Congrats to Toronto. But let's not kid ourselves. Toronto was lucky they got to play an injured Golden State team. Conferences should be abandoned when it comes to playoff seeding. I'd be in favor of getting rid of conferences all together.
Odd to see so many supposed Rockets fans on here talking about how lucky someone else was to play the Warriors because of injuries. Injuries are the reason they've won 2 of their 3 championships, but I hear nothing about that, I just hear that they were the 2-time defending champs looking to win 4 in 5 years. Not so much about how lucky they were that so many of the teams they faced had pertinent injuries to big time players.
Those are two separate things. If you want to talk about the Warriors being lucky that Love and Kyrie were hurt their first title, then I am all for it. If you want to talk about the Warriors being lucky that Chris Paul got hurt last year, then I am all for it. However that has nothing to do with the Raptors. The Raptors got incredibly lucky that the Warriors were without their best player (Durant) for the series, and their third best player (Klay) missed game 3 and left game 6 in the third quarter with the Warriors up 6. Hell that doesn't even count Looney and Cousins having no business playing. Every 10-15 years a team sneaks in, wins a title because of injury or circumstance and is forgotten. The last example being the Pistons last title. So I am happy for Raptors fans, but lets not kid ourselves. As for the Warriors.... they likely lose their first title if the Cavs are healthy..... they likely win their second Finals appearance if Green plays..... they likely lose in the WC Finals last year if Paul is healthy and they win this year if they were were healthy.
I wonder how Raptors legend DeMar DeRozan, who was sacrificed for the title, feels now. He deserves credit, as do fellow Raptors legends Jakob Poeltl, Patrick Patterson and PJ Tucker.
There are things u can't control like officiating, injuries, lucky bounces, and etc. And there are things u can control like roster, minutes, strategy, spirit, practice and etc. We need to focus our energy on the things we have control over so that we are best prepared for the game. If luck is not with us and we end up losing, so be it u can still say u did your best; if luck is on our side, make sure we do our parts to capture the opportunity. Not everyone has a chance but often when the chance does come people are not ready to capture it.
I'm not so sure a healthy Warriors team this year could beat a healthy Raptors team, remember Kawhi is injured (one bad leg) and so is Lowry (dislocated thumb). But the biggest reason why I think Raptors could beat a healthy Warriors team is because Clippers a team with only role players won 2 games against the healthy Warriors team. Now you think Kawhi's Raptors would do worst? Raptors could easily win 3 or 4 (which means they become champs). In regular season, Raptors swept the Warriors even with KD. So I can't say Raptors beating a healthy Warriors is out of the question. Given what I seen of Warriors this year, they are very beatable. And considering how well Toronto played during their playoff run against Sixers and Bucks. I would favor Raptors against a healthy Warriors in 7 games.
I don't think they were lucky. They crushed Milwaukee and looked like they could have beaten a healthy warriors team. Rockets forfeited their right to whine when they got crushed by the warriors without Durant I do think Kerr was their MVP though
I think Milwaukee went up 2-0, Milwaukee just deteriorated. I dunno if you think that is what being crushed feels like. All of a sudden Milwaukee forgot how to win games.
Raptors earned it and I really love how they came "out of nowhere". It's one of the very few times in the last 10-15 years that a team without a real narrative, whether forced by the media or not. Whatever coverage Toronto got was about Kawhi and I don't think there's been any talk of them having a real shot. Some expected they could defeat the Bucks and go to the Finals, but that was never a narrative that gained traction. Also the story of a star in purgatory getting traded for only to be the best player and immediately win them a championship is just unheard of and makes it very special. Warriors' injuries are just a symbol of the fall as the ego came prior, so in the grand scheme it doesn't matter a damn thing. It would've been great if the Raptors had closed out at home, but to shut it down in their building is somehow even more special considering it's the last game in the stadium and really feels like the end of the glory for them. Nobody wanted to see them win, I've spoken to some Americans in Seattle on my trip and even here in Canada and they all wanted to see someone else win it. 99% of the fans got what they wanted and cannot wait for next year. King of the North!
....Green didn't not play because of injuries. He was suspended for not following the rules of the game. 2019 - Raptors were the better team, went 6-2 against them this season. Had a better record, went 22-8 against the (better) West, Warriors went 22-8 against the (weaker) East. Had home-court advantage in the finals 2018 - Rockets win the series if old man Paul doesn't go down to injury. Rockets title window essentially closed with this series 2017 - Warriors win to no ones surprise, they were the best team 2016 - Cavs win because Green can't follow the rules of the game, no one is lucky here. Green needs to learn the rules of basketball 2015 - Warriors win because both Love and Irving are sidelined, still taken to 6 games with Dellavedova the Cavs' second best player Luck is the sole reason the Warriors have 3 titles in 5 years instead of 1
A mentally tough Rockets team can beat the Warriors. They can blame injuries or whatever, but it is the last team standing, No what ifs, just like we won 2 unless paid by refs.
The Raptors were not a better team than the Warriors in 2019. The Raptors won because the Warriors best player missed the entire series, their 3rd player missed 25% of the series... Cousins played hurt and Looney played after initially being ruled out (mostly because hurt he was better than Bogut). The Raptors are the 2019 NBA champs but they were not better than a healthy Warriors team.
Right call or should they get a ring too? Raptors won't give Valanciunas, Wright and Miles championship rings The Raptors handed out their championship diamond encrusted rings to their returning players still on the roster as well as Jodie Meeks and Eric Moreland who made the trek up to Toronto on opening night to claim their individual trophies from the championship year. Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green will get theirs as well. Jeremy Lin and Jordan Loyd who are both playing overseas will get theirs at some point. All told the 15 players on the roster on June 13th as well as the coaches and all team staff received a ring. But three players, three players with varying ties to the organization won’t be receiving rings. Delon Wright, Jonas Valanciunas, and CJ Miles, the three players involved in the Marc Gasol deal at the trade deadline in February will not be getting rings the Sun learned. Raptors GM Bobby Webster confirmed post-game Saturday that all three would not be getting rings. “Its not an easy decision,” Webster began, “but, to be honest I think it’s standard. I mean we did our homework, we talked to teams and I think – I don’t remember – there was maybe one scenario where a team offered one. I think it was Anderson Varejao in Golden State but I think it was a really unique circumstance.” It was clearly an uncomfortable discussion for Webster to be having. “It’s obviously not a feel-good thing but I think that’s the way the league is,” he said. Management with some input from the players made the decision on who was entitled to a ring. Webster was asked if the team had considered making an exception, like the Warriors did for Varejao, for Valanciunas, clearly the longest serving member of that trio at 61/2 seasons. ”I think Varejao was just different,” Webster said. “ I think they had to waive him for a roster reason. I don’t think they wanted to trade him. I forget but it was a little bit different. We obviously thought about it but at the end of the day it’s who was on the court June 13th. That’s kind of how we decided it.” Webster said there were no plans to let the players know in advance that the rings would not be coming. “No I mean you could easily start that and then where does it stop, right?,” he said. “They are no right lines here so I think it just kind of it is what it is.”
