2024 NBA Season

[btc_angela]

I think this just goes to show you that one big star can make so much differences. Demar derozan is a great player, he is an all-star and he is seen as one of the best players in our league. However kawhi is literally top 3 in the league right now, he is the best player with great offense and defense at the same time, nobody has better offense AND defense than him, just one of them could be better on other players. He is THAT good. So what happened? When spurs got demar they got eliminated by nuggets in first round with him and said bye bye to the playoffs. Look at Kawhi, dude managed to bring Raptors to finals in his first ever season after demar failed to do so in the past 4-5 years. Difference between "great player" and "top 3 player" is literally worlds apart.

I agree, Leonard and DeRozan is not comparable, specially on the mental factor. I mean he literally carry the team down 0-2 against the most hype player in the NBA right now and upset them, winning 4 straight games. Damn, I wish I was still in Toronto this days, because I'm sure all my NBA friends and families are very happy to see the Raptors finally made it to the finals with Leonard at the helm.

[1715454081]

1715454081

[rosezionjohn]

This is gonna be an easy win for GSW. Green will be on Kawhi's face all over the game. Bring on the mental and mind games on Green and there will be possible technicals on Kawhi.

With a face that does not show much emotion, don't even think that he does not have that mental toughness and maturity to be bothered by someone like Green. KL has led the team in three finals and already won one.

[vennali]

I think this just goes to show you that one big star can make so much differences. Demar derozan is a great player, he is an all-star and he is seen as one of the best players in our league. However kawhi is literally top 3 in the league right now, he is the best player with great offense and defense at the same time, nobody has better offense AND defense than him, just one of them could be better on other players. He is THAT good. So what happened? When spurs got demar they got eliminated by nuggets in first round with him and said bye bye to the playoffs. Look at Kawhi, dude managed to bring Raptors to finals in his first ever season after demar failed to do so in the past 4-5 years. Difference between "great player" and "top 3 player" is literally worlds apart.

Maybe spurs knocking off their head why they do let Kawhi left the team and said to themselves that if they weren't able to make such changes
then they might be the one on the playoffs or even on the finals but yet it isn't guaranteed though but I agree on your point that
there's really a different between top player and a great player and Kawhi do proves it.

Kawahi clearly didnt want to play with Spurs anymore. The doctors had deemed him to be fit to play but he opted out of games claiming he was still "injured". Surely he had created a rift with the management was wanted to be traded. He is a great player and helped Spurs in their playoff run the previous years but Kawahi didnt want to play for them anymore and what can a franchise do when a star player clearly does not intend to play for them. So, they did what anyone else would have done and traded him. They got DeRozen and Jakob Poeltl in exchange, which isnt a bad deal to be honest but clearly not a game changer that Kawai is.

[Questat]

I think this just goes to show you that one big star can make so much differences. Demar derozan is a great player, he is an all-star and he is seen as one of the best players in our league. However kawhi is literally top 3 in the league right now, he is the best player with great offense and defense at the same time, nobody has better offense AND defense than him, just one of them could be better on other players. He is THAT good. So what happened? When spurs got demar they got eliminated by nuggets in first round with him and said bye bye to the playoffs. Look at Kawhi, dude managed to bring Raptors to finals in his first ever season after demar failed to do so in the past 4-5 years. Difference between "great player" and "top 3 player" is literally worlds apart.

I agree, Leonard and DeRozan is not comparable, specially on the mental factor. I mean he literally carry the team down 0-2 against the most hype player in the NBA right now and upset them, winning 4 straight games. Damn, I wish I was still in Toronto this days, because I'm sure all my NBA friends and families are very happy to see the Raptors finally made it to the finals with Leonard at the helm.

Forget about DeRozan , he cannot shoot 3s, and I don't see a champion who can't shoot 3s. LOL.
Anyway, he is happy with the Spurs but comparing to Leonard, his guy is nothing, Leonard is in the Level of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James now.

Remember, Leonard guarded Lebron in the NBA finals where he earned his first Finals MVP award.

[Distinctin]

This is gonna be an easy win for GSW. Green will be on Kawhi's face all over the game. Bring on the mental and mind games on Green and there will be possible technicals on Kawhi.

With a face that does not show much emotion, don't even think that he does not have that mental toughness and maturity to be bothered by someone like Green. KL has led the team in three finals and already won one.

Great response, that's true, KL is underrated that's why some people failed to see that.
Green needs to be in the paint, otherwise Gasol will just dominate them, Kawhi will be free and no double on him as the Warriors believe they can still win without doing it, Iggy is enough for him, they cannot stop Kawhi from scoring but to win against the Warriors, his teammates has to play well also.

[Reid]

I think this just goes to show you that one big star can make so much differences. Demar derozan is a great player, he is an all-star and he is seen as one of the best players in our league. However kawhi is literally top 3 in the league right now, he is the best player with great offense and defense at the same time, nobody has better offense AND defense than him, just one of them could be better on other players. He is THAT good. So what happened? When spurs got demar they got eliminated by nuggets in first round with him and said bye bye to the playoffs. Look at Kawhi, dude managed to bring Raptors to finals in his first ever season after demar failed to do so in the past 4-5 years. Difference between "great player" and "top 3 player" is literally worlds apart.

I agree, Leonard and DeRozan is not comparable, specially on the mental factor. I mean he literally carry the team down 0-2 against the most hype player in the NBA right now and upset them, winning 4 straight games. Damn, I wish I was still in Toronto this days, because I'm sure all my NBA friends and families are very happy to see the Raptors finally made it to the finals with Leonard at the helm.

Forget about DeRozan , he cannot shoot 3s, and I don't see a champion who can't shoot 3s. LOL.
Anyway, he is happy with the Spurs but comparing to Leonard, his guy is nothing, Leonard is in the Level of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James now.

Remember, Leonard guarded Lebron in the NBA finals where he earned his first Finals MVP award.

Yes.
Games now are way different than it was before.
It was like Miller time always at GSW where players keeps on running to be freed at 3's. But it has a toll to pay. They will get exhausted easily.

DeRozan. Yeah forget about him. He cannot even shoot a damn 2 at perimeter or let hs say 30 percent.

Kawhi is at another level. An MVP and MDP. Who else did that? Yeah, Jordan.
He does perimeter shots, 3's and dunks the ball whenever he can get that little space.
He is the damn perfect player who can be at any position. His defensive awareness is so damn high that I almost thought he had an eye at his back. Steals, blocks, you name it. He is everywhere.

But still he needs the role players to move too for that ring to be achieved.

[Caladonian]

This is gonna be an easy win for GSW. Green will be on Kawhi's face all over the game. Bring on the mental and mind games on Green and there will be possible technicals on Kawhi.

With a face that does not show much emotion, don't even think that he does not have that mental toughness and maturity to be bothered by someone like Green. KL has led the team in three finals and already won one.

Great response, that's true, KL is underrated that's why some people failed to see that.
Green needs to be in the paint, otherwise Gasol will just dominate them, Kawhi will be free and no double on him as the Warriors believe they can still win without doing it, Iggy is enough for him, they cannot stop Kawhi from scoring but to win against the Warriors, his teammates has to play well also.

The big impact here is how the players of Raptors helps Kawhai, if they will play the same type of momentum and have same  mental teamworks,
this team might have a good competitions to provide for GSW, we all knew how Warriors play as a team, rotations and backing each other's back
is the main spice of the team.

It's the outcome will tell us who's going to play hard and give everything.

[Harkorede]

^

I won't be so sure if the Raptors can be of much threat to Golden State Warriors, I've seen bigger teams or teams playing relatively well then succumb to GSW masterpiece, I saw Raptors allow and forcing Buck to shoot for 3s knowing that was going to be a big issue for them, they can't afford such luxury against Warriors. I guess we'll figure out what to expect from the series in game 1, Raptors will have a lot of problem handling GSW unlike the Bucks. They only strength the Raptors can posses is if they try to stay in the game all through and not rely solely on the "Kawhi 4th quarter show.

[justdimin]

Green is no longer that good neither, people are forgetting that. Yeah he had a decent series last time around when Kevin Durant was out but now that he is going to face with someone that needs to guard as well its going to be a challenge, blazers had only 2 real scoring players with dame and cj and they were insanely outmatched against warriors so Draymond was let loose and played his best  game.

Now, if he plays against Kawhi all game not only will he be able to stop Kawhi (maybe slow down) but there is also Dany green with his great shooting and defense, Kyle Lowry with his better than expected conference finals and Siakam with not expected performances on all of playoffs and definitely a much better center with Gasol (unless cousins returns), which means there is not only one player to guard this time and whoever green defends will be a slow down more than stop and there are still 4 other players. I believe this will be harder for warriors then everyone thinks, I still think it will end in 6 games but it won't be a sweep like everyone thinks it will be.

[dunfida]

^

I won't be so sure if the Raptors can be of much threat to Golden State Warriors, I've seen bigger teams or teams playing relatively well then succumb to GSW masterpiece, I saw Raptors allow and forcing Buck to shoot for 3s knowing that was going to be a big issue for them, they can't afford such luxury against Warriors. I guess we'll figure out what to expect from the series in game 1, Raptors will have a lot of problem handling GSW unlike the Bucks. They only strength the Raptors can posses is if they try to stay in the game all through and not rely solely on the "Kawhi 4th quarter show.

I have the same observations too where Raptors tend out to have that defense just to force the bucks to make 3's.When it comes to success percentage they would really have that problem.

Forced shots and driving into the paint is really a big problem when opponent teams defense is strong.This is what i saw on raptors but this thing can be handled out with Warriors easily.

[harizen]

Kawhi Leonard already does have a decent experience playing in the finals plus the fact that he is the finals MVP back in 2014 NBA finals. I'm expecting no pressure at him playing with the Warriors. Other Raptors players should try to do the same although the environment is really different when playing at the finals (I remembered OKC against HEAT in 2012 NBA finals).

The majority of Raptors playing in the upcoming finals are the same Raptors known for choking in the playoffs. Kawhi literally erased that and we witnessed how he able to make his teammates step up. Lowry the choker now became a good asset. VanFleet is known for poor playoffs performance but also stepped up. Siakam, also part of the choking team surprised us with his change.

Defeating Milwaukee Bucks 4 TIMES IN A ROW is not a joke. It's not won after loss and etc., it's straight! Really hard to imagine. Bucks improvement this season is unbelievable and honestly more improved role players compare to Raptors but why they lose?

Kawhi really extracts what's more to his teammates. I'm really expecting they will give Golden State Warriors a close series match so that we can witness again an intense action in NBA finals. Last time I saw that action was 2016 Finals.

[Jating]

Green is no longer that good neither, people are forgetting that. Yeah he had a decent series last time around when Kevin Durant was out but now that he is going to face with someone that needs to guard as well its going to be a challenge, blazers had only 2 real scoring players with dame and cj and they were insanely outmatched against warriors so Draymond was let loose and played his best  game.

Yeah, Green was running all over with that Portland series, like a point guard has passing the ball around.

Now, if he plays against Kawhi all game not only will he be able to stop Kawhi (maybe slow down) but there is also Dany green with his great shooting and defense, Kyle Lowry with his better than expected conference finals and Siakam with not expected performances on all of playoffs and definitely a much better center with Gasol (unless cousins returns), which means there is not only one player to guard this time and whoever green defends will be a slow down more than stop and there are still 4 other players. I believe this will be harder for warriors then everyone thinks, I still think it will end in 6 games but it won't be a sweep like everyone thinks it will be.

So this will be a intriguing matchup, I wanted to see how good Green defense is against Kawhi. But we all know that scorers can't be stop but at least minimize the impact. As we have seen in the Bucks series, Kawhi will just take over the fourth quarter, and Green knows that so that's going to be interesting if he can score and then guard Kawhi specially in the crucial minutes.

[Reid]

Defeating Milwaukee Bucks 4 TIMES IN A ROW is not a joke. It's not won after loss and etc., it's straight! Really hard to imagine. Bucks improvement this season is unbelievable and honestly more improved role players compare to Raptors but why they lose?

Kawhi really extracts what's more to his teammates. I'm really expecting they will give Golden State Warriors a close series match so that we can witness again an intense action in NBA finals. Last time I saw that action was 2016 Finals.

It is a bad joke actually.
It is almost like a sweep but just done on the 3rd game when they got their homecourt back. I dont know what the Bucks management will do but there is really something wrong with what happened.

It aint Gianis of course because he too needs some help. Kawhi didnt win by himself.
What could be Middleton's problem?
How about Bledsoe?
Where is that fire from Lopez from the 2nd game?
Is it their coach who cannot make some good plays for them?

These questions will pop out in their management. They will really need to look deeper or maybe add some new spice to their roster.

[ivan376]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

[rdbase]

For some reason they are televising the game both these teams had back in november and the raptors were outscoring them in the 4th quarter and this was when steph curry was injured and sitting on the bench in his street clothes. It was in toronto and ended up in OT.
They still had jonas valanciunas in this game and I think this is where they were weak down the middle.
https://youtu.be/290z2FhsC2o
This time around they are much stronger team and could take on the warriors in the scoring department.
It will be a tough series and deciding who will win it could depend on who gets off with a good start to game one thursday night.

[Natalim]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

It's only game 1 that is confirmed he will not play, so possibly we can see him in the series.
However, if the Warriors will win in game 1, probably he will be given more time to rest, Warriors are 5-0 without him, that stats is very scary.

[Caladonian]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

It's only game 1 that is confirmed he will not play, so possibly we can see him in the series.
However, if the Warriors will win in game 1, probably he will be given more time to rest, Warriors are 5-0 without him, that stats is very scary.

The Splash Brothers remembered the old days with the pals that they've got in their back, Green, Iggy , livingston and Bogut, while the young generations are also contributing, the plays are so lovely to watch, balls rotate so well without KD, they are playing as a team and not just relying with Him to score, the entire squad is playing great.

If both teams that will compete this finals will showed the same level of games that they've got back in semis and quarter finals, we will surely enjoyed how mental toughness of each team plays will be executed, Not just Splash bro's and Kawhai and Lowry, but the competitions between the whole squads.

[Viscore]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

It's only game 1 that is confirmed he will not play, so possibly we can see him in the series.
However, if the Warriors will win in game 1, probably he will be given more time to rest, Warriors are 5-0 without him, that stats is very scary.

The Splash Brothers remembered the old days with the pals that they've got in their back, Green, Iggy , livingston and Bogut, while the young generations are also contributing, the plays are so lovely to watch, balls rotate so well without KD, they are playing as a team and not just relying with Him to score, the entire squad is playing great.

If both teams that will compete this finals will showed the same level of games that they've got back in semis and quarter finals, we will surely enjoyed how mental toughness of each team plays will be executed, Not just Splash bro's and Kawhai and Lowry, but the competitions between the whole squads.

We will certainly see a team's competition here, the Raptors also played well as a team, they trust their bench and their bench contributed.
Same scenario with the Warriors, they are also trusting their bench but Warriors just have a deep rotation so even if one player is down, they are still a dangerous team. People are speculating now, and I have friends who wants to bet with me but we all like the Warriors, so not bet has happened.

[Harkorede]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

It's only game 1 that is confirmed he will not play, so possibly we can see him in the series.
However, if the Warriors will win in game 1, probably he will be given more time to rest, Warriors are 5-0 without him, that stats is very scary.

Even if he's available for Game 2 and 3, he's performance might not be top notch as it used to be, I guess we just have to be a little bit less expectant.

[rosezionjohn]

I still believe GS will win with or without KD!

Let us see. While Steph has been playing exceptionally well while KD was out, he's been disappearing in the finals. If he does not show up again on the biggest stage and assuming KD will be out for the entire series, Raptors will take this.