Hold The Phone!

image via hoops habit

This season so far for the Raptors has been a roller coaster of cold and hot play. The season started terribly, then the entire team went on a major hot streak and now the team is back in the crapper.

I was at the game last Friday against the Hornets and it was embarrassing to stay for the entire game. For the first time that I have been present at a game, fans were leaving the premises. Raptors fans are always passionate, but that is how bad the team was playing.

The game started out good enough and Scottie got off to a good start in the first quarter. After that however it was a complete disaster. The team was down 11 at the half and lost the game 111-86 to a Hornets team that did not even have their star player play the majority of the second half due to injury. It was painful to watch. Non stop crazy drives to the basket, poor rotations on defense and the Hornets hitting open 3 after open 3. Apparently, the Raptors are one of the top teams at guarding the three at with teams hit 33.3% of their looks, but Friday night was bad. Very bad. Everyone on the Hornets was hitting their open looks and the game could not have ended soon enough.

The Raptors played better against the Celtics last night, but the game started in the same inconsistent manner as the game on Friday. Jalen Brown took over and only a good performances from the bench and Brandon Ingram made the game respectable at the end. The game against the Lakers was a good game and it took a last minute shot to lose, but the other loss against the Knicks during this downslide was another blow out. Their only win during this 1-4 slide was a squeaker against the Trailblazers.

So, how good or bad is this team? I have been saying since day one that a playoff spot is what I expect from this team this year and that would be a win. I do not think this team is bad as it has shown this season and clearly it is not as good as the top dogs in the East. But it is somewhere in the middle of the pack and home court in the playoffs should be the goal. Nothing more, nothing less and then whatever happens happens in the post season.

Plusses for me this season so far is how Scottie has become a terror on the defensive end and how B.I has stayed healthy. It is crazy how he leads the team in minutes and is top 5 in the entire league, so let us hope he can keep up his durability. He has shown that he is a bucket maker which the team has been lacking since Kawhi bolted for the Clippers. Other positives for me include the play of Shead and more consistent play of Quickley who has limited his bone head plays and been a regular contributor on both ends of the court.