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“Yeah, yeah, I’ll say it: It was embarrassing,” forward Patrick Patterson said. “A horrific effort on our part. “Something happened during the season that caused the change. I’m not exactly sure what the cause was, but the effect obviously was us losing games, going on a crazy losing streak and then non-success, horrible play in the playoffs. So I’m not exactly sure what the biggest difference was or what happened or why.” This was a bad defensive team virtually all year long, and all of their worst qualities were on display on Sunday. They helped too much, and did not have the speed or intuitiveness to recover. They failed to communicate in transition, leaving any given Washington player totally unaccounted for. They lost various Wizards off of the ball, getting caught ball watching. They got beat on the perimeter so often that the Wizards enjoyed a parade to the free-throw line.
Raptors swept away by Wizards | Toronto Sun
Even as they cruised along with the best mark in the Eastern Conference back in those heady days in December, Casey was constantly harping on the defensive slippage he was seeing. But with Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams carrying the offence, even with DeMar DeRozan injured, and the rest of the league’s teams still getting in sync with their new lineups, the Raptors rode this advantage to a stunningly strong start. It turned out to be not just fool’s gold, but costly because it came without a defensive presence that was the backbone of this team a year ago. Without that backbone, the slide began in January and, with a few exceptions, continued uninterrupted through Game 4 here on Sunday night. “To be beat like they beat us in this game — and they beat guys in the series — shows you how hard everyone in that room has to work to get better at every phase of their game,” Casey said. In Sunday’s closeout, the Wizards shot 71.4% in the first quarter as they began to pull away.
We The North? More like We The Torched: Feschuk | Toronto Star
What do the Raptors really have here? What are they really building on? They’re building on a team that seemed to go out of its way to avoid playing anything resembling conscientious defence. The Wizards, who had 99 points through three quarters on Sunday, shot a murderous 48 per cent for the series. They’re building on a team that seems to go out of its way to avoid making the sensible pass. Sunday’s meagre 17 assists were the latest case in point. They’re building on a team that, all through their late-regular-season swoon, insisted they’d be ready for the playoffs, and weren’t. These Raptors told the world they could adapt their game to the playoff grind, and didn’t. To wit: Terrence Ross went to the free-throw line precisely zero times in this post-season. Even DeMar DeRozan, the team’s go-to seeker of in-the-paint punishment, only got there twice on Sunday.
Lowry among the many question marks for Raptors | Sportsnet.ca
That the Wizards are a good team is not the debate. The question for Ujiri – and he’s the one who needs to get the answer just right – is what kind of team are the Raptors? On Sunday night they were the worst version of what they’ve been through the playoffs, the worst-case scenario of the team that went 13-16 after the all-star break – 13-20 if you count the playoffs – and won just two games against teams with .500 records. They couldn’t shoot, couldn’t defend, couldn’t rebound and didn’t compete well enough to extend the series. “I’ll say it. It was embarrassing,” said Pat Patterson. “A horrific effort on our part. Not that we didn’t try. We wanted to bring it back to Toronto, no one wanted to go out but it was embarrassing, it was horrific, it was a let down. It was just ugly. “
Toronto Raptors could see changes after collapse against Washington Wizards | The Washington Post
Few positive results came from Toronto’s performance against the Wizards, especially on Sunday. Sure, odds were that Toronto would end up being like the 110 other NBA teams that had lost a seven-game series after falling behind 3-0. But with their playoff lives on the line, the Raptors failed to put up much of a fight.
What’s next for the Raptors? | TSN
On top of all the tangible areas in which they regressed – primarily on the defensive end, where they dropped from a top-10 team to 23rd ranked – they gradually became unwatchable. Of course, that’s a generalization. On some nights, when shots were falling and their offence was buzzing, particularly early in the year, they would entertain. But remember when they played hard every night, when no deficit was too big to overcome, when their passion spread through a city and a country in desperate need of a likeable basketball team to call their own? That hasn’t been the case in a long while. Their brief playoff showing was painful. They had coughed up early leads in each of the first three contests, succumbing to Washington’s superior play on both ends of the court, before getting blown out in the series clincher. They were out-rebounded in all four games and allowed a Wizards team that could barely execute a simple play two weeks ago to score at will from all over the floor.
The Toronto Raptors? Gone till November. | Ball Don’t Lie
The 2014-15 Raptors defended like a stable full of 22-year olds. They over-helped, abandoned routine, and failed to communicate repeatedly. That this was one of the better offensive teams in the NBA barely helped – the team even improved on its top five offensive ranking in the second half of the season, and yet that second half saw the team’s winning percentage drop significantly.
Raptors youngsters stalled | Toronto Sun
“I’ve said it the entire year, we’re a young team,’’ said Casey. “First of all, this (sweep and Game 4’s 125-94 loss) should hurt. “It shows how hard everyone in that room needs to work to get better in every phase of their game. Terrence and Jonas are both young guys. They have a lot of work to do, a lot of work to do physically and mentally to get prepared for each and every night. To play at this level, you have to have razor-like focus. “Those guys made some great strides this year and I don’t want to pooh-pooh what they did throughout the season. This level is a different level. “All of our guys, all of us, have to be ready to compete at this level.” Ross and JV couldn’t, but they weren’t the only ones. Casey rolled the dice last spring when he avoided the temptation to change his starting lineup by benching Ross. He kept rolling out Ross this spring and Casey couldn’t extract more than a spot-up three-point shooter who made six three-balls in four games, not exactly a high percentage. Valanciunas started all fours games, but showed little, to no sign, that he was starting to turn the corner. Playoff basketball is a different game, a possession game that requires a lot more than what the Raptors have to offer. The Wizards exposed the Raptors and by sweeping the Raptors, they just may have ushered in some sweeping changes to the Raptors.
Wizards crush Raptors to complete first-round sweep | The Globe and Mail
By the end of the first quarter, the Wizards had a cool 36-22 lead on ridiculously good 71.4 percent shooting from the field. By half-time, it was a crushing 66-50. Pockets of Raptors fans still spotted Washington’s arena on Sunday, waving their black We The North flags and hoping against hope that their team would harness all that frustration and let it fuel them into what they used to be – a fiery underdog that made you feel something. The little the Raptors could muster in the second half wasn’t nearly enough against the impressive “D.C threes” that Washington was shooting from players all over the floor: Beal, Wall, Paul Pierce, Ramon Sessions, Drew Gooden. The Raptors trailed by a humiliating 32 going into the fourth, and a couple of rowdy Raptors fans were ejected by security as taunting Wizards fans sang him out of the stands with a chant of U-S-A, U-S-A. In a city where the trees were greener than Toronto’s for late April, the sun was brighter, and flags were waving on street-posts for two professional sports teams in the playoffs, it just seemed like fate. No NBA team has ever come back to win a playoff series they trailed 0-3, and any far-off dream of history being made by these Raptors faded shortly after tip-off on Sunday.
First-Round Sweep Puts Toronto Raptors’ Future in Limbo and Sunday NBA Takeaways | Bleacher Report
In some sense, potentially breaking up the current Raptors core won’t be emotionally difficult for general manager Masai Ujiri because he didn’t put it together in the first place. Remember, this team is essentially an accident—one that was on the brink of a teardown-and-tank track last year before the Rudy Gay trade unexpectedly rejuvenated the roster. Making two straight playoff appearances wasn’t the plan until surprising circumstances removed alternatives. Now, after seeing the current team fail spectacularly, Ujiri, who made tons of aggressive moves in his time with the Denver Nuggets, has a full summer to think about building a new one.
2015 NBA playoffs: Wizards sweep Raptors with 125-94 rout in Game 4 | The Washington Post
What began as a series between evenly matched teams with similar regular season arcs — a torrid start to heighten expectations followed by a second-half, buzz-killing malaise — ended up being an exhibition of two teams headed in vastly different directions. The Wizards made the Raptors’ three-game season-series sweep irrelevant by unveiling a deadly small-ball lineup with Pierce at power forward and Otto Porter Jr. at small forward. The configuration unearthed driving lanes, which produced relentless drives and a bevy of three-pointers. It was, basically, a different team with a memo for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Raptors Season Ends in a Sweep as the Wizards beat Toronto, 125-94 | Raptors HQ
The rest of the team stayed true to form. Jonas Valanciunas was an efficient 7-for-10 with 16 points and 9 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan had a humble 14 points. And the rest of the usual suspects did their usual things: Terrence Ross was invisible, Patrick Patterson was inconsistent, Lou Williams shot the ball a lot, and Amir Johnson struggled on valiantly. And on the whole, of course, Toronto’s defense was terrible. We don’t need to recount it here. The Wizards, led by John Wall (again) and the sterling play of Marcin Gortat, were once again too much for the Raptors. Whether it was coach Casey’s strategy or the talent of the players, nothing worked. We’ve reached the off-season sooner than we intended. Only questions abound for this team. We’ll have more post-mortems on the season this week. But tonight, let’s get things started on the game and the series. And really, everything that’s gotten us to this point.
Opening Statements: Rd. 1, Gm. 4 — Polished and Proud in Pursuit of History | Truth About It.net
The Wizards aren’t running plays for Porter, he’s just finding space on the perimeter. There’s plenty of it with the Raptors defense packing the paint to prevent John Wall, and Marcin Gortat (who’s shooting 70 percent from the field), from getting to the tin. Porter’s shooting touch and regular availability on the perimeter has provided a massive, dynamic shift for Washington’s offense, which produced fewer than 17 shots from 3-point range during the regular season but is attempting nearly 24 in the first round of the playoffs. Porter isn’t the only player finding himself wide-open as a result of quick, unselfish, and productive ball movement from the Wizards. The entire team is benefiting from open looks and catch-and-shoot opportunities, as well as consistent touches in the paint. “We’re making the sacrifices to do whatever it is to help the team win and that’s the key and that’s the reason why we have won three games,” John Wall said. “We wish we could do it for the regular season, but it’s even better to do it now when it counts the most.”
Well, the Wizards took the last couple of weeks in the season to get guys like Wall, Paul Pierce and Nene healthy. This is the healthiest this team has been since the first half of the season. Though everyone has their nicks, bumps and bruises, it helps to be healthy heading into the big dance. Another reason is that Wittman pulled out his big trump card–Paul Pierce at the 4. This was something discussed at length throughout the season and our own Umair Kahn called for Wittman to do it before the series started. Wittman does it, and like always with Umair, he hit the nail right on the head. The Raptors didn’t know how to handle it and we saw plenty of minutes going to the exclusive postseason lineup of Wall-Beal-Porter-Pierce-Gortat.
Washington Wizards Dismantle Toronto Raptors In Game-4 | Wiz of Awes
Drew Gooden, well, was unstoppable tonight. I can’t believe I actually wrote that sentence. DREW GOODEN. IN 2015. He scored 13 points, and he also knocked down three 3-point shots. It might not seem like a big deal, but…it’s DREW GOODEN. They aren’t ordinary threes. It’s like, Brian Cook on steroid threes. Gooden has become the ultimate “No, No, No, No, YES!” player.
Four Games Four Wins = No More Raptors | Truth About It.net
The Wizards went 0-3 against the Toronto Raptors during the regular season. The first game in November was a 19-point drubbing, but the Wizards’ January 31 and February 11 losses were by four points (in overtime) and two points respectively. Despite those close games, the Raptors had every right to be the favorite. And now, after two games in Toronto and two games in Washington, the Wizards did not just defy the odds*, but they obliterated them, and the Raptors. The numbers seem almost cartoonish in nature. The Wizards did not trail at any point during the game. They shot 71 percent in the first quarter, 44 percent in the second, 64 percent in the third, 57 percent in the fourth, and 55 percent for the game. They shot 57 percent (15-for-26) from the 3-point line and 82 percent from the foul line. The second unit allowed the Wizards’ lead to dwindle to eight points with 10:08 left in the second quarter, but the sharp shooting of Otto Porter and Drew Gooden took that lead back to double-figures and the lead was never less than 11 points for the remainder of the night. Paul Pierce gets to avoid customs, Randy Wittman gets to keep his job, and, most importantly, the Washington Wizards get to rest while the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks go to battle for at least two more games.
3-pointer: What we learned from Wizards-Raptors Game 4 | CBSSports.com
It had been a rough one for Kyle Lowry in this series. He went into Game 4 with series averages of 9.3 points (23.8 percent FG, 18.8 percent 3FG), 5.0 assists, and 4.7 rebounds. The assists and rebounds were right about where he performed against the Nets in the first round loss last year, but the scoring was roughly 12 points per game lower than those seven games. In Game 4, Lowry ended up with decent numbers if you look at the box score without context. He finished with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting (2-of-7 from 3) to go with eight rebounds, four assists, and six turnovers. In reality, Lowry was just as bad in this game as he was in the previous three contests. He committed three fouls in the first quarter, taking him away from the carnage of what the Wizards were doing to his team until about halfway through the second quarter. He put up some points, but the majority of his minutes in this game ended up being meaningless. He was a part of a perimeter attack from the Raptors that failed all series but put up some window dressing in the final box score of the series in this blowout loss. We don’t know if Masai Ujiri will tear this roster apart this offseason, just make a coaching change, or try to figure something else out, but this team only had one meaningful victory in the final 65 days of their regular season.
Toronto Raptors end season in bitter disappointment | Raptors Cage
Defence: Z- Don’t you dare mention hyperbole. If there was a letter after Z, you’d see it on your screen. The Wizards came into this series with a bottom-10 offence, yet they looked unstoppable. Terrence Ross in particular offered little resistance, an indictment of his game at this point. What a train wreck.
Raptors have plenty of questions but ‘no answer’ after stunning sweep | USA Today
The Raptors need help on the perimeter and inside, and Ujiri has roster spots to fill. Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, Amir Johnson, Landry Fields, Chuck Hayes and Tyler Hansbrough will be free agents in July, and there’s no guarantee the Raptors retain any of them. The backcourt of DeRozan, Lowry and Vasquez are locked in for next season, and Terrence Ross is a restricted free agent. But who is untouchable on the roster? Even if they retain those players, the Raptors need help on the wing. Center Jonas Valanciunas is a promising big man, but didn’t make enough progress from last season to this season, and with all those free-agent big men, Toronto will be in the market for forwards and centers. This is an important summer for Ujiri, who not only has to assemble a roster that can return to playoffs but assemble one that can get out of the first round. Change is coming. How much is not clear.
Offers for DeMar Derozan | RealGM
Derozan is a good player and there is still a place for high volume scoring in the NBA but I’m concerned about his contract status with being a lock to opt out in summer of 2016. With the high bidding market of the new CBA I assume he will get maxed out. Yes it’s not like trading for a 1 year UFA is any less of a problem for other teams but some non FA destinations may feel if they go into summer 2016 looking to sign a UFA straight up, all the good targets will be snapped up by better destinations and they won’t be able to get anyone, so trading for a player like Derozan early could make a major positive difference in resigning him
Game Rap: Raptors 94 Wizards 125 | Toronto Raptors
With the loss, the Raptors’ 2014-2015 campaign comes to a close with 49 regular-season victories, a second consecutive Atlantic Division title and an 0-4 record in the playoffs. This was not the way they envisioned things unfolding when the series started nine days ago, but it will be what they think about over the summer while training for next year.
The end of Amir Johnson in Toronto? | Raptors Forum
Was last night the final time we see Amir in a home uniform? I still say this series goes 5-6 games, but the way we’re playing who knows. Does anyone think MU will re-sign Amir this summer and use a chunk of our cap space on a broken down Amir Johnson. I used to think he would stay here, retire here but right now i just don’t think that happens even if we were to make a miraculous comeback and get to the second round.
Toronto Raptors Eliminated by the Wizards (125-94) | Raptors Rapture
This was a nightmarish way to end the season for the Raptors, who set a franchise record this year for wins in a season. Unfortunately, 49 wins do not mean anything in the playoffs. The Raps looked defeated from the onset tonight, clearly not motivated to try to defy the odds and make the series more interesting. For the second year in a row, GM Masai Ujiri has to reconcile losing to a lower seeded team in the first round. After two years of bitter disappointment, change will be swift this summer. Players who have been with the club for a long team will be shipped elsewhere and a new coach will likely be hired. This will all be in the hopes that the team can find a way to get past the first round of the playoffs next year.
Fuck it, why not unleash Bruno at this point? | Reddit
It’s not like it’ll make a difference to the score…
Fucking tired of being a Toronto fan. | Reddit
It’s just so fucking sad how I spent all my time, my fucking money on this team. I can honestly say I only missed one game of the regular season, and watched every minute of the playoffs.. and this is what we get?? I know theres other fans out here similar to me and I wanted to say sorry, sorry we both had to go through a season for nohting. Sad part is, we fans.. Not even the Raptors in general but, we Toronto fans, show up, we fucking cheer our hearts out to these teams and in the end we end up with dissapointment and sadness.. and we cant do nothing about it. nothing. We always get laughed at for being so bad but we aint the players, we aint the coaches, we aint the GMs.. All we Toronto fans can do is fucking get heckled by other people for “being too passionate” “being so obnoxious”.. I dont know.. im just fucking tired of being a toronto sports fan
Thanks for the great year, guys! It was our pleasure.
I can haz yo linkz??! rapsfan@raptorsurepublic.com
