This was supposed to be the year. The one where everything changed for the Raptors.
After a few seasons of flaming out in the playoffs they finally got it together. Dwane Casey and his staff revamped their system. Masai Ujiri and the front office drafted talented rookies and signed some underrated players to the roster.
For the longest time, it looked like it was all paying off. A 59-win season. The first seed in the Eastern Conference. They had one of the best bench units in recent memory, led by the surprising play of the likes of Fred VanVleet, Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl.
And all season their fans cried out for respect. They screamed bloody murder when DeMar DeRozan was placed low on an ESPN list of the league’s best players. They were enraged when no-one gave them a chance to make it to the finals.
This year is different, they said. We’re a real contender now. Why won’t you take this team seriously?
And yet on Sunday we tuned in to see LeBron James standing on top of the scorer’s table in Cleveland, arms raised in triumph after crushing Toronto’s hopes and dreams yet again.
The series so far has reminded us why we can’t respect the Raptors.
(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
In Game 1 at home they built a big league before giving it all away amidst a flurry of missed shots and poor decisions to fall in overtime. Game 2 saw James silence the crowd with a masterful display of fadeaways, toying with the defence as the Cavaliers won in a blowout.
And in Game 3 the Raptors found themselves down big at halftime. But they battled back, refusing to quit before ultimately tying the game with only a few seconds left to go.
It didn’t matter. James took the ball, ran the full length of the court and hit a floater off the glass as time expired to take a 3-0 series lead.
The camera panned over to Kyle Lowry, looking off into the distance with a thousand-yard stare. Next, we saw DeRozan, the franchise’s leading scorer who found himself benched for the entire fourth quarter, looking completely detached from reality. Then there was Jonas Valanciunas, head in his hands in disbelief.
This team just doesn’t have it. Every season there seems to be a new reason to believe. And every time the playoffs roll around, they wilt.
Their offence bogs down, resulting in brick after brick in clutch moments. When they need a stop, they blow an assignment and give up an open three. We can count on DeMar DeRozan to put up horrid shooting percentages every May.
And above all, we know they cannot stop LeBron James. This man is in their heads, and you can see it on the court.
Last year, they signed PJ Tucker to guard James. This year they have OG Anunoby, a physical specimen who is built to match up with him. But it doesn’t matter.
Just keep an eye on their bench. Every time James hits a tough shot, players throw up their arms in disbelief. When the camera zooms in, they look shell-shocked. I’m not getting the impression that they believe in themselves.
(Augustas Didžgalvis CC BY-SA 3.0)
Cleveland was as vulnerable as they have ever been this season. Nearly every player not named LeBron has struggled. They limped out of a seven-game series against the Pacers that they probably deserved to lose.
The Raptors simply had to come out strong and show us that they were a true number one seed and a threat to be taken seriously. With home court on their side, they held all the cards. Taking one of the first two games would have been enough to show they meant business.
But here we are again, facing the possibility of another sweep. The Cavaliers have now won nine straight playoff games against Toronto going back to the 2016 season. If the Raptors go down in four or five games, they need to stop acting surprised when no-one gives them a second thought next year.
They have demonstrated time and time again that they are not worthy of our time once the playoffs come around. This team just isn’t good enough.
Some of it is just bad timing. This is undoubtedly the best run that this franchise has ever had, with likeable stars in Lowry and DeRozan, a good front office and a dedicated fan-base. Unfortunately it had to come at a time where James is at the peak of his powers.
And once the King inevitably slows down in a few years, teams like the Celtics and the 76ers will be ready to take the mantle with their superior young talent hitting their primes.
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This iteration of the Raptors seems doomed to be a footnote in the history books, remembered as just one of the Eastern Conference teams that James dominated every season as he stomped his way to finals appearance after finals appearance.
This current match-up just about encapsulates the past three years. As many people have noted, the Raptors worked so hard all season long for one of the best records in the league and the one seed in the East.
But LeBron James took home court advantage back with just one game.
As the Raptors prepare to spend the rest of the season watching the playoffs from their couches, they have some more soul searching to do. Come back next year ready to work, but be quiet about it.
This is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. You don’t get to demand respect. Do something and earn it. Until then, we should be done giving this team chances.
express34texas
Guest
Obviously you need to perform in the playoffs, but the regular season still means a lot. While James has stepped up lots in the playoffs, there's been a lot of times he hasn't. When you only coast through the regular season, which he's admitted to, it's hard to flip the switch often, which we've seen before. And having a worse seed than you should certainly doesn't help either. He's just been fortunate to play in the weaker East. He wouldn't have gotten away with that as much if in the West. TOR did have a better opportunity this year, but James still should've been able to lead CLE to a series win even TOR played better. James certainly outplayed DeRozan, but his cast was much better than DeRozan's, too. BOS is playing well, but their top 2 players are out. It's another fairly easy road to the Finals for him.
Johann Leffler
Roar Guru
Agreed, well put.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
It is very much the point. Take whatever team Lebron is in. He's been in teams that have finished with the best record in the league, but most of the time they haven't. Being able to step it up in the playoffs is often what defines a truly great player. Jordan, Lebron and other great players have one thing in common, look at their regular season v playoff stats and they will just about all go up in the playoffs, not down. They know how to bring it when it really counts. Nobody really cares who finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference, they care who won the Eastern Conference Finals and was Eastern Conference Champion. If you want to be "taken seriously" it needs to go beyond just getting a good record in the regular season, you need to turn up and dominate in the playoffs. Those other 82 games you play in the season are really just about positioning yourself for being able to make a run in the playoffs. Once you get there, those games don't count anymore.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Although, as pointed out, Cleveland only just scraped through a 7-game series against the #5 seed before coming and sweeping the #1 seed Toronto 4-0. So I think there's more to it than just "only ridiculous super star teams have been able to beat James". As was pointed out in the article, this was their chance to beat James if they were ever going to. The team he's got around him is probably the weakest he's had in years, and Toronto are coming in having put together their best season, second best record in the league and the #1 seed in the East. So basically, things were all set up for them to finally get past Lebron, but not only did they not get past him, they were swept.
express34texas
Guest
Jerry, that might be true, but to be fair, there's a lot more to it than that. Iggy still outplayed him, and dominated him defensively when they were matched against each other. GS was more than happy enough to let James shoot 33x/game on TS% of .477. Curry had better stats than Iggy, too, and even being a media darling like James, Iggy still got the Finals MVP, correctly I might add.
Jerry
Guest
"Maybe if James played the best in the Finals those years, then you’d have more of a point" To be fair, he had twice as many points, assists and rebounds as Andre in 2015.....
express34texas
Guest
Well, if they played remotely like their regular season selves, which there's no reason why they couldn't, TOR could possibly make a little noise. I think they just overachieved in the regular season more than anything else though. Looking at that roster, after their big 4, I don't see much. And while Ibaka can still play some good defense, he has sure slowed down on both ends of the court since his OKC days. They were never going to win a title, but they should've done better. And there's only about 5-7 superstars in the league at any one point, and they're not going to TOR. TOR had a little window here where they could've really helped DeRozan/Lowry more by making their team very deep similar to what HOU has done, but they didn't.
Joe
Guest
Who took them seriously to begin with? They're another example of a good team playing full on for the regular season but dosent have the extra gear to kick it into when the playoffs begin. They're a aolid team with good players who aren't & never will be elite. When Kyle Lowry & DeRosen are your 2 stars,you have no stars Toronto can't attract bigtime free agents, players don't wamt to be subjected to higher Canadian taxes,thats a major hurdle So unless they can draft & keep a superstar player (very unlikely) they're always going to be a solid team at best In the short term they're maxed out cap wise & stuck with bloated contracts for average players,not a good situation to be in
Johann Leffler
Roar Guru
The playoffs are just a different beast, and they've shown that they can't handle it.
Johann Leffler
Roar Guru
After a certain point, regular season success doesn't mean anything. They've been good in that area for years now. Struggling with almost every team they've faced in the playoffs over the past three seasons or so (for a team that's been telling us to take them seriously) is pretty damning. You have the same poor/inconsistent production from their stars, strange coaching moves, etc. Sure, if they get another star (or maybe even a new coach) things are different. But in their current state, with this core, they've been pretty worthless when it counts.
express34texas
Guest
Yes, TOR has never been a contender in my eyes, and I think that's evident. It's amazing they won 59 games. They remind me of ATL a few years ago when they won 60 games. It was a nice story, but they weren't really true contenders. If TOR's top players stepped up a little, at least playing remotely like their average selves, then they definitely could've won this series. 2 blowouts in 4 games as the better seed is pitiful.
express34texas
Guest
Not quite Gordon. GS has been the best team that James has gone up against, and only had 1 top 10 player, Curry pre-KD, and now 2 with KD. KD was top performer in 2017 Finals, and Iggy was in 2015. Maybe if James played the best in the Finals those years, then you'd have more of a point And we've seen guys like Jason Terry, Rondo, pre AS Kawhi, and Iggy outplay James in the playoffs before. For a guy who's supposedly in the GOAT discussion, this certainly doesn't look good at all. Though, obviously, James has had lots of great moments besides these.
Rabbits
Guest
The Raptors sure could use Kawhi Leonard next season. They get him, they go all the way to the finals (note: I'm not saying they'll win the damn thing, they'll get over the conference hurdle). They deserve some props for winning 59 in the regular season and topping the Eastern Conference. They're not bums. They got worth, man. So ease on the hysterics.
Johann Leffler
Roar Guru
That's kind of the point though. Their star players have failed to show up for three or four consecutive postseasons. A sweep, no matter how close the games are, is a disaster for a team that has been demanding to be treated as a contender. The fact that they've lost 10 straight playoff games to the Cavs means I'll be taking any future regular season success with a heavy dose of salt from now on.
Ryan Geer
Roar Pro
It wasn't just that LeBron played so well in this series its that the Raptors All-Star guards Lowry and DeRozan weren't up to the task and even with that the Raptors still gave the Cavs a challenge especially in the first three games. Game 1 the Cavs won by a point in Overtime, Game 2 LeBron had his best game of the series with 43/8/14 Game 3 was won on a LeBron buzzer beater and 3-0 down the Raptors got blown out in game 4. But the first three games they challenged the Cavs and kept it close with their two best players struggling. The story could have been very different if Lowry and Derozan had stepped up, so I believe its an unfair statement to say the Raptors can't be taken seriously they were the number 1 seed for a reason.
Johann Leffler
Roar Guru
The main point is that the fans and players have been especially vocal about demanding respect and complaining when they get overlooked - and yet they wilt in the playoffs every year. While they do always lose to James, they consistently struggle against almost every team they face, inferior or not. The Bucks last year, the Heat the year before, etc. James just puts the exclamation mark on it every season
Gordon P Smith
Roar Guru
If your dismissal of the Raptors is based on them being unable to stop the greatest player of this generation (inarguable) or (possibly) any other, there are fourteen other eastern conference teams we need to dismiss over the course of the 2010s. The last eight years have proven that the only way LeBron will be stopped is by a team with at least two and more likely three or four of the current top ten players on the opposing side, and those teams are by definition almost impossible to find except by construction and (arguably) collusion. Go easy on the 59-win Toronto Raptors. They have a lot of company.