So how good are the Raptors?

[IBetYou]

Good test(s) coming up for them.

10-Mar	19:30	_	Atl
12-Mar	19:00	_	Mia
14-Mar	19:30	_	Chi

The Hawks will be on the back end of a 5 game trip. The HEAT will be on a b2b. The Bulls should have Butler back next week. All 3 tough games though.

[sando]

Raptors are good enough to win the East. They have far more team cohesion & chemistry than Cleveland, if not the talent the Cav's have.
Main weakness (as always) is they rely too heavily on jumpers. When those mid range J's aren't dropping for Lowry, DeRozan & Ross then they can struggle to put up a winning total.

[IBetYou]

Whoa you can't compare them to the Cavs... I rate all 3 of the above teams higher than them.

Home court has been good to them lately, what with Canada going crazy for BBall.

[sando]

Whoa you can't compare them to the Cavs... I rate all 3 of the above teams higher than them.

Home court has been good to them lately, what with Canada going crazy for BBall.

Ridiculous statement! Bulls & Hawks are simply not on the same level as the Raptors. Heat however are very good, especially with Dragic playing well & Johnson showing there is still some game in those tired legs. Heat are probably the only team that can realistically challenge for the ECF outside of the top 2.

[WildCelticsFan]

Raptors win first two, then lose to bulls

[Rorster]

Raptors win first two, then lose to bulls

they always lose to the bulls

[IBetYou]

J.Butler is better than Derozan
Gasol is better than Scola/ Valanciunas put together

Not ridiculous my friend, just a differing view.

[Rorster]

J.Butler is better than Derozan
Gasol is better than Scola/ Valanciunas put together

Not ridiculous my friend, just a differing view.

butler is not better than derozan

[IBetYou]

Butler is an elite player. He does everything for the Bulls; score/ defend/ rebound/ make plays. Carries them on his back most nights. Derozan scores points and that's about it. The comparison is not close.

[thedirk]

Butler is an elite player. He does everything for the Bulls; score/ defend/ rebound/ make plays. Carries them on his back most nights. Derozan scores points and that's about it. The comparison is not close.

It really isnt. Butler is far more complete. DeRozan can't shoot 3s, which is a big thing.

[Rorster]

Butler is an elite player. He does everything for the Bulls; score/ defend/ rebound/ make plays. Carries them on his back most nights. Derozan scores points and that's about it. The comparison is not close.

butler averages 1 more board a night this season, career numbers arent close. not sure how this is an objective analysis

[IBetYou]

I don't have a stat sheet to hand -i go on what i see. If he only averages 1 more rebound per game then that's fine i still think he's clearly better.

But lets not get sidetracked... Hawks roll in today. There are many reasons for the Hawks' decline this season, but they seem to be hot stuff now. Teague is playing well. Horford too. And Humphries is making a difference.

[Seto]

I think we'll only find out if the Raptors are legit when April comes. They've lost 2 years in a row in the first round and had homecourt both times. There's actually a pretty decent chance it happens agan in my mind, depending on who they face. I'd only have them favoured over Boston Charlotte or Detroit in the current teams in the East playoff hunt.

[IBetYou]

Foresight welcome, hindsight not welcome

[Seto]

Ridiculous statement! Bulls & Hawks are simply not on the same level as the Raptors. Heat however are very good, especially with Dragic playing well & Johnson showing there is still some game in those tired legs. Heat are probably the only team that can realistically challenge for the ECF outside of the top 2.

Why is it ridiculous? Raptors have never even won a series with this core. And they've had HCA every time. The best players on the Bulls, Hawks, Pacers, Heat have all at least experienced some playoff success. Now obviously every year is different but is there any valid reason to think the Raptors are substantially better this year than they've been in the past?

As a comparison, when they "took off" 2 years ago after their 11-15 start, they went 37-19 the rest of the way. Last year they started 24-7 before Derozan got hurt. Their 42-20 record is great but having really hot extended runs in the regular season is nothing new for them. And it's not like they've added any noteworthy new pieces that are going to lead them to glory. This team are playoff busts until proven otherwise.

[readytowinem]

Whoa you can't compare them to the Cavs... I rate all 3 of the above teams higher than them.

Home court has been good to them lately, what with Canada going crazy for BBall.

Craziness...

The Raptors are the team to beat in the East...

[Killer2121]

Why is it ridiculous? Raptors have never even won a series with this core. And they've had HCA every time. The best players on the Bulls, Hawks, Pacers, Heat have all at least experienced some playoff success. Now obviously every year is different but is there any valid reason to think the Raptors are substantially better this year than they've been in the past?

As a comparison, when they "took off" 2 years ago after their 11-15 start, they went 37-19 the rest of the way. Last year they started 24-7 before Derozan got hurt. Their 42-20 record is great but having really hot extended runs in the regular season is nothing new for them. And it's not like they've added any noteworthy new pieces that are going to lead them to glory. This team are playoff busts until proven otherwise.

Sadly, this is true.

[IBetYou]

Raptors win first two, then lose to bulls

I think you're right

[sando]

Why is it ridiculous? Raptors have never even won a series with this core. And they've had HCA every time. The best players on the Bulls, Hawks, Pacers, Heat have all at least experienced some playoff success. Now obviously every year is different but is there any valid reason to think the Raptors are substantially better this year than they've been in the past?

As a comparison, when they "took off" 2 years ago after their 11-15 start, they went 37-19 the rest of the way. Last year they started 24-7 before Derozan got hurt. Their 42-20 record is great but having really hot extended runs in the regular season is nothing new for them. And it's not like they've added any noteworthy new pieces that are going to lead them to glory. This team are playoff busts until proven otherwise.

Lowry is in his prime. DeRozan is in his prime. Probably the second best back court in the NBA.

Very solid supporting players around them (Ross, Carroll, Valanciunas).

They are deadly at home. All those teams you mentioned will be giving up home court if they play the Raptors.

Stop staring at stats all day & try actually watching a Raptors game or two (especially a home game).

[IBetYou]

DeRozan is having a good one tonight, yet J.Johnson is playing him even. If it were J.Butler vs J.Johnson it would be Butler scoring on one end and Johnson not scoring on the other end

[IBetYou]

Passed the first two tests. Bulls will be at full strength I think (except for Noah).

[SpreadSniper]

can they win a 7 game series is the real question....? I'll have a hundo or 2 on them to win the east this year.

[IBetYou]

That is the real question, but you have to look for clues in the mean time. You can't go solely on what happened yester-year.

[Seto]

Lowry is in his prime. DeRozan is in his prime. Probably the second best back court in the NBA.

Very solid supporting players around them (Ross, Carroll, Valanciunas).

They are deadly at home. All those teams you mentioned will be giving up home court if they play the Raptors.

Stop staring at stats all day & try actually watching a Raptors game or two (especially a home game).

Why do you have to get all aggressive and make things personal every time you disagree with someone? It's very annoying and childish. I doubt I spend more than 10 minutes in any given day "looking at stats" as you say and I don't think a day goes by without my watching an NBA game. It's funny because you say this when I mentioned zero stats in my post. Just a pathetic attempt at a comeback because you're all pissed off someone doesn't agree with you. Now why that's the case is a mystery to me.

Meanwhile you failed to contradict any of the points I made. Yes they will have homecourt but they've had it in both series they lost in 2014 and 2015. They had almost all the players you mentioned during their previous runs. Is Cory Joseph really that much better than Greivis Vasquez? Is Demarre Carroll more of an X Factor than Lou Williams who won 6th man of the year last year?

From what I see this is the same team as last year. 2 very good players in their backcourt. An average supporting cast - neither great nor awful. They started great last year before falling off in great part because Derozan got hurt so Lowry tried to carry the load and ended up running out of gas. They were playing as well as anybody for 2 months though.

[Seto]

That is the real question, but you have to look for clues in the mean time. You can't go solely on what happened yester-year.

Well the answer also lies in who they play. It could be any of a number of teams. Miami, Charlotte, Indiana, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston are all within 3 games (either up or down) in the loss column of that 7 seed.

If they play a team that has no playoff pedigree - they will win. They might struggle a bit but they should eventually pull through. If they play a Miami Indiana or Chicago type team that has been there and done it - I absolutely wouldn't be surprised to see them wilt again. I'm actually starting to warm to the idea of Miami contending a bit in this conference after being pretty low on them since mid-November. That's if Bosh actually comes back for the playoffs.

[Seto]

Passed the first two tests. Bulls will be at full strength I think (except for Noah).

Yeah no bigger Raptors fan than me these past couple nights with my Hornets division play. Good to see them pull out those 2 games.

Butler should play but Rose and Gasol are probably sitting. It's amazing how this team can just never get healthy. The harsh reality of things is that they absolutely are facing a struggle to get in. They are lucky enough that the final matchup with Detroit is at home and the Pistons will have played the night before. But I think if they get in they're dangerous - we'll see.