OT: The Official Toronto Raptors Thread
- Thread starter hockeylover
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LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
Pretty sure I’ve often stated that I don’t have the time to follow regular season NBA closely, dickface. But what exactly was worth randomly bringing up here to provoke?
Deckie007
Well-known member
LOF is a good egg.... Its a great board, I had to come back to it. Good peeps. But from my amateurish standpoint, there aren't a ton of posters who know a lot about the NBA. But there are definitely some who really know it. No names need be mentioned.
From a totally dumb standpoint, I am stunned at the talent level in the NBA. Like everyone pretty much can play now. Its very, very entertaining to watch. Really good product.
And one opinion I have is, that we have great management with the Raps. This Nurse guy, seems to have done an absolutely solid job. A bunch of guys I have never heard of, are hitting big numbers. Very cool.
And undrafted guys, how insane is that? Is this a complete anomaly, have other teams done this, to this extent? Again, I am not an expert at all in this field. So all comments welcome.
From a totally dumb standpoint, I am stunned at the talent level in the NBA. Like everyone pretty much can play now. Its very, very entertaining to watch. Really good product.
And one opinion I have is, that we have great management with the Raps. This Nurse guy, seems to have done an absolutely solid job. A bunch of guys I have never heard of, are hitting big numbers. Very cool.
And undrafted guys, how insane is that? Is this a complete anomaly, have other teams done this, to this extent? Again, I am not an expert at all in this field. So all comments welcome.
Deckie007
Well-known member
The Spurs have been quite good at it. But it's really about building a program where you can develop these kids outside the top of the draft. Raptors 905 has done a great job with this and now due to injuries we're seeing the big team do it on the fly too. This is what sustained success looks like.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I used to bring this up a bunch of years ago, but the NBA was years behind the NHL and MLB in player development. They didn't have a development league until recently so the only path for guys who couldn't hack the NCAA for whatever reason (indentured servitude doesn't pay well from what I've been told), or were 4 year guys in the NCAA who still needed more high level ball, was Europe.
The Raptors were ahead of the curve on this (by a lot) in taking their D League team seriously, moving it close to the big club to share resources and treat it like a real development program. That competitive advantage won us a title (Delon, Pascal, Bebe, Norm, FVV, Poetl, Boucher are all products of the dev program) and looks like it's built a sustainable contender level program similar to the Spurs.
LeafOfFaith
Well-known member
Yeah, good one, loser.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
I would usually say that I don't care, but his balls seem to be dropping this year. He's never going to be what he had the potential to be, but he's playing like he gives a fuck at least.
zeke
Well-known member
yeah legit good this year. shockingly.
MindzEye
Wayward Ditch Pig
Have to finish top 4 in the qualifying tournament, which if our best team shows up, would be an epic failure if they missed.
Canada is ranked 21st according to FIBA, but it's pretty misleading because we've probably got the 2nd best roster on paper if everyone shows up (a side effect of having the 2nd most NBA players behind the US)
Other major basketball nations that haven't qualified yet though:
Serbia (6th...Jokic)
Greece (7th...Giannis)
Lithuania (8th...Jonas)
Russia (9th)
Brazil (11th)
and then some sleepers based on NBA players that could play)
Cameroon (Pascal and Embiid)
Bahamas (Hield and Ayton)
Slovenia (Luka)
But yeah, any team running a starting 5 like Canada's out there should finish top 4 at the olympics, nevermind the qualifying tourney.