2018-2019 Toronto Raptors Thread: "In Kawhi (& Danny) We Trust!"
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Guilt Trip
Well-known member
Watched more basketball then ever this year also and I found it amazing how quick you get hooked in with every basket. I found myself getting mad when the Raps missed a shot lol. Like a guy missing the open net in hockey I guess! I think what really got me "more" involved and giving a crap was Kawhi. The more I heard him talk, the more he became my fav T.O. athlete. I love the way he goes about his business and has a no BS attitude. All about the wins. Loved the way the Raps became an extension of him. I hope he stays. This could just be the start of something really big.
Next up...Leafs
Next up...Leafs
Kin
Active member
herman said:
Well, I think it's absolutely an analytics conversation in the way that most of them are in that while there's a broad consensus about the idea that it's good to collect information there's a lot of disagreement about how that information gets applied and to what extent it should prevail over, say, the nuances that come with "watching the game". Because I think if you're having a fair discussion about these things I think what's meant by "watch the game" isn't that analytics guys literally aren't watching the game but rather that there's a difference between watching the game and accumulating raw data on outcomes of things like shot percentage and, say, scouting the game and trying to decipher the whys of how certain things are successful and others aren't.
I think you and I agree with the basic thing Rose said in his New Yorker interview about analytics being a tool in the box as opposed to the whole toolbox and that the most successful teams will take a multi-pronged approach that relies on both old and new school methods of evaluation but I do think there's something to be said about the way that the new school people have handled this has been, shall we say, not always great with respect to appreciating the other side of it or in accepting the idea that it's not a question of absolutes(a point that is made a lot on twitter by Bill James, who is not exactly an old school tobacco juice and nerdhating type).
I don't know if you've seen this discussion on the Rose thing but it's worth a watch:
https://twitter.com/bomani_jones/status/1137124576100569095
Kin
Active member
So allow me a brief moment of partisanship here if I may...
I think it's great that a lot of people got behind this Raptors team. I know that Canadian basketball fans from wherever are probably inclined to follow the Raptors above other teams. I appreciate that every sports team will have a regional fanbase. I like the fact that people have hopped on the bandwagon. I encourage more to do so. There's room for everyone and the growth of the game is good.
But...can we maybe knock it off with the "Canada's Team" stuff? I appreciate love for the Raps from wherever but this is a Toronto team. It's a team that's only possible in one part of the country, that reflects the sensibilities of one particular city and with a fanbase that is an embodiment of what this city is about in a way that not everywhere else is.
Often times, and I think most Leafs fans will agree here, there seems to be some pushback against Toronto's place within the country. We all hear the "Centre of the Universe" jokes and we all know the economic facts about what Toronto puts into federal and provincial budgets vs. what we get back. The city gets ragged on, the people do and so it can edge on grating when something within the city gets claimed by the country so long as it achieves a certain level of success.
I don't want this to be exclusionary. Everyone is welcome to the party. But it's Toronto's party. The only entry fee for the rest of the country is admitting that you love us.
I think it's great that a lot of people got behind this Raptors team. I know that Canadian basketball fans from wherever are probably inclined to follow the Raptors above other teams. I appreciate that every sports team will have a regional fanbase. I like the fact that people have hopped on the bandwagon. I encourage more to do so. There's room for everyone and the growth of the game is good.
But...can we maybe knock it off with the "Canada's Team" stuff? I appreciate love for the Raps from wherever but this is a Toronto team. It's a team that's only possible in one part of the country, that reflects the sensibilities of one particular city and with a fanbase that is an embodiment of what this city is about in a way that not everywhere else is.
Often times, and I think most Leafs fans will agree here, there seems to be some pushback against Toronto's place within the country. We all hear the "Centre of the Universe" jokes and we all know the economic facts about what Toronto puts into federal and provincial budgets vs. what we get back. The city gets ragged on, the people do and so it can edge on grating when something within the city gets claimed by the country so long as it achieves a certain level of success.
I don't want this to be exclusionary. Everyone is welcome to the party. But it's Toronto's party. The only entry fee for the rest of the country is admitting that you love us.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
You can also see in many vids when hugging Kawhi, Lowry, Nurse, he had his credentials in his hand still so he didn't drop them.herman said:
L K
Well-known member
Guilt Trip said:
The most damning one is directly from the aftermath of the racist piece of garbage cop. Of course the accountability will be none from this police department. Making false accusations. Accusing someone of assaulting an officer and then feigning their moral superiority for not charging him and arresting him on the spot. America, you have a huge f-ing problem with your police.
Lowry see Masai being harassed and runs over to pull him to the court. He has his badge in his right hand.
L K
Well-known member
Nik the Trik said:
It's absolutely fair. The country didn't really get behind them until the 2nd/3rd round really too so it's not like this was Canada's team from Day 1. I'm glad for it, but you are right that this is Toronto's team that plays in Canada, not just Canada's team. They don't rotate city to city and the vibe is Toronto not Canada. The best possible thing that could happen out of this is the basketball support grows and some day Vancouver can get their team back to rivalry with Seattle again. When that happens those BC people won't be Raptors fans, they will be not-Grizzlies fans.
You fellas are seriously underestimating how much support both the Raptors and Blue Jays have across Western Canada. I know many people who see more games of each play live every year than almost everyone posting here. Yes the level of support increased as this year's playoffs went but so did support in Toronto.
Peter D.
Moderator
It's Toronto's team being embraced and celebrated by the rest of Canada. I don't think it's that big a deal that they are considered "Canada's team" considering they are the sole franchise this country has to offer. Everyone knows they are Toronto-based, and it's not like they are called the Canada Raptors. I think it's great that the rest of the country has an affinity for the Raptors and Jays in comparison to the loathing the Leafs get.
Kin
Active member
L K said:
Yeah, I think that's as much it as anything. I appreciate that for $$$ reasons they want to be able to sell to the rest of Canada but there's a pretty stark truth that Raptors national broadcasts have tended not to pull huge numbers when compared to just about any other property Sportsnet or TSN have.
hockeyfan1
New member
The ?WetheNorth? slogan was a marketing gem. People from across the country, Canadians from the world over, were all in cheering for ?Canada?s team?. After all, the Raptors are the only Canadian-based basketball franchise in existence now, but, should there ever be more in the future (Vancouver, etc.), it?s doubtful that one can still say ?WetheNorth? and still be cheering for one team to represent the country in a professional sports league.
In a way, the Raptors being the lone wolf of the NBA in Canada, achieved what might sound as near-impossible ? getting the attention of even non-basketball followers and buying into the all in-for-one mentality.
That?s where the ?WetheNorth? slogan shines, unlike anything else we?ve seen so far. (Only when the Leafs were winning the Stanley Cup in the ?60?s, before expansion, was a Toronto team cheered for and followed by the rest of the country as the de facto ?Canada?s team, too.?
In a way, the Raptors being the lone wolf of the NBA in Canada, achieved what might sound as near-impossible ? getting the attention of even non-basketball followers and buying into the all in-for-one mentality.
That?s where the ?WetheNorth? slogan shines, unlike anything else we?ve seen so far. (Only when the Leafs were winning the Stanley Cup in the ?60?s, before expansion, was a Toronto team cheered for and followed by the rest of the country as the de facto ?Canada?s team, too.?
