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2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:38 pm
by Robbie
For the first time ever, a Canadian-based basketball team will be playing in the NBA Finals. :canada: But more on that later.

There's no doubt there's a huge rivalry between Vancouver and Toronto especially when it comes to sports. There's always a lot of animosity whenever the Argonauts, Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, and maybe even the Raptors when the Grizzlies were in town. This was especially apparent in the spring of 1994 when the Western Conference finals were between the Maple Leafs and Canucks. The local newspapers in Vancouver even held a contest on what they hate about Toronto.

But nevertheless, it's certainly not an all-hate relationship with Toronto and instead, a love-hate relationship :juggle: with ambivalence because there's still one huge exception - the Toronto Blue Jays! There was a lot of excitement in Vancouver when the Blue Jays played in the ALCS in 1985, 1989, and 1991, and were totally ecstatic when they won it all in the World Series of 1992 and 1993 with huge celebrations on Robson St. After Joe Carter's walk off home run on Oct 23, 1993, there were horns blaring all around the streets of Vancouver. :beer: :yahoo:

I suppose the main reason is because unlike the other Toronto teams, there is no equivalent Vancouver team when it came to baseball so it doesn't cloud their views as they still support their brother and fellow countryman in the form of the Blue Jays despite the hatred and rivalry with the city. That said, let's see if Vancouver thinks the same way about the Raptors after the departure of the Grizzlies to Memphis in 2001.

I've always wondered which NBA team do the majority of Vancouver root for. Good possibilities are:

1. Memphis Grizzlies - the legacy of the Vancouver Grizzlies.
2. Portland Trailblazers - the closest team geographically after the Seattle Supersonics left town as well.
3. Phoenix Suns/Dallas Mavericks/LA Lakers - when local man Steve Nash played for those teams.
4. Toronto Raptors - the remaining Canadian-based team and fellow countryman.

Now then, the Toronto Raptors have made it to the finals and no doubt they worked hard and earned their trip to the finals by upsetting the regular league-leading Milwaukee Bucks by coming back from an 0-2 deficit, and then winning on the road in Milwaukee in game 5 with a come-from-behind 105-99 score and then another come from behind win in game 6. With a better regular home season record, the Raptors have home court advantage and will hosting games 1 and 2 against the Golden State Warriors. As the western conference leading Warriors who have lots of experience in the final by reaching the final for the fifth straight time and winning 3 of the last 4, they will be a team to reckon with for sure. I'd say if the Raptors win it all, then they will win the respect of all Canadians who previously did not like the Raptors. :canada:

I know at least one person on Lionbackers don't like the Raptors, Knowitall. Others, who will you be rooting for?

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:59 pm
by Robbie
Despite the NHL is headquartered in Toronto so of course they know about the superstitions on the conference trophy, the Raptors were not affected about this at all and held up their own conference trophy.


Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 12:06 am
by Robbie
Robbie wrote:
Sat May 25, 2019 8:38 pm
There was a lot of excitement in Vancouver when the Blue Jays played in the ALCS in 1985, 1989, and 1991, and were totally ecstatic when they won it all in the World Series of 1992 and 1993 with huge celebrations on Robson St. After Joe Carter's walk off home run on Oct 23, 1993, there were horns blaring all around the streets of Vancouver. :beer: :yahoo:
I wonder if any companies will partnership with the Raptors with any special commercials the same way Coca-Cola took advantage of the Blue Jays in 1993 to create two modified Always Coca-Cola commercials.

The first commercial after the Blue Jays won game 4 by a score of 15-14 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the 1993 World Series, this was the first telecast commercial:


And then the first test commercial after the clinching game 6:

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 10:30 am
by Toppy Vann
I can't see many fans cheering for Memphis Grizzlies during the regular season but if I had to pick, like the Jays, I like Raptors.

Typically I don't watch basketball but started watching the Raptors-Bucks after the TO first two losses on the road and it's been a very long time since I watched a whole game.

I like the grittiness of the Raptors and their star in Kawhi Leonard and how cool he is and last night twice down 15 points they won defensive rebounds and came back to win 100-94.

Drake seemed to have a handler holding him back as the Bucks Coach was openly critical of a fan being given the leeway to go as far from his front row seat to give Coach Nick Nurse a shoulder rub in Game 4. Bucks coach was furious that Drake was trash talking his guys especially the Greek Freak who missed in Game 4 a series of critical late game foul shots.

I thought Drake was in the Bucks' heads. What that Bucks should have done is say 'We're focused on play on the floor not some fan' and meanwhile back stage complain to the league.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Mon May 27, 2019 9:23 pm
by Robbie
It looks like the city of Vancouver do support their brother and countryman if even the city government officials want to create their own version of Jurassic Park by hosting a family-friendly fan zone for the NBA finals.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... -1.5151890

I guess Vancouver still love the Raptors and Blue Jays, even though there's always this image about how Vancouver has a lot of animosity about Toronto and everything they stand for. Love-hate relationship and hypocrisy at its best. :roll: :juggle: :dizzy:

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 9:16 pm
by Robbie
The Raptors have struck first blood with a convincing 118-109 win in game 1.

It looks like Vancouver has indeed jumped onto the NBA Toronto Raptors bandwagon.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-new ... -bandwagon

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2019 8:39 pm
by Robbie
Good solid 123-109 win by the Raptors in game 3 on the road to take a 2-1 lead and win back home-court advantage.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:38 pm
by Robbie
After a slow start, a huge comeback 105-92 win by the Raptors led by a huge 3rd quarter to take a 3-1 stranglehold in the finals heading back to Toronto. A huge opportunity for the NBA championship to go to :canada:

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 12:33 pm
by Robbie
Pandemonium is expected in Toronto and likely in all of Canada for that matter if the Raptors can pull off a win at home in game 5 tonight:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ ... -1.5166269

For sure, it will be a repeat from Oct. 24, 1992 when reliever Mike Timlin's threw to Joe Carter over at first base in the 11th inning would mark the final out of the 1992 World Series. And then again on Oct. 23, 1993 when Joe Carter made his walk off home run.

Image

Will you all be watching game 5 tonight?

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 10:39 am
by Toppy Vann
Great game but Toronto shooters going cold for a bit there was a killer and GSW's 3 pointers were a killer at the end.

It sure sounded that the Warriors were going to use the Toronto fans cheering at Kevin Durant's injury (now believed to an Achilles!) as a motivator versus what some there said it was. Post game GSW players used the term no class for fans cheering but there's more to this story.

For those who didn't see the game or hear post game comments it went down like this and quite frankly on TV it's hard to distinguish the cheers at times.

Fans believed based on GSW team statements over the past weeks that Kevin Durant has a calf injury. However, he tumbled to the floor making a cut with what is now believed to an Achilles issue - meaning gone for a year!

So fans cheered him going down and Raptors players realizing this was NO CALF but more like ACHILLES started signalling to fans to stop cheering. Then fans gave KD a standing ovation and chanted his name as he exited the floor.

Leo Rautins on the broadcast was ripping the medical staff and team for Durant even being in the game. But Durant was big in scoring and should maybe have not get confident to try a move on a player. Burnaby's top physiology and GSW staffer Rick Celebrini was mentioned earlier in the day as giving the okay for KD to play.

Even I at home was in the moment kinda like wow, great he's out and no doubt being in the crowd and not focused on his ankle but on the Raptors D at the time might have let out a bit of a cheer. But had it been him dribbling up the court where he just fell down I'd have known it was likely Achilles as one summer in two different games I had two of our Strikers heading towards goal with no defender near either of the two go down as if shot from the grassy knoll and instantly BOTH teams knew this was SERIOUS and likely Achilles.

If you saw the KD move you'd realize no fan was looking at his ankle but the move.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 11:42 am
by WestCoastJoe
Of course fans will be relieved to see a talent like Durant out of the game. The Raptors players, and the fans, showed their respect as he left the court. Curry is trying to drum up emotion against the Raptors fans.

Thompson and Curry are deadly.

The Raptors tightened up just a bit at the end.

Fred had a shot, I thought, but passed to Lowry in the corner. Lowry took the shot. Long-limbed Draymond Green, an excellent defender, got just a piece of the ball. Kawhi had to pass off. He was double teamed. Nice to see him laugh when asked if he could have/should have shot the ball.

Kawhi, coming into the league, was not a shooter, nor a big-time scorer. He has built his game up immensely. The Raptors can win, but they do not have the luxury of pure shooters like Curry and Thompson. Kyle and Fred have hearts of champions, but can be inconsistent. Curry and Thompson are Hall of Fame bound as shooters. Danny Green is kind of a bust as a shooter. The Raptors only needed two points. The "play" they ran was poor. Might have tried to go inside to Gasol or another big, Siakam.

And they did not sufficiently challenge Thompson nor Curry on their 3's at the end.

Tremendous comeback though.

When asked about buying a home in Toronto, Kawhi included the words "not yet" in his answer. Hoping? You bet. Clippers or Lakers? Horrible teams.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:35 pm
by Toppy Vann
Kawhi won't need to buy a home in TO as some fan has offered a free penthouse or something like that for as long as he stays in TO.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:12 pm
by TheLionKing
Why did the Raptors go for 3 when all they need is a point for force overtime ?

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:09 am
by Toppy Vann
TheLionKing wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:12 pm
Why did the Raptors go for 3 when all they need is a point for force overtime ?
As I recall the with the ball moving around as it was trying to get a shot by the time it got to Lowery in the corner all he had on the clock was to shoot for 3.

Heard on the radio that with 49 sec on the clock the refs missed a call that would have Mark Gasol shooting two free throws.

https://nationalpost.com/sports/basketb ... marc-gasol

Here's a theory - Kawhi wants to win the title closer to his home in California , ergo Thursday night game. lol

The ideal but you don't play for that would to have G7 in Toronto to win at home BUT I'd rather see a clinch in Oakland.

Re: 2019 NBA Finals - Raptors vs. Warriors

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:40 am
by Robbie
Toppy Vann wrote:
Wed Jun 12, 2019 11:09 am
TheLionKing wrote:
Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:12 pm
Why did the Raptors go for 3 when all they need is a point for force overtime ?
As I recall the with the ball moving around as it was trying to get a shot by the time it got to Lowery in the corner all he had on the clock was to shoot for 3.
Or at least try to rush for the basket and try to get a foul if the 2-point attempt didn't work out.