Raptors Rant

[chakhae1]

I saw the entire game today and from the very first quarter I knew we were going to lose. Why? This team lacks that killer instinct and the intangibles to win in the playoffs and I know this is beating a dead horse, but there seems to be a strong conspiracy set by the NBA for the Raptors to never do anything in the playoffs. J.V was having a monster game and two of his fouls in the first half were absolute bs and then two more at the end of the game were same tick tack calls so what gives? One call against Lowry was also absolute crap and the refs put the whistle away against the packers. who are the pacers? are they a marquee team? of course but call me stupid, but the raptors have to beat paul george and the refs to move onto the next round and it's a BIG IF.

how hard is it to guard one guy on a team? the pacers are good team but double team george all over the court, triple team him if you have to and leave the likes of hill and ellis open and we'll have a better chance. this is just so frustrating bc i came into this playoffs very optimistic but all the feelings of last year are back and idk if the raptors can make a series of this..

[pwaldo]

Didn't see the game today but I do love conspiracy theories about the NBA. I don't know if the NBA is actively trying to stop the Raptors from advancing but I do know viewers from Canada don't count in the ratings in America so you'd have two reasons to stop the Raptors. One they are a threat to the Cavs and two the NBA Finals ratings would be awful with the Raptors there by default.

[chakhae1]

That is my point exactly!! The conspiracy is on! In all seriouness the Raptors failed in all aspsets of their game and their regular season will mean nothing if they don't make it to at least the 3rd round in the playoffs. They might be one of the best teams in the East in recent memory to never win a round. They have upped their win totals in each of the last 4 years I believe and to not even have won 1 round in the playoffs is just not acceptable. And if Carrol can't play, take him off the roster and put Powell in his spot. Carrol wasn't missed during the regular season and i think he is still hurt since he played less than 20 minutes.

[clvc0017]

casey can't draw up a scoring play to save his life. Also, he has no idea how to rotate his players and even who to keep in the lineup. Scola is useless as a starter. Powell should have played more minutes.
I am a huge Raps fan but I've opened my eyes - this team lead by Derozan and Lowry will not be successful in the playoffs. I hate to say it but it's the truth. Indy will win in 5, maybe 6 games. The Raptors pose no playoff threat.

[gojacks]

Some of the worst coaching in the NbA. I will definitely say that. The TV rating point is a good point as well.

[Zeppelin1985]

This series intrigues me very much because I think both teams matchup pretty well. Unfortunately, I went to a card show yesterday and missed game 1. It really sucks when refs have such an impact and are making questionable calls. Playoff basketball is a completely different animal from the regular season and I always look to see which players step up and who fades away. I hope this series goes to the limit.

[rocksaysits420]

@movel23, any thoughts here? It's never good when refs play a roll in the outcome of a game regardless of it's regular season or playoff game. You are thinking the NBA is trying to build up Paul George as a replacement to LBJ?

[movel23]

Some real tick tack calls, but I think Casey needs to work on his rotations, they brought in Caroll as a defensive specialist, and why was James Johnson sitting on the bench. No one else on the raptors can guard Paul George. If they put a stop to his fire in the 3rd quarter we would have easily won. I hope they can make some changes in game 2. But definitely the same feeling as last few years :(

[chakhae1]

my biggest concern here is that in order for the raptors to move deep into the playoffs they need demar and lowry playing at their best and idk if demar is capable of stepping up. the bench showed what they could do last game, but can demar provide anything other than scoring? the playoffs as mentioned is a war and if demar is going to be a suck and complain to refs bc he isn't getting calls, then he'll stay stapled to the bench..powell also needs to be playing more and carroll either needs to admit that he's hurt or step up his game b/c he's done nothing the entire second half of the season.

[WilyWestbrook0]

And so in spite of some setbacks, the Raps advance to the ECF today after beating the Heat. I'm honestly not that surprised. I still hold that Casey is one of the best and most disciplined coaches we have in the league. He gets more out of Lowry and DeRozan than most could, IMO.