Game day: Tor @ okc

[AJ360]

It's hard to accept the fact that the raptors might miss out on a true franchise talent in this draft... But the team is playing like a team and there's no guarantee that the raptors will land a top-5 pick even if they trade Lowry/Amir... I'm feeling like this might be a case of the devil you know being better than the devil you don't...

In Masai I trust.

[KHD]

57 games remain and Raps are only 3 wins out of 2nd fewest wins in the league

aka: the Atlantic is a clusterfuck.

[KHD]

It's hard to accept the fact that the raptors might miss out on a true franchise talent in this draft... But the team is playing like a team and there's no guarantee that the raptors will land a top-5 pick even if they trade Lowry/Amir... I'm feeling like this might be a case of the devil you know being better than the devil you don't...

In Masai I trust.

The devil you know being what, exactly?

Far as I can tell, the devil we know is a sub-500, 7th at best, 11th at worst team in the East. I don't think that it is possible for that to be better than, well, anything.

[stretch]

Casey for COY!

[charlesnba23]

Stop acting like this is bad to win that game. For real guys? C'mon now. This team is not tanking, stop it already! Matt I got a lot of respect for you but please start to accept that this team is good and that it is not tanking right now.

[mcHAPPY]

Stop acting like this is bad to win that game. For real guys? C'mon now. This team is not tanking, stop it already! Matt I got a lot of respect for you but please start to accept that this team is good and that it is not tanking right now.

They are 3 games under .500 25 games in to the season.

I appreciate the respect but the only place that is considered good is in Toronto.

I know since the trade yada yada yada..... Salmons was the go to guy down stretch - I mean that has sustainable written all over it.

[planetmars]

I said before the Dallas game that if they won 2-3 of their Western road games that I would be impressed... well consider me impressed. Great job! Now keep it up or lose a lot of games - no in between!

[KazanTheMan]

We'll lose tomorrow and then win the next 3.

[enlightenment]

See this is the thing.

When this team starts tanking, then I will prefer losses.

But this team is not tanking right now, to wish them to lose would be ones own prerogative and not the prerogative of the team. Until that is accepted, you will only be forcing yourself to be miserable in a winning season, and since those are rare, it seems likely that the misery sustains (like when your prized draft pick turns out like Anthony Bennett).

I just feel bad for those that go through 5-6 losing seasons, and then the seasons where we can actually win and have fun (no championship, oh, well) they still wish to be miserable.

[Raptorsnz]

Why did the Thunder play Perry Jones over Thabo in the 4th though? Thabo would've been way better against Salmons defensively and it's not like Jones was going to do anything on offence.

[Miekenstien]

See this is the thing.

When this team starts tanking, then I will prefer losses.

But this team is not tanking right now, to wish them to lose would be ones own prerogative and not the prerogative of the team. Until that is accepted, you will only be forcing yourself to be miserable in a winning season, and since those are rare, it seems likely that the misery sustains (like when your prized draft pick turns out like Anthony Bennett).

I just feel bad for those that go through 5-6 losing seasons, and then the seasons where we can actually win and have fun (no championship, oh, well) they still wish to be miserable.

agree with most of this. too early to tell about bennet.

loving the new look raptors. happy we got vasquez. i also hope we can send salmons off at the deadline. amir making me eat crow right now. i was a big supporter of ed and wanted amir gone but he has stepped it up huge.

right now the only trade i think they will make is the lowry trade. the closer to the deadline the better for masai. he can hopefully get a large lead on the division competition, make the trade and still have the team make the playoffs. i'm guessing that the raptors never have a contract go into an offseason not guaranteed to be coming back to the raptors. no bargaining wars for our own players.

loving masai, seems like a value investor to me. you can never know the future and he so far has made all moves with that in mind.

[OldSkoolCool]

Yep. Terrence Ross should be molded into another Wesley Matthews (very athletic wing with the lateral quickness to defend at a high level and knockdown threes at a high clip).

None of this trying to take people off the bounce and throwing up a mid-range J stuff, it's just not why he was drafted.

Agreed. It really bugs me when I hear the announcers say that Ross needs to improve at getting to the basket because of his athleticism. His mentality as a person is that of a three point shooter, but he also works hard defensively...Wesley Matthews is a great example for him to follow. WM first became a three point terror, then when defenses close out on him he uses his athleticism to dunk on people, but the shot came first.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Best part of tonight's game was Lowry & Salmons improving their trade value against a contending team in the national (US) spotlight.

[p00ka]

LOL, a quality win, on the road, against a top 4 team, and a couple doing damnedest to downplay it and/or keep promoting tank nation,,,,,, in the effing game thread!!!! Is there medication for this problem? Are personal lives being affected? Is intervention necessary? Wow, I want to laugh, but fear causing further damage.

[hateslosing]

They are 3 games under .500 25 games in to the season.

I appreciate the respect but the only place that is considered good is in Toronto.

I know since the trade yada yada yada..... Salmons was the go to guy down stretch - I mean that has sustainable written all over it.

Good teams have role players step up in close games. No one is arguing that Salmons is going to be our guy every night but successful teams always need guys who aren't their stars to have big games. Tonight it was Salmons, tomorrow it could be Psycho T or Ross but having one of our role players step up and make shots late in the game is not a bad thing; it's a sign that this team is starting to play winning basketball.
If Fisher, a 39 year old vet, led OKC back into the game at the end you wouldn't say that OKC was unsustainable, you'd say that OKC put the ball in the hands of their Vet and he delivered. While Salmons is not Fisher (or even close), he is a vet and is one of our role players and I think you can only look at him stepping up as a positive in terms of our development.
You can't argue that this team looks miles better since the trade. The record isn't great yet but it's a hell of a lot better than I would have predicted weeks ago.