NBA Thread

[beastlyskronk]

I like what Houston was able to get from it. Wall and Oladipo may be injury prone but that’s a nice tandem when healthy. Cousins looks out of shape but he’s flashing signs of his preinjury form. Plus they have Gordon off the bench as well as PJ Tucker for defense. It’s still a very solid team and I think they could be better off without Harden. At least I imagine the rest of the team will enjoy being able to actually play and not watch Harden iso every time down the court.

I think the Nets are going to blow up. Irving doesn’t seem to really even want to play basketball anymore and I don’t think Harden will switch his game up so there will probably end up being some friction between those 2 whenever Irving starts to actually play.

[Spice 1]

I wish the Cavs had Bickerstaff when they had LeBron. This guy is incredible.

[atwaterandstir]

It's been a really exciting start for the Jazz and I can see what a nightmare matchup they could be in the playoffs, but how long can you live on the 3? If the Jazz can make a move for another isolation player they may just have enough to make a real run.

[broncolee]

How are the Tampa Raptors doing?

[CanDB]

How are the Tampa Raptors doing?

They're doing pretty good. Why did you bring this up? I have my ideas. But let me here why, given I could be wrong. They are most certainly The Toronto Raptors. Canada has a very serious approach to covid-19. It has altered many things, including sports. The NHL in their wisdom, played in a bubble late last year, in Edmonton. It went very well. And this year they formed various divisions, including The North division consisting of all Canadian based teams. This is a very smart model, as it allows for he season to go on, while respecting the health practices within this great country. Otherwise approaches have been taken in sports, including The Jays playing in their farm club city Buffalo last year, and probably out of country this year for as long as it takes.

So yes, they are The Toronto Raptors, just playing somewhere else until the pandemic gets under wraps.

Other than trivia, a wise thing to do in respect of our country's healthcare "seriousness", and a short term plan of attack that it is, what makes this humorous?

[CanDB]

So does Harden go on to win the Assist title, to support Durant and Irving and The Nets? He is currently averaging more assists than any year in his history, though he has had some stellar years in that regard.

Look forward to the playoffs, to see if this formula works. As I do for some other teams.

[broncolee]

I’ll be interested in knowing if Kyrie Irving will actually play off the ball.

It’s nice for him to say he’ll be the 2 guard. We’ll see if it actually works out that way.

[CanDB]

Not sure what is going on with The Bucks these days. The TORONTO Raptors beat them back to back recently, and The Raps are not exactly the team of recent years. Though they do have some excellent contributors, especially VanVleet, who should be an all star in my opinion. Though there is a Western edge overall perhaps, if The Bucks don't right the ship, Philly and The Nets might have a say.

[broncolee]

Well the Tampa Raptors are .500.

The city of Tampa might want to consider exiling them to a foreign country.

Is the Eastern Conference ever going to have 8 teams above .500?

Will the Knicks ever be good again? It would be funny if the Nets win the championship but still have to settle for being little brother in New York.

[CanDB]

Well the Tampa Raptors are .500.

The city of Tampa might want to consider exiling them to a foreign country.

Is the Eastern Conference ever going to have 8 teams above .500?

Will the Knicks ever be good again? It would be funny if the Nets win the championship but still have to settle for being little brother in New York.

I think you have a fetish for The Raptors. If this is about getting back at canucks on this board, there are more than you think. Otherwise your effort to be funny is kind of confusing, given (again) this is all about my country's covid rules....which are working better than some countries. If neither of the above, you must be reaching for something...and not coming close to it.

Dude, why not take this to Smack, where I can respond with much more energy/rudeness. I mean, this is smack right? What else would it be to make fun of a team from another country (than yours), in a covid situation???

[Peanut]

Someone told me that they heard the Raptors game announcers jokingly refer to the team as the "Tampa Raptors". And that would be on one of the two broadcasters that own the team.

I thought that was interesting.

[CanDB]

Someone told me that they heard the Raptors game announcers jokingly refer to the team as the "Tampa Raptors". And that would be on one of the two broadcasters that own the team.

I thought that was interesting.

Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly like what broncolee had to say....twice. BTW, announcers often make such mistakes and are given some room to have fun with it. On the other hand, they would respect what The Raptors are doing....unlike some who still don't appreciate the importance of cautionary measures.

Go Canada!!!! Go Toronto Raptors!! One player away from going deep.

[CanDB]

Raptors on a nice run...2 straight against The Bucks, then Minnesota, and today a come from behind victory over Phily. Not bad. If they can acquire a good player before season's end, they might be for real.

[Butler By'Note]

Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly like what broncolee had to say....twice. BTW, announcers often make such mistakes and are given some room to have fun with it. On the other hand, they would respect what The Raptors are doing....unlike some who still don't appreciate the importance of cautionary measures.

Go Canada!!!! Go Toronto Raptors!! One player away from going deep.

It was Matt Devlin the team's play by play broadcaster who is employed by the team and broadcasts the games on both TSN and Sportsnet who together own 75% of MLSE between the two of them. He was having fun with it, in a couple of games I've watched this year.

It's not that big of a deal. The Raptors took their actual playing court from ScotiaBank Place to play on, along with their championship banner to hang in the rafters in the Tampa arena. They've embraced Tampa for this season, but it's only going to be one season.

And if you think it's because there's some implied believe that the Raptors will move to Tampa full-time, keep in mind they're owned by MLSE, which is 75% owned by Canada's two biggest telecom giants and the other 25% is owned by Larry Tanenbaum, who's spent a long time trying to expand sports in Canada. There's a better chance that the entire city of Winnipeg is moved to Tampa than there is of the Raptors continuing to play there when they're allowed to return home.

[Butler By'Note]

Raptors on a nice run...2 straight against The Bucks, then Minnesota, and today a come from behind victory over Phily. Not bad. If they can acquire a good player before season's end, they might be for real.

Not to poke the bear over it, but TSN (a team owner) actually speculates they might be in better position to acquire a bought out player in the coming weeks because they're playing in Tampa.

https://www.tsn.ca/video/could-playi...-agent~2142179