PG: Raps outpace Indy

[Ackshun]

1-0 without Dragic. What happened?

lol.. yep. He just wasnt it.

Banton provides energy and playmaking, Dragic doesn't. You need those things off the bench from your backup.

When you look at Banton, he's incredibly long, like freakish. Once he gets a shot, and improves his overall game/confidence, he's a starter in a winning team for sure, and that's huge value at 46.

Banton
Barnes
OG
Siakam
Birch/Precious

Would be interesting to see that in a year.

The nice thing with Delano is, he seems to have a high IQ, is tall enough to see over his defender when he has the ball, and is very active on both sides. What a steal

[LBJKB24MJ23]

1-0 without Dragic. What happened?

lol.. yep. He just wasnt it.

Banton provides energy and playmaking, Dragic doesn't. You need those things off the bench from your backup.

When you look at Banton, he's incredibly long, like freakish. Once he gets a shot, and improves his overall game/confidence, he's a starter in a winning team for sure, and that's huge value at 46.

Banton
Barnes
OG
Siakam
Birch/Precious

Would be interesting to see that in a year.

The nice thing with Delano is, he seems to have a high IQ, is tall enough to see over his defender when he has the ball, and is very active on both sides. What a steal

and he pushes the pace. can't say that about our other guards. Banton keeps things fresh for the Raptors. changes up style.

[Wannabe MEP]

Banton, Boucher and Birch are a good fit. I'm calling them Canada's Better Business Bureau.

Confirmed.

OffRtg: 118.6. DefRtg: 95.3. NetRtg: +23.3

[Jadoogar]

I know a lot of the praise is going to Scottie, OG and FVV (rightfully so) but Trent needs some love too.
He's known as a shooter and we know shooters can have off nights but his defense is always there. 4 steals tonight, his deflections are really helpful because they are usually higher up on the court and allows this team to get out and run. He's had a great start to the season.

[aligator]

Agree on Trent.

[HiJiNX]

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.

Yup!! I also love that when he makes a mistake he plays harder…like he’s mad at himself for making a mistake and wants to make it up on the next play. It’s interesting because a guy like Siakam shrinks when he’s making mistakes but I’ve noticed that with Scottie that mistakes are sometimes what gets him going and flips the switch for him that he needs to engage and be aggressive.

[Tofubeque]

Barnes is going to be a star. The scary part is that I really have no idea what offensive moves Barnes has right now.. seems like every shot is different from him. With how much he improved since college, he will be scary in a couple years.

Some of his shots look super awkward too but they are still going in, he had one post up yesterday where he spun the opposite way and still made the shot..

No kidding, that scoop layup off the dribble he had against Turner where he never brought the ball to his other hand? Since when has he been doing those? That's like a Kyrie move, you normally see it from undersized guards who are trying to surprise a shot blocker.

And then yeah, he got anything he wanted against Sabonis on post ups. Not many players can do both

[RapsFanInOhio]

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.

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That’s Jack lol. To each their own, but I actually enjoy listening to Jack and Matt.

[Madhouse]

Raps starters are the 2nd most effective lineup to start the season right now.

[Jadoogar]

I wouldn't want to be Nurse when siakam comes back. Who goes to the bench?
Barnes has been incredible, i wouldn't want to sit him right now
Trent's shooting and deflections are so important for the starting lineup
Precious seems reasonable but then you're starting Siakam or OG at center, not ideal.

I'm guessing he sits Trent and uses him as a super 6th man.

[Bruin]

Read on Twitter

?s=21

[SFour]

I wouldn't want to be Nurse when siakam comes back. Who goes to the bench?
Barnes has been incredible, i wouldn't want to sit him right now
Trent's shooting and deflections are so important for the starting lineup
Precious seems reasonable but then you're starting Siakam or OG at center, not ideal.

I'm guessing he sits Trent and uses him as a super 6th man.

Trent has to hit the bench....just like Norm used to hit the bench.

FVV-Barnes-OG-Siakam is a must.

[dTox]

I'm in favor of Precious coming off the bench, really think Trent is a much better player as a starter

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Jadoogar]

I wouldn't want to be Nurse when siakam comes back. Who goes to the bench?
Barnes has been incredible, i wouldn't want to sit him right now
Trent's shooting and deflections are so important for the starting lineup
Precious seems reasonable but then you're starting Siakam or OG at center, not ideal.

I'm guessing he sits Trent and uses him as a super 6th man.

Trent has to hit the bench....just like Norm used to hit the bench.

FVV-Barnes-OG-Siakam is a must.

i understand that opinion but Trent's shooting is vital in the halfcourt.

[Mikistan]

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

edit: what I meant to say is that the BIGGEST reason why its entertaining is Barnes. you listed a couple of other good points as well but we all have our eyes glued on Barnes on what he is going to do.

na the buzz is about Barnes right now. we can see in every game thread. the social media around Barnes has been sky rocketing.

like I said - he's the lightning rod that this team has actually been positive around. everyone has criticized FVV, OG, Precious, Trent, Dragic etc. Barnes can do no wrong right now and thats been positively refreshing. even at the end of the day after a bad game, the forum has taken positive swing on Barnes' game.

having a high ceiling player has definitely shaped the way people look at the future of this team. its been night and day versus last year. Raptors have something to be hopeful for. FVV, OG, Siakam are kinda controversial players right now. we know what they can do and what they can't do. we also know they are not championship first option players.

Agreed having impactful two-way players who play the right way is a very good thing. Especially after watching 1-way players for so much of the We The North era.

I'm high on OG's offensive game - too many people call him 3+D when he also has the highest/2nd highest Raptors Franchise 2pt FG%... Let alone his mentality which keeps him even keel even after a couple misses. Hes shooting almost 50% from both 2pt and 3pt% this season even with his slow game 1...
He was drawing fouls in the first couple games but the last few we have been getting hosed, he honestly could be earning 6-10 free throws a game if they treated him like demar for example.

Barnes and OG can both impact every play on offense and defense. Siakam has some of that too (when he isnt being flat footed/silly reaching/bodying up too far up the 3pt line and getting blown by).

What a time to be

[will]

Banton, Boucher and Birch are a good fit. I'm calling them Canada's Better Business Bureau.

How does this post only have 3 and1s?????

Friggin' criminal!

[ForeverTFC]

I'm in favor of Precious coming off the bench, really think Trent is a much better player as a starter

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I think it's important that we don't play Siakam out of position. He's at a pivotal point of his career and we need to put him in his natural place to succeed. And I don't know about Scottie at C.

[positivetension]

I'm in favor of Precious coming off the bench, really think Trent is a much better player as a starter

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

I think it's important that we don't play Siakam out of position. He's at a pivotal point of his career and we need to put him in his natural place to succeed. And I don't know about Scottie at C.

I could see them ending games or going short spurts without a true C but not starting like that.

[Dalek]

It is weird seeing Barnes and Baton the two 6'9 guys be the ballmovers while FVV is pounding the rock to the end of the shotclock half the time. Even OG can kill possessions with over dribbling.

I do like the idea of ending the possession with Fred because it maximizes his shooting strength. I am sure they will experiment some more. It sure seemed like they were giving the ball to Scottie and just saying drive to the rim. He had a wild range of shots.

The more I watch Scottie's game be explored the more I see a cross between Antawn Jamison and Lamar Odom. Just a crazy bag of tricks in the painted area along with some showtime passing.

People were complaining about Fred over-dribbling/taking too long during the last 6 minutes or so.

There's some intentionality to that. Winning point guards know to start using up the entire shot clock when you're up by 15 points with under 10 minutes to play. One of the worst mistakes you can make is early shots in that situation. You can afford to come up empty on offensive possessions if you're also taking up 20 to 24 seconds each trip. The biggest mistake would be to force stuff early in the clock which opens up the opportunity for a faster comeback.

It's just another 'whatever fred does I'm gonna whine about it' thing.

This complaint has been going on for years about and I'm pretty sure I can tell you who exactly was posting that because... he's still not getting it.

I think that is a good point about eating up the clock when you are up but the goal should always be to get a quality shot to end each possession. FVV is a bit short and doesn't have the passing windows that the other bigger players do, so there are advantage to moving the ball to others.

I think this offense should not be dominated by the PG. These are newer non-traditional line-ups where you have potentially: FVV, OG, Barnes and in the future Siakam - that all can handle pass and score. Over-dribbling or usage should be aimed to be more equally spread out so we are not as predictable. I really like Banton's approach. He is fast in most cases and aiming to up the pace of the offense on possessions and he is willing to give the ball up earlier.

[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.

Yup!! I also love that when he makes a mistake he plays harder…like he’s mad at himself for making a mistake and wants to make it up on the next play. It’s interesting because a guy like Siakam shrinks when he’s making mistakes but I’ve noticed that with Scottie that mistakes are sometimes what gets him going and flips the switch for him that he needs to engage and be aggressive.

Absolute. Barnes reminds me of Kyle in that aspect and being vocal as well. Lowry never (rarely) gave up on plays while Siakam when gets ice cold, he just forces shots. Barnes, in my opinion, is one of the best rookies in draft in terms of positive impact on their respective teams since the start of this season.