Why does American media dislike these Raptors?
An excerpt from Samson & Louis’ upcoming podcast.
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32 Comments
Louis's point that a 30-win team turning into a 40-win team is worse in the national media's eyes is unbelievably astute.
two goats
On paper the raps looks great. But the elephant in the room is the injury history. A month into the season Ingram , IQ and Scottie will likely be sitting out most the season. Then what are we left with ? Can Shead take over as the staring PG ? When Jakob needs games off who is Starting C ? If they can beat the odds and stay healthy this team should make deep playoff run.
its not dislike… Its more like alienation. Zero or maybe one raptors game played on national u.s.a. T.V. Per year. I cant remember any raptor games on Christmas? I watch espn on YouTube, the raptors dont exists on espn.
The US media is so focused on how basketball is played at this very moment, that they can't envision a futuristic style of play.
There's only a few of us that see what this roster can really do. Once they see it, they'll pretend they saw this coming.
1:07 – if Scottie only played, say 40 games, then in future they'll use that against him, while at the same time they were ones saying he should sit out those game.
3:42 – you can give Scottie the call at the freethrow line, send BI and IQ to set picks, drawing their defenders in, Scottie picks a side, then have BI and IQ back out. Either Scottie's "draws" a double/triple team, or he's got a "weaker" defender on him.
5:07 – to acknowledge that there's something interesting here, but they can't explain it. Whether ilthe players works or not. The archetypes grouping is very intriguing, but futuristic.
I don't channel any negativity towards US NBA fans and pundits for not knowing or watching Raptors basketball. With that said, my frustrations stem from these same folks continuously reiterating the "I don't know what they're trying to do with this expensive roster; they're confusing. Are they trying to win or not?" talking points, without any following effort to learn contextual circumstance or make any attempt to share their rationale for an unfounded confidence in an overly pessimistic outlook on next season. It's just "I don't know what they're doing, and they're gonna suck, and they appear to have no future." over and over again; almost as they're afraid to go against the grain and make a nuanced argument for optimism out of fear that they'll be put on blast for their hot take aging like milk. Appreciate you Samson, these so-called pundits could learn a thing or two from your insights.
This was really good analysis. Well done.
let the Americans dislike the raptor so that there will be a good surprise element
American media watched BI flame out playing egalitarian ball for Team USA at the World Cup.
they dont watch the games and who is considered āgoodā or ābadā every year is just media narratives and hype for the most part (the atlanta hawks this season)
My hooper cousins in the states already said itās BIās team šš
Americans aināt really checking for anyone else on this team, no cap.
I mean any media should be sceptical about a near Tax team that isnt a playoff lock.
Also, Brandon Ingram hasnt shown he can be effective offball at all. So theyll need to prove themselves first to get folks onside.
LOUIS!!!!!!! <3 always love these! battle of the nice guys!
One way to exceed expectations is by having none
National media is unintentionally footgunning themselves every time they split the teams into lottery and contenders. You need to have a mid-range full of surprises, Pacer-style cohesion, Jailblazers, rivalry, and full court 'get the ball to trae and pray'. I find the tank or bust mentality specifically espoused by people that talk down like landed gentry and rhyme with the word song – disingenuous, boring, and milking the teat of US status quo consensus, while simultaneously calling themselves 'realists'. Fantasy sports is also a major culprit in the downward trajectory of major sports storytelling.
@Raptors Republic – The US Media dislike the Raptors because they are actually under a seperate television contract. You see Rogers (Canada) owns all the rights to Raptors games so it's in the US Media's best interest to downplay the Raptors players as they dont profit from them so any promotions or hype for a Raptors player will ultimately line Rogers pocket, not ESPN, Fox Sports, etc. Case in point, remember the narrative of the Raptors in 2019, the same players that the US Media talked down on during their entire tenures with the Raptors were instantly praised the minute they joined the Pacers and New York and so on..
I'm a Raptors fan living in the US. The Raptors are never on US TV and most people here have no idea about them and no interest in them. The US media therefore don't find it worthwhile to spend the time researching what is happening with the Raptors. It's easy to tell this because most US analysts don't know how to pronounce 'Mogbo' and 'Shead'. It's been 3 years since the Raptors were a good team (48-34 in 2021/22) and almost all the players from that season are gone so knowing nothing about the Raptors hasn't mattered. When the team starts winning, this will change, but until then the easy (and lazy) thing to do is just write them off.
Thereās been way way way too much talk about what this team is and what it will do before the starters have even played together. āFitā is going to be largely impacted by couching and motivation. Silver lining is this team has a decent shot at proving all these haters wrong.
According to StatMuse, the Toronto Raptors won 60 first halves during the 2024-2025 NBA season. Raptors fans watch many games last year when we threw in G league plays in the 2nd half.
Look how you guys hate African Canadians like RJ, from the time he steps foot in Toronto the hate and the rumors started.
Lite athletes don't go through this at all.
Lebron James alone gets more hate and rumors than the entire NHL alone so we know what the problem is
I think we all know the real answer is that The Raptors play in Canada. Question answered. During the 2018-2019 Season all they could talk about was where Kawhi was going after the season. They hate Canada. They always "little brother" us.
The only thing certain about the NBA season is that the media consensus, especially in the pre-season is always WRONG! Last years game changing draft pick is this years bust. Two years after a draft you can find a lottery picks a dime a dozen.
In America, they like Trump and ICE. They're not quite as smart as other people
You are missing the fact that team play and wins are always trumped in mass media coverage by big stars. I canāt stand American TV always talking about LeBron. Maybe we can now hear about SGA. But great players tuned into winning? Itās easier getting a media coverage with generic potential for cross-network airplay, with funny on camera quotes from Davion Mitchell than Scottie, Brandon Ingram or IQ.
But maybe this is the Raptors year given the NBAās mass treatment of these guys during COVID. All players are going to have get into better health (without injecting who-knows what) and stay well on the floor to appear as media-worthy stars. Because LeBron has not won a championship with LA and big stars on last yearās winning teams are out with broken ligaments and tendons (we wonāt blame their new shoe designs). Letās hope Scottieās hand fully heals and Brandon just keeps getting fit to play. US media wonāt have big winning stars to talk aboutā¦ other than the Raptors if the team stays well and plays to win, together. Then again – do we care what US media hype – other than TV analysts, sports writers and podcasters needing something to chat about?
Isnāt it possible? They missed so many games not so much to injury but because they were tanking
Nice hat Louis
Not to be jealous… I know Louis is busy off feedin his other family, but thanks for poppin buy to feed this one too! Missed ya
cause rogers refuses to revenue share with espn…. the end.
This goes back before internet when the ppl from the south thought we lived in igloos ā¦. Force their attention is how we do this in the North.