2025 NBA Season

[btc_angela]

For the most seasoned NBA fans of this thread, how would the Raptors perform versus Golden State if the Raptors' role players step up to help Kawhi Leonard and consistently do it in every game? Do they have a chance to win the championship in 6 games?

Of course, every team facing GSW will have the chance, but it is slim. We all know that the Warriors is capable of doing, specially that Curry is really hot during the last 6 games and averaging 33 points if I'm not mistaken. And there are bench is already deep and there are a lot of players stepping up at the right moment. While Toronto is Kawhi plus a few players, so it is going to be tough for the Raptors.

It might not be slim. There were some basketball gamblers that I have talked to that predict the Raptors might surprise everyone and win the series in 5 games.

They are gamblers. So they want to bet on the underdogs because of the huge windfall. However, for some basketball 'experts', GSW is favoured to win this series against the Raptors.

[Natalim]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

[rosezionjohn]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

[TravelMug]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

And Steve Kerr also said that he didn't know that someone is taking a picture of them having a dinner.

So there's a lot of speculation, maybe they talk about the Kawhi situation, or they are just simply having a dinner and talk everything under the sun.

[Remainder]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

And Steve Kerr also said that he didn't know that someone is taking a picture of them having a dinner.

So there's a lot of speculation, maybe they talk about the Kawhi situation, or they are just simply having a dinner and talk everything under the sun.

People will think that way as they know the Finals is already on.
Whatever they will be talking about, we don't know but we will most likely see what it is in game 1.

Kawhi was unstoppable in the last 3 rounds, if his scoring will be limited in this series, it's safe to say that the warriors have already found a way to minimize his output, but as a fan, I don't like to see that as Kawhi is the leader of the Raptors and they had a chance to win if he do better.

[Baofeng]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

And Steve Kerr also said that he didn't know that someone is taking a picture of them having a dinner.

So there's a lot of speculation, maybe they talk about the Kawhi situation, or they are just simply having a dinner and talk everything under the sun.

Of course they will discussed anything, but I'm sure majority of their talk will involved basketball. So there could be a possibility that he was asking advises about Leonard's ability and how to at least contain him. Because we all know that Coach Pop really molded Kawhi from the very beginning and without him, Leonard will not be as good as the current version of himself. Or this might be a setup to throw Kawhi, more of a mental or psych war of part of Kerr.

[mich]

GS Warriors have now moved from a pick to +1 point underdogs
The trends point to GS winning this first match of the NBA FINALS but I am not so sure they will win both at TORONTO

[Caladonian]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

And Steve Kerr also said that he didn't know that someone is taking a picture of them having a dinner.

So there's a lot of speculation, maybe they talk about the Kawhi situation, or they are just simply having a dinner and talk everything under the sun.

An ordinary dinner between the player and his old mentor, maybe they are talking about business or something personal, who knows what inside
behind that talk, chances that they've talk about Kawhai thinking of other possible ways to intercept this guy.

Game 1 will be an exciting game to watch, surprises between this two team, both wanted to create history on their own, a 3-Peat for GSW and a first title as overall NBA Champion for the Raptors.

[Natalim]

Check this out.... Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich spotted dining together in San Francisco

Warriors wants to know the secret on how to stop Leonard, coach Pop train Leonard, so I'm expecting Kerr got some tips from coach pop.

Yeah I have seen this 

It could just be just another normal dinner between the two but it is being circulated as if Kerr is aking for tips from Popovich. It could be an effective strategy to disrupt kahwi's mindset.

And Steve Kerr also said that he didn't know that someone is taking a picture of them having a dinner.

So there's a lot of speculation, maybe they talk about the Kawhi situation, or they are just simply having a dinner and talk everything under the sun.

An ordinary dinner between the player and his old mentor, maybe they are talking about business or something personal, who knows what inside
behind that talk, chances that they've talk about Kawhai thinking of other possible ways to intercept this guy.

Game 1 will be an exciting game to watch, surprises between this two team, both wanted to create history on their own, a 3-Peat for GSW and a first title as overall NBA Champion for the Raptors.

1st title would be awesome and that will make Leonard as one of the greatest player in the NBA.
Possibly he will also retire with the Raptors and they will continue their dynasty, however, we have to be more realistic here, if you bet and have to select between the two, I think it's better to choose the favorites, and with that, we should put our money on the Warriors.

[Reid]

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I agree with this tactics which are really well-observed which can really be based or forseen with their past games.Isolating or defending their scorers would be the
wisest move to be done but the question is on how long they would stand and do execute it properly knowing that GSW does adjust in terms of such potential problem been facing.
The thing here is that Warriors is versatile.if you isolate one or two of them, then the other 3 do compensate on whats lacking and thats what i do like with them.

That will be the problem for the next game. Of course they know GSW will adjust if ever they lose Game 1.
As of now, Game 1 will be really important. They need to at least steal one game with a large difference in score.

3. Kill the heart of the team. Steph. Do not let him score anything or maybe behind 20. The team tend to lose their will to win without Curry making some great shots.

Looks like Kevin Durant's absence will somehow solve the Raptors brainstorming about defense.

Surely, Kawhi will try to lock down Kevin Durant but since the latter is out, he may now take Curry. In my point of view, no way they will put Lowry to guard Curry but instead they will put him to Klay Thompson and rotation follows if necessary.

There will be a lot of switches that will happen. If Kerr sees Lowry defending Thompson then it will be a post up game. We know Thompson can score perimeters and can also penetrate the paint. Lowry will be a mismatch to that. All he can do is take offensive fouls. 

Siakam and Leonard as best defenders. But it will wore out Leonard if he keeps on running to defend Steph. As of Siakam he can take Thompson if ever he will post up. That will be a fast switch. It will be difficult to execute it with just milliseconds.

This is going to be fun. I might watch it live and then another at replay to analyze the game.
Buying a lot of popcorn for this great show.

[jademaxsuy]

I do not think that there could be a lot of excitement to happen. I am not a fan of GSW and neither the Toronto Raptors but as you can see GSW has a lot of good players compared to Toronto raptors. If only James Lebron was team up with a good team though with good shooters like the Huoston rockets then there could be a high chance that GSW can have a tough basket in the court with James on a good team.

In the current state only curry, thompson, harden, durant and james having the most offensive shooters in the NBA especially in the 3 pointer area.

[Ranly123]

I do not think that there could be a lot of excitement to happen. I am not a fan of GSW and neither the Toronto Raptors but as you can see GSW has a lot of good players compared to Toronto raptors. If only James Lebron was team up with a good team though with good shooters like the Huoston rockets then there could be a high chance that GSW can have a tough basket in the court with James on a good team.

In the current state only curry, thompson, harden, durant and james having the most offensive shooters in the NBA especially in the 3 pointer area.

You forgot Kawhi as a dominant player in the league. Maybe he's not that explosive in his plays but as you can see he is the best superstar stopper. I think Kawhi will he the dark horse for the GSW and might also be the jinx for the three peat that the warriors want to accomplish.

[justdimin]

Steve Kerr played for Pop before so I doubt they do this rarely. Of course they are coaches with high stress work time to time (even though Pop would disagree with me on this one) they are still old pals and probably meet as frequently as they can manage to. This can't be the first time they met and ate before and it probably won't be the last one. Have they talked about Kawhi at all? Maybe.

But, do you really think Pop knows something about Kawhi that none of the staff in warriors scouting room doesn't know? What is he gonna say "let him use his left hand he is weaker there" and all of a sudden change the series? Not a chance. They probably talked about regular life.

Moreover, Pop is known for his wine knowledge and food and brings in his own personal wines to places that doesn't have good wines and eats only at the best places and what not so Kerr just wanted to talk with his old Pal and eat a good meal with a great wine and go back home and that's it.

[Flagship11]

Tomorrow can not get here soon enough and hope the world is ready for the new Champs!

[spadormie]

Tomorrow can not get here soon enough and hope the world is ready for the new Champs!

That championship will never come true . Why? Because Jonas Valanciunas was out of Raptors lol. And he is still in the picture.

[dunfida]

snipped

I agree with this tactics which are really well-observed which can really be based or forseen with their past games.Isolating or defending their scorers would be the
wisest move to be done but the question is on how long they would stand and do execute it properly knowing that GSW does adjust in terms of such potential problem been facing.
The thing here is that Warriors is versatile.if you isolate one or two of them, then the other 3 do compensate on whats lacking and thats what i do like with them.

That will be the problem for the next game. Of course they know GSW will adjust if ever they lose Game 1.
As of now, Game 1 will be really important. They need to at least steal one game with a large difference in score.

Getting the Game 1 would somehow be a sort of controlling the pace.It do really give out big impact on their next games but i dont really believe if Raptors will able to get this easily.

[rdbase]

snipped

I agree with this tactics which are really well-observed which can really be based or forseen with their past games.Isolating or defending their scorers would be the
wisest move to be done but the question is on how long they would stand and do execute it properly knowing that GSW does adjust in terms of such potential problem been facing.
The thing here is that Warriors is versatile.if you isolate one or two of them, then the other 3 do compensate on whats lacking and thats what i do like with them.

That will be the problem for the next game. Of course they know GSW will adjust if ever they lose Game 1.
As of now, Game 1 will be really important. They need to at least steal one game with a large difference in score.

Getting the Game 1 would somehow be a sort of controlling the phase.It do really give out big impact on their next games but i dont really believe if Raptors will able to get this easily.

I agree with you on this point. Whoever controls game one will dictate how the series goes and since it is in toronto it will be hard for the warriors to just walk in a steal one infront of the raptor fans.
I doubt it will be blow out for either team because they are quite easily matched with durant out for this one game at the very least.

[morvillz7z]

This is a bit off-topic given everyone's main focus right now...NBA finals which start tomorrow.

But what do you guys think of Daryl Morey's intention to break Houston Rocket's team? According to multiple reports, he is ready to part ways/trade everyone on their roster except for James Harden this off-season. Do you think that's a good move for Houston - trading CP3, Capela and others?

[harizen]

I heard on a radio show this morning that using Martingale strategy for the NBA FINALS will not be a bad idea
They did the math and it makes sense to bet on the money line for GSW for each game if you think they will raise the trophy.
There are low odds for this team to repeat and good opportunity to earn some BTC.

@1.2 @1.3 @1.4 with a martingale? Goodluck.

Hope Raptors will take Game 1 so you can speculate an increase of odds the next game.

For me, not worth the risks.

I agree with you on this point. Whoever controls game one will dictate how the series goes and since it is in toronto it will be hard for the warriors to just walk in a steal one infront of the raptor fans.

Magic take Game 1 against Raptors = fail
Bucks take Game 1 and 2 against Raptors = fail
Celtics take Game 1 against Bucks = fail
Nets take Game 1 against Sixers = fail
Spurs take Game 1 against Nuggets = fail
Nuggets take Game 1 against Blazers = fail

Between Raptors and Warriors in the upcoming finals, I don't see any reason why Game 1 winner here should dictate the series. We can expect a changed of game style the next game after testing strategies in Game 1.

[dunfida]

snipped

I agree with this tactics which are really well-observed which can really be based or forseen with their past games.Isolating or defending their scorers would be the
wisest move to be done but the question is on how long they would stand and do execute it properly knowing that GSW does adjust in terms of such potential problem been facing.
The thing here is that Warriors is versatile.if you isolate one or two of them, then the other 3 do compensate on whats lacking and thats what i do like with them.

That will be the problem for the next game. Of course they know GSW will adjust if ever they lose Game 1.
As of now, Game 1 will be really important. They need to at least steal one game with a large difference in score.

Getting the Game 1 would somehow be a sort of controlling the phase.It do really give out big impact on their next games but i dont really believe if Raptors will able to get this easily.

I agree with you on this point. Whoever controls game one will dictate how the series goes and since it is in toronto it will be hard for the warriors to just walk in a steal one infront of the raptor fans.
I doubt it will be blow out for either team because they are quite easily matched with durant out for this one game at the very least.

Just take a look on the sample of the poster above regarding Game 1's outcomes which is really a true story but on the other games which game 1 winning is really important.

It maybe just testing out the waters but generally i do see game 1 as an observation time against opponent team and recreating strategies later on basing on what they recently experienced.