NBA Thread

[jaysblue]

My work is sending me to Toronto during the week of the Raps home opener so I splurged and got a ticket (center court, row 2 of the upper level). This will be my first time in Toronto and my first Raptors game.

 

Any advice on things to do before/after the game?

 

Do players ever interact with fans at all?

 

Are there better or worse places to buy food and merch in the arena?

 

Any other advice?

 

How much were tickets?

 

Corks inside the Longos is a great bar to head to before the game. Great beer selection and food at very reasonable prices. The wings and pizza are quite good. Sit at the bar though if you could for faster service, but for the most part the service is pretty good. Will be busy before Raps games.

 

If you want a good place for cocktails and late night eats, Ellven is actually quite good. A little on the pricey side, but the food is good and its right outside the Scotia Arena. You might bump into a player around that area or one of the coaches inside the restaurant later after the game, since some players/coaches live in the condos up above. If you want something more casual and are good to walk further, Bar Hop on King Street or the location on Peter and Queen are great for craft beer and late night eats.

 

Inside the arena, try to visit the Hot Stove Club or Scotia Club at halftime. Great bartenders, and drinks and could squeeze in a good app if you order right away or could go before the game and order for halftime. Hot Stove Club is always jammed packed for Leafs games, though for Raps games its always easy to get a spot. When it was the ACC club, everyone was allowed in but since its now the Scotia Club, sometimes they give you a hard time when entering. I'm good friends with one of the bartenders at the Scotia Club. Either one is good though!

 

For merch, the Sports Chek across the street is really good. If you want stuff customized then Real Sports inside the arena is your best bet.

[Captain Adama]

How much were tickets?

 

Corks inside the Longos is a great bar to head to before the game. Great beer selection and food at very reasonable prices. The wings and pizza are quite good. Sit at the bar though if you could for faster service, but for the most part the service is pretty good. Will be busy before Raps games.

 

If you want a good place for cocktails and late night eats, Ellven is actually quite good. A little on the pricey side, but the food is good and its right outside the Scotia Arena. You might bump into a player around that area or one of the coaches inside the restaurant later after the game, since some players/coaches live in the condos up above. If you want something more casual and are good to walk further, Bar Hop on King Street or the location on Peter and Queen are great for craft beer and late night eats.

 

Inside the arena, try to visit the Hot Stove Club or Scotia Club at halftime. Great bartenders, and drinks and could squeeze in a good app if you order right away or could go before the game and order for halftime. Hot Stove Club is always jammed packed for Leafs games, though for Raps games its always easy to get a spot. When it was the ACC club, everyone was allowed in but since its now the Scotia Club, sometimes they give you a hard time when entering. I'm good friends with one of the bartenders at the Scotia Club. Either one is good though!

 

For merch, the Sports Chek across the street is really good. If you want stuff customized then Real Sports inside the arena is your best bet.

 

Bar Hop is a must for anyone who likes craft beer.

[KevinGregg]

How much were tickets?

 

600 dollars after all the fees! But everything else on the trip is paid for by work so I guess that's how I can justify spending that much

 

If you want a good place for cocktails and late night eats, Ellven

 

Awesome, will have to check it out, thanks for all the tips!

[KevinGregg]

Bar Hop is a must for anyone who likes craft beer.

 

Definitely gonna add this one to the list as well

[Bobthe4th]

A Rudy Gobert inspired France give the USA their first competitive loss in 59 games.

 

He’s such a good player, and the Jazz have a team that quietly could be a contender this upcoming season.

[connorp]

A Rudy Gobert inspired France give the USA their first competitive loss in 59 games.

 

He’s such a good player, and the Jazz have a team that quietly could be a contender this upcoming season.

 

People say that about the Jazz every year

[Bobthe4th]

People say that about the Jazz every year

 

Haha, yeah but it’s different this time. They’ve made some good acquisitions this offseason. And there aren’t any obvious Western Conference superpowers this year (unless you’re a believer in the Lakers).

[Abomination]

LMFAO

 

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/miami-based-porn-site-makes-10m-bid-to-rename-miami-heat-venue

 

It won't happen, but it's a pretty good promotion stunt to make the bid and get the publicity from it.

[Boxcar]

BangBros.com said on Twitter it submitted its bid to rename the venue BangBros Center - which it said could be shortened to BBC

 

 

Omfg this is hilarious

[Boxcar]

Klay Thompson is such a bitch

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/klay-thompson-laments-injury-wouldve-won-didnt-get-hurt/sn-amp/

 

Ok there bud

[Captain Adama]

Klay Thompson is such a bitch

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/klay-thompson-laments-injury-wouldve-won-didnt-get-hurt/sn-amp/

 

Ok there bud

 

Looking at the full quote in context, it doesn't sound nearly as bitchy. At least he acknowledged that his teams also got lucky the last few years with opponent's injuries.

[Krylian]

Sooooo Lowry was going to hold out and force a trade if the Raptors didn't extend him. Classy guy.

[Dr. Dinger]

Sooooo Lowry was going to hold out and force a trade if the Raptors didn't extend him. Classy guy.

 

Maybe so, but he’ll still be a very tradeable asset on such a short-term extension. Really it’s just a massive cap hold that aids the Raptors’ pursuit of Giannis. Lowry leveraged a championship into an additional $30M, good for him. He’ll probably retire after next season anyway. Masai has tried to trade Lowry on several occasions so it’s not like there’s much loyalty in either direction.

[Krylian]

Maybe so, but he’ll still be a very tradeable asset on such a short-term extension. Really it’s just a massive cap hold that aids the Raptors’ pursuit of Giannis. Lowry leveraged a championship into an additional $30M, good for him. He’ll probably retire after next season anyway. Masai has tried to trade Lowry on several occasions so it’s not like there’s much loyalty in either direction.

 

No. There's no loyalty at all. This kind of act just shows how much the balance of power has shifted to the players. They really can pretty much do whatever they want.

[jays4life19]

Hahaha

 

[Spanky99]

Hahaha

 

 

Heh... saw this last night. Funny s***, they all cracked up. RJ Barrett's goooooood. 7 former Blue Devils were playing in that game.

[glory]

Lowry actually did the Raps a favor, I think. There isn't a single team out there that will want to trade for an expiring contract this season. The FA market sucks in 2020. Everyone is saving up for the summer of 2021 when Giannis, Kawhi, LeBron, George, Beal, Oladipo, etc, are out there. So by getting an extra year of Lowry, he actually becomes a bigger trade piece because a contract that large that expires in 2021 will be more coveted. Not that I expect the Raptors to trade him since they will also presumably be looking to preserve cap space for the 2021 free agent market, but cap space for next season is meaningless. Might as well give Lowry a little bonus for the championship and keep the dream alive for 2021. If Lowry demanded a long term deal, then that's a different story. But one more year on top of his existing deal? Perfect for the Raptors.

[Krylian]

Lowry actually did the Raps a favor, I think. There isn't a single team out there that will want to trade for an expiring contract this season. The FA market sucks in 2020. Everyone is saving up for the summer of 2021 when Giannis, Kawhi, LeBron, George, Beal, Oladipo, etc, are out there. So by getting an extra year of Lowry, he actually becomes a bigger trade piece because a contract that large that expires in 2021 will be more coveted. Not that I expect the Raptors to trade him since they will also presumably be looking to preserve cap space for the 2021 free agent market, but cap space for next season is meaningless. Might as well give Lowry a little bonus for the championship and keep the dream alive for 2021. If Lowry demanded a long term deal, then that's a different story. But one more year on top of his existing deal? Perfect for the Raptors.

 

That's a very good point.

[43211234]

538 with a new basketball metric: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/introducing-raptor-our-new-metric-for-the-modern-nba/

 

 

Steph Curry with the 26 WAR season in 2016 - in an 82 game schedule

 

This metric also loves Kyle Lowry's prime. Had a 16 win season in 2016. Derozan peaked at 6 WAR in 2018.

[jays4life19]

Timberwolves' Andrew Wiggins: "There's not 100 players better than me" His response when asked about being left off a top 100 list.

 

He's sort of right. There's about 300 players better than him.

[Krylian]

Timberwolves' Andrew Wiggins: "There's not 100 players better than me" His response when asked about being left off a top 100 list.

 

He's sort of right. There's about 300 players better than him.

 

Wiggins sounds like a JP Arencibia type... Doesn't know how bad he truly is.

[Captain Adama]

Pascal Siakam got a 4 year 130m max contract extension Edited October 20, 2019 by Captain Adama

[Dick_Pole]

I really wish they would have waited on that to see how he performed as the number one offensive option this year. I mean, what's the benefit of signing now? His feelings don't get hurt? If he does well this year and they offer him the same contract at the end of the year he's not going to say no.

 

Ujiri did well with Lowry but this was not a smart move. Same with DeRozan but then he managed to get out from under that one (whether he thinks that or if he actually thought that was a sacrifice that needed to be made to get Leonard, only he knows). It's like he likes spending all his cap space on home grown players then when there is an opportunity to add, he has to bust his ass to make something work. What if Siakam stinks it up this year and Anunoby is the one who steps it up?

 

EDIT: Yeah I know, whoever the f*** his name is, is the actual GM.

[Dick_Pole]

You make some good points. I don't think Siakam is as whiny and sensitive as American born players would be, but he did make is comment about "where's my free house?" or whatever it was that was offered to Leonard when the city's suck up mode was at full force. It sounded like a joke but who knows.

 

Still I think the biggest risk here is how he will perform being the team's top offensive option. I would have liked to see that before committing big money to him.

[dineke]

Some third or fourth options get max money. Even if he fails at being the first option he's already proven that he can be the second option on a championship team and provide all-nba defense.

[Dick_Pole]

Alright, I concede defeat. Greatest move ever.

 

Siakam being the #1 option on the Raptors right now is more a function of it being a 45-50 win team in a joke conference than Siakam being a consensus top 30 player, but we will see what happens. Hopefully I am wrong.

 

Point totals for tomorrow's game is 231.5. I know it's against the Pelicans, but still it seems high for a team that I expect to have challenges on offense but be a rock on defense this year.

[Dr. Dinger]

This is a great contract, the more I think about it. It only runs through his age 30 season, so we’re really not taking on any ugly years. It’s a very tradeable contract in this NBA climate. It leaves the Raps with still plenty of room to sign a max player in 2021, and Siakam has already proven he can be the #2 option on a championship team. He’s got an all-around game with no glaring weaknesses, he’s a tenacious defender, and seems like a very likable and humble guy as well. As far as NBA contract toxicity goes, this is about as good as it gets.

[glory]

Jaylen Brown's contract makes Siakam's look like Christian Yelich's by comparison.

[Abomination]

FFS Kyle. Stop yapping at the damn refs.

[Krylian]

FFS Kyle. Stop yapping at the damn refs.

 

But he's a champ now. Surely that has to make a difference.