Raptors Will be the 2019 NBA Champions.

[JakeCuenca]

Mark my words.

Siakam is blossoming into a star
Ibaka playing like its 2012
Contract year Danny
OG a very versatile Wing
Kawhi best player in the league
Lowry best PG in the east.

[anon]

OG and Danny got a no-look steal apiece against Sacto. Wingstop osmosis kicking in. Media keeps saying Siakam's game looks like Draymond Green. He looks like what Antetokounpo would be if the Freak had Rodman's instincts. If Raps/Bucks meet in the ecsf, Siakam already knows his assignment.

[HarlemHeat37]

OG and Danny got a no-look steal apiece against Sacto. Wingstop osmosis kicking in. Media keeps saying Siakam's game looks like Draymond Green. He looks like what Antetokounpo would be if the Freak had Rodman's instincts. If Raps/Bucks meet in the ecsf, Siakam already knows his assignment.

The Bucks match up well against Toronto, that's their biggest challenge in the East IMO..Raps have little trouble against the Celtics..

Raptors/Warriors would be fun..it's gone unnoticed, but the Warriors have no talent outside of their top 5, it would be interesting watching them against an athletic team that goes 9-10 deep(doesn't matter as much in the playoffs, but this Raptors team is like the 2014 Spurs in terms of depth)..

[DJR210]

the Warriors have no talent outside of their top 5

Yet everyday I have 3-4 articles popping up on my feed gushing over the Warriors finding the next "superstar" in McKinnie

[TimDunkem]

They should give Pop and RC a ring if they win.

[Arcadian]

They should give Pop and RC a ring if they win.

I was thinking the same. They should hang half a banner at the AT&T Center too.

[therealtruth]

Yet everyday I have 3-4 articles popping up on my feed gushing over the Warriors finding the next "superstar" in McKinnie

To me this is part of why the Spurs never repeated. They never got greedy and tried to improve following a championship.

[TimDunkem]

To me this is part of why the Spurs never repeated. They never got greedy and tried to improve following a championship.

Gotta "let others have a chance" as it "wouldn't be fair" and all that.

[DMC]

To me this is part of why the Spurs never repeated. They never got greedy and tried to improve following a championship.

I look at that the other way around - they got fiscally greedy. They are the mom and pop restaurant that got away with only ordering enough food for the average day. When they were overwhelmed they just chalked it up to "they were better than us" and when they won it was often associated with injuries/lack of AC or some other magical 6th man on the floor. Not saying they weren't good, they were, but let's not pretend they were ever juggernauts. Pop's house is likely painted with one coat, no primer.

[Arcadian]

I look at that the other way around - they got fiscally greedy. They are the mom and pop restaurant that got away with only ordering enough food for the average day. When they were overwhelmed they just chalked it up to "they were better than us" and when they won it was often associated with injuries/lack of AC or some other magical 6th man on the floor. Not saying they weren't good, they were, but let's not pretend they were ever juggernauts. Pop's house is likely painted with one coat, no primer.

How can you diminish the Spurs dynasty when they were the winningest franchise in all pro sports over a 15 (maybe 20) year span?

Fuck a repeat. We won 3 out of 5, which is better yet.

[spurs10]

How can you diminish the Spurs dynasty when they were the winningest franchise in all pro sports over a 15 (maybe 20) year span?

Fuck a repeat. We won 3 out of 5, which is better yet.
Yes indeed. :bobo

[therealtruth]

Repeating is much harder than just winning in odd years.

[DMC]

How can you diminish the Spurs dynasty when they were the winningest franchise in all pro sports over a 15 (maybe 20) year span?

Fuck a repeat. We won 3 out of 5, which is better yet.

So Spurs had only 5 prime years? There were plenty seasons where the Spurs stood pat and just fielded what they had. Everyone here knew they were not going to have what it takes to get over the hump and yet it happened year after year, with a prime Tim Duncan. Then they get Kawhi and go to the Finals B2B, winning one. They then don't get anything decent to put with Leonard. He's out there with Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson. Sure they picked up LMA but they didn't even know how to use him.

Maybe they did the best they could have done as a small market team, but in retrospect you can see the gaps in talent and how it affected the seasons, and you can see how the "stand pat" years screwed over a great trio.

[Corporal_Upham]

So Spurs had only 5 prime years? There were plenty seasons where the Spurs stood pat and just fielded what they had. Everyone here knew they were not going to have what it takes to get over the hump and yet it happened year after year, with a prime Tim Duncan. Then they get Kawhi and go to the Finals B2B, winning one. They then don't get anything decent to put with Leonard. He's out there with Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson. Sure they picked up LMA but they didn't even know how to use him.

Maybe they did the best they could have done as a small market team, but in retrospect you can see the gaps in talent and how it affected the seasons, and you can see how the "stand pat" years screwed over a great trio.

If we want shitty basketball takes, we’d all just listen to Windhorst.

[Fabbs]

To me this is part of why the Spurs never repeated. They never got greedy and tried to improve following a championship.
2005 summer they got Finley for 2006 on Cubans dime.
But Popped fell in love with him, overused and phucked away the 2006 Championship.
Manus brain fart gets played over and over but Pop n Finleys affair was the 2nd biggest contributor in 2006 Fail.

1. Mavs Ref
2. Pop n Finley, abandoning winning Tall Ball. LOL Finley covering Dork Nowistki.
3. Pop leaving Parker in up 20 to get mauled by idiot Neanderthal World Puss Ron Artest. Parker 60% for the Mavs series.
4. Manu snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Arcadian]

So Spurs had only 5 prime years? There were plenty seasons where the Spurs stood pat and just fielded what they had. Everyone here knew they were not going to have what it takes to get over the hump and yet it happened year after year, with a prime Tim Duncan. Then they get Kawhi and go to the Finals B2B, winning one. They then don't get anything decent to put with Leonard. He's out there with Patty Mills and Kyle Anderson. Sure they picked up LMA but they didn't even know how to use him.

Maybe they did the best they could have done as a small market team, but in retrospect you can see the gaps in talent and how it affected the seasons, and you can see how the "stand pat" years screwed over a great trio.

How can you say they were "screwed over" when they won 4 championships together? It seems like you're putting a ton of stock in repeats, but...keep in mind, they only lost 2013 due to a bizarre series of highly unlikely events. If the ball bounced in a slightly different direction (not directly to Ray Allen), that was a repeat.

They also lost 2006 in a rather bizarre fashion. Shit happens. The Spurs have had a lot of unfortunate things happen to them, yet they still walked away with 5 rings. I feel your pain that it could have been 8, but that doesn't mean the whole thing was disappointing!

[Fabbs]

Raps could do it but any team is going to have to deal with WarriorRef.
Huge obstacle.
We saw what they are capable of last year Game 1 burning LeBrons epic game.
The Huddle then taking some medicated pads over to Durant and helping him to the FT line.

[313]

The only way KD’s move to GS is justifiable by the league is if they three peat at least

ESPN, after the Warriors sweep the playoffs: “See, the 73-9 Warriors NEEDED Kevin Durant to get over the hump”

[DMC]

How can you say they were "screwed over" when they won 4 championships together? It seems like you're putting a ton of stock in repeats, but...keep in mind, they only lost 2013 due to a bizarre series of highly unlikely events. If the ball bounced in a slightly different direction (not directly to Ray Allen), that was a repeat.

They also lost 2006 in a rather bizarre fashion. Shit happens. The Spurs have had a lot of unfortunate things happen to them, yet they still walked away with 5 rings. I feel your pain that it could have been 8, but that doesn't mean the whole thing was disappointing!

Easily. Just go back in in the forum many years and read all the comments about how screwed over the Spurs were when we stood pat.

And I don't believe the Spurs would have repeated had they won in 2013. Historically they don't do as well the following year when they won a championship. In fact 2014 is the first time they've been back to the finals a second year in a row. They tend to relax the year after the Championship. Just look at 2015 as an example.

Contrary to the narrative, great teams don't compete against 29 other teams. They really only compete against two or three. The Spurs had a time when they should have won more championships than they did because the two or three teams they were competing against weren't really as good as they were. They just did not make the additions in the offseason that these other teams made to continue their success. Where was their Pau Gasol? Where was there Andrew Bynum or heaven forbid a Shaquille O'Neal?

While other teams were adding Talent the Spurs were adding players like Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair.

[Arcadian]

Easily. Just go back in in the forum many years and read all the comments about how screwed over the Spurs were when we stood pat.

And I don't believe the Spurs would have repeated had they won in 2013. Historically they don't do as well the following year when they won a championship. In fact 2014 is the first time they've been back to the finals a second year in a row. They tend to relax the year after the Championship. Just look at 2015 as an example.

Contrary to the narrative, great teams don't compete against 29 other teams. They really only compete against two or three. The Spurs had a time when they should have won more championships than they did because the two or three teams they were competing against weren't really as good as they were. They just did not make the additions in the offseason that these other teams made to continue their success. Where was their Pau Gasol? Where was there Andrew Bynum or heaven forbid a Shaquille O'Neal?

While other teams were adding Talent the Spurs were adding players like Gary Neal and DeJuan Blair.

I do. They were good enough in '14 to repeat regardless.

Either way, though...I took issue with your overall attitude that the Spurs dynasty was inferior to others. In fact, it was one of the most dominant runs in sports history. Could it have been even better? Yes. Was it still amazing? Yes.

[DMC]

I do. They were good enough in '14 to repeat regardless.

They were hungry. Then in 2015 they lost in the 1st round to the Clippers.



Either way, though...I took issue with your overall attitude that the Spurs dynasty was inferior to others. In fact, it was one of the most dominant runs in sports history. Could it have been even better? Yes. Was it still amazing? Yes.
No one was comparing it to others. The comment was made that they weren't greedy enough to go for more consecutive titles. I think they were too greedy in that they didn't want to spend the money to go for consecutive titles.

Early on sure you can say a fuckup here and there prevented the three peat, but the years between 2007 and 2012 had the Spurs just standing around selling game tickets and mailing it in, especially the front office.

[ambchang]

Repeating is much harder than just winning in odd years.

Then why are there so many more teams who repeated than teams that won 3 in 5?

[Darth_Pelican]

:lol How is this Raptors team 12-1? Pels (minus 2 starters) just Handily beat them in Toronto.

[DAF86]

:lol How is this Raptors team 12-1? Pels (minus 2 starters) just Handily beat them in Toronto.

One of those games I supposse.

[Bill_Brasky]

Raps are good. No more Abaka/Valanciunas on the floor together. Good spacing. A slew of shooters and good defenders. And Kawhi > Durant. Only team with a shot at the GSFs.

[HarlemHeat37]

I was there, one of the flukiest games I've seen in a minute..Etwuan Moore had the best performance of his entire life:lol

[HarlemHeat37]

Raps are good. No more Abaka/Valanciunas on the floor together. Good spacing. A slew of shooters and good defenders. And Kawhi > Durant. Only team with a shot at the GSFs.

Kawhi has actually been extremely overrated this season..not even close to a top 5 player right now..

[DAF86]

Kawhi has actually been extremely overrated this season..not even close to a top 5 player right now..

Could it be that he's actually damaged goods?

[Bill_Brasky]

Kawhi has actually been extremely overrated this season..not even close to a top 5 player right now..

Just feels like he makes Lowry a lot better which raises the ceiling quite a bit.

[HarlemHeat37]

Could it be that he's actually damaged goods?

It's very possible..he has no explosion or athleticism right now and his defense is nowhere near what it usually his..his production has been largely based on his great fundamentals/footwork, etc..

Kawhi always took a minute to get back in form after an injury with the Spurs, though..this "recovery" program he's on is killing his progress IMO..we'll see how he looks later in the season when he stops taking time off..

[Darth_Pelican]

I was there, one of the flukiest games I've seen in a minute..Etwuan Moore had the best performance of his entire life:lol

Jrue’s shutdown D on midget Lowry was a big part of the win. Pels are better than their record. They’ve just been dealing with injuries. They get Mirotic and Payton back soon.

[HarlemHeat37]

Jrue’s shutdown D on midget Lowry was a big part of the win. Pels are better than their record. They’ve just been dealing with injuries. They get Mirotic and Payton back soon.

I agree, I expect them to be the 2nd best team in the West, as I said upstairs..I'm just saying, tonight had a lot of flukyness, although these 2 teams are close in quality..

[JakeCuenca]

Lowry cant breakdown defenses anymore. Raps fans having orgasms about his great start when in reality its mostly just increasing the tempo and serge hitting shots.

Leonard needs to stop taking day offs. His camp is practiclly ruining his carreer...

He looked great before he jammed his foot. He is healthy now but its clear "rest" is not what he needs to get back in the game.

They're lucky Anunoby and Siakam are having great seasons...

On paper if Lowry can be average at least and Kawhi stop taking day offs ( ruins his rhytem) they're the 2nd best team in the league.

[Kawhitstorm]

:lol How is this Raptors team 12-1? Pels (minus 2 starters) just Handily beat them in Toronto.

Jrue/Moore outscored Danny/Lowly 59 to 7

[JakeCuenca]

Jrue/Moore outscored Danny/Lowly 59 to 7

Bro whats wrong with kawhi

[Kawhitstorm]

It's very possible..he has no explosion or athleticism right now and his defense is nowhere near what it usually his..his production has been largely based on his great fundamentals/footwork, etc..

Kawhi always took a minute to get back in form after an injury with the Spurs, though..this "recovery" program he's on is killing his progress IMO..we'll see how he looks later in the season when he stops taking time off..

He also looks gassed every time there is a stoppage that at times he looks like LeBron on defense:lol

[Kawhitstorm]

Bro whats wrong with kawhi

24 on a cool 49/40/88 & he's probably 75%:wakeup

[BD24]

Someone already made this thread you attention whore faggot.

I was hoping you would depart with Kawhi and your pinking. sadly it seems you are like herpes and we will never rid ourselves of you.

bigly sad

[Kyle_Kuzma]

raps got no chance B