Here at Raptors Truth we dig deeper into what he hear. Call it a healthy skepticism of the Media and powerful corporations that control it. However today I was struck by a fan comment for about the millionth time…
Thanks for the inspiration for an article Raps Fans! The narrative around this team has been they are underperforming significantly. It finally struck me to dig into the question. Is it true? How much so? If not what’s really going on to cause Fans to think like this. Let’s Dig in individually a bit then Zoom out to look at the overall picture.
Player — stat this year vs last
Pascal
pts 24.1 vs 22.8, boards 7.8 vs 8.5, assists 5.9 vs 5.3, steals 0.9 vs 1.3, Blocks 0.5 vs 0.6
Up slightly offensively, down slightly defensively. The ‘narrative’ is Pascal is having a great year. The numbers say he’s about the same…just a little different.
Freddy
pts 19.6 vs 20.3, boards 4.2 vs 4.4, assists 7.0 vs 6.7, steals 1.7 vs 1.7, blocks 0.6 vs 0.5
After a slow start and a ‘poor year’ narrative Freddy’s playing like…well…Freddy!
O.G.
pts 16.8 vs 17.1, boards 5.1 vs 5.5, assists 1.9 vs 2.6, steals 2.0 vs 1.5, blocks 0.7 vs 0.5
Riding a current ‘great year’ narrative with fans O.G. is actually down in the 3 key stats of scoring, boarding and assisting.
or not.
Scottie
pts 15.5 vs 15.3, rebounds 6.9 vs 7.5, assists 4.7 vs 3.5, steals 1.0 vs 1.1, blocks 0.8 vs 0.7
Riding a ‘down year’ narrative Scottie is actually about the same level player…just passing a bit more and rebounding a bit less.
Gary
pts 17.7 vs 18.3, rebounds 2.7 vs 2.7, assists 1.6 vs 2.0, steals 1.6 vs 1.7, blocks 0.2 vs 0.3
Riding a ‘down year’ narrative Gary is down…but really slightly for the most part.
Now I could go on and on but you’re going to see similar stuff with Boucher and Precious and others. Pretty much all the same as last year. Now I haven’t considered adding Jak but since his addition the team hasn’t ‘gone on fire’ like the fan narrative seems to tell everyone. They’ve won and lost about the same so far. This is STRANGE.
Let’s dig deeper…
At this time last year, with 10 games remaining in the season the Raptors were 40-32. Amazingly they went 8 - 2 in the final 10 games to finish the year 48-34 and in 5th place. This year the team is currently sitting at 35-37 and 9th in the standings. Who knows how they’ll play in the last 10 games but the REAL situation is suddenly coming into focus for us finally.
The Raptors are only 5 games behind what they did last year. 5 Games! In the NBA that’s only a couple bad calls, an injury and poor timing with healthy opponents of a difference in the standings. Basically a bit of bad luck…if you like to find excuses. Personally I’d say the Eastern Conference is significantly better this year and that likely accounts for a couple of those games difference between years. I’d argue Nurse hasn’t performed as well as last year (he’s been ok, not great) and also cost the team a couple wins overall. Basically the Raptors are standing still while everyone else around them are getting a bit better.
So why are Fans so upset this year? Management rolled out the same players and got nearly the same results as last year (so far). The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting something different to happen. Well I have to be honest here…I have ALSO been upset with this team! In pre-season I was hyped! I had huge expectations. NBA talking heads in America were even picking the Raptors to look good as if they even watched them! Looking back and reflecting on this situation a bit now I come to the realization I bought it! I got snowed by the Raptors PR blitz machine. Masai did his classic ‘Masai’ and did nothing…then sold me a line of ‘internal growth’…and I bought it. All the while other teams in the East were loading up with better players. I saw the signings and complained that we could have got them…but I believed we’d be better.
The Truth is…were the same team as last year. The narratives around players are all wrong. The Raptors management group had a ‘Do Nothing’ summer and sold upset fans with ‘internal growth’ and a movie star I’d never heard of before named Juancho. They got me…and that pisses me off. It should piss you off as well. So these playoffs I’ll hope for a better result than last year. Jak is here and well…maybe he’s a God like so many Raptor Fans are telling me.
However I WON’T be gullible again this summer!
This Summer I expect serious management action to improve this team and I will be holding feet to the fire of Truth. They’ve sold everyone on Jak but I’m not buying. I’ve seen old school centers get exposed in the NBA far too many times. Nick thinks he can teach him to shoot. Good Luck! I do this work in large part to help Raptor fans NOT get snow’d by slick management PR…and I’m disappointed in myself this year. The Raptors pump out so much content for fans between after shows and pods and TV shows and Open Gyms and on and on. It’s hard not to buy in. It’s hard on purpose…because they make more money with more hope.
I’ll be better moving forward! I appreciate you…reader! Time is precious and you sharing it with me means a lot. Your feedback helps make this better. Sharing it with your friends also means a lot! Have a Great Day!
Toronto has talent, not sure about the team chemistry. Last year the team ended the season 14 games above .500. This year they might end up below .500. Is it time for the Raptors to hear a new voice in the locker room? Coach Ime Udoka is available? He comes from the San Antonio Spurs coaching tree.
Current coaches in the NBA with Spurs ties:
Mike Budenholzer - head coach, Milwaukee Bucks
Monty Williams - head coach, Phoenix Suns
Taylor Jenkins - head coach, Memphis Grizzlies
Steve Kerr - head coach, Golden State Warriors
Doc Rivers - head coach, Philadelphia 76ers
I believe these coaches are some of the best in the NBA. As for Udoka, he was only the Head Coach for one year, but what a year it was.