This is not going to have any sequence or structure to it; I just have too many thoughts and opinions so I’m going to write them all out. So, enjoy it.
First off,
congratulations the Celtics, you were the better team for most of the series
and you guys deserved to be moving on after a hard-fought series. I still don’t
like the Celtics, but I must give credit where credit is due. Jason Tatum is a
superstar, Marcus Smart as annoying as he is, the best on-ball defender we have
in the league and that’s on god, and I like Jaylen Brown I think he’s going to
be a future all-star. They have a good group of guys and they just need a
better center and bench players and they will be the best team in the East. But
enough about them.
Man, this
sucks. It was an amazing series between two of the best defensive and well-coached
teams in the league. It wasn’t the prettiest series especially for Raptors fans
at the beginning, but we showed our determination and heart in game 3 and OG
hit that RIDICULOUS shot to help us steal game three. I woke up my mom and my
neighbours by screaming and running around the house when it went in. Just
another reason why basketball is amazing. Game 6, the double-overtime thriller,
was an instant classic and it showed the world that Kyle Lowry is a point god,
and I love him dearly. We scrapped out all our wins because the Celtics as much
as I hate to admit it was the better team. Their defense was phenomenal, they
got a lot of open threes and they utterly destroyed us in the paint among other
things. After game 2 I was just praying that we didn’t get swept because we
were looking like pre-2018-19 raptors that cowered in the presence of Lebron,
but then I was quickly reminded that Lebronto died the minute we lifted the
Championship last season.
I know that
if Siakam didn’t pull a Houdini and disappear this series, we would’ve won. Hell,
if he was like 75% of what he was in the regular season we would’ve won. But he
was exposed and neutralized in this series, and in game 7 he just looked
scared. If he wasn’t an above-average defender then I would think he was just
out there running suicides like what Westbrook did in game 2 against the
Lakers.
He was pretty much useless, and it seems at
least for now that he can’t be the best player on a championship team. But
that’s okay, but don’t shrink in the playoffs like that man, we literally got
rid of DeRozan because of it (sorry DeMar I still love you). it got to a point
when he scored, I was literally in shock, and that only happens with Marc
Gasol.
Speaking of
Marc, I’m glad he’s a free agent because this man infuriates me. Like every
time he shoots a three, I just sigh because it misses 99.9999% of the time. But
that is expected because he’s 35 so he’s on the decline of his career so I can’t
blame him but damn all he used to do was miss 3s and pick up fouls.
Our offense
struggled a lot this series, as we weren’t really able to score, which is a credit
to our poor shot selection (at times) and the great defense by Boston. But Fred
Van Vleet, OG, Norman Powell, and Kyle Lowry did their best. But if Pascal
doesn’t develop any further (which if he doesn’t, I am okay with as long as he
doesn’t regress), we need to get a go-to guy who can get us points. Since
Pascal was social distancing himself from his scoring ability, we had to share
that “go-to guy” role with Lowry and Freddy, which work a bit, but it cannot be
sustained.
One thing
about being a Kyle Lowry stan is that he takes some HORRIBLE shots at times,
heat check threes and pulls ups early in the shot clock, that miss more times
than it hits and you just have to live with that. He’s a streaky shooter, but
since he does everything else so well it's okay. But my god when he starts
scoring it’s a joy to watch, for example, game 6 in this series and last year
in game 6 in the finals. Forget “Game 6 Klay,” it’s “Game 6 Lowry” now. (jk
Game 6 Klay is a Super Saiyan transformation).
We also made
a lot of mistakes in that game, keeping Siakam in after he early turnovers in
the 4th, Norm trying to get the layup on the fast break with Smart
trailing, and not boxing out Tatum after Williams missed those free throws, but
what can you say, that’s life. We went down swinging and to turn the ball over
18 times for 31 points, and we still had a chance to win late, I can’t be mad
at that. Am I upset that we didn’t win? Yes. Am I upset that we didn’t repeat?
Absolutely, but as G-Eazy said, “these things happen.”
At the end
of the day, I am satisfied. We have the best coach in the league, one of the
best GMs, we have cap space to sign free agents and we have young guys who
should develop nicely. Life is good. Besides our future is more important as
this offseason Van Vleet, Gasol, and Ibaka are our notable free agents and I
have no clue what Masai would do (hey that rhymed). In a perfect world I would
like us to keep FVV and Ibaka (I want Gasol OUT), but how much are we willing
to pay to keep them. I would imagine we still want to keep a lot of cap space
for the 2021-22 free agency, but then again what the hell do I know anyway?
I am proud
of the amazing season we had and it’s a shame it ended sooner than I thought
but there’s always next season, right? (Raptors 2020-21 champs confirmed).
Also, big up OG and Ibaka for being great this series.
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