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Yes, that second game against Washington was terrible. I don't think anybody would say otherwise. But at this point half this forum is in FIRE ERRBODY mode and seriously, guys - it's not remotely close to being that bad.
Let's all remember the following things:
1. Kyle Lowry is almost certainly playing through injuries at this point. That isn't an excuse for his poor play in this series, because he's clearly inside his own head right now and he's getting upset when he gets a stupid bullshit foul early (it's happened once in each game so far and it's been Bradley Beal each time), and it's not like Lowry doesn't get bullshit fouls a lot so he should be used to it. But screaming that Lowry is "toxic" when this team is one that by all accounts genuinely loves one another? That's silly. Saying that he's selfish when he averaged nearly seven assists per game in the regular season is nuts. Saying that he doesn't care when he was averaging personal bests in practically every stat earlier this season makes no sense.
2. Accusing DeMar DeRozan of not having a work ethic or not being mentally tough is ridiculous. That's the furthest thing from his problem. DeMar's problem is that he's a solid third starter at best and being asked to be a star player, and that's always been his problem. Which is not so much "his" problem as it is the team's, but I digress.
3. Amir probably needs six months off from playing to properly rehab his ankles. He can't afford to take that time off since it would essentially mean missing out on his one final chance to get a decent NBA payday. But his mediocre play of late is not because he is a bad player. He is a very injured player. There is a big difference.
4. Jonas is playing much better than anybody is giving him credit for. He's an excellent rebounder, a very good scorer and if he was playing in a coherent defensive scheme his defensive issues would be minimal at worst. If he was getting touches commensurate with his scoring ability he'd be a consistent 20-10 guy.
5. 2Pat is a fine stretch four off the bench. Criticisms of his play seem to boil down to: he's not a starter. But we're not playing him as a starter! That's why he's not getting starter money! He's getting talented bench guy money!
6. Finally, although both of these losses to the Wizards look terrible, it is worth pointing out that in both losses the Wizards went on insane runs that were not entirely the Raptors' fault. In this most recent game the Wizards' third-quarter run was produced by practically the entire team shooting well above-average on threes, many of which were reasonably contested. Drew Gooden hit a contested three, for crissake. Which is to say: statistical flukes such as that can happen.
None of this is to say that none of these players (to say nothing of the rest of the squad) are untradeable. But it is worth remembering that together they have managed 49 wins and that, with essentially no offensive system worth mentioning beyond reliance on individual talent in one-on-one ball, they had the third-best offense in the entire league. This is not a total shitbox of a team. This is a team with a reasonable amount of talent but one that does not have a true star player and one that, we can finally say with some universal agreement, simply does not have a coach who can execute modern NBA strategies.
So stop panicking.
Let's all remember the following things:
1. Kyle Lowry is almost certainly playing through injuries at this point. That isn't an excuse for his poor play in this series, because he's clearly inside his own head right now and he's getting upset when he gets a stupid bullshit foul early (it's happened once in each game so far and it's been Bradley Beal each time), and it's not like Lowry doesn't get bullshit fouls a lot so he should be used to it. But screaming that Lowry is "toxic" when this team is one that by all accounts genuinely loves one another? That's silly. Saying that he's selfish when he averaged nearly seven assists per game in the regular season is nuts. Saying that he doesn't care when he was averaging personal bests in practically every stat earlier this season makes no sense.
2. Accusing DeMar DeRozan of not having a work ethic or not being mentally tough is ridiculous. That's the furthest thing from his problem. DeMar's problem is that he's a solid third starter at best and being asked to be a star player, and that's always been his problem. Which is not so much "his" problem as it is the team's, but I digress.
3. Amir probably needs six months off from playing to properly rehab his ankles. He can't afford to take that time off since it would essentially mean missing out on his one final chance to get a decent NBA payday. But his mediocre play of late is not because he is a bad player. He is a very injured player. There is a big difference.
4. Jonas is playing much better than anybody is giving him credit for. He's an excellent rebounder, a very good scorer and if he was playing in a coherent defensive scheme his defensive issues would be minimal at worst. If he was getting touches commensurate with his scoring ability he'd be a consistent 20-10 guy.
5. 2Pat is a fine stretch four off the bench. Criticisms of his play seem to boil down to: he's not a starter. But we're not playing him as a starter! That's why he's not getting starter money! He's getting talented bench guy money!
6. Finally, although both of these losses to the Wizards look terrible, it is worth pointing out that in both losses the Wizards went on insane runs that were not entirely the Raptors' fault. In this most recent game the Wizards' third-quarter run was produced by practically the entire team shooting well above-average on threes, many of which were reasonably contested. Drew Gooden hit a contested three, for crissake. Which is to say: statistical flukes such as that can happen.
None of this is to say that none of these players (to say nothing of the rest of the squad) are untradeable. But it is worth remembering that together they have managed 49 wins and that, with essentially no offensive system worth mentioning beyond reliance on individual talent in one-on-one ball, they had the third-best offense in the entire league. This is not a total shitbox of a team. This is a team with a reasonable amount of talent but one that does not have a true star player and one that, we can finally say with some universal agreement, simply does not have a coach who can execute modern NBA strategies.
So stop panicking.
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