NBA Game Action: 2/12/2017

Raptors are in disarray

 

Via

Tom Sterner: "Kyle's a very calculated person. So he has an agenda on his mind in terms of who he thinks is at fault"

"[After] losing 10 of 14 obviously, I think he's pointing at Case. I think that's unfounded a little bit"

Former Raps asst Tom Sterner: "I think he's pointing the comments at Casey because that's Kyle's MO, he wants to blame Casey for everything"

Former asst Tom Sterner on Masai: "I think he's got a plan... I believe at the end of day he will not allow a player to rule the franchise"

"Difference for this team is last year they were winning all the close games, this year they're losing all the close ones. That builds frustration."

"The Raptors haven't made a trade in 20 months. There has to be a trade if they're gonna survive. They need an injection of new blood into that room. Rookies & young guys aren't doing it. Thought Sullinger would do it, he's not even playing. No Pat Patterson hurts last night. Carroll is still a big disappointment."

"Kyle is one of the guys in the league who is very volatile. He gets frustrated with himself sometimes, with his teammates sometimes. He doesn't handle it well. He doesn't want to be labeled a coach killer or killer of his teammates. He's just throwing it out there. I want someone to notice this, I want everyone on notice - that things aren't going well & I want change. It's not always the coach's fault. That's the easy answer in the NBA. In reality, there has to be a collective team focus to fix the situation, evaluate it & move on."

(Lowry have leverage as a potential FA?) "Masai has to find out how much does he believe in Lowry? Are you gonna be held hostage by a player? Kyle has performed & played hard & deserves a new contract. Who's in control? Is a player in control of your franchise or is it a collective group? That's the decision you have to come down to. You allow a player - there's 1 or 2 in the league, LeBron certainly - is Kyle Lowry LeBron James? Maybe to this franchise he is but in reality, is that gonna make you a better team, better organization & do what's right for the city of Toronto?

(How does the fact he could opt out affect the way he's playing his hand here?) No question it's an issue. He's playing for a contract. Teams will have interest. He's in his prime age. Still can get things done. Because of his play, he'll be of interest to teams. He has leverage. Do you want a player to leverage your franchise? Does he pick the coach if he doesn't want Case? Does he go out & say I want this contract & coach X? Really, you have a player controlling a franchise instead of a front office.

(Would Masai be open to letting the opinions of a star player direct or affect what he does?) Masai is a man of himself. He makes his own decisions. He's influenced by everything but in the end, makes his own mind up. Two years I was around him, he lays in the weeds, observes things, doesn't get too high or too low, he can be volatile but picks his moments. He has a plan. That's happened well before this slide. He's a calculated man. In the end, he will not allow a player to rule the franchise. The Raptors have turned around under his regime. End of the day, the thing that will turn this around is a trade.

 

They're worse defensively because no Biyombo, JV is just nowhere near in that regard, they should have traded/trade him, he has good value, since Raptors don't have much use of him, because he gets disinterested if he dosen't get involved offensively and that happens a lot (wink wink DeRozan). They need a glass cleaner and shot blocker, and while JV can rebound his still pretty bad defensively one on one and lets not even go about pick and roll and help D.

 

The Raptors won't get to the next level until they finally understand that they need to make JV a priority in the offense.

 

They won, but cool post. Looked good tonight for a while.

The Spurs have been a regular season nightmare for 30+ years.

They seem to win every game.