Raptors Discussion: v90| Fighting through the injuries (but not Coronavirus. NBA Suspends season until further notice)

[Jozay]

I would've kept Boucher in. He's played really well tonight

 

[donghabs98]

This refing in the final minute has been brutal. Missed calls all around.

 

[The Big Swede13]

I taught Portland were a good team

 

[stickty111]

Well that hurts.
Game #3 Refs stole the game

 

[Jozay]

tough loss

 

[The Big Swede13]

Lol Melo still thinks hes got it poor guy

 

[MyBudJT]

Title should be: "Fighting through the injuries... and the refs"

 

[blue stick]

This refing in the final minute has been brutal. Missed calls all around.

That was brutal

 

[Dave92]

What a choke, oh well.

 

[McDeepika]

Probably should have kept Brissett and Boucher in.

I also really don’t like when the offense tries to run the clock down with the lead. We don’t have anybody that can get a bucket 1 on 1. Need to try to run good sets right away IMO.

 

[Jozay]

Yeesh, not a big fan of Davis I guess.

 

[trellaine201]

LOL , a vote of confidence I guess

 

[BlueForever75]

Are people serious when they say the Raps choke? We have 4 potential starting lineup players not playing (FVV, Siakam, Powell, Gasol), a bunch of G leaguers playing in their spot, and on top of it refs taking the outcome of games into their hands. We have lost 3 games this way over the past 2 weeks. Only the refs can stop us. We are showing heart and determination every night. We are still in the thick of things and things can only get better when we get our starters back.

Give it a break folks.

 

[Merrrlin]

Lol Melo still thinks hes got it poor guy

Oof

 

[The Nemesis]

That fan poll about who's your all-time fan favorite from his game (Cha/Tor) is weird.

There's heavy recency bias in people voting Biyombo over everyone else, but then the next closest is the oldest guy in Oakley.

Amir being a distant 4th is disappointing. He was awesome on and off the court. I'd love him to come back to the Raps as a front-office/community ambassador type guy like JYD was.

 

[stickty111]

Real gutsy win. Got really nervous in the end, but got it done. Davis was tremendous.

 

[Kurtz]

Davis credits Nurse for motivating his turnaround.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Nurse should call out TD every night

 

[stickty111]

 

[Superstar]

Lol Melo still thinks hes got it poor guy

He should call up Jeremy Lin and ask him to let him touch his championship ring for good luck...

 

[Maplebeasts]

Team is doing about all you can ask considering the ridiculous injury luck this season. They'll be a tough draw for any team not named Milwaukee when healthy.

 

[Eyedea]

Approaching the halfway mark of the season as the 4th seed and the only player to appear in every game is an undrafted rookie. Yeah I don't really care who the Raps play come playoff time so long as they're healthy. The championship demeanour is real and it can absolutely affect the opposition's poise and composure.

 

[ronzigato]

Siakam hopefully back to practice today, back fully next week.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...-raptors-pascal-siakam-hopes-return-next-week

 

[hockeywiz542]

NBA Rumour Roundup: Pistons expected to pursue Raptors' Fred VanVleet - Sportsnet.ca

The trade deadline hasn’t even come and gone yet, but looking ahead to the off-season, one player who is reportedly on the Pistons’ radar is pending unrestricted free agent Fred VanVleet, according to The Atheltic‘s James Edwards III.

That should come as little surprise to anyone who’s kept at least one eye on VanVleet’s performance from the tail-end of last summer’s playoffs to now. He’s in the midst of a career-year, averaging 18 points and seven assists in a mammoth 36.3 minutes per night, and factors into four of the Toronto Raptors’ top five lineups in terms of points differential for groups that have spent at least 75 possessions on the court together.

Point guards who perform at that level, have shown they can execute on the NBA’s biggest stage and who haven’t hit 26 years old yet are a rare commodity. Of course, the Pistons will do their due diligence — Derrick Rose, despite looking healthy and showing flashes of his former self to the tune of 17.5 points and 5.8 assists in 25 minutes per game is 31 years old and not the point guard of the future — as will any other team with cap space this summer.

But the Raptors are in prime position to keep VanVleet regardless of other teams’ plans. Toronto holds his full Bird Rights, meaning they can exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. Doing so, though, would put a dent in the Raptors’ long-term flexibility and their expected pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo should he become a free agent in the summer of 2021.

As for Detroit, any aspiration for the financial flexibility to make a move for VanVleet largely hinges on the fate of Andre Drummond, who holds a cap-strapping $28.7-million player option for next year — a massive sum given the team’s commitment to Griffin, who is in the third year of a five-year, $171-million deal.

Even if the Pistons were to find a trading partner for Drummond, though, there’s still no guarantee their pursuit of VanVleet would be fruitful. As recently as this past October, VanVleet was vocal about what Toronto meant to him.

“I’ve been here. This is the team that gave me my chance, I think we understand that. I’m not gonna speak too much on free agency this year just ’cause it’s a business and I have to do what’s best for me and my family,” VanVleet said during an appearance on Tim and Sid in October.

“But, I mean, I’ve been on record about how I feel about this place. This organization knows how I feel about this place. So in a perfect world, we know what would happen.”

 

[stickty111]

Siakam and Powell are back