It's game day once again and today we get to see what the Blazers can do against a strong offensive team that went into the second round of the playoffs and pushed Cleveland to 6 games. The Raptors are on their 3rd preseason game as they have split a couple with the Clippers. Both games played in Honolulu. One thing you do not see often is a team traveling to play a B2B in preseason. So i wonder exactly what we will see from Toronto.
Last night Kyle Lowry sat out DNP so he should see minutes. You might see a little less from both Ibaka and Derozan as they both played but to this point Dwayne Casey has yet to play anyone over 25 mins so i guess we will see. Fact is this team has some depth and they should be tough no matter who is on the court.
The Raptors have their core wrapped up now Derozan and Ibaka are signed and the rest CJ Miles, Lowry and Valanciunas are set to take things to the next level. Something tells me they are the ones to contend against the Cavs again this year. But of course we all watched what Wade did last night so the Cavs are going to be formidable as usual.
Word on the raptors is they want to start opening it up a bit more and use the 3 point shot to expand their offense. This is pretty much the same philosophy Stotts is using so watching this game look to see how the Blazer defend. They will try to get some from CJ Miles but Fred Van Fleet seems to be the spark plug they have been looking for off the bench. If the Raptors find another solid scorer off the bench to augment Derozan, Lowry and Miles then they will be scary good.
Jonas Valanciunas is obviously not going to totally dominate Nurkic but he is very skilled and very big. This is where we see just how fast Nurkic is and what the extra weight loss is going to do. I watched some lightning quick moves in the Blazers preseason opener. My bet is Nurk will beat Jonas on the boards and will score at will. If that is indeed the case the future for the Blazers is pretty bright.
The addition of KJ McDaniels this year might also be a huge pick up for the Raptors. He has been looking for a good place to land and some think he was the perfect fit for this team.
Blazers should be able to hang well with the Raptors but my questions again come when the bench starts tom take over. Stotts again will only play the starters limited minutes. Everyone from Pat and Layman to Harkless and Aminu need to step up and show that they can contribute. We all have been talking about Swanigan and Collins but if the Blazers don't find a way to shore up the wing and guard backup minutes this season is going to fall short. My projection has been 48 wins but 50 could happen. However if they simply cannot find consistent help from the first three guys off the bench then those numbers are pure fantasy with the way the west will be won.
My Pick tonight to watch will be Turner.
Turner needs to show he is solid and can help this team win games. He is the link that needs to hold in the chain so to speak.
Go Blazers
Kjironman is a fan!!!
