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Saying goodbye, and other post-game notes

Hell of a year.

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The greatest season in Toronto Raptors history has come to a close. And as they have all playoffs, all season, and ever since they accidentally stumbled on a working formula and an ethereal chemistry three years ago, they kept fighting, refusing to roll over, and making things far more difficult on their opponents and their detractors than anyone expected. The 2015-16 Raptors were incredible, and while I’m sad to see the season go, I’m awash in admiration for that group and appreciation of the opportunity to cover such a great team in such an awesome year.

Here are your final post-game notes and quotes of the season. Pour one out.

Reflecting

“It’s a tremendous learning experience. I was trying to sprinkle that in the entire series. Every situation was new for us. I loved the way we responded after the first two games,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “This team understood the moment.”

That’s the big takeaway here, I think. Not only was it the team’s best season ever, but they jumped ahead of the expected curve this year. The preseason talk was of winning a single series, and to their credit, they moved the goalposts far beyond that as the season rolled along. Playing 20 postseason games is an incredible building tool, and the Raptors out-kicking their coverage is only a positive in my eyes, not some indictment because they “only” made it this far. They took an enormous step on the long-term organizational building curve.

“We’re learning. We’re not where they are night now, but we’re gonna be,” Casey said.

That’s the hope. It’s a complicated offseason ahead of them, but this experience and deep run can only help, both in terms of improving the players and learning a lot about the group they have. There’s just no way a player doesn’t grow immensely from a run like this, especially for a group that’s still relatively young as far as cores are considered.


“I’m so proud of our guys. To go through what they’ve been through,” Casey said, highlights injuries and the tight schedule and the mental fatigue, again saying those are lessons rather than excuses…I really think we’re ahead of the process.

“We should be proud of that but not satisfied.”

The next step is the hardest. There’s a lot of time to think on that. Again, for now, I’m left only to appreciate. (Casey said it was too soon for looking ahead to the offseason, too, and I’m sure we’re in the same boat in feeling that now but probably turning to that focus sometime early next week.)

The team’s stars weren’t as willing to appreciate where they’ve gotten just yet, and that’s entirely understandable.

“Of course, you’re gonna look back at some point. But right now, I’m disappointed. Simple as that,” Kyle Lowry said.

“You sacrifice so much for moments like this, and when it gets taken away from you, it’s hurtful,” DeMar DeRozan said. “That’s a challenge we’re looking forward to but right now, it sucks.”

I hope they feel a little better about it as time passes. They should be…

Be proud as hell

After this incredible season, what I think everyone should walk away with is pride. In this team, in this franchise, and in the fan base, who have been through a lot of lean years and deserved every minute of this deep run. The energy in the arena, the unwavering support of the team, the insanity of Jurassic Park…all of it has served to make Toronto look like one of the NBA’s best cities, best fan bases, and best places to play. You should all be proud as hell.

“It’s an unbelievable atmosphere,” James said. “These fans mean a lot to their team, and I think the team gave everything they could.”

“What those two guys have done for this city and this franchise and this fanbase is nothing short of amazing,” James closed his presser saying about what Lowry and DeRozan have done for the franchise.

A note on the Cavs

Man. LeBron James. I don’t know how anyone can not respect the hell outta this dude. He’s a once in a lifetime phenomenon. This Cavs team is special, and while it may not be NBA Champion special, if the Raptors had to go out, I’m glad it was to the best team in the conference and one of the best handful of offenses in recent memory. Getting to cover James in his prime has been a blast, and I couldn’t be more excited for the finals…even though the Thunder, my adopted second team since their Seattle days, are going to roll them. Sorry, Justin.


Oh, and I’m equally excited to go try to find J.R. Smith out in downtown Toronto tonight.


“First of all, I want to say congratulations to the Cleveland Cavaliers organization,” Casey said, before (deservedly) complimenting their team and organization a ton. And obviously, James was a huge factor that Casey showed a ton of respect for.


“We tip our hates to those guys. They did what we want to do and they got where we want to get,” Lowry said. “They’re a talented group. They have a chance to win an NBA championship. That’s where we want to be.”

“We’re not entitled to anything. We earned the right to be here,” James said when asked about the Cavs being the pre-ordained East champs.

Lineup notes

I know probably nobody cares at this point, but I gotta go out doing me.

Benchnik Termites: No, I won’t drop the name. It’s perfect. The James-and-bench group was a minuscule plus-2 in five minutes, pushing them to a +32 in 35 minutes for the series.

Starters: The Raptors’ group was -7 in six minutes, which is why Luis Scola didn’t start the second half or see the floor. The group that started the half, with Patrick Patterson, was a -3 in 13 minutes. The Cavs’ starters were a ridiculous plus-15 in 23 minutes.

JV impact: Jonas Valanciunas was a team-high plus-4, including a pair of stints with mostly makeshift lineups that produced positives. Some of that was on Valanciunas, who looked great at times on the offensive end, and some of it was being on the floor as those around him heated up. The development he showed in the postseason is one of the most encouraging things about this run.

Reminder from Lowry: Lowry was terrific but earned a -30, worst on the team. This is your usual reminder that all of these lineup notes and individual plus-minus marks are just descriptive, and we need bigger-picture, larger-sample trends (or to dig in to the qualitative behind the quantitative) to draw conclusions.

Assorted

*”I want to give the Toronto Raptors credit,” Ty Lue said, specifically dapping up the job Casey did and saying the Raptors gave them a “great series.” Lue credited the Raptors for their incredible toughness, grittiness, and scrappiness.

*This is cool. Those players grew up a ton this year, and they’re a big part of the future.


And of course, Norm is already back on his grind.



*This is also cool. I hope it’s still lit up when I leave later.


*I don’t know how, but Bring Biz Back.


*I’m sure most are feeling this way, but DeMarre Carroll especially.

Note

The Raptors will clean out their lockers and conduct end-of-season media availability tomorrow. We’ll have coverage in the afternoon.

A personal note

Thank you so much for reading, commenting, engaging, and generally being the best fan community on the internet this year. I literally couldn’t do this as a job if it wasn’t for all of you, and I’m eternally grateful for each and every one of you each and every time you come on the site (yes, even if we don’t agree). I’ll have some post-mortem coverage over the weekend, and then I might take a few days off before turning the focus to the draft and offseason. I love you all.

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