The Real Reason the Raptors believe they can beat anyone...

Welcome to Pensar Basketball Live. Today, we're taking a very quick look at this bearish pessimism that is surrounding the Toronto Raptors right now. Why are Toronto Raptor fans so afraid of the New York Knicks? I feel like I'm listening to not fans, but a funeral procession right now, happening. And I want to talk about the broader implications of what this playoff run means for the Toronto Raptors. Does it mean that the Raptors are going to win a championship? Probably not. Probably not. Does it mean that the Raptors have cost themselves a likely chance at a franchise-level talent in the draft? Possibly. But that we have already passed that bridge. There's no point in talking about it. So, the question then becomes, what do you want your Toronto Raptors to show in the next two weeks? Okay. Scared money don't make money. That's something. Stress exposes character. That's something. There's so many things that are wrong with how I believe Toronto Raptors fans on Reddit, Real GM, Twitter, places that I know of. Okay, listen. I'm not, I'm not at your church. I'm not at your local bar. I don't know what people who are offline are talking about. What I do know is people online are absolutely crashing out at this idea that the Toronto Raptors could possibly get swept or get humiliated by the New York Knicks. Let me give you a very positive reason for why you should be optimistic, and then I'll tell you why the Raptors internally are more optimistic.

So, for years now, we have wanted this team, this core to have a chance to show themselves in the, in the bright lights. I, I think some people maybe disagree with that statement. They're like, "No, no, no, no, no. I don't need to see Manu Quickley in brighter lights. I see him in dim light." Well, well enough. I think that the Toronto Raptors' current asset base is criminally undervalued by just across the league. You are talking about a top 10 defense that does not get any credit for being a top 10 defense. I rarely ever see ESPN or anybody outside of Players Choice or here bring it up. Okay. If you're not tuned in, if you're tuned into the ESPN podcast, you pretty much think the Raptors are just, they don't exist. They talk about the Hornets because they like LaMelo Ball. They talk about the Knicks 'cause they're a big market team. They talk about, you know, Jaylen Brown and and the Boston Celtics, but when the Raptors were number two, where, where was Brandon Ingram love? Where was the Scotty Barnes love? It was nowhere. They have a baked-in conception that this is not real. So when the Raptors were at two or three, they said, "This is not real. This is a fake. This is a fake team." And they build up narratives like, "Oh, I don't know. The Raptors are 0 and blank against the top teams in the, in, in, you know, in the Eastern Conference. They haven't beat anybody. Yeah, they beat, you know, OKC, but who cares, right? They beat, they beat Detroit, but Isaiah Stewart didn't play. They beat the Cavaliers. They swept the Cavaliers, no problem." No mention of the fact that their center has been walking around like Frankenstein the entire year. No mention of the fact that they've been missing key components in their starting lineup, that their very highly impactful rookie has been bouncing in and out of the rotation, that they play Grady Dick and Ochai and and Chucky Hepburn and Elijah Martin actual NBA minutes when no real serious team is playing that bad regular rotation minutes. If you just play Jacobe in place of Grady earlier, you probably have two extra wins. If Yaka Purle is healthy for the entire year and you get a version of him that's closer to last year, you probably have two to three extra wins. Now you're a 50-1 team, are people going to respect you now? No. They're still going to call you frauds. So at this point, what do you have to lose going into New York? Going into the mecca of basketball, going into the Garden, what do you have to lose? This is a better way to look at it than, oh my god, we're going to get embarrassed and humiliated. There's not. First of all, I, I'll, I'll point to why that's not the case later. But just from a mindset shift, can we stop talking about the negative and start focusing on what could go right for the Raptors, too?

So, here's what could go right. Number one, I think RJ Barrett has a bit of an image problem in the NBA. I'm going to be honest. I think he knows it. I think you know it. I think his agent knows it. He has a bit of an image problem. Why does he have an image problem, though? I think RJ Barrett, unlike Emanuel Quickley, is an awesome playoff player. I watched almost every single game RJ Barrett has played in the playoffs, and he has been really good, except for that one game where he shot 1 for 10 in the elimination, and everybody in New York buried him for it. Immediately became a playoff choker. He's horrible. Whatever. And R.J. hasn't been to the playoffs since. So, the problem is the longer a tag sticks on you unchallenged, and you're not able to disprove it, it kind of craters your reputation. Just like right now, Brandon Ingram's inclusion in the Toronto Raptors has catapulted them from 26th or 25th last year to 10th in half-court offensive rating. Is he getting any All-NBA buzz? Should he get All-NBA buzz? No. Brandon Ingram just made number one on Bleacher Report's most overrated player list. Does Darko get any flowers? Nope. Not from the national media, not from the Canadian media. Most people here just think he's a yes man who's just, you know, a dummy. He legitimately had to answer questions about whether he can coach defense because he talks about offense so much. It's really sad. And Scotty Barnes, let's not even talk about Scotty Barnes. The disrespect that Scotty gets is like on a completely different level. But Yaka Pleman, Quickly, these overpaid contracts, etc., etc. The cool thing for the Raptors is all five of your starters and all of your key rotation guys on the bench, with the exception of Sandra Bum Kelli, are locked in for next year. So, you don't have any like, oh my god, if this guy plays really, really well, we suddenly have to pay him a lot more. No, you already want to trade RJ Barrett, not because he's not a good player, but because he doesn't really fit what you want to do. But what if RJ Barrett goes into the Garden and averages 25 points on really solid efficiency? Not only would he completely erase this playoff choker tag, but also he would rehabilitate his contract value, he would re-rehabilitate his trade value. And suddenly you got tons of teams like Golden State saying like, "Hey, how about Moses Moody put Brandon Pajensky in some picks for this awesome player named RJ Barrett?" You have so much to gain. Jakob Purle has looked awful, awful for for most of this season, but there have been stretches where he has played really well. In his 23 best games per single game box plus minus, the Raptors are 18 and 5. They are so much better when he's good, and they're so bad when he's bad. But you think the Knicks are a juggernaut? I would challenge you to do something for me. Go back and look at the last 40 games or 30. Actually, since February 22nd, go look at every single opponent the Knicks have faced. Now, count up every single good team this team has beat. Who are you scared of? You know what you're scared of? You're scared of the 2015 Toronto Raptors. That's what you're really scared of right now. And this current Raptor team has a better half-court rating than any half, than any Raptor team since the championship team. And the year after, which is really to say you have almost all the key ingredients to be a really good playoff team. And most importantly, your three top scorers, Scotty Barnes, Brandon Ingram, and RJ Barrett, have all throughout their career outperformed in the playoffs relative to regular season. I'll tell you one player who is a massive playoff dropper that almost never gets criticized for it. Carl Anthony Towns. His percentages go down completely in the playoffs. In 50-plus playoff games, Carl Anthony Towns has a 1.1 box plus minus. That is a barely starter-level player on his career in the regular season. I think he's 4.3. Do you understand what a drop-off that is? Every single thing about Carl Towns goes down in the playoffs. Three-point shooting, field goal percentage, points per game, rebounds per game, everything. Everything. This is not a team that is perfect by any means. Are they better than the Raptors? Yes. Are they better than the Raptors? Yes. Yes. Of course. The biggest gap between these two teams is Jaylen Brunson and Emanuel Quickley. But let me ask you a question. If Jaylen Brunson was on the Toronto Raptor and Emanuel Quickley was on the New York Knicks, do you understand how easily the Raptors would sweep that team? So that's the gap. Now, Emanuel Quickley is another player that has a bit of an image problem because most people think he's very overpaid, and that's not just a Raptor exclusive. Most people around the league were very, very surprised that Emanuel Quickley got 32 million. Now, Emanuel Quickley has always had the analytics on his side. There's a very justifiable case to be made that a good shooter who's a reasonable defender and has actually been a pretty good team defender this year and is pretty low turnover, although not very creative offensively, should deserve a little bit of credit in terms of talks about top 15, top 20 point guards in the NBA. But this is never a real conversation that people put him into because he's not very dynamic. He's not super exciting to watch. He's a little bit inconsistent. And of course, because he is a playoff dropper. Emanuel Quickley, chief among all the players on the Toronto Raptors who actually have playoff experience, is by far the biggest playoff dropper. His two runs with the Knicks in the playoffs were absolutely disastrous. The man was shooting 30% from the field. He couldn't buy a bucket. He went absolutely cold in the playoffs. And if that happens again, yes, that could be the one thing that can go wrong. Now, I'm going to tell you why I think this is pretty good. Uh, Steven Parson saying, "I thought you were taking a day off." Yes. So, I thought two things last night. I thought I was going to take the day off, and I also thought that I was not going to look at my phone all day, but I have to tell you that I feel a lot better. I feel a lot better. Yesterday I was feeling very overwhelmed. There's been a lot of stuff going on online that's been very energy draining, but honestly today I just woke up and I felt a lot better. A good night's sleep is going to do that to you. Also, I think this is the first time I've done a live in years without a beard, without a hood. I don't think I've ever done a live without a hoodie, without a beard, and without a hat. Wow, this is, this is completely new territory for me. There's nothing to hide behind right now. No beard to hide behind, no hoodie to make me feel safe, no hat to make me feel safe, nothing. Also, your hat's been gone for a long time. It's not really that long. It's not that long. Shout out. No beard pen. Looking fresh. Yes. So, we've gotten rid of the hat. We've gotten rid of the beard. We've gotten rid of the hoodie. Next goes the shirt. And then goes the channel. Anyways, okay. Look, it's the New York Knicks under a lot of pressure right now. Not only do they have home-court advantage, they're also going up against an opponent most likely, if the Raptors stay at six, that they're absolutely picked to whoop. Okay, they're supposed to beat the Raptors. They're not even supposed to go to a game seven. A game seven would be like internal pressure, media pressure. That pressure is theirs, bro. That's their pressure. That's not your pressure. The Toronto Raptors walk in with no pressure. But unlike a team that has no pressure, the Raptors do not, however, walk in with no chance, because they do have a chance. And I'm going to tell you why. The Toronto Raptors have three players that I really, really believe in in the playoffs. And then they have a whole bunch of unproven, complete hypotheticals that I actually really believe in in the playoffs. I don't believe that Sandra Moses is going to shift the bed in the playoffs. I really don't. I think Yaka Purle, if he's healthy, is going to be perfectly fine. I think CMBB is going to surprise you. I think Jacobe is going to show up. And I think Jamal Shed, whether he shoots it well or not, is going to be an absolute dog. The Raptors have spent years, years scouting college players who have what they consider winning DNA. Okay? Everything about Scotty Barnes is winning, winning, winning. You know, Messiah Jury, favorite word, winning, right? So, what did he say? How many times does Scotty bring up winning in his pre-draft interview? "All this guy lives to do is win." Now, the thing with Scotty is, you know, we'll talk about Scotty towards the tail end of this and what I really expect from him in a playoff run, but honestly, I, I really think the biggest things that you could even point to with the Raptors is you're going to find out what kind of coach Darko is. Is that a bad thing? Do you not want to find out that your coach could be like a really good playoff coach by by watching the adjustments? You want to find out who these young players are so you can make a decision on them because decision time's coming up on Jacobe Walter very soon. Grady Dick potentially, if he gets in the game. I doubt he's going to get into the game. Jamal Shed. These guys are going to be up for extensions. Do you want to find out if Jamal Shed shits the bed in the playoffs or if Jamal Shed is a major playoff riser? You want to find that out right now? I think you do. You want to find out if this core can actually work. What if? Big what if. Right. Everybody wanted to destroy that 2013, 2014 team. Everybody. Everyone said, "Trade tomorrow. Trade Kyle." They almost traded Kyle, and then it just worked, and then you kept building it, tinkering it, tinkering it. Why? Because you saw them go to a, a game seven in the playoffs and you believed in it. Why do you think the Raptors are building around Scotty Barnes? Because he's shown you in the biggest moments that he shows up. He shows up against Giannis. He shows up against LeBron. He shows up against those marquee matchups. But you know what else Scotty's done on a bum ankle as a rookie? He posted a 1.7 box plus minus. That is ridiculous and really hard to believe because he shot like [ __ ] and still found a way to impact the game. He almost like he jumped his rebound rate in that Philly series on a bum ankle, by the way, by 33%. And he was the rookie of the year. The rookie of the year bumped his rebound percentage by 33%. Sorry, not rebound percentage, his rebounds per game by 33%. He was, Scotty averaged nearly 15 rebounds per 100 possessions in his rookie season in the playoffs. He was, he was around 10 for the regular season. So to just give you an idea, this is a guy who has gears. Scotty has gears. Scotty has other gears that he can go to. Brandon Ingram has another gear he can go to. And RJ Barrett definitely has that kind of like eye of the tiger. I have a lot of criticism of RJ Barrett, but one thing I will never say is RJ Barrett doesn't show up in big moments. He really does. Now, he may not be clutch on the pull-up jump shots that he keeps missing against Denver, but this is not a guy who lacks confidence. This is not a guy who lacks, let's call it, he's not a person who shies from the stage. Do you know what I mean? Like he gets excited about these big moments. And I like that about R.J. It's one of the few things that I really feel is like a massively redeeming quality about him is he really does bring it. He cares. He cares a lot. And everyone on this team cares a lot. So why is the general outlook on the Toronto Raptors not very positive around Raptorland? Like, why are we having a whole bunch of media people saying like, "Oh, we want the Cavaliers. You want to avoid the Knicks." Losers think like this. Winners don't think like this. Winners don't think like this at all. Winners don't try to rig games to fall into the play-in to get tanked. No. Look, this is a team that I believe is two teams. There's a team that is being presented to the NBA world. That team has no chance. That team has no prayer. That team is desperately trying to avoid having to face the mighty Jaylen Michael Jordan Brunson and the mighty Carl Shaquille O'Neal Towns. They're trying to avoid this at all costs. They're trying to avoid going to the mecca. They don't want, they don't want the bright lights. They don't want the smoke. That's the team that's being presented by the Raptors media. Oh, this is a team that desperately wants to go up against the Cavs. Be careful what you bite for, because honestly, as much as I think Scotty could be the best player in a Knicks series, I'm, I'm pretty sure he won't be the best player in that Cavs series. Donovan Mitchell is the truth, okay? When it comes to playoffs. So, just be careful. You want the Cavs, you want the Pistons because you want to avoid the Knicks and the and the Celtics. Be careful, bro. Be careful because, uh, the Cavaliers, you know, they could have another year in the playoffs. We really haven't seen James Harden and Donovan Mitchell backcourt. And I'm telling you, that backcourt is going to give you a lot of trouble, too. So regardless of the case, the Raptors are not really being treated with a lot of respect by the national media, by their media, by talking heads, by, you know, sports shows. You're going to see a ton of shows. They're going to preview. They're going to give you their predictions. Raptors versus Knicks. Oh, Raptors will be lucky to get to five. I guarantee you that everyone on ESPN is going to pick the Raptors to lose. But you know what? These same dumbasses picked the Raptors to miss the playoffs. So where are we at? Where are we at now? So that's one team, which is the one that's being presented on the national stage, um, you know, to the Toronto media. There's another team, though. There is another team, and that's in the Raptors locker room, and that's Darko Rajakovic, and that's Scotty Barnes, and that's Jamal Shed, and that's their culture, and that's their team. That team right now in that locker room, huddling together tomorrow, taking on the Brooklyn Nets at Scotia Bank. That team, that team where Brandon Ingram has played defense for the first time really in his life and was really buying into it, where Jamal Shed and Jacobe Walter and, you know, Sandra McKelishi and everyone has sacrificed for the greater good of the team. There's no way this team as is currently constructed should be a top seven defense. This is a team that cares enough to sacrifice touches, sacrifice minutes. You didn't hear one piece of drama come out of this team all year. Not Scotty's upset with Darko. Not R.J. hates Scotty. Not, you know, Jamal Shed is upset with his minutes. Not Grady Dick is upset. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Not, not one bit of drama came out of this team all year. Do you remember a lot of drama coming out of the Knicks, though? Carl Towns doesn't know his role. So and so is frustrated with the lack of touches. Nothing like that came out of the Raptors. Not at all. Because that is what happens when a team invests in itself and invests in each other. And I believe that this Toronto Raptor team, even if they get smoked 4-0, I really don't care. I, I don't think that's going to happen. I really don't. And I'll give you my prediction right after. But what this team has put together this year must be celebrated. I've been on my soapbox for the last month saying, "Stop [ __ ] on this. It's not nothing." Okay? They didn't just beat up on the Wizards. They swept the Atlanta Hawks. They swept the Cavaliers. They've split with the Charlotte Hornets. They've beat the crap out of the Orlando Magic. They beat the crap out of, uh, you know, the Miami Heat. They have beaten good teams. They've been a good road team. This is a team that if you could just remove your optical, you know, if you're a Scotty hater or a BI, you know, anti-BI guy or an anti-RJ guy, just remove your bias and just look at this team on paper for a second and just think about what they've accomplished, where they came from to what they got to, and just ask yourself, did this team have to work really hard? Yes. Did this team sometimes feel really gassed and helpless on a back-to-back? Yes. Are there any back-to-backs in the playoffs? No. Is this a team that's young? Yes. Is this a team that's relatively healthy right now going into the playoffs? We'll see. We'll see in a week. Is this a team with leaders that you trust in those bright lights? I do. I trust Scotty at Mecca. I, I trust Scotty at Madison Square Garden. I trust Brandon Ingram to show up big. But the beautiful thing is what I'm saying is there's two teams. There's the team that everybody expects to lose. And then there's the team itself internally, and they haven't pounded their chest. They haven't gone out, you know, on ESPN. You don't see Scotty Barnes on ESPN saying, "Bring on the Knicks." They're not bringing any uninvited attention to themselves. They're not. They're not doing that. They're not doing that at all. They're not saying like, "Oh, we want the Cavs. We want the Knicks. [ __ ] Brunson." They're not doing any of that. I almost feel like that's where you miss Messiah Jury, because Messiah Jury was the guy who would be like, "Fuck Brooklyn, right?" Well, in the absence of Messiah Jury, knowing that Bobby Webster is not going to do it, let me do it. Let me do it. Let me be, let me be the hype guy right now and just say that we're not scared. We're not scared because scared, this scared energy does nothing. Does nothing. And I don't think that this Raptors team is scared. I don't think Jamal Shed is like, "Oh, I hope Deuce McBride doesn't play 'cause that's going to be a tough matchup." I think Jamal Shed wants the challenge. I don't think CNB is scared. Do you remember what, do you remember what Colin Murray Bole's response was in in training camp when he was asked about handling, um, physicality in the NBA? He said, "I lift, bro. I lift, bro." This is a team that has perhaps over-scouted for winning DNA, winning qualities, winning people. And these winning people, right? Like Canada TV, Raptors are losing first round. What if they don't? Can we think about that? You think they're going to lose first round? Vegas thinks they're going to lose first round. Knicks fans think they're going to lose first round. I'll tell you someone who doesn't think they're going to lose first round. Scotty Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Darko Rajakovic. Nobody in that locker room right now is thinking, "We're going to lose to the Knicks because we lost five times in the regular season." Nobody's thinking that. If there is somebody that's thinking that, leave them on the bus, because you don't get a fair try if you don't have any pressure on you. But pressure can come internally or externally. Maybe it's a good thing for the Raptors that the Toronto media expects so little of them that any modicum of success in the playoffs will be considered a massive, overwhelming favor. Uh, you know, "Oh, they pushed the Knicks to five games. Wow." This may actually be it. And this has been the case for most of, you know, but I guess it also comes down to this idea that was presented on Twitter Spaces yesterday. Y'all know what a championship team looks like 'cause y'all have lived through the championship, right? Y'all have lived through the championship. You know what a championship. You experienced a championship. Cool. I experienced a deep-dish pizza yesterday. Does that mean I know how to make one? Does that know how to, does that mean that because I ate a deep-dish pizza that I now know how to open a pizzeria? Nope. Just because you lived through a championship and watched the championship parade does not mean that you understand what went into that championship. Doesn't mean you understand what those practices were like. You don't, you know what it takes to win a championship on literally any level? Sacrifice. You know what it takes to win a championship on any level? Consistency, defense, focus. These things are what lead to championships. Winning, selflessness, culture. Okay, you know what doesn't always lead to a championship? A star, a superstar, or whatever the hell you think Jaylen Brunson is. Now, I'm not saying Jaylen Brunson ain't a hell of a talent. And yeah, if you're a smart person, you're betting on him to be the best player in this series, but it's possible. It's possible that the Raptors have the second, third, fourth, and fifth best player in the series. It's completely possible. I think the Raptors worked very, very hard this year to expedite their growth. I think this is a team that is very focused on process over results, and I think that process has led them to this point. The process of implementing a defense that was way, way, way too intensive and was leading to dead legs. I don't think this team is as bad at shooting as people think think it is. If you notice, Jacob's shooting has kind of come back to form now that he's not having to extend himself defensively as much. And I think that that, that the same thing can happen for Scotty Barnes. We've seen positive stretches with Scotty as a shooter. We've seen negative stretches with Scotty as a shooter. I think that his positive stretches usually happen in the beginning of the season, not because he's just fresh off the summer. It's because he hasn't had that time to get that progressive overload. And whether Scotty, you know, I went back and I watched Scotty's, uh, game one, game three, game four, game, game four, game five, game six against the Sixers as a rookie, and it was so profound to me how much I had forgotten about those games. It's so profound to me how the memories of memories shift over time. I forgot how skinny he was. I forgot how, you know, sort of fleet of foot he was. I, I forgot how clumsy he was. I don't know how that guy was able to will this team as a point guard because his handle was so high and and his bag was completely, there was no turnaround jumper. There was pull-up jumpers off standstill dribbles. There was no counters. There was no bag work. There was nothing. Everything was a bump, bump, push shot at the rim. It was so elemental. And to see him today, knowing what he can do, knowing that he has so many counters, and knowing that this guy does have a different level athletically, man, like we've seen it this year when his legs are good, like he can get up to the nearly the top of the backboard and just erase your shot at the rim. I mentioned this in yesterday's live twice. His numbers post All-Star break, the blocks, rebounds, points, minutes, everything down. Everything down. Why is it? Doesn't he care about All-NBA? Doesn't he care about DPOY? Doesn't he care about All-Defense First Team? He might make Second Team All-Defense and not sniff an All-NBA team now, whereas at the All-Star break, if you told people Anthony Edwards and all these guys were going to be, you know, missing qualification, Cade was going to not qualify, you might actually say to yourself, Scotty could be Second Team All-NBA if he just keeps this up. So, why scale back the minutes? Why scale back the offensive load? Why scale back the defensive aggression? Doesn't he care about the in-season awards? Well, maybe there's something he cares about more. I've, I've often said Scotty is the ultimate winner, and that he is patient to a fault. Maybe part of preparing for the playoffs meant dialing down the aggression, scoring load, minutes, jumping, shot attempts. The Raptors do have Alex McKnney. They do have Rahan Malik. They do have a lot of really, really smart people on that staff. And Scotty has had probably the healthiest year. This is the healthiest year of his career. And you could argue it's the most physically taxing year of his career. It's the best defensive year of his career. It's the best year of his career, period. And no one's willing to really talk about it because the points per game went down by one. Are we really that like stingy about points per game that it's just like people are so like, like what if he, if he just scored two more points per game and he was at 20.1, all the credit comes back? But because he's at 18.1, we can't give any credit 'cause, 'cause what? I mean, his minutes were already low before All-Star break. He was like 30, 34 minutes. Now he's at 31 minutes post All-Star break. I mean, this is a guy who has sacrificed touches to allow Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett to get their looks. He has taken so much of a playmaking load in the second half of the season because Emanuel Quickley's been in and out of the lineup. He's played 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Look, man, if you want to tell me right now where would the Raptors defense be without Scotty Barnes, I guarantee you it's not top 15. Forget top seven. It's not top 15. And he's been a positive contributor to their offensive load as well. He's been a part of those really good offensive lineups. I'll tell you what, the Raptors have a better offensive rating when Scotty plays without BI than when BI plays without Scotty. I'll tell you that much. They have a better net rating. They have a better defense. He has been the best player on a 45-win team that is soon to be 46. And I don't think you can deny that. And that's not shade to Brandon Ingram or RJ Barrett or anybody on this team. But if you're trying to tell me with a straight face that he's not the best player on this team, you're insane. So here's the question to everyone who wants to victory lap on me and be like, "Ah, you just keep glazing, Scotty." Do you realize what I'm trying to do here, or are you so blind to it that you can't even see? Take off the blinders. Let me, let me put you on game. This is what we're doing here. When was Scotty's best offseason as a pro after year two? What was year two? A disaster. It was a media [ __ ] storm. Lots of negative energy. But where did that negative energy come from? Where does the negativity come from? The negativity comes from the response to the positivity. That's the sad part. If after his rookie season, no article was dropped that the Raptors have held the, you know, Scotty Barnes untouchable in Kevin Durant trades. If I'm not on my soapbox comparing him to, you know, Kevin Garnett and Scottie Pippen and Magic Johnson, then there's really no need to be upset that he's averaging 15 points per game. There's really no need. And if Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet and all these guys are not moved out to clear way for him, there's really no reason for OG Raptor fans to be super spiteful. But the truth is that when somebody gets praised, contract, reward in any way, there's always a side-eyed group of people that are willing to say, "Who are you to deserve that? Who are you to deserve being held out of Kevin Durant trade talk? Who are you to be held out of Damian Lillard trade talks? Who are you that we have to move Pascal Siakam to move on your timeline? You're never going to be as good as Pascal Siakam, etc., etc." And so the question becomes, number one, have I been right or have I been wrong? Have I been wrong or have I been early? The question is actually bogus because my goal really has only ever been to further the point. My goal is only to move us in the right direction. And I've, I've maintained this many times. If you're going to go too low, I'm going to go too high to balance you out. If I think the narrative around Scotty is too low, I'm going to go higher. I'm going to go as high as I need to to balance it out. So, if you, if the, if the right number is zero and you go negative seven, I'm going positive seven. You can call me an idiot all you want because to split the difference between the two of us, we're going to be right in the middle, which is exactly where we need to be. After his rookie season, a lot of people said he was a role player. I disagree. I said he was going to be an All-Star. Is he an All-Star? Yes, he is. When he got drafted, I said he's going to play right away. He's going to contribute right away. Did I pick him to be Rookie of the Year right away? No. But by month one, I was like, "This guy's going to be the Rookie of the Year." Did he win Rookie of the Year? Yes, he did. He's a two-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year by the age of 27. Am I wrong? Am I early, or am I right? I'm not right because I was putting him in Scotty Pippen talks and he's certainly not that good right now. And I was putting him in Kawhi Leonard talks. So clearly I'm wrong. But some of y'all were putting him in Bruno Caboclo talks. So are you right? That's crazy to me. That's the crazy part to me. We're just moving in the right direction. And the question that I have for you is, envision this from your boy Scotty's perspective. You are the highest-paid player. You are the last man introduced. You go into the Garden and you lose. You go into the Garden again and you lose. Now you come in front in in front of Scotia Bank Arena. You're hopeful fans, teary-eyed, praying that you don't let them down, and you let them down. Now you're down 3-0, and then you go down again, you get swept 4-0. The humiliation, the defeat. How hard are you working this offseason, bro? How motivated are you to shut everybody up? How big a defeat do you feel in spite of the fact that you won 46 games this season and improved on the win-loss record by 16 and presumably made Second Team All-NBA and made your second All-Star team? The season will end on the feeling that you have failed miserably. And guess what? That's what I want. It's what I want. Because the reason I want that is because I think Scotty is a type of player who responds well to failure. I think that failure has motivated the Detroit Pistons because they like the Raptors have winners. Cade Cunningham stared blankly into the canvas and said, "We're not this bad, bro. We're not this bad." And when he said that, there was something very genuine. I felt it. Cade is not a loser. Cade may have been on a losing team, but he's not a loser. Isaiah Stewart is not a loser. Jalen Duren is not a loser. Do you know what happens when winners suffer defeat? They rebuild. They get better. They get stronger. They strengthen. They work harder. This offseason, if you get humiliated by the Knicks, people are going to, um, my, whatever. Uh, please tell me Scotty is paying you for free promotion. You have earned it, bro. This is not promotion. This is truth. If you can't tell the difference, you might be in the wrong, you might be in the wrong place, bro. Uh, we got Lil John calling in. Lil John, what's up? Always better to have a dialogue than a monologue. What is good, man? >> How you doing, man? Can you hear me properly? >> I can. >> Yeah, the last time I called in, I called in a while ago and, uh, you said my mic was, uh, mic wasn't working. >> But it's, it's fine. I can hear you. >> All right. Yeah. So, uh, so what's your prediction for the series, just to start off? >> Are you really close? Are you really close to your mic? >> Yeah. >> I mean, I'm, I'm calling in through my laptop. >> You're calling in through your laptop. Okay. >> Is that calling through my phone? >> Your phone will be better. Yeah, your phone will be better. Try to call in from your phone. >> Yeah. Okay. Thanks a lot, Lojan. We, we will, we will resume that conversation. Let me just, let me just get the final thing off here. No matter what happens with the Raptors over the next couple of weeks, whether they win, whether they lose in six, whether they get past New York, surprise the whole world, whether they get swept, it doesn't matter. It's not. And, and don't understand it from the, it doesn't matter because no one ever thought they. Wait, are you back calling from your phone? No, that's still your laptop. Sorry. I'm going to remove kick. Okay. Sorry. Go again. Go again. I don't think that this is a matter of like, I don't have any faith. That's why I have no expectations. I think the Raptors internally have expectations. They have benchmarks. They have a way they want to show up in the playoffs. There are things that they want to learn about themselves, about their team, so they can build a better team. Obviously, if RJ Barrett shits the bed, you have a much easier time negotiating his contract. And if he averages 26 and he's the only one who shows up, maybe he has a much easier time squeezing you for a contract on a contract, by the way, that you're not going to pay 'cause you can't pay it. But that all being said, nothing bad can come of this other than injury. I, I don't want to tempt fate. Injuries would be bad. But apart from injuries that could derail someone's offseason, nothing bad can come of this. If you get swept, you find out this is fugazi and maybe you know, you make some big trades. That's a positive. If you are very competitive, you find out where your weaknesses are. You figure out what didn't work, what you need to fix, and guys feel very motivated. You definitely don't want to go out in the playoffs and get beat by 30 every single game. You want to have competitive losses. You don't want everything to be garbage time, but I don't think it's going to be that way. I think these guys care way too much. You want to find out who Darko is because maybe if you get swept and every game is a 30-point loss, you need to start exploring the chances that you don't have the right coach and you need to change coaches. Maybe that's the case. I doubt Darko is going to get fired. But as I said before, Brandon Ingram is healthy. Touchwood. RJ Barrett has been a positive box plus minus player for every single year he's spent with the Raptors after being a negative box plus minus every year. Negative box plus minus percentage every year he spent with the Knicks. Emanuel Quickley is moving in the right direction, although I think he's had a pretty poor shooting season. Hopefully, he can pick it up in the playoffs. Yaka Purle, I think it'll come down to health. I refuse to believe he has declined as badly as we are looking at right now, but again, remains a very impactful player and maybe that's the one piece you need to swap out. CMBB, Jacobe Walter, Jamal Shed are going to get their first taste of playoff minutes. Whether it is 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or 25 minutes, or maybe it is CMBB is starting in game four. I think this can be a very, very huge strength test for this team. It can be a motivation test. And don't underestimate the power of identity shift. We are not a lottery team anymore. We are a playoff team. We are a playoff team. You start thinking like a playoff team. You start thinking about how do we take that next step. You're no longer thinking about how do we make the playoffs because we've already made the playoffs. Now you're thinking, how do we win a second round? The minute you start thinking about solutions, you find solutions, right? It's such an interesting thing when you think about it. Uh, just saw the Hawks are resting their starters looking like Raps versus Cavs. Well, if it's Raps versus Cavs, shout outs. Maybe Raptors Nation will actually be a little bit more optimistic about this. I got to tell you, whether it's the Cavs or the Knicks, I actually don't believe that the Raptors should be favored or will be favored in either matchup. That doesn't mean the Raptors can't win. That's just saying that I think the Raptors will be significant underdogs in both matchups. I think the Cavaliers present wrinkles. They have shooters, guard creation, they have competent bigs, but obviously I trust that Yaka Purle is going to do a much better job in this series. And, uh, Vegan Grass saying, "Harden always kills us." Yes. Well, you look great as well, Rob. You have no reason to hide behind a cap or a hoodie. That's crazy, dude. It's not about how you look. It's about really how you feel. Um, for me, the calculus is always internal, not external. Orlando also has to lose for us to be five. Correct. Okay, we have Lil John calling in this time, perhaps from a cell phone. Lil John, what's up? >> Yeah. Um, so what I was saying was just, what's your prediction just to start off? >> Oh, your, your mic is even worse now. Uh, >> It's not that you're >> Yeah, I, I don't know. We, we'll try it out for like a minute and see, see if it gets better. Uh, my prediction would be that we lose 4-6 against the Knicks and four, sorry, 4-2 against the Knicks and 4-3 against the Cavs. >> Okay. Uh, well, it's, it's probably going to be the Knicks because Orlando is going to win tomorrow and, uh, Atlanta looks like they're going to be resting tomorrow. Um, I, I have some, uh, some, some ideas for the series. Like >> Okay, man. Unfortunately, your mic is dropping in and out and it's horrible. Like, do me a favor after, after the stream is up, just listen to, uh, timestamp 40, like 39 minutes and 50 seconds from when you called in, you'll hear what I'm talking about. >> Um, yeah. All right, man. I'm so sorry to hear that. Sorry. Okay. So, sorry. So, that happens. That happens sometimes. Um, yep. Hawks resting everyone. Cool. That's cool. I really don't care. Like, honestly, at this point, it doesn't matter who you face. I, I would have actually liked to face the Knicks just because I think there will be more eyes on the Raptors if they face the Knicks because they're a big market team. And I really do want people to watch this because again, you're walking in with bad contracts that nobody likes. You could walk out with contracts that people feel a lot better about if Emanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett show up. Let's be honest, the playoffs, recency bias, playoff bias, it's very real. Jerome James got paid because he played well in the playoffs after being [ __ ] all year. He just had one really good playoff series and people like, "Oh my god, I got to pay this guy so much money." Um, I agree with this as well. I, I will say this, like, I, part of me is just kind of preferring the Knicks. It's not because I'm not scared or whatever. It's partially because I just think that the added spotlight would be really cool. Playing against the Cavaliers, I mean, whatever. It, it's not going to be the same thing. And in that series, I definitely do not pick Scotty Barnes to be the best player in that series. I think, uh, I think Donovan Mitchell is really underrated. I, I don't understand why he's underrated, but he, he will probably be the best player in that series. But hopefully the Raptors can have the second, third, and fourth best players in that series, and I think the Raptors have a chance. Also, their shooting scares me a little bit. Like the Cavaliers are really good shooting team. And of course, Evan Mobley, he could, he could present some problems for the Raptors, but I think the Raptors have a really good matchup for him with Colin Murray Boils. And again, like the Raptors have gone 4-0 against this team and no one is going to pick the Raptors to beat.

This team because they faced a different version of this team. Harden was on the team. Garland didn't play one game. They didn't have a single point guard. So, it's just like regular season stuff doesn't translate to playoff stuff. That's why I largely think you shouldn't be afraid of the Knicks. And it's kind of sad to see my fellow Raptor fans conceding defeat to either the Cavaliers or the Knicks before we even start the series. The team does not need this. I mean, if you think it's delusional, then shut up, you know? But the team doesn't need this. They don't need to be listening to like trade RJ stuff and draft stuff right now. We're making the playoffs. Can we be excited about it? Like, I don't feel like maybe I'm maybe I'm maybe I'm hanging around with the wrong people. Maybe it's because I'm on PC so much and they don't respect the Raptors. So, now I think nobody respects the Raptors. But y'all let me know in the comments after. Are you excited for the Raptors playoffs? Because I genuinely feel like, you know, around this time, and again, I have never had a podcast during the Raptors, you know, playoff runs, right? I didn't have a podcast in 2019, but I always felt like other podcasts that I watched at the time, they were getting more and more views leading up to the playoffs. There was more excitement, there was more interest, there was more fan interest. But I'm looking at all the podcasts in the Raptor space, and the views are down from where they were around the All-Star break. People are kind of checked out emotionally, mentally. They they don't believe in this. They don't believe in Scotty. They don't believe in BI. So, I guess to those people, I would just say stay on that side, right? Stay on that side. That's all I'm going to say. Stay on that side. When the Raptors start winning, don't don't come around and just be like, "Oh, I always believed in this team." No, man.

Look, why are we so allergic to failure? Why are we so ashamed of failure? Why are we so ashamed that the Raptors could go out there and get beat for zip? Is that would that make this season any less worth celebrating for what this team has done, for what this team has accomplished? Or does that just poo poo the whole season and just say, "Oh, we wasted the season." This is such a loser mentality, man. I tell you, these playoff reps are going to be important. This integrity, uh, this integration of this identity as a playoff team is going to be important. The data that you get back, the feedback that you get back, the experience the players get, this is all very important. And don't rule out the possibility that you can win. You can win. You can you can go through and actually surprise the Cleveland Cavaliers because they have a notorious notorious game six and game seven dropper in James Harden and they have some ridiculously soft as cheddar bigs that I think Scotty Barnes and CMBB can really have their way with. And also don't don't underestimate the fact that the Raptor probably have a lot of confidence going into the Cavaliers because they've swept them all year. There's so much to say, right? The Raptors are a good defense. I would feel so differently about this team if they weren't such a good defense. They're really good defense. Top seven. Top seven in the league. It's a really distinct bar. Those Demar De Rozan teams were not top six defenses. The Raptors have spent most of the year top five in defense. When Scotty was really, really dialing up before Scotty took a step back. The Raptors were a top five defense in the NBA, bro. NBA top five with RJ Barrett and Grady Dick playing minutes. Dude, this team has gears. And don't forget, optical bias aside, Scotty Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Brandon Ingram all came into the league drafted like franchise level talents. Top four, top top five picks. Every one of them was supposed to be an all-star. Only two of them became an all-star. So, all I'm saying is hold a little bit of hope for the team that you've spent all year watching. For a team that you watched get stomped by the Knicks. Don't give up.

It's so sad to see Raptor fans interacting with Knicks fans. And Knicks fans are sunning us. They're coming in like, "Little bro, y'all remind us of who we used to be two years ago." Like, shut your [ __ ] ass up. Y'all have been failing in the playoffs for the last like my entire lifetime. I used to be a Knicks fan. I used to live in Washington Heights. I've been a Knicks fan. I have family who are Knicks fans. And they're telling me like, "Oh, Rob, I actually had I had my cousin reach out to me and she's like, I been talking a lot of [ __ ] about the Knicks cuz some of my Pensar basketball stuff ends up going on my Facebook profile." She's like, "I heard you've been talking [ __ ] about the Knicks. When the Knicks lose, you're going to be you're going to be rooting for the Knicks." And I was like, "Yo, Aaron, there ain't no way in hell I'm rooting for the Knicks this year. If the Raptors lose, I'm rooting for the Detroit Pistons. If the Detroit Pistons lose, I am 100% rooting for the San Antonio Spurs. First of all, when the Raptors lose, I'm already rooting for the Spurs and the Denver Nuggets and the OKC Thunder in the West. But in the East, it's Raptors, Pistons, or bust. I'm not rooting for anybody else. I'm not rooting for Bobblehead and Mr. Carl Anthony Towns ever. It's never going to happen. Like, I respect Jaylen Brunson. I have no respect for Cary Towns. I like I love OG Anobi. That's the only player on that team I really really like. That's it. Right. Clutch Tatum saying, "Let's go Boston." Yeah, I I really like uh I really like uh I really like Jason Tatum and Derek White. But yeah, like as a team, I can only I can only go go with the Pistons. I'm I'm not even kidding. Uh Cade and Dannis Jenkins and Assar Thompson and like Beef Stew is one of my favorite players, Jaylen Dur. I just have a lot of respect for that team. So if the Raptors get beat in the East, I'm rooting for the Pistons to come out of the East. And if it's not the Pistons coming out of the East, I'm not rooting for the East. I'm rooting for the West. So that's that's that's where I'm at. And you know, to my family and friends who are offended by this, you know, I don't know. Trade Carlson Towns then then see how I feel about that team, man. But I I can't I just can't. I I can't. How you not like Jaylen Brown? I just think he's overrated. It's kind of where I'm at. I think he's very overrated. But he's cool, you know? He's cool. He's very smart guy. Does his podcast. That's cool. Knicks will beat Boston like last year. The YouTube expert. Uh, dude, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That ain't happening. Uh, Ibrahim saying, "Raptors are my number two team. Respect on the Pistons. Love 10." Haha. Awesome. Yes, absolutely. Yes. I'm I'm willing to bury the hatchet on the Kaden Scotty stuff. We're never going to agree on that. And you know what? I'll maybe I'll end up being wrong in a few years and I'll just like quietly like make a video being like, "Okay, my bad. I was wrong." But apart from that, it shouldn't distract from the fact that the Pistons play the type of basketball that I just really love and they have a lot of players that I really love. And I'm just sick and tired of not being able to support this team because every single time I try to support this team, people be like, "See, uh, you don't get to you don't need to come on this side." No, [ __ ] you, man. You don't get to tell me who I get to support. No, man. The Pistons are a good team. Uh, I felt very, very bad for them when they were going through that, uh, losing streak. I made a video in support of them saying like they're not the worst team even in the league. Y'all are gassing it and now seeing them rise up. That's also a team by the way that went through their lumps in the playoffs last year. The Pistons went against this Knicks team. They pushed him to six. Uh Cade couldn't shoot unfortunately in that series. But if Kade could, you know, if Kade's jumper, if Kade's three-point shooting hadn't abandoned him, they might have beat the Knicks last year. And now we're talking very different things. I mean, are we like I don't know, man. Some people play fantasy like like people want to act like Jaylen Johnson's suddenly a franchise player and Scotty Barnes is a bum. Like what? No. Hell no. And people want to act like the New York Knicks are some sort of dynasty and I got to be afraid of them. No. Y'all just fired your coach last year because you disappointed in the playoffs. You got beat by Indiana, you know? So, like, let's not act like we're something that we're not.

This is a little bit like, you know what this feels like? I'm going be honest. This, you know what this feels like? This feels a little bit like the Toronto Raptors in like 2015, 2016 trying to punk the Wizards and then getting swept by the Wizards. Yeah, the Raptors were a better regular season team. The Wizards just had their had their number. If Scotty rises to the level that I think he is, if BI, you know, is who I think he is, if RJ Barrett continues a trend that he built in New York when he was a much worse player than he is now, if he can be that type of dude, um, that three-headed monster is a lot for the Knicks to handle with Carl New Towns at the rim, man. And you go back and you watch every single game the Raptors have played against the Knicks, you see how many times the Raptors had multiple starters out. How many times they played Grady Dick, Chucky Heeper, and actual minutes against this team. This is not a team that went out last night and tried to make a statement against the Knicks. I I think this is a team that is just marching to its own beat. And I I'm just trying to tell you in that locker room, they're not scared of Cleveland. They're not scared of New York. I don't know if they're scared of Boston. They might be. I don't know if they're scared of Detroit. I doubt it. But this is not a team like the only team I can genuinely think like maybe the Raptors just kind of have the yips against. Like they just probably just don't want any business is probably OKC. That's probably the only team cuz they've played Denver tough. They've played Minnesota tough. They've played Houston tough. They don't look they played they played San Antonio. I mean San Antonio is a little bit scary too with Victor Victor Rubinyama, but they played them tough, too. So, this is not a team that shrinks in the moment. I'd be very surprised to see Scotty come up majorly short. But, you know, again, this is there's just fa if it's failure, it's going to lead to more work. If it's success, it's going to lead to more work. There's no negative outcome. The only negative outcome here would be if Raptor fans genuinely just don't believe in this team so much that they just refuse to engage with this. I I think you need to I think you need to just enjoy this. Enjoy this. Forget about the draft picks. Forget about the contracts. Forget about Yakob's back. Forget about, you know, RJ Barrett trade, no trade. Forget about, you know, tank m tankathon trade machine and just enjoy this for what it is. Four to seven games in a playoff series for the first time since 2022. Should be fun. All right, I'll talk to you'all later. Have a great one. I feel a lot better today. Hopefully, this video was a lot better because of it. Peace.