Boucher is almost getting 14 points a game averaging 23 minutes. Pretty impressive. Lowry, Siakam and VanVleet play much more.
Hollis-Jefferson is doing okay with Minnesota but it looks like Toronto picked the right horse. If Baynes and Davis get going than the team could be a contender… the team is highly dependent on Siakam, who seems fairly focused. This was a worry of mine - that frustration would outweigh that - but the team still has some tenacity. Might they make the second round?
(heh - in case there isn’t enough Raptor coverage here 
)
I like how a rising Boucher has at least somewhat filled the void of Gasol and Ibaka. Their absences obviously will never be fully filled, of course, and Bainsy sure hasn’t met that challenge convincingly (although defensively he’s still a contributor).
The fact alone the Raptors have had the second-best win/loss record in the east since game 10 reassures me enough that they’ll finish, I predict, fourth in the east this season.
Still blown away by the east’s mediocrity - last week only three out of fifteen teams were above .500, while this week that’s only slightly improved.
Not sure if this is going to be the tale of the tape for the rest of the season (yes I realise that was a jumbled metaphor), but in the last four defeats (in a row) Antetokounmpo has gone 33.5 ppg, 60% shooting, 13 rebounds and seven assists, and not even that can carry the team. I’ll bet he won’t play out his entire contract in Milwaukee.
According to this, Boucher is in the top sixty - better than Zion…
The 76ers are a good team (leading the East) but the Raps have been playing great ball against them. It looks like they will win this one and bring their record to 16-15. Not the best start, but they lost six of their first seven. And they won without Lowry. Boucher, Anunoby and Freddy looked good.
Baynes has been SO bad offensively that he has been the worst player on the team, and by a wide margin. A center shooting 41% would be much better off never shooting at all, which means never playing at all.
(heh, not quite sure if you were disputing or augmenting, there)
Indeed, if his offense had been at least as good as his defense - being very vocal and protecting the rim - then he’d be a much more worthwhile contributor.
Looking forward to Boucher becoming an absolute block-monster. Heh - he has the funniest-looking throwing mechanics - the way he pulls way back before releasing the ball. (also kinda funny - Lebron, last year, doing a double-take at Boucher, and going “who is this kid”?)
Baynes has not been great, but two years ago you might have said the same about Anunoby. It might surprise you to learn Nick Nurse is a better NBA coach than I am. Maybe he’ll find a way to make him work. If not, at least there’s Boucher.
Aron Baynes is 34. Two years ago, OG Anunoby was 21.
Fair point. Still, if anyone can bolster Baynes…
Whooshed me - no idea what this means.
As with many pro athletes that get to “that stage”, Marc Gasol, 40, is returning to his roots to play for Barcelona. Six-time allstar, three-time Olympic medalist for Spain, two-time champion with the Lakers, a career average of 17 points and 9.2 rebounds, and awesome drunk during the parade.
To think - 20 years ago* he was Rookie of the Year.
*huh - just found out that the average length of an NBA career is 4.8 years - don’t know why I though it would’ve been longer.
That’s impressive. I didn’t know that was the average NBA career length either.
It’s fair to say Gasol improved considerably at 3 pointers his last couple years in Toronto.
It’s also fair to say that both of Nurse’s assistant coaches were poached to become head coaches of other teams - namely the Pacers and Timberwolves. I’m not saying Nurse can get Baynes to improve. But he has a better shot at it than I do. 