The Raptors get an A+ for effort & D+ for talent

The Raptors get an A+ for effort & D+ for talent

We’ve been coming the past couple past couple of games and like I said if it’s consistent I can I’ll be able to find a bit of a rhythm and find myself and uh it’s been it’s been happeny the past couple of games how valuable is this time right now that you have these

Opportunities in these minutes to kind of like not just showcase your game but kind of also contribute towards uh winning uh you know it’s super super valuable you know opportunities something that you got to seiz when the moments come uh and I’m just trying to

Do my best of that obviously it would be a lot better if it came in you know some wins but you know it’s part of the NBA just got to learn and keep growing with it what’s the added layer of difficulty in playing alongside you know not just

You know new teammates that are like new to you but other guys who are also new and learning the system themselves uh it’s definitely a challenge we’re all facing together um know we spent a lot of time in in uh in the gym together but

Just part of you know all of us being young we’re still trying to find that that mesh um and I think this is a a good start you know for this team and for the future and with roles changing down the stretch here how does your mentality

Kind of changed along with that as well uh you know when I play I just try to be myself um and like I said uh when the opportunity comes and it’s consistent you know I can you know find my rhythm and also be you know a consistent player

Is just some that you know comes with that time and opportunity coach mentioned that he was having um some sit down meetings with everybody on the team individually uh was there any goals that you are like focusing on uh yeah just you know staying locked in on the

Defensive end um you know continuing to to you know get to the rim and finish you know use my sides to something that with my shooting ability I forget sometimes how how big I am um but you know those were two big things and then

Other stuff is just stuff we keep in the got to keep in the office coach and referencing something that you said earlier this season you mentioned that they there are no moral victories um obviously tonight was a tough game playing a team twice but what did you see from an effort standpoint that’s

Kind of stood out to you from your team or did you want to see more uh I thought that our effort was was good throughout the whole game uh start of the game uh our communication couple of coverages was not to the point uh we had bit different designations tonight and they

Put players in a little bit different uh defensive coverages that they used to but as the game was progressing they were able to pick it up and communication was getting better uh guys did really good job on the bench communicating with each other and and and really focusing on on getting better

And uh having solution for some of those uh as the game PR progressed I thought that our coverages P rols and D they were really good uh we really got hurt in some uh first half they had eight points on bu their beaters and we kept

Them to 52 points in the first half you know though those kind of possessions those kind of plays are you know momentum changing plays and then uh start of the third quarter they went on on a run we missed some uh layups and turned the ball over on the other side

They were able to get out and score in transition of course uh you know when you look at the the box score especially in the first half it was a very like equal scoring contributions you guys play to your strength in transition um what did you see from there that you

Know like something that you guys would like to break down and film and and continue those good habits um I thought that in the first half uh a ball movement uh could be a little bit better but what was really good was our uh cuts and moving without the ball we were able

To to touch the paint on multiple possessions and score that way um that was a good part uh there and in second half I thought that Jordan had a pretty good spark over there uh scoring and being able to get all the way to the rim create shots for himself and his

Teammates just want to touch on Kelly Ock for a minute and some of the you know intangibles that he’s brought to this team since joining the Raptors and and having that kind of impact yes so what do you what I want to know just you know what are some of the intangibles

That Kelly Ock brings to this first of all he’s a player with a lot of experience he’s uh one of the smartest basketball players uh in NBA just the way he uh he’s able to connect with his teammates uh his uh his feel for the game is is

Unbelievable and uh I thought especially in the first half that he did really good job of playmaking and and connecting with his teammates uh obviously uh you know Kelly is playing a starter role now and playing heavy minutes you know expanded minutes and it’s a little bit of adjustment for him

Plus new team and and uh uh just getting to learn with his teammates thanks for boom Okay so this was not fun to watch a lot of talk after the last game we’re going to go study the tape we’re going to you know make some adjustments and you know you

Just found a completely different way but almost the exact same way to lose the exact same basketball game but more and it wasn’t very competitive and if you were watching this game in the first half and you were I don’t know encouraged by the fact that it was only

A five-point Gap at halftime you knew exactly what was coming at third in the third quarter right and that’s exactly what came and you watch as much basketball as I have in my life you understand when teams are floating and when teams are trying and you know when you know that you’re

Better than the other team you don’t need to go balls out you don’t need to do basically what the Boston Celtics did to the Washington Wizards I was just talking to my boy goat and I was like man if just for one day just for one day

I could do a show about not the Raptors let me do a show about the rest of the league right now because there’s some awesome stuff that went on around the NBA today briefly a massive comeback from the San Antonio Spurs and if you watched it it was really impressive I

Think it was down 20 and then they came back that was very cool to watch The Duel between the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets also a huge comeback if you look I was watching NBA basketball all day I got to tell you I watch a lot of NBA

Basketball generally I usually hone in on the Raptor games the Raptor games are like the creme de la crem it doesn’t matter who else is playing I’m a pretty big Die Hard Raptor fan and so for me those raptor games are like what I look

Forward to all day I gotta tell you 6 6 PM came I was like okay all right let’s see let’s see let’s see if something happens here because I gotta tell you it’s not interesting it’s not interesting to watch it’s not it’s not beautiful to watch there’s really no

Chance in hell you don’t have talent as the title says the D+ for talent and A+ for effort I think A+ is generous I think it’s like a B+ for effort you know um but man all right it’s it’s just not fun so I watched a lot of NBA basketball

Today and the best game I definitely watched was Denver versus Dallas was very interesting also featured a huge comeback um I think with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter I looked at espn.com and Dallas was 96 or 98% likely to win the game and then Denver storms back and you’re just

Like oh my God are they gonna pull this off is this actually GNA happen and then Jamal Murray goes nuts and then he makes the shot and he makes another shot and you’re like God damn it who has beating the Denver Nuggets for an NBA championship given their clutchness in

In these tight in these tight games and then K Irving just makes a shot that only Kyrie Irving could ever make which is a lefty hook shot over nicoa yic from like 20 feet away like it was 18 to 20 feet away and it’s just like wow the the talent on display

Is is crazy man uh Rim saying Ramadan Kyrie a different man yeah uh Karen Hall saying that’s funny I was just to myself whether it’s going to be a chore for you to watch the Raptors okay so to be completely humble about this this is my dream okay to be

Able to watch the Raptors talk about the Raptors have a channel devoted to the Raptors is a dream come true and to have a team that moves the basketball and generally plays for each other and plays hard and is building with youth is a dream I’m just saying it’s not that interesting

I’m not I’m not not thankful for it it’s a weird way of saying I am thankful for it I am thankful that I it’s two different types of misery you know last year there’s the type of misery where you were watching a team that was capable of 50 wins and you’re

Watching them play like the worst version of themselves on most nights because guys just refus to buy into team Concepts then on the other hand this year you have the complete flips especially when Scotty Mars goes out where you’re watching a team that really might lose to certain you know

Euroleague teams right now I’m not even kidding about that this team could lose to a couple EUR League teams if you watch enough EUR league basketball you know what I mean um and they’re just so deprived of talent but they are doing The Right Stuff they’re generally playing the

Right way they’re playing through the right Avenues they’re building up good habits so it’s like a little bit of a catch too it’s just so boring it’s so freaking boring I hate to say it like this but when the outcome is clear from the jump like do you know how obvious it

Was that the orina magic were going to win this game I would have bet my house that that the magic were going to win this game to put this the context I think at some point the Boston Celtics were beating the Wizards by like 35 points in

The first half it was a blood bath because the Celtics just decided to try and the Wizards just decided it was Jordan P’s KN to score and I got to tell you if you look at the Gap in betting odds between Magic and Raptors versus Wizards and Celtics Vegas gave the

Wizards a better shot of beating the Celtics than they gave the Raptors of beating the magic does that put into context just how bad this team is right now and how obvious these outcomes are it doesn’t matter how hard you try zigsaw puzzle saying rob would this team

Win the NCAA yeah no [ __ ] of course they would that’s a completely obvious like Kelly oen would be National Player of the Year okay um you you seen Murray Bo’s draft footage yet he’s OG 2.0 um no I haven’t no I haven’t but I will make a

Note of that to go check that out for sure um Titan saying do you see a big jump in offense for Scotty Barnes next year uh yeah I I hope so and yes I I do think I think he’ll take a substantial jump um this is a call-in show

Definitely Callin if you got something to say let’s look at the box score real quick um my Reflections on this game are simply that the outcome was obvious and there really isn’t much you can do uh the magic commentators if you watch the magic feed because you’re sick and tired

Of I mean the the highlight of tonight’s game was that kolenic up and under sort of Shifty you know thing and then Alvin Williams saying it reminds a little bit like Hakeem and I was like I think Kelly gin can officially cross it off his bucket list to finally be compared to possibly

The greatest post player of all time um I get where he was coming from it’s just the hyperbole stretch is incredible um ziga saying Alvin killed me with that I think he killed crop circles with that um it was hilar he is alijan bro like yeah I mean yeah sure

I mean you know the last time I heard someone compared to AE it was Yao Ming actually so um you know anyway um and Tetra uh saying Anthony black and grd dictor Jersey PO for black to Really Happen yes it did and um I wonder who came up with

That he called that move a Shake yeah and you know what the depressing part about that is Alvin played with Hakeem he was on his team he watched him do the dream Shake in practice Alvin is sometimes a little bit clueless when it comes to uh basketball

Analysis but he’s gotten a lot less he’s like I think he started out like two years ago I found him insufferable I no longer find him insufferable I find him mildly mutable that’s progress Maybe by next year he’ll be mildly entertaining and then by year five he’ll be 10% of you

Know uh 10% as interesting to listen to as Chuck swerski okay um yeah in terms of you know what the Raptors got tonight it was pretty balanced attack they got a a healthy contribution from Jordan wara Off the Bench uh seven for nine he finishes plus

10 in a game where the Raptors lose by 15 that’s substantial um I think it’s also worth noting that the magic were missing a very key contributor Off the Bench and Jonathan Isaac and played you know not not their you know greatest players ever Off the Bench um Caleb

Houston who’s a second round pick g-league guy he got 15 minutes tonight they got some development rep minutes where jet Howard and Anthony black got into the game uh made his only shot I’m a very big fan of Anthony black and I think he’s going to be really good at

Some point in the future but you know you got you got a showfield know key key you know you got you got those guys off the bench a little bit too in garbage time Jan Suggs doing his Relentless you know pesky stuff um Wendell Carter efficient as always but tonight it was

Really about how do you compete when the other team has the two best players on the court and it’s not really that close and um i s I’m sorry I’m having some internet issues I’m I’m seeing the bar go down so I hope it doesn’t continue

But um I’m not moving around too much so hopefully if I’m a little bit laggy the audio is still coming through um Paulo was really impressive tonight I’ve talked a lot of [ __ ] about Pao banero um you know being a little bit overrated I think Chad probably should have gone

Over him I at the draft preferred Jabari Smith over him and I look quite foolish for that given that you know Paulo is an All-Star and Jabari is kind of a question mark still but long term I had a lot of questions about Paulo defensively um I think I underestimated

His isolation scoring a little bit and just the fact that he’s a big dude but you know what’s interesting um watching the Dallas and Denver game now I’m not saying that joic was necessarily to blame for Kyrie’s shot right but it is interesting that Jamal Murray hit his

Pull-up three to put the Nuggets over against donic going under and not covering and then I and then Kyrie basically isos on jic to to get that shot off and it’s just like oh man it’s getting harder and harder to cover for a defensive liability right um so especially when that defensive liability

Is your best player like there’s just so much skill across the league right now there’s no more PJ Tuckers and matis styles playing heavy minutes that you can just you know Camp your star player out on that guy in the corner and just pray they’re not going to kill you um no

Man like there are a lot of teams out there like the OKC Thunder that can let literally sprad you out five five ways and if you have a liability on the floor they will find it and they will kill it over and over and increasingly as big men become more

Skilled and can step out further and further and guards become bigger you’re seeing you know teams like the Thunder and the magic that have this capability to really Pummel your weakest link and I think tonight you know the weakest link got exposed a lot um okay let’s talk about the

Raptors where do we start uh Gary Trent Jr you know reasonably positive game I think uh you know good steal he finished a layup in transition with contact and got the an1 I think like honestly if you had given me 50 to1 odds that he was

Going to miss that layup I would have taken it or like he would have turned it over or some crazy [ __ ] the fact that he made the an one was pretty cool um oai abaji had one of his better games in you know I think just activity level he drew

The matchup of Paulo he stated to be starting at guard but really he played more like a power forward in this lineup um he is playing Power Forward he’s a 6’4 power forward right now because you know Grady is not really strong enough at this point Gary’s not big enough

Emanu quickley is obviously the point guard in this lineup and Kelly Linn playing under siiz at Center do you see how small this team is right now seriously do you see how small this team is you’re starting a guy who 61 2 62 64 65

68 like and 611 in Kelly linic but with small arms there’s not a single guy I mean you’ve gone from having four guys in your starting lineup five guys at times in your starting lineup with seven foot plus wingspans this might be the one lineup the Raptors have

Played in close to three years that does not feature a single guy that has a s foot s foot plus sng span are you feeling it because you know all those guys you shipped out they all had plus wingspans Pascal 73 precious 73 Scotty is injured right now

74 right uh yakob 74 73 around there so it’s like that’s a lot of size to make up for it’s a lot right Chris bue is out that’s another guy with massive massive wingspan all your wingspan guys are out these are these this is a and again in

Terms of closing up the paint and and now on the other side you have a team that exploits it so badly because they have you’re starting a 6’4 power forward they’re starting a 6 fo10 shooting guard like how are you supposed to compete when the size and talent Gap is so big

That’s why this Orlando matchup did not entertain me at all I think you had a better chance of beating a team like Hu Houston or you probably like with the current roster and the way it’s constructed you could probably have a better chance of beating a team

Like Boston than you do beating a team like Orlando especially if Chris a is not playing it just it doesn’t yeah uh Emanuel quickley some people saying he had a really tough game there’s I think a deeper conversation to be had About Emanuel quickley and his struggles so far but we’ll talk about

That uh Grady dick he was fine um you know he hit two three um zero rebounds he gets his hands on so many and he’s right there he just doesn’t grab it I wonder if that’s a strength thing right now I think it might be I think he needs to get a lot

Stronger in the off season and that that will that would naturally come he’s 20 years old he will get stronger but when he can consistently start to pull down five to six rebounds you’ll have a better chance um the Raptors to win this game would have basically needed to play

Perfect basketball like pretty much Perfecto basketball and they didn’t play perfect basketball they had turnovers think they had 18 turnovers tonight that’s rough you know Manny quickley had four of them Kelly lyck had three of them those are your two primary decision makers Grady dick maybe your tertiary

Decision maker in that starting lineup he had three turnovers those turnovers lead to a lot of Li ball stuff and then you know you’re going to transition I mean In fairness the magic also turned the ball over 15 times I believe tonight and you know the Raptors did get out on

The break and convert some of those but yeah you really can’t you can’t be going even even with these guys because their shot making Talent is just going to overwhelm you and tonight that’s really what it is right it’s not like the shot lights out from three you know they make

Three more threes in the Raptors that makes a difference right because they do take more threes so it’s not like they substantially killed you from three they didn’t shoot great from three both teams shot well below League average from three the Raptors just shot substantially worse 26% versus 31% The

Gap really isn’t isn’t that midi pull-up range you know where Paulo killed you and France killed you and getting to the rim and and finishing at the paint you know that finishing talent that maybe a guy like RJ Barrett tilts the balance in a game like this you know what I mean

Like like having him go eight for 14 instead of having I don’t know having him go eight for 14 instead of having Emanuel quickly go four for 15 you know might make this competitive and then the now we can get to the manual quickly part of this

Equation which is how good are you when he’s the guy they’re trying to stop because he’s not that hard to stop and that’s kind of the point you know watched a lot of the Knicks lately been watching a lot of Knicks games and just personally been fascinated I mean they

Had a game against uh the Portland Trailblazers just the other day which I was like very curious about to see Delano Bon and ogn and Obi and you know just a lot of EX Raptors but also to watch Jaylen Brunson you know operate with a without Mitchell Robinson without

Julius Randle and just see like how does he how does he get his game off and you know the thing is you know he’s so strong he’s so skilled he’s so precise and he’s so smart that he’s making up for so many things and you know the comparisons between Emanuel quickley and

Guys like Jaylen Brunson Terry Rosier Campbell Walker it’s there um you can argue those guys have advantages that IQ doesn’t have IQ has advantages they don’t have I think the conversation you know from IQ to Tyrese Maxi or you know darus Garland maybe that’s a level up

You know in terms of just raw talent but in terms of you know perfecting the perfecta bles when I when I talk about you know Emanuel quickle it really does come down to perfecting the things that you can actually control and what you can control really in this in this scenario would

Be your compete level your basketball IQ your decision- making your craft right there was a particular sequence of plays tonight where um IQ gives up probably on a miscommunication but it might have just been like a laps in judgment gives up a clear driving lane to Joan to Joe

Suggs Suggs goes down then somehow off the make the Raptors have an advantage in transition I believe Emanuel quickley comes down and he has oai abaji if this the same play that I’m thinking about it’s either oos there was like a mistake mistake very quickly between between the

Two and I don’t want maybe I’m mistaking it but there was definitely these two plays I don’t know if they happen in succession but basically man quickly gives a clear Blow by to jayen sugs and jayen Suggs get right to the rim and obviously there’s there’s no shot

Blocking for the Raptors right now there’s none when oai abaji is your power forward and Kell because you’re Center you have no chance of blocking any shots you also by the way got rid of OT Porter who is now retired since retired you’ve gotten rid of Fus young

Do you know how many guys just named that had seven foot wingspans that could actually guard of the paint you have no Rim defense do you know what I mean like even jonte Porter as much as I would commend his incredible you know stat stuffing abilities to get his hands in

The way he’s not a traditional rim protector Rim protectors like have very positive wingspans and standing reaches and and incredible impeccable timing and athleticism and burst and whatever so we’re talking about Hassan Whiteside types right guys who can clean up something inside stuff and sort of you

Know clog the pains a little bit you don’t have that right now so we’re back to the Kem Burch Aaron Baines era right now and that’s really how you lose basketball games because you can’t contain at the point of attack especially when you have lapses in judgment or you know lapses in effort

The way you know letting a guy Jill and Suns just get downhill I just thought it was so easy you know the like once you got past your initial guy the second Defender can come over and compete and be very disruptive and try to get his

Hands in there but at the end of the day there’s nothing at The Rim that is stopping a guy like Jaylen Suggs or Pao vano or anyone really on the magic from getting a layup and that includes you know Marquel folz uh and you know again you’re just you’re so starved for talent

Right and then on the other hand there was a I feel like a better playmaker would have seen this but Emanuel quickley did not where oai abaji had a clear path to an alley and he’s a hell of an athlete and he’s a Livewire athlete and he reads

The game well enough that it was a pass that you should have thrown it’s a pass that Scotty would have thrown it might even be a pass that Dennis schroer or Fred Van vet would have thrown although I doubt it because I was pretty angry at those guys for not making that pass

Pretty much all last season and this season but a great playmaker would made that pass Luca would have made that pass joic would have made that pass Scotty would have made that pass you know Steve Nash would have made that pass literally any great playmaker you think of would

Have made that pass but Emanuel quickly took the shot and he brecks the shot and then you know long shot long rebound and boom you’re already out of position and now you’re scrambling and now it’s I think they got two points in the way and it’s just like Swing Swing Swing you

Know three possessions like that and this is where I say you know at some point he’s going to have to get a lot better there’s a lot of things he has to get better at number one is attention to detail number two is his shot release I feel like his shot release

Is tat slow um there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of space for him to operate when he has to be The Driver initiator of your offense like his handle is is good it’s not great it’s not dis it’s not going to shift a defense the way you know a Tim

Hard crossover was was doing it back in the day right so the handle is is good but not great the the shot is good very good you know he’s a good shooter but it’s a Todd slow the finishing Talent has gotten a lot better and dynamic and I think he’s got some

Upside like the combination of two things one will be Improvement on his end number two will be the roster around him and the play finishing and playmaking talent and just generally his playmaking ability unlocking the play finishing around him next year I think these two things alone could make him a

Very very improved player next year manual quickly is what I’m talking about here but right now if you’re going to hone in on him as you’re like Trey young wannabe or Steph Curry wannabe or Jaylen Brunson wannabe you know any one of these small guards or Damen Lillard

Wannabe well those guys have distinct advantages of over him number one they’re all better passers than him all of them they’re like seriously so when a team decides to Blitz the coverage on the pick and roll they’re going to find advantages that man quickly simply does

Not see right now and may never see In fairness that may never happen that may never happen for him it doesn’t happen for a lot of guys so when you talk about guys who have like that Superstar potential at the point point guard position as undersized guards they

Usually have that playmaking as aspect of it too otherwise they settle into roles more like of the Terry rosier um Terry Rosier Colin ston you know microwave scorer types Lou Williams Jamal Crawford Etc so playmaking Talent you know edges you out into a different category of player you know if if uh if

Ever Lou Williams had like you know if he could combine his shot Talent with playmaking talent and I feel like he was a bit of underrated playmaker because of how many shots he took in the role he had but if he had that you know next level Ricky Rubio type passing well then

You know we’re talking about a completely different type of player and so that I think is is a bit of a gap right the second thing that’s a bit of a gap is how Dynamic are you in terms of when the team decides to take away the

Thing that you want to go to right when when defense is honing in on you this is a conversation we had you know in the last live for those of you who might have missed it because you know it’s shit’s not time stamped right now I’m

Being very lazy about that if you are curious to check out the previous live Brian B Scotty’s trainer called in and it was around the one hour mark of the last live and we had this discussion about you know defense is honing and on Scotty and I thought that was very

Interesting you know to think about it because when you’re taking on this much of a load and you’re like Prime in principal number one person on The Scouting Report which is what a man quickly is right now for the Raptors the opposing team is just studying all of

Your Tendencies all of your plays how often you go left how often you go right how effective you are from the you know pullup you can’t be Gary Trent you just can’t and every time you know a guy in the secondary tertiary role goes off for 30 plus points and everyone starts

Saying that guy should be the guy it’s like you got to understand when you become the guy just like when Scotty became the guy just like when dear became the guy there’s an adjustment period to oh shoot I used to be able to deal with things by going to my counter

Now I need a counter to my counter to my counter because now teams have figured me out and that’s the problem Eman quickley doesn’t have a counter to the counters to the counter it’s just not sharp enough right now so he can get into the paint but the pullup is not

Great and then he can get one step further but the floater is like he’s still small relative to some of the some of the players he’s having to launch those over and there’s not a great deal of spacing around him because the shot making Talent around him is not Elite

And so it’s not unlocking like the widest angles for him to actually attack however it’s worth noting that when you know guys like RJ or Scotty were playing we were seeing a Mania quickly get better so there is some hope for next year that with increased Talent around

Him that he’ll be better then you got to think about you know what about when you get hit like you take a guy like Jaylen Brunson and when he gets hit you go back because he’s so strong and that’s something that Fred Van B mastered as

Well even though Fred vanle was no one’s definition of you know an Above the Rim athlete or a great finisher he had this strength that allowed him to take a little bit of contact especially when he was getting bumped off of the screen or if he was getting a little bit cont like

He could just he kind of had that like physical he was making up for something that he was lacking physically uh Niagara Canada film saying IQ is very replaceable um I wouldn’t say he’s very replaceable um because when you say very replaceable I think Jordan wara and

Possibly to a lesser extent Gary Trent Jr no I don’t think he’s very replaceable I just think he’s massively overleveraged as a first option because that’s not what he is and I’m very happy that you know um he’s having a stretch like this because not only will it help

You know him get better in in the offseason see his weaknesses and see his gaps but I also think that it will hopefully suppress some of the contract value that he was you know cuz this guy was on like a crazy heater where he was like 2010 and six for like a few

Straight games and a couple games against the magic were very sobering to his statline um that being said okay so what do you go to when when get things get tight so if I’m an opposing team especially a team that is way more talented and way bigger I’m going to

Push for him to get rid of the Bell now if I do this in an uncontrolled way a really gifted playmaker might be able to kill me with playmaking but because he’s undersized and he’s a little bit limited as a playmaker to people who consistently say he’s not a point guard

He’s not a point guard you have a point he’s not he’s more typically a shooting guard who’s learning the point guard position in a more typical way there in lies the problem with how much you can actually punish defenses for being a little bit out of position when they

Send that double the second part of that is are you talented enough skill-wise to split the double and then finish anyway like can you is your shot making Talent so great that I could send a double to you you could still make the shot because now I have to think about this I

Have to think about the double because how much are you going to punish me if I send you know a scramble at you and Blitz you on the pick and roll are you able to thread the needle find the guy constantly but could you potentially have such a quick trigger on your three

That you’re going to punish me anyway even though I Blitz the double team and then you’re able to just launch anyway how deep is your range how much can you spread the guy out how effective are you from 27 28 feet all of these things are

Going to be P meal together for em man quickly so he’s going to have to get his range a little bit deeper that will help so right now you’re seeing him take a lot of above the break threes which is you know stated Focus for the Raptors but tonight he goes over six

I think there’s enough of a sample in his shooting to say that when there’s a little bit more Talent around him he could be pretty deadly from above the break it’s just when it’s self-created as opposed to catch and shoot you run into a different set of circumstances

Different set of problems um so the range has got to be extended number one the the release has got to be sped up a little bit so that’s number two the third thing is he’s got to get stronger he just has to get stronger so unlike

Fed vanley he has more burst in my opinion and more length and more potential athletically than fedman vet ever did he also has more burst length and you know athletic potential than a guy like Trey young even though Trey is a little bit faster and quicker Etc so

When you look at a guy like aanu quickly it’s just a little bit of an incomplete player at this point right um like it’s just a little incomplete so he’s just got to get better at everything across the board and I see no reason why he won’t so tonight you get

Exposed this is you know a team that was going to do that to you they they were going to expose a lot of your issues because they’re basically they’re massively overloaded at the place that you’re massively lacking which is length and size and it’s just it’s just that simple and you

Know that being said losing my 15 points on the road to one of the four best teams in in the league over the last 10 games is not that bad um to to quickly look at the you know Gamecast slash actually very curious to see if at any

Point the Raptors were even remotely close in this game I don’t think they were but let’s just see was there a point no the closest it ever got was right there 45 43 when the Raptors took a lead they the magic were still 64% likely to win the game and this game was

Effectively over at 11:20 in the fourth quarter so if you fell asleep like I did in the fourth quarter I don’t blame you because this game was like you know think of this like a little you know those that Lifeline in the hospital yep that’s that’s what it is

That that that’s a flatline that’s death right there like this game was and I mean like honestly I know it’s h purbo but like and anything can happen in the NBA and wild upsets do happen but like right here like at when it was 11:4 I’m

Like this game is over like that’s just how it feels right now and and I know that one of these days I’m going to be wrong but I don’t think I am like it’s just you you just you just know unless the other team decides not to show up

You you’re not winning unless you play like the craziest most perfect hottest shooting game of all time um nothing really sticks out here uh the Raptors win the points off turnovers battle which was great given that they had more turnovers they defended better in transition than the magic did and yeah

Um points in the paint the magic gets 60 Color Me surprised 60 points in the paint which is becoming a bit of a common occurrence you know with the Raptors um and again you know you hold water pretty much you’re dead even on the free throws even though they got to

The line five more times right you’re dead even on the three I want to say dead even on three-point shooting but you’re relatively close enough on the three-point shooting to make up for it elsewhere you beat them on the offensive glass so you know you’re close on rebounds much closer on rebounds than

You should be given the size disparity you beat them on the assists you tie them on the steals you’re virtually dead even on the stocks Department you’re close enough on the total points and points off turnovers ratio for me that it’s just it really just came down to

One category which was right here right here this line right here field goals made versus field gos attempt that’s really what it came down to this entire game came down to shop making and ultimately that’s that’s what it came to be um I haven’t talked about this at any

Point but is anyone curious um about how good jonte Porter has been um okay so another statline where he manages to get a block and a steal in the same game which is pretty cool and it’s becoming a bit of a trend over the last four games

With jontay Porter uh Four Points seven rebounds three assists one steal one block that’s my type of player man that’s my type of player he’s doing you know he took the two threes and his 24 in his 25 minutes uh sorry 22 minutes a little bit concerned uh okay I I I got

To say jamus Ramsey was was pretty impressive tonight as well I thought he guarded his tail off and honestly even though he’s 6 fo2 6 fo3 when he’s out there he feels like the biggest raptor does anyone else get in that Vibe like he he is just playing so much bigger

Than his size and you know I think a couple games ago he had like six or seven rebounds tonight he had one but he just he feels physically imposing and he seems to care and he’s playing really hard and I don’t know if he’s going to

Get extended or whatever or if the rest of the season is going to be the Javon Freeman Liberty experiment which I would vastly prefer to be honest because I I do prefer Javon over uh jamus but I think both these guys are interesting guys um Andrew saying he he moves kind

Of like OG actually that’s a that’s a really interesting and fair observation he kind of does doesn’t he um yeah so I mean look Jordan AA you know Bruce Brown Jaylen McDaniels oai abaji Gary Trent Jr to me these are I just list off one two three Five Guys Five Guys that I

Don’t think should be starting in the NBA okay five guys that I don’t think are like Scrubs but I don’t think like I don’t think they should be starting in the NBA I don’t think they should be I don’t think like you should be like man we need that guy to have a

Good game to have a chance I don’t think those are the guys right they’re all big question marks and they make a lot of money you know especially when you talking about Bruce Brown and Gary Tren Jr that’s like over $40 million tied up in two very big question marks and oai

Abaji you know I just feel like right now you know if I could slot all those guys into an ideal role it’s probably seventh to 10th guy off the bench 11th guy if you know if right now Jordan wara goes to the OKC Thunder and he’s like

The 10th guy off the bench I don’t think you’re in trouble at all you know um if he’s an Orlando and he’s like the ninth or tenth guy I don’t think you’re I don’t think if he replaces Joe Engles that you’re necessarily better but I don’t think you’re in

Trouble you know what I mean but if he’s like the guy that you need to spark your bench on a night toight basis and you can’t bench him in case he doesn’t have it and weirdly enough I would put Chris bu in this role as well I would put

Chris bushe in that category as well probably put Kelly oen in that category as well uh for the time being probably put Grady dick in that category as well you just have a team full of seventh to 10 guys that’s really what it is and that’s

When I say you lack talent because your talent like the only player that played for the Raptor tonight that would definitively be one of the top seven guys in an NBA rotation for a good team is probably manual quickly right I he was six man in New

York I feel like he would probably you know he would be like six to seventh fifth he’d be fourth to seventh in most rotations he’s number one for you the guy who’s number two for you tonight would probably be seventh or eighth in most rotations thank you rob say it again man

I mean I don’t know how much I want to beat that dead horse so really when you’re talking about RJ Barrett RJ is in a similar boat of like flaws and all you know what whatever you find wrong with his game he’s still a top seven guy in

An NBA rotation right if RJ Barrett’s your sixth man you’re good good shape if he’s your fourth starter he’s good shape but when he’s playing for the Raptors he’s like their first option when Scot’s out now you’re overleveraged so everyone’s overleveraged and then compound that you’re being overleveraged

As a playmaker and a decision maker in this offense because the offense demands so many reactions from the players so you’re being forced into an uncomfortable situation and then on top of that you’re also not really covering for guys defensively and you’re asking guys to really guard straight up a lot

Without a rim protector and so guys are being overleveraged there this is what I call an ethical tank right you’re not throwing games you’re not deliberately you know playing shitty branded basketball you’re playing a arbitrarily constructed difficult brand of basketball you’re playing a harder game than you could

Be to describe what the Raptors feel like right now I’ll tell you what they feel like right now and this is actually the perfect metaphor and I’m really happy that I just thought of that this have you ever played basketball in ankle weights like substantial ankle weights

Like 15 pound ankle weights or you ever play basketball with a heavy ball that’s what it feels like the Raptors are doing right now it feels like they are playing with ankle weights and a heavy ball is this going to make you more effective right now no it’s not going to

Make you more effective right now is it going to boost your ability to guard or no because you have ankle weights on it’s going to make it harder for you to guard and you know um is it going to make it easier to win games [ __ ] no of

Course not you have ankle weights and a [ __ ] heavy ball it’s not going to be easier to win games but at some point you’re going to put those ankle weights off and you’re going to put that heavy ball down and you’re going to replace it with a regular ball and not ankle

Weights and you’re going to be faster better quicker and way better for it this is the ugliest part of development but it is so crucial now look I am a very big critic of teams developing improperly very big critic I hate the way the Detroit Pistons have done it I

Don’t like the Brandon basketball the Houston Rockets played last year that it was just terrible Brian described it as what did he describe it as 48 minutes of [ __ ] up basketball like basically just go up and [ __ ] up as much as you can this is not structured chaos um it’s

Just not the right way to develop this is the right way to develop Keegan Murray being asked to to guard up a position before he’s ready to is the right way to develop and and you see the fruits of that this year right um having a guy like Scotty shoulder a

Larger load of the offense than he was ready for this year is the right way to develop because again you’re putting ankle weights on the guy and Christopher chw saying Yak has been injury-prone I disagree I don’t think he’s been injury-prone at all um like he’s a s foot tall human being I

Don’t think he’s any more or less injury-prone than any other seven foot tall human being they’re sub uh substantially more injury prone than the average six foot player the taller you are the more likely you are to suffer injuries there are obviously exceptions to this and I fingers crossed touchwood

I think Victor Rama will be one of those exceptions but yes um anyways so the the ankle weight analogy is to say that I mean I just frame it back to something I used to I used to play with ankle weights I used to play defense

With ankle weights you know what used to happen when you take those ankle weights off you felt like you were flying it makes you stronger right I used to wear ankle weights around school I used to um I don’t know like we had this um it was like

A it’s like a vest that you wear that’s like 30 lb 35 lb and just you’re carrying all this extra weight around you all the time I don’t know about you know how effective it is or whatever but even like ball handling so I used to have this terrible handle

Uh when I was in grade eight grade nine where I would consistently lose the basketball when I would shift left right and so the goal was you know I learned this from Steve Nash from observing him dribble a tennis ball dribble the tennis ball and if you can manage a tennis ball

And if you can really learn to manipulate the tennis ball because of the increased decreased surface of a tennis ball it’s almost like if you can learn to shoot a slightly larger basketball you become better at shooting a smaller basketball there’s all sorts of there’s all sorts of things you know

That you can do to train yourself but ultimately this is how training works right you train heavier to lift lighter right um and I think that this is what this season feels like to me you know you’re having guys and you know you you look at

Even some of the guys who’ve left like ogan anobi being given like a lot of creation responsibilities in the pick and roll or precious auua being asked to be more of a decision maker in the offense and again you you might not see the results of it right away but at some

Point down the line someone is going to reap the benefits of you making that person 5% sharper as a decision maker so I am very impressed with the Raptor’s development staff and you know overall coaching system I think it has been very promising I know it’s not leading to a

Hell of a lot of wins right now I do want to say silver lining the Raptors are tied hold on let me just double check this let me pull this up real quick and then we’ll get to our one and only caller um which is L John nobody

Calls anymore people are done with this team it’s just L John coach Mo has given up Vince is gone I feel like these guys are just not much watching basketball anymore I don’t know if they’re you know watching this uh later but like yes I am um kind of disappointed that people are

Just totally tuned out of this but I I totally understand it um hold on where we where we where we at um tank is on okay so the Raptors are now tied yeah with the Memphis Grizzlies so and they’ve lost seven in a row holy [ __ ] man to think the Raptors were

Nine and 11 at some point just think about how bad they’ve been since that point holy crap wow I got to see this okay so here’s the Raptors in a nutshell at one point they were nine and 10 which is one game under 500 then they got two games under 500

Three games under 500 four games under 500 five games under 500 the losses occurred against Phoenix New York Miami at home then Charlotte easy to argue that this terrible loss right here might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back but sure you move to 9 and 14 here then you

Get to 10 and 14 and then a loss and then a win and then three more losses and I feel at 11 and 18 you know the writing was on the wall OG was about to be traded and it was all over but I feel like this substantial stretch between

Cleveland Brooklyn New York Miami Charlotte New York Atlanta like these losses were it now think about this just think about the numbers on this he went from nine and 10 in a win against you know um the Phoenix Suns in which Yeshua had 10 10 rebounds Barnes had 23 points

Sher had 12 12 assists you went from that game to this freaking nightmare and I believe this is the game that they that they choked down the stretch where uh December 6 and I think like Dennis schroer took all those stupid ass shots and and then look at the blood bath of

Els like do you see this you went from 15 and 22 which is you know let’s 15 and 21 where we can say in Golden state that beautiful you know Scotty Barnes defensive outing against Steph Curry where I think Steph Curry I know Steph Curry had the worst game of his life

From that game look at the freaking losses and then you have this arbitrary three-game win streak here against Brooklyn Atlanta Indiana which effectively is the reason you are where you are in terms of tank but man Charlotte Houston Brooklyn Atlanta Indiana when’s the last time the Toronto

Raptors beat a team that was comfortably above 500 Golden State’s a playin team Memphis is a lottery team the last time was probably Cleveland and they were playing horrible basketball so I mean they started playing great basketball literally right after that you haven’t beat a good team

In a really long time Indiana might be the closest thing to a good team you’ve beaten in months months Miami’s a playin team Chicago is a playin team right now right Houston is a lottery team Charlotte is a lottery team Brooklyn is a lottery team Atlanta is a playing team

Indiana is a borderline playing Team Charlotte’s one of the worst teams in the league if not the worst team in the league golden state is a lottery well it’s not a lottery team it’s a playin team right now Memphis Lottery Cleveland is a good team that’s the only team I

Can say all year that you beat other than maybe on opening night Phoenix is Phoenix a good team I think Phoenix is a pretty middle of the- pack team right now you beat Detroit Washington San Antonio Dallas is a reasonably decent team Milwaukee is a good team Minnesota is a good team so

Basically all of your wins against teams that would be even remotely considered contenders are in the first six games of the Season Hallelujah this is the season that we have right now and yeah it’s not encouraging um I think you could say it is encouraging that you’ve put up a good

Fight against some good teams like you have Sacramento here where you were like within five points or Boston here where you lost by two right you lost by two to Boston and you lost by five to Sacramento right but you got blown out by a lottery team in Utah but you got

Close to the Clippers you were close you lost by one to the Los Angeles Lakers right do you see my point like yeah there have been some ugly blowouts actually good teams but you’ve also like been really close against some good teams you lost by one point to Atlanta

How many games this team has lost either in overtime you you took the OKC Thunder to overtime double overtime that’s that that’s the best team in the west according to a lot of people right you get blown out by New Orleans the next night was a back toback yes you know um

You Get Smoked by Cleveland You Get Smoked by San Antonio but then you lose by two to Indiana which is the best best team of that Bunch well actually it’s the second best team of that Bunch my point being that this is the way that you would construct a tank if you could

Construct a tank in any way that you wanted to anyway we have time for one caller and let’s make it Lil John Lil John what’s going on man your mic is off hello can you hear me yeah all right yeah how you doing man I’ve been better I had like I had to

Postpone this live because I had a you know like when you sleep on a pillow or not not a pillow and I slept on a cover or something and I had this like sleep line on my face yeah and I was like I have to give

Like 30 minutes for this deep sleep line to go away because like I think four minutes ago in fourth quarter I was just done I just passed out yeah I’m going to be honest it’s funny that I’m I’m like one of the only guys who still calls but

I’m not even like all the way locked in as well like I’m missing like Quarters at a time which I never do yeah I’m kind of just walking off walking on coming back and it feels it’s just easy to just walk off on this on this team but dude

Like I just I watched a movie today called downsizing I don’t know if you’ve seen it with um Matt Damon and I gotta tell you for like the trailer and the first 25 minutes of that movie I was hooked I was like oh my God

I gota I gotta watch this movie this is great you know and I was curious I was like how have I not watched this movie yet it’s 2017 movie it it seems so great and then I read the reviews and it said really has a really terrible second half

And I was like ah how bad could it be it’s so great so far and then man I got to tell you this might be like the first movie that I watched 97% of it and I got I was like I don’t [ __ ] care about the last 3% [ __ ] the last

3% downsizing is the equivalent of what the Raptors feel like right now which is like you’ve done so many stupid things and so many I don’t want to say stupid things it’s just there’s so lack of interest because the outcome is so inevitably obvious and inconsequential

It doesn’t even matter like if this was NBA 2K I would have started simming the season like two months ago just like you know like Sim Sim Sim Sim Sim Sim s I just I’m not curious I’m not I don’t care about the 19point Jordan or game like all of this is

Constructed to be a development rep you know so in a weird way it’s it’s less I’m less interested in this than I was in the Raptor summer league way less interested like a th% less interested the the summer league at least is like you were you’ve been depraved of uh

Sports for a few for Raptor basketball for a few months and then you’re watching the the latest pick so it’s like it’s meaningful this this is like where 65 games in and I’m like I’m I’m tired of it yeah you know well let’s predict the Raptor record at the end of

The year shall we so okay right now we have a game coming up against Sacramento okay the next two the next two are losses for sure okay so we got two L okay so we got oh okay I’m I’m just going to count the losses on my hands

And I think I’m going to run out of hands okay so Sacramento loss LL L you think we beat the wizard so the next two well they’re going to try their hardest to lose to the Wizards in the Nets to me it’s about it’s unfortunate we don’t have another game against the Grizzlies

Because I feel like a game against the Grizzlies right now would be like game seven of the playoffs that that would be so entertaining like I feel like people would be locked in on that one it would just be like both teams would just Trot out like guys off the

Street they would just be signing new guys they just signing guys from LA Fitness I know some guys I know some guys who could do it yeah that’ be great that that that would have been so I actually wish they there was one more game left but bro tickets tickets

Against uh Washington tickets as low as $11 and it’s still a ripoff it’s still a ripoff I think they’re aren’t they moving the team to Virginia Washington aren’t they moving the team is wasn’t isn’t that a thing I I don’t know I think yeah that that was the that

Was a thing like a month ago okay I I I clearly I might have been focused on Penance during that time maybe I missed it um okay so I mean to me this is about it’s about um the games that the 50-50 games because all the games that like

Sacramento Oklahoma City those are gu I feel like there are a couple games you might be missing Los Angeles because Los Angeles playing for their life right now so those are all guaranteed the Wizards at Brooklyn on April 10th in the Miami games hopefully they’re playing for something hopefully they’re not you know

Playing you know D wri and stuff in those games but that’s really the The Season’s about those six five six games of uh where the games are up for grabs because all the other games are guaranteed losses and they’re going to try their hardest to lose those anyways

Yeah I mean I watched the Miami Heat play tonight today and I was expecting them to lose because they were like without Jimmy Butler they’re without Tyler herro I was like whoa this team is not going to be and and they still beat the Pistons of full health with Jaden ivy

With Kate Cunningham with Jaylen Duran you watch that game I didn’t watch it I watched the clips and I was surprised out of my mind because I was like man if there’s ever a game that Detroit is going to win and it’s like such a you

Know morale builder of oh we beat Miami even though Miami didn’t play anybody but it’s like nope haime hawz is enough you know like that’s enough to beat the Pistons right now and that’s depressing that’s a depressing thought if you’re a Pistons fan because I believe the game

Was in am I am I mistaken was the game in Detroit I’m pretty sure the game was in Detroit game was in Detroit and Kade had uh the ball with you know the shot clock off and he decided to take a a shot with nine seconds left Jesus Christ and that’s how they

Lost you know losing on a bad metab bio halfcourt shot that has to feel like death yeah no doubt okay let’s see here so bam hit a half court shot you didn’t see it he a no I didn’t oh my God buzer people were getting people were

Clowning Cade he he took he took a shot with nine seconds left with the shot clock off for no reason wait were you watching the the the nuggets game that’s why yes okay cuz they were they were on at the same time yeah like that’s that’s

Crazy wow I didn’t realize it was this close I mean to to to to be fair I had stacked so many parlay bets that the Pistons would win this game they could have damn bro like we’re talking like 36 to1 type of parlay bats like if they had won like I think I

Would have bought a new TV somehow I ended up like plus today regardless of that but it was like very because because Vegas gave them no shot when this game was close it was like boom seven to one odds to win this game and I was like man like they could make

It close and they are the more talented team right now in theory but yeah bam out bio and Hae HZ that’s enough um yeah kad’s uh his string of a really good he had a nice little stretch there he’s kind of came back down to earth yeah I mean Isaiah Stewart uh like

[ __ ] man like you got so many Lottery players on this team but yeah like I mean bamat bio definitely the best player in this game you make a case Duncan Robinson might be the second best player in this game so I mean [ __ ] like that’s crazy 30 points for Duncan

Robinson he’s he’s good wow yeah it’s wild can I give you a take on the Raptors Orlando sure so I’m watching the game tonight and you know they played again on on Friday so for some reason it feels like the teams are linked together even though they’re really not maybe

It’s because maybe it’s because of sugs and Scotty maybe it’s because of the you know the kids on the internet comparing uh Scotty and uh you know their best players maybe it’s because of Jeff welman but it feels like they’re linked and really the only link is the Raptors

Are young and they’re young but to watch both of them to watch both teams kind of like going in opposite directions and I personally believe that the Raptors have the best player between the two but the fact that they have so many players that are just

Dep hell up you muted yourself yeah the fact that they have so many good players and the Raptors only have one Raptors only have one and I don’t think they have so many how how big a gap do you think there is between jayen Suggs and Manuel quickley or jayen Suggs

And you know RJ Barrett I don’t think it’s that huge gap I think there’s a pretty big gap between sugs and quickly I don’t know about that man I think I think you can make a case that France and Paulo would clearly be two and three um between the two rosters I also

Disagree with the fact that they’re going in different directions I think they’re on different timelines like you have to realize how bad the magic have been for the last five years if there’s a reason they picked in the lottery so many times now you can argue they picked

Two Lottery guys last year they had two Lottery guys in 2021 they had the number one pick in 2022 like of the last five years they’ve had four Five Guys Five Guys in the top 11 picks and two guys three guys in the top five picks you should have an

Accumulation of young Talent can you imagine if the Raptors had picked that many top lottery picks in comparison over the last five years or sorry the last three years the Raptors have picked fourth with Scotty they didn’t have a draft pick in 2022 and then they picked

13th in 2023 so that’s really the Gap right now that you’re seeing but to to me the Gap is they have one of the best guards Off the Bench they have one literally um Mo vogner might be the best big off the bench in the entire NBA they

Have the best defensive player coming off the bench by far by far Jonathan Isaac is the best bench defender in the NBA that’s the Gap everyone who they played could play on any team right almost outside of Gary Harris and even him even he could play he could be like a eighth

Man okay that’s I think that’s fair but also like I think it’s worth noting that again these are two teams in very different places right like they’re just they’re not on the same timeline you know you’re you’re talking about a team that has been building up this uh base of young sorry

You doing are you doing something with your mic like you’re just moving around a lot or something yeah I was just moving yeah so like you could you could talk about these teams being in two different place uh places uh different timelines Etc um the Raptors have you

Know picks coming up this year there potentially three picks coming up this year I don’t think the magic have any first round picks this year do they have any first round picks they might have like a like a so I was going to say the the the the good thing for the Raptors

Is or the or the bad thing for the magic is they did not hit on any of their players from the last year’s pick uh last year’s draft because I think they got two of the worst players in the in the lottery Anthony black I’m not an Anthony black

Guy at all that’s cool I am um and J Howard I’m very low on J Howard J Howard I am I’m pretty L I don’t think he sucked in college but I’m pretty low on him as well what his Advanced numbers were like alltime bad in college alltime bad yeah I don’t think

So but I mean they weren’t great but you can you can make a case that he fit something what they were looking for in terms of as a shooter and a playmaker and ball handler and his handle is pretty interesting I will say that they will regret not taking Grady or um or

Liv or Jordan Hawkins or Wallace they didn’t have the option to take did they have the option to take oh [ __ ] they had the option to take L with with the black pick yeah they [ __ ] up bad that’s that’s the scary part they could have been even better or they could have took

Keonte George so I mean how many how many how many ball dominant guards do you want to have on the same team you know you already have jayen Suggs you already have Paulo you know France say ball dominant but like guards I mean does Keon really fit the need more than jet

Howard does in this case I think you know yeah um and uh Ninja saying I think you’re confusing jet for jayen Hut Chino I don’t think he is but um Jaylen Hood Shino is like to me that’s one guy that I think if you do this draft again

In a couple years he doesn’t go first round that’s just my thought right now he might get better I feel that way about Jet and I know I know he hasn’t played yet but I had him like kind of I think 18 19 20ish so picking at 11 was

It felt like a reach for me I had jsky remember he’s going over him hawas is going over him Grady’s uh Grady’s going over him um still very early man like I mean look I trust Jeff welman to draft well he gets Talent more often than not

He drafts pretty well that being said he’s had some pretty big screw-ups in the draft I don’t think anyone would argue that jonen sus was the best player available at five no matter how his career is going to turn out the only reason that you can make a case

I think when I did my redraft I had him like higher than Kade and people lost their minds yeah I sck by that I stick by that like Detroit fans H I’d rather have sugs yes I would too because you know here’s a player who’s actually contributing to

Winning um you know and has drastically shifted his game to make that happen and you know again like I would love Jaylen sucks on this team I would love it like in place of like a plethora of players like I yeah I would rather have him than

A lot of players on this team but that being said that’s a good thing that’s a that’s a thing that I was thinking about like as as much as people are down on MSI MSI some of his like who he’s been linked to he was linked to Jaylen Suggs

Last year he was linked to uh Nick Claxton like two three years ago so his his uh his eye for talent is still like he’s still he still got his fast ball cuz I think the Rapp you need evidence for that he was linked to sh

Alexander and Janis Sant DMO like so I mean yeah he he gets it and he tried to trade for those guys so it’s not linked to because you be linked to a million people it’s like did you did you do something did you try to do something

Did it just you know fall out of your hands and I think if he can go back in time you know okay you don’t trade for Shay but you end up trading for kawhai instead and you win a championship fine maybe you live with that result because

Let’s be honest there are teams that have existed for 40 years that won’t win a championship there are teams that won’t win an next there are teams right now there’s a fan of some team right now at the age of 20 okay he’s 20 years old

And he’s like my team is gonna win a championship and he’s gonna die before his team wins a championship probably is that’s very likely that’s possible yeah and and that fan is probably a Hornets fan probably a Hornets or a Wizards fan probably but yeah one of those teams is

Probably not going to win Championship over the next 20 years especially if you have like a dynasty that forms where you know one team just sweeps up like six seven in a in a in a 10year span and that team is probably gonna be OKC or

San Antonio but that being said I think the Raptors are like okay so here’s a question for you would you swap like let’s just say I’m Jeff Waltman you’re MSI jury I call you and I say hey Messi you want to make the craziest deal of

All time I will trade you every player on my roster every player on my roster including Paulo France everybody and every pick I own for the next five years for every player on your roster and every pick you own for the next five years you making that trade

See again you’re trading three picks this year for for for one that’s that’s noting they have all their picks though they do but they have the 21st pick um this year in this year’s draft and you I mean potentially if you keep your lottery pick you have two picks that are

Better than their picks yeah that’s something and they’re going to be consistently pretty good and now now the question is are they gonna be good enough to be Champions I don’t think so I don’t think they’re gonna be better than Boston and I don’t think Paulo is the

Best player on the championship team right exactly so so that’s my question is do do you make that trade so again I think Scotty is better than both of their best players mhm pretty soundly that being said you have two guys in my opinion who

Are going to be top 30 players in the NBA one day I don’t know FR yeah pretty certainly two guys and the Raptors have one weirdly enough I’m more certain about France hitting that outcome than Paulo but yeah I mean Paulo might already be like knocking on the door

Right now so maybe I’m just like I’m just bi that’s my point I I like France better just I just love France the cutting the the defense he’s the shot did you see him airball a shot today who France yeah he shooting like 29% and his

Shots are like if you talk to Magic fans they’re like they’re they’re kind of frightened because he I saw him airball shot like and it was an ugly airball it was like a precious airball it could happen to anybody but so yeah I would I would I think I’d be I’d take the

Magic’s roster just because off the the fact that off the fact that I have two guys who I’m pretty sure are top 30 players just off that and then sugs I value Suggs over anyone outside of that group okay so yeah so if you were doing like a fantasy

Draft of the Raptors and Magic entire roster your first pick would be Scotty your second pick would be France or Paulo your third pick would be France or Paulo your fourth pick would be Suggs yep and then Grady and then Grady would be the fifth pick okay yeah that’s look

I think that’s a that’s a that’s a pretty sound uh conclusion I think you might be a little bit lower on emanu quickle and RJ Barrett than than I am which is yeah uh I’m not liking what I’m seeing from quickly the separation I mean again you can’t expect

Somebody like if you force jayen sugs to initiate an offense as they have multiple times dude that guy would get [ __ ] cremated okay I get it I get it but but sugs is a defensive player though no I understand that but man quickley is not a defensive seeve he’s

Not Suggs okay Jaylen Suggs has a Jaylen Suggs has a potential to be one of the top three guard defenders in the NBA for the next 10 years uh man quickley does not possess anywhere near that level of potential defensively but he’s also not bad and he’ll be in the upper echelon

Let’s say the upper half of guard Defenders given the way point guards defend nowadays he’ll be one of the 12 to 15 best starting point guard defenders in the NBA for the next 10 years sure and and so like so you hold water with a guy like that it’s not

Anthony Simons level bad it’s not Damen Lillard bad it’s not Trey young bad and I know I’m comparing him to the absolute dumps but I think when you put better Defenders around him I’ve seen very capable defense from him in New York so he retains the possibility of being very

Interesting defensively I just think he needs to get stronger he gets cross smashed way too often yeah he gets CR and that’s the thing with Suggs is like the sugs possesses that Dwayne Wade Gary pton trait where he can guard up like two positions like if Jaylen sus get

Cross smatched on a small forward I’m not worried about Jaylen sugs if he gets cross smatched on a center I’m a little more worried but I still feel like he’s going to give it about as good a shot as any Wing would so weirdly enough at 6′

Three and a half 6’4 Suggs possesses the ability to guard four positions And that’s pretty freaking impressive at that size um where would herb where would herb Jones and Trey Murphy go in this Fantasy Draft would they go over sugs oh yeah they’re they’re clear top four and

Potential potential to get to top three um but I definitely top four Trey Murphy would look really good on the Raptors just yeah so so that’s that’s my point so I feel like the Raptors we’re missing like that you’re exactly you’re missing your fron Vagner that’s my point yeah

We’re missing so because the minute you get fron Vagner now here’s here’s the point you have expiring like Bruce Brown and Chris bue you have a boatload of draft picks especially if you keep this one and you have in my opinion probably the better executive in Messiah jury and

Bobby Webster that team feels to me like they have a better handle on scouting Talent than Jeff welman and Anthony Parker do that being said I will trust that you can find a France Vagner level Talent OR develop one and and you have three potential like if you think the gap

Between fron Vagner and RJ Barrett is substantial at this point like you’re projecting you’re projecting upside promise PR B yeah I think it’s pretty big defensively it’s pretty big bro defensively France is pretty damn good defensively and RJ sucks or RJ’s doesn’t suck but like he’s negative pretty big

Negative and one guy’s a plus and 69ine in long arms you’re gonna be low on if you’re going to be low on France it’s I’m not low on France I like France Vagner no no like if the in general if you’re going to be low on him you you’re going to be

You’re going to you’re saying to yourself this shot isn’t going to develop like people think that’s the that’s the only downside on him so here’s France Vagner according to Crafton he is legitimately like I think a rational person could say he has a point to be in the conversation with

Scotty and Paulo he’s actually in that conversation firmly he he might even be better analytically than those two guys um he there’s a couple analytics that like him better but most analytics like Scotty better right but I’m saying like he’s a hell of a talent and clearly like he’s

One of the top guys here’s in terms of RJ Barrett yeah [ __ ] wor looks a lot it looks a lot it looks much it is worse he’s he’s like and and to anyone saying you know like oh my God so like but here’s the point it’s like the Gap is a

Really inefficient third option versus a really efficient second option as opposed to this is Shaquille O’Neal and this is Brad Miller you know what I mean this is not a superstar but I mean does fron Vagner possess Superstar level upside I feel like he I feel like he possesses four time

All-Star upside and I feel like RJ Barrett possesses if something goes very right for him two time Allstar like upside now you might think like it’s possible that he’s ever going to make an All-Star team I feel like I’ve watched players similar to him turn it around so

I hope that RJ Barrett does figure it out but yes his defensive analytics have been atrocious all year um they got worse after he got to the Raptors considerably worse actually he’s been so much worse defensively as a raptor offensively though he’s been much better

As a raptor so go figure um I don’t know I I had a theory for you or so I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to how bad Mel Bridges is playing like every night he’s going five for 17 from the field would you package the sixth

Pick with a contract and maybe the the Pacers pick for him I feel like you ask me about Mel Bridges before and I said no and I I I did I think I did but I think it turned into a Brandon Ingram versus Mel Bridges conversation just just strictly for Mel

Would you trade the six pick for him and package around the six because he’s he’s the France basically no he’s not he’s older he’s smaller he’s older but he’s older but he’s worse he’s worse he’s older smaller and worse how can you be equivalent to somebody if you’re older smaller and

Worse so so you would rather find it through the draft I’ll Trust the Raptors to there’s there’s such a okay so so here’s the thing you look at a guy like PR sucha right it’s a great example um a friend of mine has this obnoxious habit of

Messaging me every single day and asking me why we let go of press OFA and I’m just like dude how good do you think this guy is like what what do you think is a Max Level upside on pressure the Chua right he is really not as good as

People are making him out to be based on his box score numbers in in New York and I do not understand why people keep messaging me like we just let go of [ __ ] hakee elijahwan in his prime like we did not he is a very interesting athlete he is definitely playing a ton

Of minutes he was a very big stop Gap solution when OG was injured and he fits a role for them and in the Cog it works but overall man there’s like seven guys eight guys on the Magic roster i’ would rather Happ than him on a night toight

Basis maybe nine and it’s like if we’re talking about the 10th guy on a good team who the [ __ ] are we talking about here like stop crying over this [ __ ] second part about that is exactly the second part is a really bad fit for what you’re trying to do offensively so is BU

And frankly so is Gary Trent Jr and possibly so is Bruce Brown like there’s no not Bruce Brown in theory is a great fit but Gary Trent Jr Chris buet and prash like guys like this just they don’t fit what you’re trying to do in the type of basketball you’re trying to

Play however I will say this what are the odds just I’m saying what are do you think it’s possible that there is a player picked between 20 and 35 in next year’s draft 2025 or 2024 TW 2024 sorry so this year this year’s so between 20

Between pick 20 and between pick 35 that there’s one player picked in that group in the Payton Watson Walker Kessler niic group you know the David Rody range the Christian Brown range that range of the draft you know where where guys like that Julian STW guys like this have

Historically gone your Jaylen Williams the second Jaylen Williams um your Christian Kos whatever Jaden McDaniels Jaden McDaniels sure so that entire range of the draft what are the odds that there’s a player picked this year in a week draft that is better after year one than precious aula

Will be after year four what are the odds I’d put the odds at you’re just saying one guy it doesn’t have to be just one guy just have to find one guy in that entire range of 15 come on you already know the answer the it’s like

100% 99% exactly and that’s my point and the odds of that guy and and and I’d say the odds of MSI JY finding that guy are substantially higher than most general managers who are drafting in that range one two if you do find that guy I mean

Number one you’ll have a few cracks at it because you have multiple picks in that range for the next couple years if you do find that guy you’ll have him on a rookie contract for four years and that’s my point it’s like good point you are getting guys and here’s

Here’s the brilliant thing about the nil deals right guys are staying in college longer and I love this especially for guys who should be staying in college longer see like you don’t get a super long leash in the NBA you just don’t have the super long time to make it

Usually when you’re in Malachi Flynn’s position and granted Flynn was a little bit older when he came in usually I I’d say Malachi Flynn is like you know like what what is today today is Sunday March 17th Malachi Flynn expired on March 4th he’s like milk in your fridge that expired

Like 2 weeks ago almost you know and it’s just it’s it’s done it’s it’s been done for a while and you should have thrown it out and now it’s sour yogurt and that’s my point it’s like you don’t get Malachi Flynn level opportunity in the NBA anymore you just don’t there’s

Too much talent there’s the world is too big the G league is too de there’s so many people there’s there’s there’s like you know honestly if there was a round three of the NBA draft like it would be chalk full of players that have a chance and that’s my point undrafted Heap is

Getting larger and larger here’s a fun fact Justin champeny and Julian champeny both started and played Crazy higher than 30 minutes uh tonight in the NBA they both started together they started in different games but on the same night Justin and Julian both started Justin played a team High 35

Minutes for uh the Washington Wizards and Julian obviously played for this for the first interesting that I say I say that to say that both those guys were late picks and Justin was an undrafted guy those guys are getting minutes now probably over some guy who was a first round pick

Who’s out of the [ __ ] league right now there’s a lot of guys Usman guba was a first round pick I’m pretty sure he’s close to being out of the league and he’s got tons of freaking athletic potential Tai Tai Washington was a first round pick I’m pretty sure his career is

On like standby right now watch so you take all these guys you say at some point you do have to understand that the rotating chairs are going to make it so that guys who come into the league with a little bit more ready to go now are

Gonna have a better better shot guys like haime hawz guys like Brandon PJ jimsky guys like Trace Jackson Davis and you get these guys typically in this 20 to 35 range I feel like this 20 to 35 range in the draft where the Raptors

Seem to have you know um you call it 15 to 35 where the Raptors have gotten two picks in this draft I feel like one of these picks will be for probably a flyer like a total athletic GG Jackson type you know like H kware Indiana maybe I don’t know

Have you seen him no he’s he’s a big on Indiana yeah you’re gonna you’re gonna you’re gonna see him I’m looking forward to getting to draft analysis it’s going to be like a really good shift in tone and concentration for me and March Banis is

Going to be great time to get into it um I feel like one of those players will be that but I think the other player could and I think that the Raptors could basically do what the Denver Nuggets did right take take your safe bet and then take your athletic

Flyer and you know put the athletic flyer into the g- league right uh to 905 and have like a product that’s really interesting to watch in the 905 you know having a high potential 19-year-old in the g- league is something the Raptors really haven’t had for a while like they

Had Grady dick do some stints down there and he was struggling hard but to have a guy like Pascal SE yakum or something like that you know like like having a guy who’s like really dominating the g- league and you know he’s next up and he’s got like a real pathway it’s kind

Of interesting so have that guy and then on the other hand have your Julian STW type your 22y old who can be a role player right now so you know replace your Jaylen McDaniels Jordan noira roster spot was basically a guy who’s like a college senior who just you know

Is really good player but maybe has a bit of a diminished upside and then see how much more juice you can you can juice out of that because the value of these first round picks in a league where this cap is spiking to be able to

Pay a guy you know late first round pick probably you’re talking about like less than 1% of the cap like oneish perc of the cap that’s crazy that is absolutely insane no one .5% of the cap like to to have one roster spot at least where a

Guy can play 15 minutes for you in a pinch especially if you’re injured whatever and for four years to have control over that um spooky ghost rider saying Zack Ed yes or no no hell no I don’t want to say hell no because I’ve been wrong about bigs

Before but I’m inclined to say no it feels very slow he’s big he’s not he’s not an actual big he’s like he’s a specialty big that’s he’s just he’s just he’s just going to come in and you know trying to change the pace of the game I don’t think he’s actually going

To play you know not to disrespect him um yeah I I think that’s that’s a that’s a fair point um I don’t know about wasting a roster spot on that though yeah a taco fall like is that necessarily like like what is the point I feel like every year there’s some big

Um those never work out I don’t want to say they never work out because dominant College bigs have worked out I just don’t think the jilal okaf for slow footed types work out and Ed you know I just want to be clear if this is 15

Years ago Zach e is going top five in this draft he might be going number one in this draft you think so if this was 15 to 20 years ago yes I do you think he you think he’s skilled enough offensively I I haven’t watched him

Enough uh to be honest but he would go top five I don’t want to go to number one but he would go top five because players like him um have gone higher before like he reminds me of paval pad Callin or Eric montros rest in peace Eric montros I believe Eric montros

Passed away so rest um but yeah like he reminds me of guys like that like where in a in a substantially bigger League where there was shacks and you know David Robinson’s over the world okay so we’re talking maybe 25 years ago 30 years ago 30 years

Ago okay not say 20 years ago 30 years ago I feel like he would have gone top five top six in the draft um JLA media saying uh mant Ed is not mantros actually he’s been literally compared to Eric montras number one number two have you watched Eric montros play in college

Because you should because he was a very different player in college feel like people get like really twisted about who who a guy is based on who what he played in the NBA most the guys who played in the NBA like like I don’t know like [ __ ] um Patrick Beverly you know Patrick

Patrick Beverly averag like 37 points per game in high school my people don’t think of him as a scorer but if you watch him in high school you think of him as a scorer so it’s just like uh yes I did as in yes you watched

Eric montros in in in college for real how old are you I’m very curious now that this is a very okay uh Lil John the the the whatever you’re doing with your mic man it’s super disruptive like you’re you’re like scraping your mic I don’t know what’s going on with

That can you hear me yeah I can just just yeah just it’s it’s very disruptive uh J media saying I’m 50 years old okay so you watched Eric MRA and High School in college would you say that the college game was substantially bigger and so an advantage that a guy like Eric

Montras would have had in college game like 35 40 years ago might be diminished in today’s game see what I mean like Zaki is just huge like he is going up against centers that are just nowhere near his size and they’re pounding in his side Purdue is pounding it inside

And getting him like efficient looks and he’s you know I’m just sorry like if you put him next to a guy who can actually like he’s just too slow defensively he’s just too slow defensively like if Kyrie Irving and Derrik Lively just think about Zach guarding a Kyrie Irving Derek Lively

Pick and roll or Luka Derek lley pick and roll it would be an automatic two points every single time hug I don’t know if you thought this during the game tonight uh today but I think of all the teams people are trying to figure out which team would

Give Denver the biggest issues I again I don’t think any team is beating Denver but I think Dallas I think Luca in the pick and rooll attacking jic would just completely you know you’re getting like 1.3 1.4 possessions out of that every single time I think that’s the best way

To play with Denver because I I think they would I don’t I don’t think I don’t even think they played that well today and they still I thought Denver didn’t play well at all either but Dallas won I know Dallas won but I don’t think they played that well I don’t think they

Played that well either here’s the thing Dallas is also pretty new to each other they’re integrating you know a pretty substantial piece in PJ Washington and I think like you know yeah PJ might not be that though I think he fits yeah anyways man any final thoughts um are you still like are

You still intrigued by oai I’m intrigued by what he could be as potentially a Tony Allen type change of pace the expectations are changing for him because Tony Allen I thought this guy could shoot and he can’t shoot he he he will be able to shoot man I I’ve seen a

Shot for him it’s perfectly fine it’s just it’s not going in right now whatever um he’s had substantial samples in the NBA where he has shot well from the corners he needs to be a corner shooter who expands his game to be a little bit better I see encouraging

Signs from him and I see a development staff that believes in him and I see a guy who’s bought in look he’s getting minutes and Reps he’s playing well above his pay grade right now and if he’s starting for you next season you’re you’re you’re dead

Um but if he’s your eighth ninth guy like you’re going to have to find some way to replace Gary Trent Jr at some point right and and I’m not saying that he’s going to be able to replace a shot making but man he flashes some stuff defensively sometimes where it’s like if

He can put that together for a full game he has stopper potential so we’ll see why does why does Gary like some random nights just show that he can play on ball defense and then you know and then it’ll just go away for months he’s never had the lateral speed or size or

Strength to play to play competitive um I think just sometimes the matchup is is going to allow him to get a little bit closer without the guy dusting him but when you put him against an elite elite matchup he’s gonna he’s going to struggle 10 times out of 10 I think um I

Think I think yeah so like he was he was getting under his handle that’s all that’s exactly and I mean it’s just a really bad matchup honestly in the playoff I always think about like playoffs and I feel like in the playoffs I feel like a guy like Gary can get

Schemed out defensively pretty badly yeah um and and ditto for RJ and I think like to everyone who’s like and again prayers out to RJ and his family and this is like I I’ve been very very hesitant to say anything negative about RJ you know um over the last just few

Days because it’s just some things are just bigger than basketball but just to be completely objective on the analysis of him like he is the worst defender in the starting lineup that features yeah it’s close it’s honest it’s really close and it it’s like part of it is he’s worse because he’s

Guarding harder matchups um he’s taking on like some really really hard matchups but I think like his defensive lapses team defensive stuff Rim defense like he he has some serious gaps to shore up defensively and I’ve seen this before with dear I’ve seen this before with guys like if they

Don’t want to defend and they don’t have a natural you know skill for moving their feet laterally like he he’s like a north south athlete East West he’s just very rigid it’s yeah he doesn’t get like enough flexibility on the side like I just with oai I see like the the upside

Of it right but now like if oai doesn’t become a great defender for you you have Jordan who’s okay substantially better than Gary and RJ but still not a defensive stopper you have Scotty Barnes who’s substantially better than all these guys but also not like the he’s not in he’s not in the

Top 2% of perimeter Defenders at all like so he’s not he’s not ogan anobi herb Jones where he’s just like oh yeah that’s that’s [ __ ] Prime Michael Jordan Scotti Pippen he just you know he can clean up two two positions for you he can’t point of attack right he he’s better than those

Guys though I’ll tell you that Scotty Flack he catches for point of attack stuff he’s still the best defender on this team and that’s a problem because he used to be the second or third best defender on your team and now he’s the best defender on your team and and again

Once again you’re asking a guy to level up above their pay grade Scotty cannot be a defensive anchor for you just cannot be a defensive anchor for you and an offensive hub for you in the same there’s no one in the league that does that for their team literally nobody

There’s no one who is the team’s best offensive player and defensive player and you know that’s just tough anyways man um sorry the mic stuff is just it’s very very distracting so I’m he yeah yeah it’s it’s constant it’s been constant throughout this call like where like every two minutes there’s just like

A tapping of the mic or a rubbing of the mic and yeah it’s just like maybe maybe if you’re going to call in just just make sure not to do that because it can get very distracting it’s like a tip tip tip you know what’s funny one of my I I

Have one of my air ODS I’m using one of my airpods and I think the other one is somewhere maybe it’s I don’t know maybe it’s being fiddled with or something so I don’t know okay that might make sense yeah no technology what are you gonna do

Anyways uh thanks a lot for calling it man always appreciate it cheers yeah man thank you man have a good one see you okay and that’s it for this live um definitely consider subscribing if you haven’t already we got 200 people tuned in um on a Sunday night

At 11:38 and I can tell you as someone who is monitoring this pretty closely that I don’t even think they’re like there’s no live in the world uh focus on the Raptors and and the magic on a Sunday night that’s getting this kind of traction so I appreciate y’all for

Showing up for keeping the chat Lively um I realize this community is not really about me I realize this community is a place for you guys to Talk Amongst each other you know amongst yourselves discuss ideas I hope this live has been entertaining I think we touched on a lot of stuff the

Conversation was pretty you know decent I think it went in a lot of good places I think the Raptors will be fine I’m getting kind of tired of saying it I feel like i’ been saying for 40 games now be patient trust the process it’s

Going to be fine it’s going to be fine it’s going to be fine but it is it is um you know I’ve learned uh throughout my life that um things get really bad before they get really good and sometimes like the worse it gets the better it’s about

To become and this process of unearthing things and you know have you ever walked into an apartment I’ll give you an example I bought my place um when I was pretty young I I saved like a crazy person I worked crazy during high school and I bought this place when I was

21 so when properties in Toronto were pretty cheap so yeah like wasn’t like millionaire or anything like that just made a really smart investment in a in a place that I thought was not very uh expensive and very reasonably priced in an older building and so the first day I

Saw it I was like oh my God this place is fine I’m so excited and you know was great and then the next day we tore it apart we want to rip out the floors want to rip out the the walls and do do all this crazy

[ __ ] I got to tell you man when I walked into this place the first day construction started and everything just was like up in the air and you know all the parket floor had come up and everything’s like being cleared up in bags and my boy Lewis was like you know

He was like you know raking some stuff up and we had the tiles and the and the saw everywhere I had to tell you I looked around at this place that I just bought and I thought I had just bought like a war zone you know it just looked

Terrible I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a house or an apartment that has just been torn down completely but I felt like I had just walked into like a tornado disaster Zone you know and and it was it was a gut punch moment of like

How will this ever get better how will this ever look like better than what it was yesterday you know because it was it was it was fine yesterday before we tore everything out it was fine you know everything’s fine and then you tear it apart and it’s just it’s terrible it’s

[ __ ] terrible for like two weeks but then three weeks later after we were done the construction we laid out the floors and you know we put in the wall and we fixed counter and everything dude I I remember opening up the blinds letting the sun soak in and I

Just lay on the ground on this brand new laminate floor that I had just learned to put in myself and I just thought to myself this feels like home but for two and a half weeks it felt like a war zone and it was just like every single

Day it looked like [ __ ] it looked like [ __ ] it looked like [ __ ] it looked like [ __ ] it was like there was grout everywhere buckets everywhere garbage bags everywhere like debris everywhere dust everywhere paint everywhere oh my God it was it was terrible and then one

Day the last day it was just great it was just beautiful and I’ll always be thankful for that day um but that’s why so few people ever do that that’s why so many people live in relationships that make them unhappy because being lonely is the equivalent of tearing apart your life so many

People want to like I talk to people who’ve been out of love with people that they’ve been married to for 20 years 20 years 20 years of your life to spend with somebody that you don’t love you don’t care about that much but you’re just like I don’t want to go through the

Proceeding of divorce I don’t want to go through the proceeding of Separation I don’t want to split half my [ __ ] I don’t want to do this I don’t want to do that think about people who walked into the wrong line of work right you just keep

Going going hoping it’s going to get a little more tolerable a little more tolerable and it doesn’t it just it’s like a growing sense of sadness last year to me was like that it was a divorce that needed to happen it was very messy and look there’s one thing I’ll tell you

And this is something that I think I’ve always been pretty good at when I meet people who have a big decision in their life that they’re off I’m pretty good at identifying what that decision is and how to take the next step forward that might mean somebody who needs to ask for

A promotion that might mean someone who needs to retire somebody who needs to change their habits change their health change their diet change their relationship change something it’s ironic because as much as I’m able to give out the advice I so often find that I’m someone who needs to do that for

Myself too so this metamorphosis of change when you toss out a whole bunch of [ __ ] and you change a whole bunch of habits I think this is a very messy uncomfortable disruptive sometimes destructive process and that’s what the Raptor season is for me I will always remember this as the course correction

That the Raptors the two years overdue course correction that the Raptors needed to take and I know a lot of people critical of Darko and I know a lot of people critical of R.J and I know a lot of people critical of Kelly or whoever you know it’s like what are these

Guys it looks messy right now but it’s some point those shots are going to start to fall those passes are going to start to hit the habits that you’re building right now and the habits that you’re disrupting they’re going to pay fruits and at some point I think you’re going

To see a team and you’re going to think it was an overnight success and it’s not an overnight success what you’re watching right now is part of the success um I may have touched on this a few lives ago but I’ll say it again here we have a really top down approach

To analyzing life analyzing basketball however when you look at things bottom up They do change substantially the pursuit of happiness is destined to fail every time every time the pursuit of happiness is miserable the happiness of pursuit is blissful every time every time you have to to understand that this

Entire process of unearthing things is going to be uncomfortable and messy but at some point you had to do it because accumulation of crap you know it’s like a detox you do a diet detox it’s uncomfortable it’s messy you know you might throw up it’s required

Yeah because we asked for this yes we did because right now I look down the books and I see no Fred Van making $40 million next next year and I consider that a massive success does that mean that I think fan is not a better player

Than man quickley no of course I think he’s a better player than man quickly right now he is a better player than man quickly right now right now at the age of 30 making $40 million with his personality and his leadership traits but I would vastly prefer Emanuel

Quickley the player the asset and the person on my team vastly you know so again you take out overpriced assets and you replace them with underpriced assets and you know you you roll the dice on hopefully a few things breaking your we there’s always going to be some element of luck involved here

Luck is Scotty Barnes gets injured that’s bad luck maybe it’s good luck because you know maybe you keep your pick there’s no way in hell you’re keeping that pick if Scotty Barnes doesn’t get injured I’ll tell you that right now like one of these games against Orlando he was going to just

Beat the crap out of the Orlando Magic and win the game for you and definitely like I feel like the Raptors have two to three more wins right now if Scotty’s healthy however because he’s not healthy um you also don’t get to see what could have been you know a metamorphosis or

You know um because emanu quickle is finally going you know we’re seeing that and and we’re seeing positive chemistry between those two could those two have like Twan teamed like a 10 game win streak or something crazy like that who knows we’ll never know but what we do know is

That Scotty is going to come into the you know come into the he’s going to go into the summer rested that he’s working right now on his stuff according to Brian he’s working right now on his stuff and he’s getting better and look man like next year like I put us over

The Hornets even with all their young Talent Brandon Ingram whatever sorry Brandon Ingram Brandon Miller and lamelo ball and Miles Bridges or whoever I put him over that team I put him over the Wizards I put him over the Pistons I put them over like a lot of teams I vastly

Prefer our future to a lot of teams in in the East there might be three teams in the East that I think has have a brighter future right now and again the Raptors are in a position where with assets with draft assets cap flexibility Etc that maybe they can just stack one

Fron Vagner level piece and that’s say asking for a lot because obviously fron is a very very good player but that level of talent however it looks however what position he plays but that level of prospect Talent put that player on this team allow this team to flourish and

Function under dark o and see how how beautiful this thing could be because I think as early as next year it could result in 42 wins I think maybe by by the year after it might result in 55 wins and then who knows now Scotty’s on

A Max contract you know man quickley is is flourishing maybe RJ Barrett’s on this team maybe he’s not maybe Grady dick is on this team maybe he’s like borderline Allstar three years from now you’re going to look back at the season as a very very uncomfortable but

Necessary step to get you where you needed to go peace have a great one appreciate y’all for coming through take care

The Toronto Raptors are tanking ethically. Which means they’re trying really hard, running hard, competing hard, and managing to lose on most nights anyway.

The Raptors get swept in the back-to-back home and home in Orlando, Gary Trent is making layups, IQ got swallowed whole..Gradey is trying stuff, and Bruce Brown continues to make me second-guess my sanity.

Call in link: https://streamyard.com/pi7bs496aq

#Raptors #Magic #nba