The Toronto Raptors lose 132-113 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Scottie Barnes. Bad news as Fred VanVleet leaves the game with illness.
The Toronto Raptors looked very disconnected and disengaged on the first of three straight on the road against lottery-bound teams. Better luck in Indiana.
CHAPTERS
0:00 – INTRO
0:24 – TAKEAWAY 1 – Bad habits catch up with you
4:06- TAKEAWAY 2 – What’s going on with Scottie Barnes?
7:12 – STORYTIME – Why I can’t stand this guy sometimes
14:48 – TAKEAWAY 3- Same old Raptors but don’t worry
22:21- FINAL THOUGHTS – Don’t unsubscribe but…
#torontoraptors #raptors #scottiebarnes
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45 Comments
As a ex player from some time ago, I know the game, and I agree with most of what you are saying about Fred. He cannot create shots for himself easily/hardly, and has a hard time being a catalyst unless there is a solid P+R offense going. I'm rolling my eyes on this guy a lot. He is a pretty good defender except on flashy fast guys though and a decent catch and shoot guy. No way is he an all star at this time. I think everyone knows his time is limited on the team now as is Malachi's and Downtin Jr has a shot because he is lanky 6.3. – 6.4 and quick and can create. Other than that they want four 6.9 position-less O and D and one big. THat leaves FVV and MF out. I hate rolling my eyes but I with you – I see FVV going somewhere this year and wish him all the best but the chemistry is obviously lousy with him on the floor. I turned the game off last night cuz it was frustrating watching all the bonehead moves. Bet you they are exploring serious options already on FVV.
FVV is a 2-guard, not a pg. We’re missing Pascal’s playmaking even more than his scoring. Barnes knows how the game is supposed to be played and he knows FVV is selfish and can’t make plays for others.
I really really hope raptors don't give FVV that big contract. The man is past his peak and has been exposed again and again. Hope masai can fool some other GM while FVV still has that all star residue on him
Raptors need to fully commit to their vision. They are always only part way in as long as they have small, stocky, slow guards that can't finish above the rim. Let scottie run the point.
FVV's Ego just got out of control. He participated in Championship, got paid, and started seeing himself as Coach, and the Coach's always speaking to him that way. FVV speaks like a Coach, and I imagine he carried that Coach Ego into the Locker room, and guys aren't having it. FVV is not a Coach, he's a Player, and he better focus on that role. FVV is cumbersome, can't finish at the rim, is always throwing crap up, and recently he's trying to draw fouls on his shots, rather than taking a good shot. In all fairness to Fred, every team needs that 1st and 2nd player for Commercial sales, and the Media/Raps chose FVV as this team's 2nd. So is it Fred's fault, or Media for Commercial hype?
Disappointing his hometown team never gave Omoruyi a chance. Really liked him for end of rotation guy when he played in Oregon. Should look at AJ Lawson who fits their strategy better than recent adds.
Well said. You and Nba Chev are quite refreshing. It's hard to listen to alot of the other media types. Some of them even start talking like NN.."right…right…right".
You got a back court so piss poor at passing AND paint penetration. Both guys trying to lock into new and massive contracts-not good.
I love the whole total football philosophy and would love to see it in basketball on this team.
Here’s a concept.Fred is an excellent catch and shoot player. Barnes can play Pg while fred plays sg but that means gary is in the bench. Maybe it’s a roster issue? Coaching issue?
Pascal not playing has exposed their weaknesses. Hope some of you finally appreciate how he helps elevate the team and players.
I said it before pascal takes the defensive pressure off the players allowing them to operate. Players collapse in the paint when he plays leaving players open.
Barnes is playing too close to the 3 point line. He is not even rebounding because of this. Can’t blame fred for that. He needs to be more aggressive around the net like he was last season.
I don't care what team you are in the NBA . When you lose your best player and key bench piece your team going to suffer, especially in the NBA this year where there is no nights off. Once we get everyone back and health we will be ok. We just got to keep the boat afloat until our BEST player is back people need to calm down.
You sir, are amazing. The most thorough analysis of the Raptors. Keep up the amazing work! 🙂
Coach needs to play Flynn a lot more than Banton
Great video again, Rob. Really hear what you say about the annoyance factor on the basketball court when a the guy with the ball isn't thinking much about making the others better. In high school I was the 4-6 points a game guy who rebounded, set screens, and usually made the right pass. I guess I was immature but it just took the will right out of me when other guys were jacking bad shots and seeing other team mates as last-ditch options when they were in trouble. So if Nick is letting Fred play hero ball, I can see many repeats of last night, with the rest of the team checking out. Boy could we use Shae….or even Giddy.
Is it just me or does it look like malachi has a real issue with sweaty palms??? He's constantly rubbing his his hands on his jersey, shorts and shoes. It seems to affect him for the first several minutes and would explain why he usually misses the first couple shots he takes…
Nice video, but I don't think Scottie not liking Fred supposedly excuses his shitty play and turning into a turnstyle on defense
Pascal needs to check fred, I really don't believe that he's doing this out of selfishness probably just a I need to score to win cause of injuries thing. I mean vanvleet certainly isn't a gifted passer but he can certainly atleast do a serviceable job getting the offense going. And scottie has to sit
I always said, FVV is not the leader of the group. It is that simple. So, when Siakam is out of the lineup, the whole team dips.
Also I think it was a huge miss not trying to go for Donavan Mitchell. Some delusional raptors fans were saying they didn't want him because "he doesn't play good defense" when the raptors have all these long athletic wings just to give up 103 before the 4th to a g league team. A majority of the raptors offense minus pascal siakim is generating turnovers which I don't think is a sustainable plan. Donavan Mitchell would make this team so much better on offense and he has the tools to be a plus defender under nick nurses system. The raptors front office have been really hesitant to make big moves recently and it's kind of annoying because in my opinion this roster isn't very talented when compared to some others in the east.
Looks like a “Work2Rule” situation
They’ve been boring to watch since Fred came back. Turning games off after 1 quarter.
The Raptors have been playing predominantly hero ball and getting away with it since the days of DeRozen and Lowery. The Raptor's half-court has always been suspect. Between the hero ball and inconsistent outside shooting, it makes them susceptible to scoring droughts. The real problem last night was their horrific defence. OKC lived in the paint while the Raptors couldn't toss a brick in the ocean.
Im ready to move on from Fred. He doesnt fit this team whatsoever. Is it nurse telling him to hunt his shot or is he just in denial and selfish at this point? Even we as fans that are not in the NBA can see this clearly.
We desperately need a PG. No point in having shooters if the passes they are getting are too late to have clear open shots. The offense is completely missing. FVV’s number means he keeps the ball for 23’ before a desperate bad pass or just losing the ball all together! We need a different coach!
I would trade FVV! He is ruining the team. No one has a chance to play. He thinks the other players are there simply to support him and that get him the ball. The guy is betting on himself for himself!
I went to high school in New England, played varsity basketball as an undersized PG. I would often play pickup with Kris Dunn actually, from the same town in Connecticut along with Andre Drummond and (interestingly) Yuta Watanabe.
I get it, some guys have the natural scoring itch they need to scratch to FEEL comfortable out there on the court. I was the type of guy that came up in middle school around some flashy passers that I wanted to emulate because my ballhandling was the first competitive skill to emerge. FVV doesn’t have the natural desire to facilitate, he strikes me as a natural scorer that just got stuck being undersized. I agree with you there. He can’t throw alley oops and I always found that weird, because middle schoolers get that timing down pretty early. To not have it as a pro PG is totally weird.
FVV doesn’t have the faith of his guys down the line. But he’s Nurse’s favorite, interesting to see how that plays out. But am I giving him $30M per? Not a chance.
This is the only channel I listen to now. The rest constantly praise FVV for saving the team since coming back. I have played sports my whole life, not basketball, and it’s so obvious to me that FVV has to go. The commentators are so bad in their analysis. Makes me sick!
On Dalano, I hear you. But it’s really Fred. No point guard likes playing with him and it’s probably really really hard to be his backup. Payne, Dragic, Brooks, Flynn… nobody wants that gig and nobody has thrived or even played to average expectation in that role. It’s probably not fair to assume it’s even possible knowing what we know about FVV’s play style, attitude, and self perception.
Scottie Barnes has the body to dominate like Giannis, but he wants to pass and shoot from the 3 point like and it annoys me.
You're the only blogger, who knows the game and you have your eyes wide open and see the crappy plays and habits we have as a Team.
We are the most overrated team and talk instead of playing.
We need Alexander right here right now! Otherwise we are a mediocre team. Nothing more.
Couldn't agree more on Dowtin Jr. I missed the game last night (thankfully by the sounds of it) because I was attending the 905/Knicks game. Dowtin saved the game. Came in late in the 4th with only 4 points, finished with 17 and pushed the team to win the game after being down 10 for most of the quarter. Elevated the team when it mattered most.
P.S. That Shakespeare quip had me in stitches 🤣
If it's scottie vs fred move fred get a center or picks if we can
LOL "led by Scottie Barnes" when he was in fact by far the worst player tonight. I'm sure the hurricane is still very much on his mind LMFAO. And let's totally ignore the fact that the entire team had some type of illness going around. But you keep up with your delusional reactionary videos.
Interesting point about Scottie and Fred being on the court together, but if Scottie is going to realize his true potential, he has got to play through that sort of stuff.
Dude I really understood and appreciated your take on FFV and the correlation between him and yourself. You really went into depth at the smaller details of individual play. I have some NBA YouTubers I enjoy watching but you are different.
NN has to go. All the players are picking up his bad behavior, yapping at the refs. Even Koloko. He needs to take some responsibility in losing games and not take it out on the refs. STFU and sit down NN
i agree there is hardly good shots taken. No drive, kick and pass
Really stuff Robert. Do you think that management is realizing these issues with FVV and that's why they haven't given him a bag?
I get what you’re saying, I was that score first point guard. I hated running plays and I trusted myself more than I trusted my teammates. Selfish basketball Ieads to your teammates becoming like Chris Boucher and shooting the ball any time they touch it because they might not get back for 8 possessions. It’s a vicious cycle that destroys team chemistry.
No Pascal no Precious no way to run the defensive schemes our results depend on. Just look at the Bucks without Giannis and Jrue. Precious is as important to our defense as Jrue and Pascal is as important to our offense. E.g. highest assist rate of any forward in the league
Bro i swear Masai needs to move Fred bruh. That or he gets his ego checked and moved to SG.
On the plus side Chris was 6-9. The real 'Vision 6-9'.
My guy 😎
I went from 5'3" in grade 7 to 5'11" in grade ten fortunately for my sports with a +5 wingspan
Not allowing Scottie to run the offence is a complete waste of his talent. Fred has to go.
I think Nick Nurse isn’t getting through his players perhaps it’s time to change coach to maybe Rico Hines. This box n one is becoming stupid and staled in my opinion it’s pathetic that these guys are all NBA guys four guys guarding one man is ridiculous. We should have Scottie Barnes just play the freaking PG and Fred VanVleet play off the ball.
As much as I like Barnes, he gives up on defensive possessions by not contesting way too often for my liking. I don't know why he doesn't contest shots at times.