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OT: The Official Toronto Raptors Thread

And a legit playoff run is huge for this offseason - both in signing lowry and in attracting other free agents...and in encouraging the raps to head into luxury tax territory.

ECF finals would guarantee an aggressive offseason - getting crushed in the 2nd round might not.
 
Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
In an NBA first, the referee crew for the Raptors-Nets series have already called 8 fouls against the Raptors 2 days before the game.


Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
Anonymous NBA exec has informed me that Amir Johnson is expected to foul out before tip-off.


Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
In unrelated news, ESPN has already received the dates for the Heat-Nets series from the league office.
 
zeke said:
Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
In an NBA first, the referee crew for the Raptors-Nets series have already called 8 fouls against the Raptors 2 days before the game.


Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
Anonymous NBA exec has informed me that Amir Johnson is expected to foul out before tip-off.


Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA Apr 17
In unrelated news, ESPN has already received the dates for the Heat-Nets series from the league office.
Click to expand...

Raptors are going to spoil the party.
 
Hard to tell what the Nets are going to do with their starting lineup. They've been going mostly with a small lineup with only one big, but injuries and "rest" have made it hard to tell exactly what they're planning on doing.

Here's the lineups matched up as best I could based on their actual roles on the team, even though the starting lineup will likely look different:



C Jonas V (21): 28.2mpg, 11.3ppg (53.1/00.0/76.0), 8.8rpg, 0.7apg/1.7to, 0.9blk, 0.3stl, 3.1pf, 16.2per
C A.Blatche (27): 22.2mpg, 11.2ppg (47.6/27.8/74.0), 5.3rpg, 1.5apg/1.5to, 0.5blk, 1.0stl, 2.3pf, 18.8per

PF A.Johnson (26): 28.8mpg, 10.4ppg (56.2/30.3/64.0), 6.6rpg, 1.5apg/1.6to, 1.1blk, 0.7stl, 3.5pf, 15.4per
PF K.Garnett (37): 20.5mpg, 6.5ppg (44.1/00.0/81.0), 6.6rpg, 1.5apg/1.3to, 0.7blk, 0.8stl, 2.3pf, 13.3per

SF T.Ross (22): 26.7mpg, 10.9ppg (42.3/39.5/84.0), 3.1rpg, 1.0apg/1.1to, 0.3blk, 0.8stl, 2.3pf, 12.1per
SF P.Pierce (35): 28.0mpg, 13.5ppg (45.1/37.3/83.0), 4.6rpg, 2.4apg/2.0to, 0.4blk, 1.2stl, 2.5pf, 16.8per

SG D.Derozan (24): 38.2mpg, 22.7ppg (42.9/30.5/82.0), 4.3rpg, 4.0apg/2.2to, 0.4blk, 1.1stl, 2.5pf, 18.4per
SG J.Johnson (32): 32.6mpg, 15.8ppg (45.5/40.1/82.0), 3.4rpg, 2.7apg/1.5to, 0.1blk, 0.6stl, 1.6pf, 15.5per

PG K.Lowry (27): 36.2mpg, 17.9ppg (42.3/38.0/81.0), 4.7rpg, 7.4apg/2.5to, 0.2blk, 1.5stl, 3.4pf, 20.2per
PG D.Williams (29): 32.3mpg, 14.3ppg (45.0/36.6/80.0), 2.6rpg, 6.1apg/2.2to, 0.2blk, 1.5stl, 2.3pf, 17.7per



C T.Hansbro (28): 15.3mpg, 4.9ppg (47.4/00.0/68.0), 4.5rpg, 0.3apg/0.7to, 0.3blk, 0.4stl, 2.1pf, 14.2per
C M.Plumlee (23): 18.2mpg, 7.4ppg (65.9/00.0/63.0), 4.4rpg, 0.9apg/1.1to, 0.8blk, 0.7stl, 2.4pf, 19.1per

PF P.Patterson (24): 23.3mpg, 9.1ppg (47.7/41.1/75.0), 5.1rpg, 1.3apg/1.0to, 0.7blk, 0.9stl, 2.5pf, 16.3per
PF M.Teletovic (28): 19.4mpg, 8.6ppg (41.8/39.0/71.0), 3.7rpg, 0.8apg/0.8to, 0.3blk, 0.4stl, 2.0pf, 14.4per

SF J.Salmons (34): 21.4mpg, 5.0ppg (36.8/38.8/73.0), 2.0rpg, 1.7apg/0.7to, 0.2blk, 0.6stl, 1.5pf, 7.5per
SF A.Anderson (31): 22.7mpg, 7.2ppg (40.0/33.9/78.0), 2.2rpg, 1.0apg/0.8to, 0.1blk, 0.6stl, 1.9pf, 9.5per

SG N.DeColo (26): 9.2mpg, 3.1ppg (36.7/36.4/100.0), 1.3rpg, 1.6apg/0.7to, 0.1blk, 0.3stl, 1.1pf, 13.0per
SG M.Thornton (26): 23.8mpg, 12.3ppg (41.4/38.0/80.0), 2.8rpg, 1.2apg/1.1to, 0.1blk, 1.0stl, 1.4pf, 16.2per

PG J.Vazquez (26): 21.5mpg, 9.5ppg (41.7/38.9/86.0), 2.3rpg, 3.7apg/1.7to, 0.1blk, 0.4stl, 1.7pf, 14.2per
PG S.Livingston (28): 26.0mpg, 8.3ppg (48.3/16.7/83.0), 3.2rpg, 3.2apg/1.4to, 0.4blk, 1.2stl, 2.3pf, 14.5per



F C.Hayes (30): 12.8mpg, 2.2ppg (42.9/00.0/83.0), 3.6rpg, 0.6apg/0.6to, 0.2blk, 0.5stl, 1.7pf, 9.6per
F A.Kirilenko (32): 19.0mpg, 5.0ppg (51.3/20.0/51.0), 3.2rpg, 1.6apg/1.2to, 0.4blk, 0.9stl, 1.4pf, 12.5per

F S.Novak (30): 10.0mpg, 3.3ppg (41.1/42.6/100.0), 1.1rpg, 0.2apg/0.1to, 0.1blk, 0.2stl, 0.8pg, 11.1per
G J.Terry (36): 16.3mpg, 4.5ppg (36.2/37.9/67.0), 1.1rpg, 1.6apg/0.8to, 0.0blk, 0.4stl, 7.5per
 
[video=youtube;Uo64QJUSs-w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL6ndzuHRRemCoWlHpAZvAmlI0MDZQ2r15&v=Uo64QJUSs-w[/video]
 
So pumped for this game and series. The Raps are going to take it in 6. The key will be to find someone to guard Pierce and Joe Johnson. This is where John Salmons will be so valuable as his age and lack of foot speed won't hurt him nearly as much against those two. Landry Fields may get into the rotation more too depending on the situation too, but I think Ross/Johnson can cover almost anyone so unless they are fouled out or really struggle we won't see too much of Fields. Other than that I believe the Raptors are simply the better team at every position and the big man depth the Raps have will be an x-factor.
 
Question to the married guys on this board...

Friend of mine just called me asking if I wanted his tickets to the Heat game tomorrow. He can't go because of Easter. After going to Tampa twice this past week I think my wife will attempt to cut my balls off for going to the Heat game on Sunday.

Worth it? What would you guys do? I'm thinking a gift of some kind.
 
I knew that this was a potential rumour....

Masai Ujiri has mentioned interest in looking at acquiring Vince Carter this coming off season.


This team reminds me very much of the Leafs last year. They need a few veteran players to add some experience and mentors. I personally would love to have Vince off the bench for some minutes for Demar and even giving Lowry a chance to breath and let Grievus be an actual back up point guard instead of playing both those guys in the 1 and 2 spots.

Getting Vince and a veteran big PF or back up C could be really huge.
 
I'm vehemently against getting vincanity. He is effective and may come cheap (and will be an upgrade)... But he is a polarizing figure in this city. Before you know it some people will be screaming for him to start, while others, like me, will continue booing him for the way he acted and has never recognized it.

This is the new Toronto Raptors. Let's not go back in history.
 
Its not just the name though. Vince is the type of player they need.

The fact that he is the best player in the history of the franchise is just a bonus.
 
This Raptors team now matured more in one year than we have ever imagined. Why can't fans mature as well.
This raptor fan base is a very young one. They don't remember to care about the Vince of old. They are booing because they see other people doing it.

It's time we grow up as well. We will always seem to be a little brother with an inferiority complex franchise if we boo players that leave. Don't you think Lowry notices this. If he resigns and has a bad year, or is hurt, will fans be so fickle as they were with Vince to start to boo him?

I think IF we were to do this, Ujiri will be showing that this franchise has grown up. We need to do what is best for the team.

That Grange special on Vince seems almost a feeler to see fans reaction... and I think fans have started to realize how booing is pointless and makes us look childish as an organization.

I think getting Vince to come off the bench, and getting a veteran centre to help Val keep growing would be HUGE for this team in terms of experience and maturity in more ways than one.
 
Hoss said:
Why can't fans mature as well.
This raptor fan base is a very young one. They don't remember to care about the Vince of old. They are booing because they see other people doing it.
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debatable The "others" group is significant one. It's not just a few people.

It's time we grow up as well. We will always seem to be a little brother with an inferiority complex franchise if we boo players that leave. Don't you think Lowry notices this. If he resigns and has a bad year, or is hurt, will fans be so fickle as they were with Vince to start to boo him?
Click to expand...

You know this didn't happen. We have players like doc leave too and we love him.

Vince simply spat on our faces by faking injuries over and over and over again.

I think IF we were to do this, Ujiri will be showing that this franchise has grown up. We need to do what is best for the team.
Click to expand...

What is best for this team is not to bring in a polarizing figure who once showed you the finger and has never accepted what he did

That Grange special on Vince seems almost a feeler to see fans reaction... and I think fans have started to realize how booing is pointless and makes us look childish as an organization.
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His special was PURE propaganda. He distorted the argument to fit an agenda.

Contrary to what he stated, we aren't mad that Vince wanted to leave; we RECOGNIZE that the organization was a mess and he had every right to want to do so.

We are mad cause he mocked us who spent time and money on the team. Faking injuries over and over again.

Vince going along with the fake story on that special just made him look even more pathetic in my eyes.

I think getting Vince to come off the bench, and getting a veteran centre to help Val keep growing would be HUGE for this team in terms of experience and maturity in more ways than one.
Click to expand...

I think it would be a significant distraction.
 
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