anti-Canada thing. It's an anti-medical tyranny thing.

I like the Raptors team and respect the franchise. Was thrilled when they won the title in 2019. Without the mandates being an issue, I'd much rather see them beat Philly. I hate Philly lol. Whatever though. I don't want to be at odds with everyone on this board. I'm sorry I flipped the conversation. Nobody mentioned vaccines in this thread until I did, so for that I apologize. Carry on.

[Duffman100]

This is a toss-up series. I'm going with Raps in 7.

Just so hard. If Harden shows up, Raptors aren't winning. Philly would have the 2 best players. If Harden doesn't show up and Siakam becomes the 2nd best player, then the series is on.

The entire season, the Raps probably has been depth. But their 8 man rotation is solid.

Siakam
Barnes
OG
Trent
FVV

Boucher
Precious
Thad
(little bit of Birch ew)

Honestly, I'd advise Philly to play Zone and make us shoot.

[Feed Your Head]

Harden isn’t going to consistently be able to beat Toronto’s defenders off the dribble, he will need to be hot from three for Philly to win this series IMO. It’s absolutely doable for him, as we all know. Tobias will also need to be consistent, which isn’t always his strength lol.

I’m curious about how Siakam plays this series, he’s been killing it at the rim, but I think Embiid has another gear defensively in a playoff series. And when he’s defending at that level, he’s one of the best rim protectors in the league.

How is VanVleet physically? If he’s still not right, the half court offense will be more of an issue.

[eyeatoma]

If Joel decide to playcas a center 76ers will win ,if he play like a sg they will go fishing.

Not sure I full agree with that. Joel as an SG is what shot him up another stratosphere in the last 2 years. That being said, if he only does that, it'll be a problem. Needs to mix up playing down low, using his midrange, and utilizing the pick and roll with Harden.

[User_denied]

This is a toss-up series. I'm going with Raps in 7.

Just so hard. If Harden shows up, Raptors aren't winning. Philly would have the 2 best players. If Harden doesn't show up and Siakam becomes the 2nd best player, then the series is on.

The entire season, the Raps probably has been depth. But their 8 man rotation is solid.

Siakam
Barnes
OG
Trent
FVV

Boucher
Precious
Thad
(little bit of Birch ew)

Honestly, I'd advise Philly to play Zone and make us shoot.

That's my biggest fear in this series. We have the penetration to break down a zone but we don't have consistent enough shooting to make them pay for it. If they play zone and our shooters are cold it's going to produce some back breaking stretches for us in the game.

[Duffman100]

How is VanVleet physically? If he’s still not right, the half court offense will be more of an issue.

He looked uber rough near the end of the season, his shot was consistently WAY off. He worries me for sure.

As much as I'm worried about this 'free money' playoffs we've managed to find ourselves in

[Raptors_Dynasty]

If I'm Fred I'm smashing my girl raw 9 months before April every year

[mg]

Really impressed with the Raps and think they have a really bright future. Their one kryptonite might be trying to defend an Embiid type center though. Ultimately I will go with the Sixers but it won't be easy.

[mulamutti]

Regular season matchup doesn't matter to be honest. Philly will up their defensive intensity, vs. the raptors already play with insane defensive intensity. So not sure there's any room to improve on intensity. As others said, Nurse >>>> Doc and that'll be a factor. I still think Philly will pull it off, because Raptors half court offense is very stagnant, and with playoff defensive intensity I think it'll fold. Harden will still be garbage, cuz he can't switch on anyone. He'll get smothered and be stuck with top of the key contested 3 pointers. He should get his 10+ assists though, as he probably will just play decoy the entire game.

[Childs]

Watch on YouTube

Harden encountering a 6 foot 9 defender every minute for the 48 minutes.