The 2nd Season - 2019 Playoff Thread

Sausage in Section 17

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Probably you.

I am not a Raps fan, but the idea Toronto is not a basketball city, with knowledgeable fans like any other NBA city is nonsense. People should look how many NBA players come out of 3-4 million people that live closest to them and compare it to Toronto. I despise the Leafs, and reject the idea I need to be a Patriot and cheer for Canadian based teams, but I can't ignore how much of a basketball city Toronto really is. Is some ways the Raps and Leafs are a battle of the new young Canada vs the old traditions. Basketball is growing far faster than hockey, and as a truly international sport appeals more to the vast immigrant population of Toronto and Canada. The fact Don Cherry and his ilk are annoyed at basketball taking center stage, has made me go from wanting the Warriors to lose to actually hoping the Raptors win. A win for the Raptors is in many ways defeat for the Leafs. I really want to see a black American kid like Kawhi embraced as a hero in Canada, the way Canadians like Orr, Esposito, Borque, Bergereon, Marchand are in Boston.
I almost wholeheartedly agree. Except for the first sentence. The link Tony C provides below says it best. Check out the video with crowd reactions from Jurassic Park. And the interesting comparison of how the Warriors fans had no reaction when Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas was injured earlier this year in Oakland. Or the picture of Serge Ibaka urging his home crowd to show respect for Durant. When sports fandom becomes dehumanizing towards the opponents, sports loses. Toronto can choke on it after that display.
 

Kliq

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I wouldn't have cheered the Durant injury if I was in the crowd and this was a Celtics game, but I think the situation is being overblown. This is a fanbase that has been passionate for a while, and until this season were universally mocked for being a regular season team that always got steamrolled by the "real" contenders, and have suddenly found themselves a game away from beating one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport. When Durant went down, they had a sudden reaction that they suddenly had a much greater chance of winning the championship; and they cheered that. They shouldn't have, but I don't think it's an incredible indictment of the entire fanbase, and people panning he entire Raptors franchise and fanbase, and apparently the Toronto metro area in general, need to reel in their hot takez a bit. When Durant was walking off the court, the fans apparently gave him a standing ovation a "KD, KD, KD!" chant.

Also, especially for the fans in the arena, it wasn't immediately clear that Durant had seriously injured his achilles, for all those immediate reactors knew, he had just re-aggravated his calf again and needed to put some ice on it. A lot of this after-the-fact hand-wringing is indicating that Toronto fans cheered that Durant tore his achillies, but that isn't really telling the whole story since those people had no idea at the time how severe his injury was.
 

reggiecleveland

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As Kliq said the situation is entirely different, and the resulting play was break away hoop, in a potential elimination game.. The cheering initially was KD was killing them, then it looked like he was stripped. Lots of the cheering was shown on sportsnet was a replay of the break away. To compare the reaction of an entitled fanbase to the regular season injury of Jonas Valanciunas is without merit.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I wouldn't have cheered the Durant injury if I was in the crowd and this was a Celtics game, but I think the situation is being overblown. This is a fanbase that has been passionate for a while, and until this season were universally mocked for being a regular season team that always got steamrolled by the "real" contenders, and have suddenly found themselves a game away from beating one of the greatest dynasties in the history of the sport. When Durant went down, they had a sudden reaction that they suddenly had a much greater chance of winning the championship; and they cheered that. They shouldn't have, but I don't think it's an incredible indictment of the entire fanbase, and people panning he entire Raptors franchise and fanbase, and apparently the Toronto metro area in general, need to reel in their hot takez a bit. When Durant was walking off the court, the fans apparently gave him a standing ovation a "KD, KD, KD!" chant.

Also, especially for the fans in the arena, it wasn't immediately clear that Durant had seriously injured his achilles, for all those immediate reactors knew, he had just re-aggravated his calf again and needed to put some ice on it. A lot of this after-the-fact hand-wringing is indicating that Toronto fans cheered that Durant tore his achillies, but that isn't really telling the whole story since those people had no idea at the time how severe his injury was.
This. Also, as one of the broadcast team noted - I think it was Breen - fans were also cheering when Ibaka stole the ball and started sprinting down court with it so that got construed as some people celebrating Durant's injury.
 

Devizier

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All fans are douchebags on this level. The very idea of fanship is completely irrational to begin with. I hate this "fans of team X are worse because..."

The way people are discussing the Raps you'd think they were ultra hooligans throwing bananas.
 

JokersWildJIMED

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Anecdotally, you could see plenty of courtside fans celebrating and waiving "goodbye" to KD as he writhed in pain on the court. I thought it was a bad look "live", and haven't changed my opinion as I watched and listened to replays...and I was cheering for the Raptors.
 

snowmanny

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All fans are douchebags on this level. The very idea of fanship is completely irrational to begin with. I hate this "fans of team X are worse because..."

The way people are discussing the Raps you'd think they were ultra hooligans throwing bananas.
So they are somewhere between douchebags and hooligans.
 

Sausage in Section 17

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The idea that Raptors fans as a group are different, and worse than other fans was the original premise, so yeah that others did something similar, refutes the idea they are different.
It wasn’t my premise. I’m not saying they’re different. These things are by degree, and that scene last night was egregious. Any fan base behaving that way deserves derision.

My point was: When sports fandom dehumanizes the opponent, we all lose. I get that not everyone may feel this way.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Anecdotally, you could see plenty of courtside fans celebrating and waiving "goodbye" to KD as he writhed in pain on the court. I thought it was a bad look "live", and haven't changed my opinion as I watched and listened to replays...and I was cheering for the Raptors.
In fairness to the Raptor fans who were cheering and waving bye to Durant, they most likely thought Durant simply tweaked his calf and was done for the day. If they knew on the spot that this was an achilles tear I'm guessing that their reaction would have been far different. The fans there arrived starving for a championship and having Durant pull up lame with what appeared to be a minor injury surely excited them. Had this occurred in any other arena I'd guarantee that there would be a certain subset of fans acting in this same manner...….from cheering the turnover which is mistakenly being portrayed as cheering Durant going down, to the fans initial reaction of a championship now being closer, to feeling that Durant only reinjured his calf, to the large majority standing and clapping as Durant was helped off floor. Nothing during this timeframe seemed out of the ordinary from what you'd see in any other arena under the circumstances. One other factor not mentioned is that the ticket prices for that game likely drove away many "hard core" Raptor fans whose seats were occupied by corporate workers who may not be as in tune with understanding the etiquette of when an opposing player goes down.....this can be filed under the Toronto residents wanting to celebrate a championship rather than "Raptor fans cheering an injured player."

Also, heard a Isiah "Bad Boys" Thomas interview about his achilles tear which was interesting. His doctors told him when he first tweaked his achilles that it was a partial tear which can result in only some soreness that can be played through but that it will eventually blow and you will need surgery whether it be now, next year or down the road. Thomas didn't say it but it sure felt like he was throwing out the idea that this could have been a similar situation with Durant where he knew he needed the surgery at some point anyway so may as well compete in a Finals game knowing he'd still get paid this summer.
 
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DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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This turn of events really feels like Durant is going to wind up a Warrior for the rest of his career. He and Green seem to have smoothed over their beef from earlier in the year and its clear as day that the the other star players have a lot of love/respect for KD. He also may have managed to finally win over whatever Warrior fans that didn't "accept" him as part of the core of the team.
 

Reverend

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So basically, the game tonight is a sorta side-note to its meaning for the great NBA free agency soap opera? Is that correct?

This is epic.
 
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djbayko

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So basically, the game tonight is a sorta side-note to its meaning for the great NBA free agency soap opera? Is that correct?

This is epic.
I'm not sure how much this game really means. At this point, I'd put money on KD, Klay, and Kawhi staying where they are, win or lose. For me, the only one that was doubtful during this series was KD, and his injury instantly changed that.
 

ElUno20

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They have got to clean this shit up in the offseason. Curry and Klay are the main offenders of this crap. Enough with these bullshit 3pt foul calls
 

luckiestman

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They have got to clean this shit up in the offseason. Curry and Klay are the main offenders of this crap. Enough with these bullshit 3pt foul calls
Slight irony in that this began getting called all the time after the Kawhi injury.
 

Kliq

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Being an NBA ref must be the worst job in the world. The way the players react to every call is brutal.