Raps will make the playoffs, and 2nd round, if healthy

[CoachD]

You guys beat a bunch of g league rosters on your win streak and now Raptors fans think they're a championship team!

Your reading comprehension is unbelievably bad. Read the second sentence in my post.

And yes we along with many other teams have beaten a lot of G-league lineups due to covid protocols. We were also in that same situation two weeks ago when we had none of our rotation players available. Secondly, this is the first time all year we've actually been healthy.

We can compare the Bulls starting lineup to the Raptors one if you'd like. I'm honestly amazed that there are some people so high on the Bulls. Shouldn't we know what works in the playoffs and what doesn't work in the playoffs by now? The Bulls are a disaster waiting to happen.

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Are fake wins anything like the fake non losses the Bulls got when bunch of your games were cancelled instead of being forced to play with g leaguers and get killed?

With those games not being called, Bulls would be in 3rd at best with Miami on their tail

[Letsgokings]

[Los_29]

You guys beat a bunch of g league rosters on your win streak and now Raptors fans think they're a championship team!

Your reading comprehension is unbelievably bad. Read the second sentence in my post.

And yes we along with many other teams have beaten a lot of G-league lineups due to covid protocols. We were also in that same situation two weeks ago when we had none of our rotation players available. Secondly, this is the first time all year we've actually been healthy.

We can compare the Bulls starting lineup to the Raptors one if you'd like. I'm honestly amazed that there are some people so high on the Bulls. Shouldn't we know what works in the playoffs and what doesn't work in the playoffs by now? The Bulls are a disaster waiting to happen.

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Well they clearly aren't a lottery because the border issues just started like a week ago. The Raptors starting lineup have also played among the fewest minutes in the entire league together. So yes I will acknowledge the easy wins the past week if you can acknowledge the losses that should have been wins if we had without Pascal, OG, GTJ and FVV.

The Raptors shouldn't have been a lottery team last year either unless you choose to ignore statistics and the fact we played in Tampa Bay all year. We were 4th in the East at the halfway point of the year last year. Then injuries/covid derailed the season. Lowry played 45 games, OG played 45 games, FVV played 50 games, Pascal played 55 games. This year they've had continued growth from all of the starters including GTJ who we also sat out down the stretch last year.

No one cares what a poll on a message board would say. It's funny how you think that will settle this debate. The Bulls have serious question marks and Toronto would give them a very good series and possibly upset them. Chicago is not a team that is built for the playoffs. This is obvious.

[payton2kemp]

Your reading comprehension is unbelievably bad. Read the second sentence in my post.

And yes we along with many other teams have beaten a lot of G-league lineups due to covid protocols. We were also in that same situation two weeks ago when we had none of our rotation players available. Secondly, this is the first time all year we've actually been healthy.

We can compare the Bulls starting lineup to the Raptors one if you'd like. I'm honestly amazed that there are some people so high on the Bulls. Shouldn't we know what works in the playoffs and what doesn't work in the playoffs by now? The Bulls are a disaster waiting to happen.

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Well they clearly aren't a lottery because the border issues just started like a week ago. The Raptors starting lineup have also played among the fewest minutes in the entire league together. So yes I will acknowledge the easy wins the past week if you can acknowledge the losses that should have been wins if we had without Pascal, OG, GTJ and FVV.

The Raptors shouldn't have been a lottery team last year either unless you choose to ignore statistics and the fact we played in Tampa Bay all year. We were 4th in the East at the halfway point of the year last year. Then injuries/covid derailed the season. Lowry played 45 games, OG played 45 games, FVV played 50 games, Pascal played 55 games. This year they've had continued growth from all of the starters including GTJ who we also sat out down the stretch last year.

No one cares what a poll on a message board would say. It's funny how you think that will settle this debate. The Bulls have serious question marks and Toronto would give them a very good series and possibly upset them. Chicago is not a team that is built for the playoffs. This is obvious.

The Bulls have more games missed that the Raptors due to covid. You guys are a lottery team lol. Raptors are garbage lol.

If no one cares about a message board then why do you post here?

[Los_29]

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Well they clearly aren't a lottery because the border issues just started like a week ago. The Raptors starting lineup have also played among the fewest minutes in the entire league together. So yes I will acknowledge the easy wins the past week if you can acknowledge the losses that should have been wins if we had without Pascal, OG, GTJ and FVV.

The Raptors shouldn't have been a lottery team last year either unless you choose to ignore statistics and the fact we played in Tampa Bay all year. We were 4th in the East at the halfway point of the year last year. Then injuries/covid derailed the season. Lowry played 45 games, OG played 45 games, FVV played 50 games, Pascal played 55 games. This year they've had continued growth from all of the starters including GTJ who we also sat out down the stretch last year.

No one cares what a poll on a message board would say. It's funny how you think that will settle this debate. The Bulls have serious question marks and Toronto would give them a very good series and possibly upset them. Chicago is not a team that is built for the playoffs. This is obvious.

The Bulls have more games missed that the Raptors due to covid. You guys are a lottery team lol. Raptors are garbage lol.

If no one cares about a message board then why do you post here?

Reading comprehension again. You need to work on this.

Man, so many butthurt people on here after we won a championship. You guys are so emotional. It's hilarious.

[pingpongrac]

Absolutely laughable. Playing the Raptors, OG has never stuck out as a monstrous defender to me or even an elite one. D-RAPM, D-LEBRON, and Defensive RAPTOR all paint him as quite literally a negative defender. He’s just barely positive in Defensive EPM. And you’re over here saying he’s DPOY level.

You really think OG isn't an elite defender? What???
I mean you kinda did just admit to being a casual by saying you only watch him when your Cavs play the Raptors. So you're basing your opinion on 2-3 regular season games. Guess it's only right to take your opinion with a grain of salt.

Maybe you should be the one tuning into other games besides just Raptors games because then you might actually have good reference points for the level of defense OG is actually at. Hint: it’s not DPOY level. Again, OG is posting negative defensive metrics across the board. And you guys are over here painting him as a monstrous defender better than peak LeBron and Paul George. The onus is on you to prove why all these metrics just happen to get OG so ridiculously wrong and explain the enormous gap between the level they depict him at and the level only Raptors fans seem to think he’s at.

I have a feeling the only thing you’ll have to offer is just anecdotal generalities about how he “locks up the other team’s best offensive player 1 on 1.” I would call OG a very good defender but I would stop there. He’s nowhere close to peak LeBron or Paul George, and he doesn’t deserve to make an All-Defensive team either.

In 19/20, OG held opponents to 44% (2% below their average) and posted positive impact numbers across the board (+1.6 D-RAPTOR, +1.59 D-LEBRON, +0.62 D-RAPM).

In 20/21, OG held opponents to 43% (4% below their average) and posted positive defensive impact numbers across the board (+2.3 DRAPTOR, +1.07 D-LEBRON,.+0.67 D-RAPM) while being one of the most versatile defenders in the league (as seen in the picture below).

Read on Twitter

OG has always been a very good defender and he was elite last season. Even this season, he has been a good defender despite what some numbers may lead you to believe. His numbers are being dragged down significantly because Toronto's defence was terrible in the first 15 games (couple new pieces in the starting lineup, Barnes' team defence was pretty bad, Siakam was coming back from injury near the end of that stretch and was playing at half speed, etc.) then he went down with an injury for a month. Despite that, he has held numerous stars to poor shooting numbers (Beal 2/10, Tatum 2/8, Randle 3/9, Durant 3/7) while forcing 2-4 turnovers each in ~10 minutes.

If there is ever an opponent lighting it up to start the game, OG is almost always thrown on them to slow them down -- and he generally succeeds.

[Ell Curry]

OG is a better defender than Prime PG and Prime LeBron? That's kinda news to me...

LeBron finished 2nd in DPOY voting twice, and PG just as recently as 2019 finished top 3...

Yes. He is.

Absolutely laughable. Playing the Raptors, OG has never stuck out as a monstrous defender to me or even an elite one. D-RAPM, D-LEBRON, and Defensive RAPTOR all paint him as quite literally a negative defender. He’s just barely positive in Defensive EPM. And you’re over here saying he’s DPOY level.

I think general consensus (and my view to be honest) is that OG should have made 1 or 2 2nd team all defense but has sort of dropped back to being a mistake-free very good defender and more of a top 30-40 defender than a top 10-15 one. Not as big a drop as Siakam.

Though if we had a 5 and he could do what he does best (man on man defense on forwards with some rim protection behind him, like an Iguodala had at his best) he might get back to challenging for the 2nd team.

[payton2kemp]

Well they clearly aren't a lottery because the border issues just started like a week ago. The Raptors starting lineup have also played among the fewest minutes in the entire league together. So yes I will acknowledge the easy wins the past week if you can acknowledge the losses that should have been wins if we had without Pascal, OG, GTJ and FVV.

The Raptors shouldn't have been a lottery team last year either unless you choose to ignore statistics and the fact we played in Tampa Bay all year. We were 4th in the East at the halfway point of the year last year. Then injuries/covid derailed the season. Lowry played 45 games, OG played 45 games, FVV played 50 games, Pascal played 55 games. This year they've had continued growth from all of the starters including GTJ who we also sat out down the stretch last year.

No one cares what a poll on a message board would say. It's funny how you think that will settle this debate. The Bulls have serious question marks and Toronto would give them a very good series and possibly upset them. Chicago is not a team that is built for the playoffs. This is obvious.

The Bulls have more games missed that the Raptors due to covid. You guys are a lottery team lol. Raptors are garbage lol.

If no one cares about a message board then why do you post here?

Reading comprehension again. You need to work on this.

Man, so many butthurt people on here after we won a championship. You guys are so emotional. It's hilarious.

Raptors fans are the ones butthurt, bragging about their team on the general board, but start crying when they're told the truth. The fanbase is so sensitive lol.

[Los_29]

The Bulls have more games missed that the Raptors due to covid. You guys are a lottery team lol. Raptors are garbage lol.

If no one cares about a message board then why do you post here?

Reading comprehension again. You need to work on this.

Man, so many butthurt people on here after we won a championship. You guys are so emotional. It's hilarious.

Raptors fans are the ones butthurt, bragging about their team on the general board, but start crying when they're told the truth. The fanbase is so sensitive lol.

What truth have you told? Only thing you've done is prove your ignorance of the Raptors and demonstrate your weird obsession with a Bulls team that hasn't accomplished anything. You've brought zero facts to the table, only emojis.

[payton2kemp]

Reading comprehension again. You need to work on this.

Man, so many butthurt people on here after we won a championship. You guys are so emotional. It's hilarious.

Raptors fans are the ones butthurt, bragging about their team on the general board, but start crying when they're told the truth. The fanbase is so sensitive lol.

What truth have you told? Only thing you've done is prove your ignorance of the Raptors and demonstrate your weird obsession with a Bulls team that hasn't accomplished anything. You've brought zero facts to the table, only emojis.

Bulls have 6 championships Raptors have 1. You guys acting like you're some great team. You were a lottery team with the same players last year, lol. Bulls are in first place. Keeping making up facts loll

[payton2kemp]

You really think OG isn't an elite defender? What???
I mean you kinda did just admit to being a casual by saying you only watch him when your Cavs play the Raptors. So you're basing your opinion on 2-3 regular season games. Guess it's only right to take your opinion with a grain of salt.

Maybe you should be the one tuning into other games besides just Raptors games because then you might actually have good reference points for the level of defense OG is actually at. Hint: it’s not DPOY level. Again, OG is posting negative defensive metrics across the board. And you guys are over here painting him as a monstrous defender better than peak LeBron and Paul George. The onus is on you to prove why all these metrics just happen to get OG so ridiculously wrong and explain the enormous gap between the level they depict him at and the level only Raptors fans seem to think he’s at.

I have a feeling the only thing you’ll have to offer is just anecdotal generalities about how he “locks up the other team’s best offensive player 1 on 1.” I would call OG a very good defender but I would stop there. He’s nowhere close to peak LeBron or Paul George, and he doesn’t deserve to make an All-Defensive team either.

In 19/20, OG held opponents to 44% (2% below their average) and posted positive impact numbers across the board (+1.6 D-RAPTOR, +1.59 D-LEBRON, +0.62 D-RAPM).

In 20/21, OG held opponents to 43% (4% below their average) and posted positive defensive impact numbers across the board (+2.3 DRAPTOR, +1.07 D-LEBRON,.+0.67 D-RAPM) while being one of the most versatile defenders in the league (as seen in the picture below).

Read on Twitter

OG has always been a very good defender and he was elite last season. Even this season, he has been a good defender despite what some numbers may lead you to believe. His numbers are being dragged down significantly because Toronto's defence was terrible in the first 15 games (couple new pieces in the starting lineup, Barnes' team defence was pretty bad, Siakam was coming back from injury near the end of that stretch and was playing at half speed, etc.) then he went down with an injury for a month. Despite that, he has held numerous stars to poor shooting numbers (Beal 2/10, Tatum 2/8, Randle 3/9, Durant 3/7) while forcing 2-4 turnovers each in ~10 minutes.

If there is ever an opponent lighting it up to start the game, OG is almost always thrown on them to slow them down -- and he generally succeeds.

Raptors fans overrate their players so much its comical.

[chifan1798]

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Are fake wins anything like the fake non losses the Bulls got when bunch of your games were cancelled instead of being forced to play with g leaguers and get killed?

With those games not being called, Bulls would be in 3rd at best with Miami on their tail

Those games were 1 against Detroit, and 2 against the Raptors (one of which was because the Raptors didn't have the people to play). My guess is the bulls at worst would have gone 2-1, and would be even farther ahead of the rest of the east at this point.

[Los_29]

Raptors fans are the ones butthurt, bragging about their team on the general board, but start crying when they're told the truth. The fanbase is so sensitive lol.

What truth have you told? Only thing you've done is prove your ignorance of the Raptors and demonstrate your weird obsession with a Bulls team that hasn't accomplished anything. You've brought zero facts to the table, only emojis.

Bulls have 6 championships Raptors have 1. You guys acting like you're some great team. You were a lottery team with the same players last year, lol. Bulls are in first place. Keeping making up facts loll

Once again, reading comprehension. Yikes. Bulls won their championships 25-30 years ago. And I'm clearly talking about the Bulls team this year with their core consisting of players who have a) never played in the playoffs or b) have performed poorly in the playoffs.

[Los_29]

Raptors are a lottery team without the border issues, the Bulls would easily destroy them, not even close. Put on a poll and no one picks the Raps to win other than homers like you with all the fake wins your team has.

The Raptors have the exact same roster as last year, minus Lowry and plus Scottie. You guys were a lottery team last year lol. Now you got some easy wins and think youre a champ

Are fake wins anything like the fake non losses the Bulls got when bunch of your games were cancelled instead of being forced to play with g leaguers and get killed?

With those games not being called, Bulls would be in 3rd at best with Miami on their tail

Those games were 1 against Detroit, and 2 against the Raptors (one of which was because the Raptors didn't have the people to play). My guess is the bulls at worst would have gone 2-1, and would be even farther ahead of the rest of the east at this point.

Bulls went life and death with Indiana and Washington. We lost a close game to the Bulls earlier in the season without Pascal and a couple of our key bench players. And I think the point he is making is that Chicago didn't have to play any games with their G-league squad whereas other teams did. They were able to rest up and come back at full strength.

[payton2kemp]

What truth have you told? Only thing you've done is prove your ignorance of the Raptors and demonstrate your weird obsession with a Bulls team that hasn't accomplished anything. You've brought zero facts to the table, only emojis.

Bulls have 6 championships Raptors have 1. You guys acting like you're some great team. You were a lottery team with the same players last year, lol. Bulls are in first place. Keeping making up facts loll

Once again, reading comprehension. Yikes. Bulls won their championships 25-30 years ago. And I'm clearly talking about the Bulls team this year with their core consisting of players who have a) never played in the playoffs or b) have performed poorly in the playoffs.

Your team is a lottery team same roster as last year, your lucky with the covid issues. lol i'm not even a Bulls fan, hilarious seeing Raptors fan get their feelings so hurt, keep living in your bubble on the Raptors board, but you can't handle the truth on the general board.

[chifan1798]

Bulls have 6 championships Raptors have 1. You guys acting like you're some great team. You were a lottery team with the same players last year, lol. Bulls are in first place. Keeping making up facts loll

Once again, reading comprehension. Yikes. Bulls won their championships 25-30 years ago. And I'm clearly talking about the Bulls team this year with their core consisting of players who have a) never played in the playoffs or b) have performed poorly in the playoffs.

You seem hung up on experience, or lack thereof. The Hawks made it to the ECF last year, with a young team that didn't have much experience, so it is possible for a team with limited experience, to make it far in the playoffs. No one is saying that the Bulls are going to be favorites in the east, but hanging on to the "experience" reasoning isn't much, when the Bulls simply out-talent a team like the Raptors.

[coldfish]

Are fake wins anything like the fake non losses the Bulls got when bunch of your games were cancelled instead of being forced to play with g leaguers and get killed?

With those games not being called, Bulls would be in 3rd at best with Miami on their tail

Those games were 1 against Detroit, and 2 against the Raptors (one of which was because the Raptors didn't have the people to play). My guess is the bulls at worst would have gone 2-1, and would be even farther ahead of the rest of the east at this point.

Bulls went life and death with Indiana and Washington. We lost a close game to the Bulls earlier in the season without Pascal and a couple of our key bench players. And I think the point he is making is that Chicago didn't have to play any games with their G-league squad whereas other teams did. They were able to rest up and come back at full strength.

Just to note, Chicago lost two games by a combined 49 points before starting to have games cancelled and has lost among the most player games in the NBA to covid. Its not like Chicago got out of this scott free.

Chicago got two games cancelled in addition it probably would have lost. The other game that was cancelled was for Toronto, who couldn't put a team on the court while the Bulls were getting players back.

If all the games had been played, Chicago would have 1 more 1 and 2 more losses. If all the covid games had been cancelled, Chicago would have 2 less losses.

Before Raptor fans continue to crap on Chicago, remember this thread was started by a Bulls fan.

[chifan1798]

Those games were 1 against Detroit, and 2 against the Raptors (one of which was because the Raptors didn't have the people to play). My guess is the bulls at worst would have gone 2-1, and would be even farther ahead of the rest of the east at this point.

Bulls went life and death with Indiana and Washington. We lost a close game to the Bulls earlier in the season without Pascal and a couple of our key bench players. And I think the point he is making is that Chicago didn't have to play any games with their G-league squad whereas other teams did. They were able to rest up and come back at full strength.

The Bulls did have to play games without much of their roster due to COVID. Bulls were like the 2nd or 3rd team in the league to have a significant amount of players lost. When the Bulls ended up losing 10 players, including G-league players who came up to help them out, that's when the city and the league stepped in. Don't know why you think Bulls had a ton of games cancelled, and somehow think that we never played while significant rotation players were out. And again, those games were against the Pistons and the Raptors, which one of the game cancellations was to your team's benefit, because you all had your g-league squad, when bulls players started coming back.

And who cares about point differential? A win is a win. Their defense suffered because their three best defensive players were out at the same time....and we still have 2 of them out. But the facts are, they still find a way to win. At this point, I feel like they're coasting, and turning it on in the 2nd half, and pulling out victories....which means, they probably have an extra gear for the playoffs. Once we finally get our usual pieces back (and hopefully Pwill can come back in March/April), then we'll likely see an even better version of this Bulls team.

[pingpongrac]

Maybe you should be the one tuning into other games besides just Raptors games because then you might actually have good reference points for the level of defense OG is actually at. Hint: it’s not DPOY level. Again, OG is posting negative defensive metrics across the board. And you guys are over here painting him as a monstrous defender better than peak LeBron and Paul George. The onus is on you to prove why all these metrics just happen to get OG so ridiculously wrong and explain the enormous gap between the level they depict him at and the level only Raptors fans seem to think he’s at.

I have a feeling the only thing you’ll have to offer is just anecdotal generalities about how he “locks up the other team’s best offensive player 1 on 1.” I would call OG a very good defender but I would stop there. He’s nowhere close to peak LeBron or Paul George, and he doesn’t deserve to make an All-Defensive team either.

In 19/20, OG held opponents to 44% (2% below their average) and posted positive impact numbers across the board (+1.6 D-RAPTOR, +1.59 D-LEBRON, +0.62 D-RAPM).

In 20/21, OG held opponents to 43% (4% below their average) and posted positive defensive impact numbers across the board (+2.3 DRAPTOR, +1.07 D-LEBRON,.+0.67 D-RAPM) while being one of the most versatile defenders in the league (as seen in the picture below).

Read on Twitter

OG has always been a very good defender and he was elite last season. Even this season, he has been a good defender despite what some numbers may lead you to believe. His numbers are being dragged down significantly because Toronto's defence was terrible in the first 15 games (couple new pieces in the starting lineup, Barnes' team defence was pretty bad, Siakam was coming back from injury near the end of that stretch and was playing at half speed, etc.) then he went down with an injury for a month. Despite that, he has held numerous stars to poor shooting numbers (Beal 2/10, Tatum 2/8, Randle 3/9, Durant 3/7) while forcing 2-4 turnovers each in ~10 minutes.

If there is ever an opponent lighting it up to start the game, OG is almost always thrown on them to slow them down -- and he generally succeeds.

Raptors fans overrate their players so much its comical.

I'm not overrating OG lol. I literally provided multiple seasons worth of evidence painting him as a great defender and proof that he is one of the most versatile defenders. Since BBall Index started tracking defensive versatility ~8 seasons ago, OG posted the 2nd highest ever mark as he defended PG (19%), SG (18%), SF (19%), PF (26%) and C (18%) almost equally last year -- and all at a very high level.

Read what people are saying and actually watch some Raptors games before you go trolling a fanbase of a team that you watch maybe 3 times a year.

[payton2kemp]

Bulls have 6 championships Raptors have 1. You guys acting like you're some great team. You were a lottery team with the same players last year, lol. Bulls are in first place. Keeping making up facts loll

Once again, reading comprehension. Yikes. Bulls won their championships 25-30 years ago. And I'm clearly talking about the Bulls team this year with their core consisting of players who have a) never played in the playoffs or b) have performed poorly in the playoffs.

You seem hung up on experience, or lack thereof. The Hawks made it to the ECF last year, with a young team that didn't have much experience, so it is possible for a team with limited experience, to make it far in the playoffs. No one is saying that the Bulls are going to be favorites in the east, but hanging on to the "experience" reasoning isn't much, when the Bulls simply out-talent a team like the Raptors.

These Raptor fans don't like facts. I'm not even a Bulls fan and they're attacking me lol it comical.