00:00Let's move to basketball now. And it looked like the Toronto Raptors were starting to answer some
00:04of the questions that people had for them about that next step. They have, I would say,
00:11overperformed expectations so far this season. But now, now you belong in that tier. Can you do
00:17anything with it? And so far it seems like the answer is no. Again, looked like they were kind
00:22of coming out of it a little bit, but now they stumble back into it. Let's talk about a bit
00:26of
00:26a frustrating weekend for the Toronto Raptors. So, again, a tough weekend for the Raptors after,
00:46again, a couple of their better performances. One against the Suns about a week ago, and then the
00:52win over the Pistons. Two legitimate wins for this team that has been dying to get any kind of a
00:58win
00:58against any kind of a contender. And then the wheels kind of fall off a little bit. They had a
01:03great
01:03showing against the Denver Nuggets, but below a double-digit lead. Fourth quarter issues plaguing
01:07this team again. And then they just get the bricks beat off of them by the Phoenix Suns. And so
01:13that's
01:16it keeps coming back, and maybe it's unfair, but it does keep coming back to can this team compete
01:21with higher-level teams. And the answer, just consistently, is no. Now, we were saying this
01:27about the Knicks last year, but the Knicks were much more of a proven commodity than the Raptors
01:31were. And yes, New York then goes on the run to the Eastern Conference Final. I don't think this
01:36team has that in them. And they're just showing it over and over and over again that they just don't.
01:42There's no way you can say that they do. It just, it was, it was frustrating. It was really
01:48frustrating this weekend. A lifeless performance against the Phoenix Suns. And you can't afford
01:55to have that. I get it's a long road trip. They kind of poured everything into the matchup with
01:59the Nuggets on Friday night, I believe it was. And so to come out a little blah or a little
02:04flat
02:05against Phoenix, I guess, makes a little bit of sense. But you can't afford to have those right now.
02:11The Philadelphia 76ers are seventh. That's the plan. And they're half a game back of Toronto,
02:16who currently sit in fifth. And Toronto right now, like we said, I, there isn't really that,
02:22oh wow, that's the, the matchup that's going to get the Raptors into the Eastern Conference Finals
02:26again, because they just haven't performed against these high level teams. But if there's going to be
02:30any part of the bracket that's going to get them there, it's going to be facing Cleveland in the
02:35first round and then facing the Pistons in the second round. Both of those teams would be heavy
02:40favorites against Toronto. But I think that gives you a much better shot of getting through than
02:46having to go past the Knicks and the Celtics in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference
02:51Finals. So they need to stay right where they're at in the standings to have any hope, I think,
02:56of moving beyond just the first round. And they're not going to do that with performances like that
03:01over the weekend. So you can't afford to be coming out flat in these moments and in these games.
03:06Brandon Ingram has been an amazing story for the Raptors this season. But that was a pretty
03:10putrid performance when the team really needed a bit of a lift. And they, they really missed his
03:16scoring and they just, they couldn't overcome it. Purtle had a big night against the Nuggets and then
03:21was non-existent against the Suns. So that consistent nature against these high level teams
03:26is going to cost them, I think, as we go on. Now, there were some pluses. And I think the
03:31big
03:32positive to take is the play of Jacoby Walter. 14 points, four of five from three against the
03:37Nuggets on Friday. And then 13 points on three of three from three and five of seven from the field
03:43against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday evening. This was supposed to be what the bench was. And so
03:51in a year where Murray Boyles has been great, banged up right now, but it does feel like some of
03:56these
03:56guys haven't really progressed in the way that you would like them to. It is great to have someone
04:01like Walter coming in and just providing that spark for this Raptors team. And so it's nice to see him
04:07really start to heat up here for Toronto in big games where they need that spark and they need
04:12someone to step up in that way. But the problem is the bench was a bit of a liability in,
04:18in these
04:19two. And like the plus or minus stats against the Suns, they got blown out by a hundred. So everyone's
04:23going to look bad in that, but they lost the bench battle to the Nuggets who did a lot of
04:28work in the
04:28off season and around the trade deadline to improve the bench. But that's not a team you're losing bench
04:34minutes to if you want to be competitive against them. And so this was supposed to be the strength
04:39of the Raptors is you have the, the, the starters, a couple of all-stars on the team and just
04:45a solid
04:45group of starters. And then you have the rotation pieces behind you, these young players that can come
04:50in and you can just 2019 Raptors teams to death where there's just no minutes played by bad
04:56players. But Grady Dick has not been someone that they can rely on this season. And now you're losing
05:01bench nights to the Nuggets can't happen, cannot happen if this team wants to take any kind of a
05:07step in the post season. So it's nice that one of them have stepped up, but it just had, didn't
05:12work
05:13this weekend. And that cannot happen for the Toronto Raptors. So how much, I guess, what are your
05:20expectations for the Raptors going down the stretch? Let me know in the comments, like, is this just
05:25gravy? Am I overreacting to a team that wasn't expected to be like just in a playoff spot, let alone
05:33a top five, top six role? Let me know if I'm being a bit too harsh on them, or if
05:40you have the same
05:40concerns that I do. And of course, get Couch Potato Diary with you wherever you go. Just search for us
05:46on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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