Reasonable take from Numbers On The Board Podcast. Seems like our fanbase is far more extreme about the state of our team than those on the outside looking in.

15 comments

1. this is why i love kenny, always keeps it real and always has great takes. we haven’t even really had a big for more than half the season, and anyone saying we’ve been a complete disappointment is crazy

2. This sub tends to be very negative about the team. You’ve gotta remember that going into the season, we were expected to be closer to a .500 team. This team has exceeded expectations, but people just expanded their expectations to remain disappointed.

   I think our hot start to the season got some fans a bit delusional about where this team should be.

3. It’s tough to accept as expectations rose during that 9 game win streak; but definitely fair takes.

   Missing on Gradey so hard definitely hurts as that is precisely what we need.

4. Sorry, but Im not a fan of team building on the requirement of getting extremely lucky on a trade for a super star to be a contender.

   This team is also pretty much at it’s ceiling. How many guys on this team will be here if we ever are in contention for a ring? Scottie, CMB, Walter?

5. They’re basically saying the team is mid and has a chance of being decent if a trade happens. That’s not a good position to be in. They are fine with it because they’re not Raptors fans. You should hear how Kenny talks about the Bulls (he wants them to tank, for years now). Casuals like teams like the raptors but long time fans know this likely isn’t going anywhere unless a major trade happens or they tank a couple years.

6. This sub Is fucking ass, not a shocker. I remember when everyone was like “man I’d be happy if we make play in territory”. Then the season comes around and people were super negative even when we were 4th/5th seed.

7. A lot of great NBA analyst/commentators/podcasters are a lot higher or at least more positive about this season/ this team but this sub…..you would think this team is in last place with the way they talk about this team.

8. Pretty much summarises how I see this team (and most reasonable fans do as well I think)

   Great progress for a young team. They beat the teams they are supposed to, and are competitive against good teams but mostly cant beat them.

   Basic competence is the first level of building a winning team. They’re still very young overall so several of these guys could still get better. At some point they will need to go all in on a superstar trade. But basically this a very similar path that the raps from last decade went through. They went from awful to competent to very good to great (with the Kawhi trade).

   If you look at the best teams in the league right now, most of them didn’t tank their way to success. They either got phenomenally lucky with draft odds (SA) or late picks (Denver), or made smart trades / FA (NYK, Houston, Bos) to get great players.

   Personally I’ll the raps approach over the Phillies and Washington’s of this world who have spent years and years tanking yet still have had no post season success.

   At least when I throw on a raptors game I don’t want to vomit in my mouth like when I watch these tanking teams play

9. Holy, they actually watch and understand this team. That’s just so rare.

10. Greatest pod of all time.

11. This season has been successful but the front office can’t sit around this offseason, significant changes to the roster need to be made for the team to take the next step.

12. This sub is literally the wildest place on reddit.

13. Everything they said is fair. It would be amazing to have Gradey come off the bench and swing games once in a while. It would lead to both short term success and long term upside for the team.

    I think as far as the negativity goes on this subreddit, its simply the result of having the team under a microscope. The more of the NBA I watch the less frustrating the Raptors feel.

    At the end of the day we were a 30 win team and most people had written Scottie off by the end of pre-season. They’ve elevated to pretender status and Scottie has proven he was worth the rookie max. If the teams development, Scottie’s development and FO’s decisions continue to scale up or not is anybody’s guess. Its really hard to predict success in the NBA. No one foresaw Pistons leap nor did anyone foresee the downfall of Grizzlies

14. We the north era was “just good” for like 4-5 seasons before actually taking the next step. Masai re tooled each season. Brought in Lou Will, then pivoted for more defensive additions with Carroll, Joseph, Biyombo. Then finally filled the hole at 4 with Serge, and finally trading for Kawhi was the end game.

    What this season shows us is that there is a base here with Scottie and Ingram. Gotta re tool a bit this off season and go back at it again. We have all our picks, young players, and potential. Good spot to be in

15. If you watch these guys game in and game out. See their offense in the 4th, see how many fucking open three’s they miss. Sure there is some pessimism.

    But someone in this sub talked about how Darko is trying to teach them how to play in the 4th. That really they are practicing. Question is, do they have the personnel to get better in the 4th? Darko seems to think so. Otherwise he would have changed tactics by now.