Are the Raptors a Modern Basketball Team?

[@freestyle8003]

What a great podcast! Perfect for this moment in the Raptors season...

[@breakawayadventures7209]

2 of my favourite podcasters. You folks were awesome together.

[@anand11111]

the crossover we've been waiting for! do a trade dealine special with you, casciaro & wolfond please!

[@r.d.vaughan4541]

I love the questions about at the 20:30 mark as while watching the other ascending teams that are further along in rebuilding, it is so obvious Raptors talent cupboard is/was so empty. Limited speed and ability is putting it kindly. Sure potential talent is in development but it begs the question, how many years of leaning on tank-ish seasons will be required to get that talent? The wind fall of picks that some of the best rebuilds have the Raptors don't likely get as they have nothing to temp a stupid GM unless it is Scottie and where does that move get you? I'm think of the Celtics trades that netted Tatum and Brown or the OKC haul from the Clippers. Even with two 1st rounders in 2026, you have to keep being lucky with the lottery balls and who is available, which has lower odds no matter how good the FO is at scouting or development. Lurking in the background is a reactionary/impatient MLSE (AKA Ted Rogers) and the potential of their interference in "the plan" and the mediocrity that their other franchises have achieved so far.

[@van604city]

Hopefully the fans don't have to wait years to see these 2 podcast together again lol. Great episode!

[@mollyweir9350]

I know a lot of fans hated NN but he was a forward thinking coach w/ Raps. After 2019 chip run every coach in the NBA was employing the Giannis wall & box n 1 & NN in 2021 -2022 have guys crashing the glass getting extra posessions & winning the turn over battle. Now OKC coach is doing this w/ a much better team. Even the Celtcs. This was how they won the game vs Minny. They only had 4 TOs vs 16 to TWolves. Most of their 3pt made this yr was off Orebs. Jj Reddick even said that is the best 3 to take.

[@YakDPOY]

I didn't hate NN for his X's and O's. I hated him for the Nick Nursery and giving FVV the greenlight to destroy the teams culture. As a basketball coach, he was and is great. As a coach of men, I don't see it

[@mollyweir9350]

@YakDPOY I think his ego& stubborness got to him. He is competitive & while I don't agree w/ what he did his last season as Raps HC I feel he didn't want to associate w/ another losing record. He only had 1 has a HC so far & that was in Tampa.

[@YakDPOY]

@@mollyweir9350 Yea, That's a pretty selfish thing to do though lol. Thibideau and others been doing it for ages too though so can't hate too hard. Now he aiming for Cooper Flagg in Philly, sly ol dog XD

[@mollyweir9350]

@YakDPOY I don't think he is aiming for Flagg. That's not in Morey's Mo. Injuries to their key star has playef a role in their records b/c the suppporting casts/ bench is not good.

[@YakDPOY]

@@mollyweir9350 The supporting cast/bench was talk of the town start of the year, now its bad. Interesting turn of events. I just kidding about aiming for Flagg.. no, I don't think a contender set out this year to be the worst team nope..

[@mollyweir9350]

We may end up w/ NFL style contracts in this new CBA leading to some concessions w/ contract structures/ negotiations after this current one is expired.

[@TroyKnights-cm9je]

The raptors generate good shots. Scottie is 9th in the league for potential assists. Rj has a lot of potential assists. We simply have young players who are streaky. Better teams have older role players who do their jobs better on a night to night basis.

[@FillGaps]

Thought Joe helped until his draft statistics analysis where it was in a vacuum discussion. Raps have been damaged by being 1-2 picks off on fit. Coin toss Ross just as example. Also the Brooklyn win move us from 3rd odds to 5th but there is a top line to every draft.

[@chihuadog]

Darko doesn't deserve to be fired at all. But he needs to bring in an actual defensive guru as his right hand man. He's doing a reasonable job maximizing the team's offensive talents, PG Scottie experiment not withstanding. It's the defensive side that's been ugly. He's been preaching defence since off season and the team is STILL terrible on that end. In terms of keepers on this roster, RJ and Gradey are keepers with the fight they were showing against top teams early in the season. Scottie is a keeper but needs to stop being hyped as a franchise player. He's a number 2. This is a PR issue that needs to be sorted out in the next couple of seasons. IQ i'm really confident about. Of the BBQ core he's the biggest question mark. Good podcast. I'm not a big fan of Joe being an RJ hater like most members of Canadian media. Dude is the best player on the team and Joe wants to trade him for Andrew Wiggins... Meanwhile he wants Dylan Harper who could be a nice player even though right now RJ is the way better offensive player, even comparing them in their college years.

[@jorgealbertomolina1]

Darko does not bring a defensive identity- offensively is a good developer. You can create winning culture without defending identity.

[@YakDPOY]

Last 2 games were bad, since we were heslthy healthy. But we had a stretch of solid defence before Scottie got hurt, combine that with not having hardly any defenders on our team. I not sure what people expect? Maybe it should be 5 to 10% better? Ok, to what end lol Maybe he doesn't have the capablities of forming a good defence, I just don't know how we would know with GD, RJ and all these guys on the court a bunch. Lacking Poeltl sometimes too is a death sentence, 0 back up defensive help. Our defence is right where I would expect it to be, right above the attrocious teams and right below all the good teams. IMO, need to see a team that is built to defend even a little bit. Should it be better? Yea sure. Does that mean he doesn't know how defence works? I not sure how we would know

[@rpgsheep]

you can't have a defensive identity when Gradey, RJ, Kelly, Chris are all part of your rotation and you have at least 2 of these piss poor defenders on the floor at any given time. Your ok defenders are Ochai, Davion, Jamal, and Mogbo and all are undersized for their positions (Ochai forced to play PF, Mogbo forced to be C, Davion and Jamal just small). Jakob's lost a step or two and plays below the rim, not really even league average defender. gone are the days of 6'9 longbois who defend everything and get in every passing lane.

[@lijo-xw4mg]

Pat Delaney needs to be fired