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OT: The Official Toronto Raptors Thread

I think the demographics of Toronto pretty much guaranteed the Raps were going to be a success. I remembered during the height of Vinsanity telling a friend of mine that in 20 yrs the Raptors would be just as popular as the Leafs in the GTA, and I don't think I'm that far off tbh.
 
Deckie007 said:
I think the demographics of Toronto pretty much guaranteed the Raps were going to be a success. I remembered during the height of Vinsanity telling a friend of mine that in 20 yrs the Raptors would be just as popular as the Leafs in the GTA, and I don't think I'm that far off tbh.
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I don't think you can separate one from the other though. Without the Raptors becoming cool as fuck 20 yrs ago with kids from our generation, do they catch on with indian, pakistani, asian, etc, etc kids? I mean, I love the demographics of Toronto, but there is nothing about:

2001:
1) Canadian 18.5%
2) English 16.9%
3) Scottish 11.1%
4) Irish 10.4%
5) Chinese 9.4%
6) Italian 9.2%
7) East Indian 7.4%
8) French 4.7%
9) German 4.7%
10) Portugese 3.7%

That screams surefire success of a NBA team. If we want to point to demographic success of the Raptors, it's how deeply the chinese and east indian communities have adopted the club. Very non traditional basektball demographics. That imo is what Vince did. He turned asian and east indian kids into basketball fans in Toronto.
 
MindzEye said:
Yeah, vince's legacy in toronto is massive. It's not crazy to suggest that the Raptors could have gone the way of the Grizzlies had vince not been here.

The Vince effect on CanBall is also epic. The amount of attention and dollars that flowed into youth basketball due to his impact is directly linked to the rise of canadians in the nba.
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bingo post , he put us on the map
 
MindzEye said:
I don't think you can separate one from the other though. Without the Raptors becoming cool as **** 20 yrs ago with kids from our generation, do they catch on with indian, pakistani, asian, etc, etc kids? I mean, I love the demographics of Toronto, but there is nothing about:

2001:
1) Canadian 18.5%
2) English 16.9%
3) Scottish 11.1%
4) Irish 10.4%
5) Chinese 9.4%
6) Italian 9.2%
7) East Indian 7.4%
8) French 4.7%
9) German 4.7%
10) Portugese 3.7%

That screams surefire success of a NBA team. If we want to point to demographic success of the Raptors, it's how deeply the chinese and east indian communities have adopted the club. Very non traditional basektball demographics. That imo is what Vince did. He turned asian and east indian kids into basketball fans in Toronto.
Click to expand...

Maybe it's because I lived in an area that had a tonne of Indian/West Indian kids and basketball was wildly popular already (like more popular than hockey) when the Raps were just becoming a thing that gives me that POV. I just saw how popular basketball and the Raptors were in my age group and I thought I could see where it was heading. So yeah no surprise those groups were crazy about the Raptors at all. But I mean myself as white guy (Italian mother so I guess I kinda fit into two cats) was just obsessed with the Raptors and I wasn't alone at all. Toronto is a pretty loyal sports town too which certainly helps as well. Even during the real bad times post-VC the Raptors still drew very well. Like 92.5% attendance capacity from 2000-2015 and there were a lot of dogshit teams in there.
 
The raptors also stayed affordable (Sprite Zone) until they became a perennial playoff team, and their game day presentation has always been awesome.

Unlike the leafs a family of 4 could hit a game without risking bankruptcy, and unlike the jays a 6 year old would still have a great time watching a mediocre product.
 
CH1 said:
Was at ACC when he got 50 vs Philly/Iverson in the playoffs. Travelled to Philly to see a game -- and heard one of their fans yell "Hey Vince, stick to hockey". Won't forget either moment.
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that is fucking awesome
 
CH1 said:
This does not sound great...


Adrian Wojnarowski
Sixteen NBA players have tested positive for the coronvavirus of 302 players tested, sources tells ESPN.
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Maybe the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to covid is that death is the only bad outcome. Permanent respiratory damage is absolutely on the menu and in much larger percentages than mortality risk.
 
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Came across this ...

Michael Jordan, probably the best basketball player of all times, said once, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed..." - because he didn't give up.
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"
Today, the 2019 Toronto Raptors officially become the longest-reigning champions in NBA history. They have held the title for 391 days.
"

Do we still have that 3 point streak?
 
Kyle: Hey Matt, what have you been doing during quarantine.
Matt: Just chilling and working out a bit Kyle
EcqQU1TXsAIAw1v

Kyle:....
giphy.gif
 
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