Are The Raptors Done And Are The Nuggets Ready?
After a crazy Day 13 of the NBA Playoffs, I’m giving my thoughts on a few topics. Today I will be talking about the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets.
After a crazy Day 13 of the NBA Playoffs, I’m giving my thoughts on a few topics. Today I will be talking about the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets.
Toronto Raptors
After getting stomped in Game 1 at the hands of the Celtics, I expected the Raptors to come back strong. Nike Nurse would have made a defensive plan and their offense would be much improved. We would go back to seeing the regular Raptors. We would see them tie this series. Or not.
While the Raptors played considerably better than they did in Game 1, they lost down the stretch as the Celtics exposed their one weakness. Star power.
While the Raptors have a good record and they are a good all-around team and all of that, they don’t have “the guy.” Last year they had Kawhi Leonard and he took and made big shots throughout the Raptors championship run. He was the perfect get a stop, get a bucket player.
But now that Kawhi departed, that role came upon Pascal Siakam. And while Siakam has emerged as one of the best players in the league during the last couple of seasons, he is not a super-star. Talented? Yeah. All-Star? Yeah. Superstar? No. Siakam is not that type of player yet, and I don’t know if he will ever be.
Part of his problem is his play-style. Similar to Giannis, he does not have a great jumpshot. While his shooting is much better than Giannis’, he prefers to drive instead of shoot. A defense feels good if they let him shoot jump-shots. And in the playoffs, Siakam hasn’t gotten many easy opportunities. So he can’t be a good closer.
And while Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet are very talented, they are not closers. And it’s not a knock. Only a select few can you say give me a score late in a game. And the Raptors didn’t score much down the stretch in the half-court.
And this is where not having Kawhi Leonard hurts. Sure they are a good team all-around, they just don’t have ‘the guy’. And this will likely lead to their downfall as they face a very good Celtics team. I can guess that their will be another close game in this series, and the Raptors will likely struggle. Because of no Kawhi Leonard.
So in closing, the Raptors are probably going to lose this series as they can’t close games and they don’t have a guy who they can consistently give the ball too. Nobody for the Raptors has been out of this world in this series, and without that the Raptors don’t have anybody hot at the end of games to give it to.
People are now starting to realize the importance of Kawhi Leonard.
Is Jamal Murray A Superstar?
After winning a thrilling 7 games series against the Jazz, Jamal Murray shined in that series and put the world on notice. But is he really a superstar?
After watching Jamal Murray put on that show that he did in the 1st round, it is clear Denver has a real super-star talent. Other than Jokic who we knew was great, we waited to see the same from Murray. And now we are seeing that. But can Murray really be a super-star next to Jokic?
The Nuggets run a system offense with more movement and passing than isolation plays. After signed a 5-year extension during the summer, I expected Murray to have a great year, with some improvement from the year prior. But during the 2019-20 season, he put up nearly identical numbers. Almost no change. So now you’re saying, why did we pay this guy?
I think Murray needs to shoot more 3’s, especially off the dribble. Murray gets most of his 3’s off of catch and shoot opportunities, mostly created by Jokic. 70% of Murray’s 3’s during the season came off of an assist, meaning he didn’t do much 3-point shooting off the dribble.
But during the 1st round series, only 40% from Murray’s 3’s were assisted. So he was shooting more off the dribble 3’s and you saw the results. I think that Murray should be shooting 8-9 3’s a game instead of the 5 3-pointers he shoots.
Part of the season he doesn’t get many opportunities to go into isolation, or get pull-up 3’s or off the dribble 3’s. That’s because of the Nuggets system. While the system is very good, it sort of hinders Murray’s ability.
The real test into weather Murray is a superstar is if he can play the way he did against the Jazz, against the Clippers. Now LA has a much better defense with much better defenders. Murray, like Luka Doncic will have a tough time. That doesn’t mean he still can’t be great. If Murray averaged 30+ points or so on decent efficiency, then he will get me a little more sold on if he is a super-star.
The other test for Murray comes next season. We’ve seen what he is capable of doing. Can he do that throughout the regular season? Now if the Nuggets keep that system, it will be hard. But if they allow Murray to get more isolation plays, then Murray will have the chance to average 20+ points per game and really be worth that $170 million dollar contract.
We might be seeing one of the best guards in West emerge. After that great 1st round series, Murray now has the chance to really be a super-star. To me it depends on how he plays against the Clippers in Round 2 and if he can carry this into next season.
What Are Your Thoughts On These Topics? Leave A Comment Down Below!
My Game-Day Report For Day 14 of the Playoffs Will Be Posted Tomorrow, So Stay Tuned!
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