Raptors Discussion: v47|#WeTheNorth | Who knew DeMar was so crucial to the defence? (avatars: post #1)
- Thread starter The Nemesis
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Schennanigans
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Great effort tonight. We were great in the 4th. Dominated and the game was pretty much over even with 2-3 minutes left. Not easy to do that on the road against a good team.
Eyedea
The Legend Continues
You also usually don't see a decent player (let alone a guard) turn to an all-star and potentially a superstar like he has.
Radiohead
Street Spirit
- Sep 6, 2008
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Last season, I actually questioned if Lowry would be worth $12 million.
Now he's a legitimate MVP candidate.
Lebanese Leaf
Registered User
Kyle Lowry is a top 5, arguably top 3 PG in the NBA in a golden generation of superstar PGs. If Lowry had been doing this 10-15 years ago, the only better PG in the league would have been Allen Iverson.
Just an absolute franchise player in every sense of the word. Doesn't have the flash of VC, but is just as valuable to this team as VC was to those teams. As long as he is playing at this level, I don't think anything is unrealistic with this team.
Just an absolute franchise player in every sense of the word. Doesn't have the flash of VC, but is just as valuable to this team as VC was to those teams. As long as he is playing at this level, I don't think anything is unrealistic with this team.
Swervin81
Leaf fan | YYZ -> SEA
Alerion
Registered User
There's still room for more on the bandwagon
He's been on the bandwagon for a little while, after Lowry dropped 35 on the Celtics back in November he said that it was the best PG performance he'd seen in a couple years. Lowry completely outplayed CP3 tonight and that was a big reason why we won.
It will be an utter disgrace to the league if Lowry doesn't go to the All-Star game. Legit top contender for MVP and is arguably becoming a franchise player IMO. People might be hesitant to say that but he's been playing like this for a while now and doesn't seem to be stopping. If this team gets another quality big man, there is no telling how far they can go in the playoffs. This team can beat anybody hands down and I wouldn't put it past them to get to the NBA Finals, at least the ECF. To play like they did on the road against a very good team like the Clippers was a huge W.
Wow Ross played the most minutes on the team with 37.
Didnt get his shot to fall a lot, but watching the game Casey was using him on D a lot
Didnt get his shot to fall a lot, but watching the game Casey was using him on D a lot
Joey24
Registered User
People can talk all they want about how good Lowry is but the fact is this team is on the same page. For the most part the guys are out to play for one another and that extra pass, or giving up the open shot for an even higher percentage shot.
Toronto beat a real high profile team today, Lowry was a huge part of that but the team it's self is just playing extremely well. If they aren't considered a serious contender when DD gets back it's a joke.
I do feel we are probably 1 serious bench player away from being a legit contender. getting a great backup centre would be fantastic.
Toronto beat a real high profile team today, Lowry was a huge part of that but the team it's self is just playing extremely well. If they aren't considered a serious contender when DD gets back it's a joke.
I do feel we are probably 1 serious bench player away from being a legit contender. getting a great backup centre would be fantastic.
Nasty Nazem
Come at me Crow!
Oh come on, people actually believe that? Raptors are doing great, building great things and are on the cusp of becoming contenders but in no way are they legitimate contenders that can beat teams like Spurs/GS/Houston/Bulls etc in a 7 game series. They still have a long way to go before becoming cup contenders and adding a star SF or PF would go a long way helping that process.
I don't really think having DeMar back makes the team a whole lot better like some think. He brings 20 points a night but its an extremely inefficient 20 points and takes touches away from Lowry and JV, our more efficient players. Different story if we get last year's DeMar post Rudy Gay trade though.
you're selling DeMar short. We need him back, he's one of our starters for crying out loud, the reason we're able to beat a team like the Clippers is because of our depth it doesn't mean DeMar won't make this team better. Him coming back + getting another quality big makes us contenders at least to get the NBA Final..winning a championship is another story but this team with DeMar and another bench addition can get to the NBA Finals. That's fair to say, the East is wide open.
What's hard to comprehend? We will be better, not significantly better. The production from the guard positions has been among the best in the league with and without Derozan. Lowry, Williams, Ross... we're DEEP. Derozan brings another element and he's obviously a good scorer. I think we're very undersized at small forward. Terrence Ross is a natural Shooting guard (where he's been playing in DD'S absence)
I think we beat up on some teams with our current rotation as we have so many good scorers and we line up small, but really struggle when it comes to elite competition with elite forwards. Ross just get eaten by James, Durrant, etc. Then you put on JJ and you lose offence. An upgrade on AJ would be nice as well. I love the team, but we're not at the level of a championship team.
Though if you asked me if we could beat the clippers I would have said no espicialy after they just beat another team built around guards (GS) So I don't even know. Match ups are weird in this sport. But I refuse to call this team elite until they actually beat Chicago or Cleveland, or hell, still haven't even beat Miami yet... I think we can take Miami and i'm even going to say we stand a chance vs the Cavs, but that Chicago team is a difficult match up and if we meet them in the eastern conference finals we're done
Eyedea
The Legend Continues
It'll be interesting to see from a health standpoint how the Bulls will be come playoff time. Rose is seeing a lot of rest currently kinda like Wade, but Butler is playing an insane amount of minutes. Noah has declined a fair amount this season too, and Gasol may not be able to maintain this level of play for the entire year.
Rodney Stuckey shared some very interesting thoughts today about Detroit's downfall that he feels began just as soon as Dumars traded Billups to Denver for Iverson. Billups was the glue that held everyone in that dressing room together.
Toronto fans should be ecstatic and thankful to know that we've got a very solid group of players we can build out roster around.
We can not afford to trade anyone from our core even if theoretically we can get a better player at one position. The one thing that players won't replace is chemistry. Any additions that are made should be done so a team can be built around these core guys.
This team plays for each other. They truly love being a unit. That's what makes them so successful and so easy to root for.
Hopefully Masai adds to this core and not subtracts from it.
Toronto fans should be ecstatic and thankful to know that we've got a very solid group of players we can build out roster around.
We can not afford to trade anyone from our core even if theoretically we can get a better player at one position. The one thing that players won't replace is chemistry. Any additions that are made should be done so a team can be built around these core guys.
This team plays for each other. They truly love being a unit. That's what makes them so successful and so easy to root for.
Hopefully Masai adds to this core and not subtracts from it.
Neil Hamburger
Five Bagger!
In my eyes, the key to our team becoming a real contender is JV hopefully blossoming into one of the best centers in the league. We could also use an upgrade on Johnson (especially since he might not be built to keep up his level of play much longer), but that's more of a luxury at this point.
The Nemesis
Semper Tyrannus
The bigger issue wasn't Billups being the heart/soul of that team, it was the number of truly mind-bogglingly bad talent decisions they've made. Things like big FA contracts to Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon, big FA money to Josh Smith on a team that's already jammed in the frontcourt, and yes, running with guys like Stuckey as primary backcourt pieces. Trading Billups might not have helped, but it was all the things they did after that which caused the team to implode so spectacularly.
Amir is the heart and soul of our team. There is always a place for him here, even if he doesn't start, he'd be a great big off the bench because of his soft touch around the rim and his great defense.
Having a PF will help, but the NBA is moving away from the isolated big up front. This day and age, the bigs need to be able to stretch the floor. You top that off with a great D and you have a great big a la Marc Gasol. He'd be a perfect fit for our roster despite having JV but its a pipe dream.
The Raptors best stay the course and see what comes their way, or you can see what happened to Detroit.
Suntouchable13
Registered User
So what's the excuse for the Clippers? It seems like every time the Raps take down a good team, people always seem to make excuses for that team to discredit the Raps.
I'd be shocked if Masai makes a core rocking trade, we could use another big man for depth purposes and those types don't usually cost very much. We're an Eastern contender so moving any core players would be shocking IMO. I can see Masai making a move or two at the deadline though
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