Raptors Game Thread

[pulzar]

Way to go, Demar!

What I really liked was how he got double-teamed a few times in 4th/OT, and he kicked the ball out right away for some open looks... The 3 he set up for Lowry to tie the game was huge.

8 assists, 5 three pointers... I love seeing that from him.

[pulzar]

BTW, wasn't VanVleet amazing, too? It's easy to forget him with Demar's 52, but he made some seriously good plays near the end... some awesome passes in heavy traffic, a couple of key 3 pointers... He has been really impressing me this season.

[aman_13]

BTW, wasn't VanVleet amazing, too? It's easy to forget him with Demar's 52, but he made some seriously good plays near the end... some awesome passes in heavy traffic, a couple of key 3 pointers... He has been really impressing me this season.

He was great. He made some timely reads when DeMar was pressured. The three pointer was clutch. Lowry was so pumped after that shot.

[Sadds The Gr8]

If he keeps on improving he'll dethrone VC as the best Raptor ever.

he will easily pass him if he ends his contract with us.

Ibaka's rim defense should get credit. He had a couple awesome stops on Giannis in the 4th Q/OT. On offense he was frustrating but if we don't have Ibaka, Giannis easily finishes that dunk and the Bucks go up 6, which probably seals the game for them

[R. Johnson#3]

he will easily pass him if he ends his contract with us.

Ibaka's rim defense should get credit. He had a couple awesome stops on Giannis in the 4th Q/OT. On offense he was frustrating but if we don't have Ibaka, Giannis easily finishes that dunk and the Bucks go up 6, which probably seals the game for them

Yeah, I didn't really even think ahead. He should pass him easily if he finishes the deal here.

Ibaka great on D but brutal on offence yesterday. It seemed like every time he touched the ball he'd either shoot or attack and nothing was dropping.

[pulzar]

Ibaka great on D but brutal on offence yesterday. It seemed like every time he touched the ball he'd either shoot or attack and nothing was dropping.

Beyond brutal. Ball movement stops at him, and most shots are terrible decisions.

On that one late play where Demar was doubled in the corner, he kicked it out to Ibaka. Ibaka had VanVleet wide open in the opposite corner, but instead he held on to it for a couple of seconds and then passed it to Lowry who had a man on him and had to rush to get a shot off (and actually didn't before the shot clock violation).

His offensive awareness is really bad, and I don't know that an occasional block makes up for it.

[GodsSon]

he will easily pass him if he ends his contract with us.

Ibaka's rim defense should get credit. He had a couple awesome stops on Giannis in the 4th Q/OT. On offense he was frustrating but if we don't have Ibaka, Giannis easily finishes that dunk and the Bucks go up 6, which probably seals the game for them

Who knows what the future holds, but it would be awesome to see DeMar a Raptor for life.

If he opts out on the final year, he has one big contract left; why not be with us?

[mike_noodles]

Man, it would be pretty cool. As much as I've been critical of the guy, he is now the greatest Raptor ever and it would be great to see such a story. Give him a 4 year max and then go year to year at market value while he gets old.

[ChongInc.]

Demar has already passed VC in my mind.
His work ethic, loyalty and determination has seemed to rub off on the U19 team Canada. He is the complete opposite of vince. We needed Vince to get people excited, but needed Demar to show us how to do it the right way.

I like that Ibaka isnt afraid to shoot. I hated PatPat's hesitation. Ibaka's D has taken another life recently. Val is so valuable too.

Milwakee made a mistake trading away monroe imo. he kept them in games against us in the playoffs. They lose in 5 without him. Bledsoe made some nice 3's but monroe's efficiency off the bench was irreplaceable - part of the reason i have been curious what role Val could play for us off the bench.

Derozan's D is really much better too.

We were seeing some of that 'clear out for derozan and make him easy to doubleteam' gameplan down the stretch but when you have derozan putting up a carrer night... thats what you do. and the fact that he never got caught in the doubleteam says a lot.

I cringe watching Giannis back down Lowry. smart foul though.

[Jamiecballer]

The argument for Derozan being the greatest raptor ever is a little like why some people - albeit few, have Kobe as being better than Lebron. Longevity + team achievements. I'm not buying it. I remember who this player was even 2 seasons ago!

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[pebloemer]

Demar has already passed VC in my mind.
His work ethic, loyalty and determination has seemed to rub off on the U19 team Canada. He is the complete opposite of vince. We needed Vince to get people excited, but needed Demar to show us how to do it the right way.

I like that Ibaka isnt afraid to shoot. I hated PatPat's hesitation. Ibaka's D has taken another life recently. Val is so valuable too.

Milwakee made a mistake trading away monroe imo. he kept them in games against us in the playoffs. They lose in 5 without him. Bledsoe made some nice 3's but monroe's efficiency off the bench was irreplaceable - part of the reason i have been curious what role Val could play for us off the bench.

Derozan's D is really much better too.

We were seeing some of that 'clear out for derozan and make him easy to doubleteam' gameplan down the stretch but when you have derozan putting up a carrer night... thats what you do. and the fact that he never got caught in the doubleteam says a lot.

I cringe watching Giannis back down Lowry. smart foul though.

I also think DeMar has passed VC in greatness. Perhaps not in peak performance, but durability, longevity, consistency and team success are all marks to his favour. It will always be hard to overlook the 2 years where VC absolutely astounded us. It has left an incredible mark on basketball in this city. But I'd argue that DeRozan's tenure has left an incredible mark on this organization in a way that Vince's didn't. I recognize a lot plays into that though.

[pebloemer]

The argument for Derozan being the greatest raptor ever is a little like why some people - albeit few, have Kobe as being better than Lebron. Longevity + team achievements. I'm not buying it. I remember who this player was even 2 seasons ago!

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Those things carry a lot of value with me .

[aman_13]

Based on his current trajectory, this won't be a conversation in a couple years.

[Jamiecballer]

Those things carry a lot of value with me .

sure, but aren't we having a pretty short memory here? he was a complete one note player until about 2 years ago. scoring and nothing else. defensively, ugh. passing, ugh. by my honest recollection he's working on his second season as a pretty good player. those empty calorie years just don't count for much in my eyes.

i mean, for reference Andrea Bargnani is 5th all-time in scoring (franchise) and i wouldn't have wiped my *** with him.

[pulzar]

sure, but aren't we having a pretty short memory here? he was a complete one note player until about 2 years ago. scoring and nothing else. defensively, ugh. passing, ugh. by my honest recollection he's working on his second season as a pretty good player. those empty calorie years just don't count for much in my eyes.

I think I'm with you on this. It's a little premature to anoint him as the best Raptors player ever (although we do have a very short supply of candidates -- Bargnani at #5 is a perfect example).

I really like the improvements he has made this year in passing and shooting, and the efficiency improvements of last year. That made him something approaching a top-tier player last year, and very near so this year.

But, that's just less than year and a half. Vince did it for a longer period. Two years ago, this forum would've almost unanimously picked Lowry as the best player on the *current* team, much less all time.

If Demar can play like he is currently playing for the rest of this season and one more after it, I'd be ready to have this talk.