Things are looking good for the Toronto Raptors, who are currently 7-3 and sitting in 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Demar Derozan is leading the league in points per game, Kyle Lowry has quietly had a solid season so far as well, and the Raps have played well considering they have faced some very tough opponents. But no one seems to care, including myself.
I find myself thinking back to last year…how close we were. The Raps made it to the conference finals, losing in 6 games to Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. And despite how well Toronto plays in the regular season…it’s just that; the regular season. We all know the Raptors are a good team… a playoff team. We know they’re destined to finish in 2nd – 4th in the conference, primed for a playoff series against probably the Bucks, Bulls, Pistons, etc. They should win, and likely will. But then they will face a bigger, badder, better task – as they did last year.
I know most of you are probably saying, woah Kat – let’s not get ahead of yourself. But I can’t help it – I find myself in perpetual state of Raptors apathy. This is a very good team that will likely never advance further than a couple playoff rounds because the best player in the world is standing in our way. So long as Lebron James is healthy and an opponent of Toronto, we are in trouble.
Lebron averages almost 28 points per game in his career against the Raptors – a stat that only increases when the postseason comes around. In order to compete with Cleveland the Raps need that 3rd piece. Jonas Valanciunas and the oft-injured Demarre Carroll are not the answer to what prevents us from getting over the hump. We need a huge addition from Ujiri, that the Raps historically don’t make – but I remain hopeful.
I’ll continue to watch, cheer and hope for this team. But mainly I hope that Masai feels the same way that I do and is reading this!!