Can Toronto Raptors WIN The East??

Can Toronto Raptors WIN The East??

Well, we had we had to show that one just cuz it was good. Okay, we had other games. Don’t look now. Toronto. Hey, Canada. Y’all are having a year. Uh Raptors five straight. They beat the Sixers. Now, the Sixers did not have Embiid, PG, or UB. That’s fine. Um but that’s all right. It’s still a win. Scotty Barnes was 169 and five. Six players in Toronto had double figures. They outscored Philadelphia 4622 in the third. And don’t look now, but Toronto is sitting second in the East. Three games behind the Pistons. I I know. I know. Um, we always talk about fool’s gold and things are you giving out and all that stuff, Chandler, but I mean, do we do we have to start taking them a little more seriously? I think they deserve the flowers. I think they deserve the respect for this kind of start. They have three dudes that have are averaging right around 20. Uh, their top four guys have played in every single game. So, when you look at Scotty Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Barrett, and Quickley, they’ve played every game. They’ve been blessed with health, which you see obviously across the league, a lot of teams do not have that luxury right now. So, they’ve had that consistent lineup. Their bench is where it gets a little thin. They got a guy like Jamal Shed playing a lot of minutes. Grady Dick, I thought he was going to be one of those guys that would take a jump. He’s been kind of struggling. Um, so I I think their bench is thin. They don’t have a lot of size outside of Jacob Pal, but their record’s undeniable. The way they play is undeniable. I think this is a little similar to Chicago getting off to a hot start where I think they’re going to come back down to earth a little bit, but this is a versatile team. Think about those three guys that I said, Barrett, Ingram, and Barnes. They’re all so interchangeable. They’re all 67 to 69. They can switch on defense. They all can handle. They all can set the action. So, they they do have they’re on to something here. Um I I just don’t Are they Are they a top four team in the East? I don’t see it over an 82 game series but or season but 10 and five second in the East. It’s nothing to it’s it’s nothing but positive vibes and good things to say about them so far in the season. I’ll say why not. The East is all over the place. There you go. It’s fair. I’m going to take everybody for face value until somebody creates some separation in the East. I’m taking everybody at face value. Look, two weeks ago, Chicago was in this conversation. I said Chicago was one of the better teams at this time. We’re still very early in this season and a lot of teams are still right there in the mix. You know, some of these second place teams, they’re two games away from being a eighth place team. So, we’re still very young in this season. But, I do like what what Toronto was building. I I like the identity. You know, we just talked about Barnes. We just talked about RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram. Like, shine a light on Brandon Ingram. I think people forget how good of a basketball player he is because he’s dealt with injuries. But that that onetwo punch with him and Scotty Barnes, they are a dangerous duo. And then when you mix in RJ Barry, he’s also a guy that was highly touted when he played for New York. Quickly played that that six-man role in New York, but starting now. Now, all of these guys are starting to come into their own and still very young in this league. I think people forget that Scotty Barnes is just 24 years old. So, these guys are still finding their rhythm, still finding their groove and what type of players they are. And they’ve been a perfect match, you know. So, shout out to the Toronto Raptors. We the North and and and all of that stuff that they like to say up there. That is a great great place to play basketball, especially when you’re winning games. So, they should be happy with the group that they have. And I think this team is going to be good. I do agree with Chandler that bench is a little thin. That’s going to be worrisome when some of these teams start to get healthy and teams start to be whole. How can you go to your second group and withstand leads or go get leads during games? You know, that’s going to be a concern of theirs moving forward. But right now they’re playing really good basketball. What do they need? I mean, look, they got five players that are averaging averaging between 12 and 21. You mentioned Brandon Ingram and Scotty Barnes. Like, if you could just have a magic wand, what would you add, Chandler? What would they need to really push this thing forward? I don’t know if when you look at their future, I think Scotty Barnes, he is the franchise piece. But ball, like ball and hand, game on the line, I think Brandon Ingram is now their guy. He’s kind of their facilitator. He’s their go- get a bucket guy. And then R.J. Barrett’s kind of somewhere in between, right? He’s kind of that scoring high volume, take a bunch of shots, and some nights you’re going to have to live with him, you know, shooting 30% from the field, but then there’s some nights he can get hot. He can go for 40, 50 points. So, they have the talent, they have the scoring, they have the versatility of those three wings. I love Emanuel Quigley. I do love Grady Dick. Even though he’s averaging, you know, seven or eight points a game this year, I think he’s going to get going. They just they need more depth. I think they I I think they need more depth. They need more size. Really, Jacob Poto is the only big man that they really have that’s, you know, gonna play valuable minutes. Um, and so I think and I just don’t know if those three guys, those three wings are enough and consistent enough to to separate themsel in the Eastern Conference. It’s a great story. It’s a great start. 10 and five, two in the East. There’s nothing to snarl at there, but I just don’t know if this group can continue to keep that through 82 games. But like I said, it’s an awesome start and they’re on to something and they are pretty young. Like you look at RJ Barrett, Scotty Barnes, like they’re building something there. I just still don’t think they’re years away. Yeah. And for me, I think they got the guard play on lock. I think they’re in a great position with guards and guys that can score the basketball, but they got to where’s the size, right? Like like PL is your PL is your guy. Listen, and then East, he’s going to have to go through Bam. He uh he’s going to have to go through Moley, Allen, Cat, uh even Giannis. you could throw Giannis on on on that on that list. If Joel Embiid gets healthy, you’re going to have to deal with some size in that in that East. So, that’s the only thing that concerns me about the Toronto Raptors. But, as far as small ball goes and they’re going to play these four guards along with with Pol, I think it’s a good m mix. But if you’re going to play halfcourt basketball, and some of these teams, they they feature big guys that can shoot and that can post up and do all of these things and can match you eye for an eye when it comes to offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding. That’ll be a concern for me moving forward. Guys, I’m going to correct us right now because there’s nothing that irks me more than when I hear people say names incorrectly. And you will respect Jacob Purle. You will respect Purle the turtle. Purle the turtle. That’s how you’ll remember it for the rest of your life. Doesn’t look like that would be it. Well, it’s it’s clearly a different uh nation of origin spelling. I knew I was saying it wrong, but I was going I was just going to die on that heel. I wasn’t tripping. Well, no, because it was like, “No, it’s I thought I nailed it. I said it with confidence.” I knew I was saying it wrong. You did actually. You know what? And that’s what made me go, “You know what? I’m proud of you because you did say it with confidence.” Uh, but now we’re going to be smarter than everyone else on television. Okay. All right. We got Warriors heat. Do Here’s the thing. If you paid to see uh Steph, Draymond, Jimmy, or Kaminga or Al Horford play last night in Miami, well, you didn’t get to.

On November 20, 2025 episode of ‘Run It Back’ on FanDuel TV, co-hosts Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons, and Lou Williams are joined by former Milwaukee Bucks Larry Sanders to talk about Toronto Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers.

FULL EPISODE HERE: https://youtube.com/live/2BxPVnKlrq8

CHAPTERS
0:00 RAPTORS VS 76ERS REACTIONS
0:40 TIME TO CONSIDER RAPTORS AS CONTENDERS?
3:47 WHAT DO RAPTORS NEED TO PUSH FORWARD?

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