Basketball in Canada

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Still don't know if things would go full Vancouver if they lost in game 7 but I know it wouldn't be pretty.

Yeah, I think it would get bad. All this anticipation only to be left high and dry?

This is building to a catharsis. The explosion is going to happen one way or another.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Yeah, I think it would get bad. All this anticipation only to be left high and dry?

This is building to a catharsis. The explosion is going to happen one way or another.

One really never knows. There have been inquiries into sports-related riots in Vancouver, Montreal and other cities and while a number of factors were cited, often it's just an intangible ("spark") that sets things off. It's all highly unpredictable.

[Denscity]

Was going through all the negative news on the Raptor's fans (way more articles than I thought) and found this:

"Raptor's fans heckle, swear at Warriors' Stephen Currie's mother Sonya."

[WhipperSnapper]

Game 5 of the ALDS vs Texas that featured the flip. I'd be pleasantly surprised if some fans don't have a psychotic episode or, simply an excuse to destroy should the Warriors win the championship.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

What about the fans chanting "Fuck KD" in Jurassic Park after he limped off?

Or the two guys who sucker punched this Warriors fan on Bremner?

• Video Link

These big moments always bring out some real ugly antics. Still don't know if things would go full Vancouver if they lost in game 7 but I know it wouldn't be pretty.

Millions of homo sapiens. Millions of potential behavioural influencers and variables.

Not unique to Toronto Raptors fans in any way, shape or form.

[TorontoDrew]

Never thought of it that way.

[drew]

Cathal Kelly's take in the G&M: KD's re-injury and the shameful way Golden State pushed/allowed him to play is probably the best recruiting pitch Kawhi is going to see for staying in Toronto.

Load management for the win.

^ I dunno. Must win game and your best player is cleared to play? If GS lost this game with an able bodied KD on the sidelines, there would be larger questions to answer versus allowing him to play (he was medically cleared wasn't he?) and he suffers a possible torn Achilles. This type of injury is more or less random - I don't think it's directly related to his other injury.

[suburbanite]

Also to note that Kawhi's load management was a a unique situation negotiated with the league. They do not want a star player resting games, in their mind, if you are medically cleared to play, you play.

Teams obviously sometimes choose to disregard this (Most famously is Popovich writing "old" as the reason Tim Duncan was listed DNP), but if a team tried to get away with Kawhi playing <60 games next year they would likely face hefty fines.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by drew

^ I dunno. Must win game and your best player is cleared to play? If GS lost this game with an able bodied KD on the sidelines, there would be larger questions to answer versus allowing him to play (he was medically cleared wasn't he?) and he suffers a possible torn Achilles. This type of injury is more or less random - I don't think it's directly related to his other injury.

I'd also mention that in cases such as these, the player *absolutely* wants to play. They're never *forced* to play by their team and its doctors, trust me.

[drew]

And further to that KD's 11 points were necessary to seal the win in the end.

You also can't discount the effect on the game in the early going when he was making 3's at will.

Think about it this way - if GS now comes back to win the series in 7 - playing KD will have been the difference - because without him, TO wins in 5.

[TorontoDrew]

I don't think the fans in Toronto will react too bad if (a big IF) the Raptors lost game 7. This city is used to losing people. We will do what we do best, drown our sorrows and talk about how next season will be the one.

[TorontoDrew]

Hope they catch those idiots. one would think in the era of cameras and smart phones everywhere that even the dumb would know better.

[Rollerstud98]

One play I’ve been wondering about last night was the one where Leonard was in the middle and made the pass to the outside 3 corner but the pass ended up being to nobody. What I’m wondering about is what is the rule with opposing team players actually standing on the court and gesturing for the ball? None of the commentators seemed to make any comments on it but it seems like there should be a rule about actually being on the field of play like that.

[Denscity]

Warriors fan gets sucker punched in Toronto??

[TorontoDrew]

Wow! This is shocking to me but awesome! Maybe Montreal getting a team is in the future?

Montreal's Jurassic Park to take over 2 downtown streets for Game 6


Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...173444?cmp=rss
'They have the support of an entire country,' says one of thousands of Montreal fans excited for the big game



Montreal is shutting down two downtown blocks tonight to allow people to cheer on a team from the city's traditional bête noire: Toronto.

The very notion would have seemed far-fetched, until Monday night.

That's when several thousand enthusiastic fans turned up for the impromptu "Jurassic Park'' on Peel Street to cheer on the Toronto Raptors in a losing effort against the Golden State Warriors.

"We were all Canadian that night and it was very emotional,'' said Alain Creton, head of the Peel Street Merchants' Association and owner of Chez Alexandre, a popular Parisienne brasserie.

Creton said he was astounded by the number of young people from all backgrounds who were crammed up against his terrace that night.

On Wednesday, Mayor Valérie Plante announced the city will do it again Thursday night — this time on both Peel and Crescent streets — as the Raptors attempt to eliminate the Warriors in California and capture their first NBA championship. Tip off is at 9 p.m.

For one of the key figures championing an expansion NBA franchise for Montreal, the gatherings — and the Raptors' exhilarating run — have only served to help his own long-term goal.

"It certainly validates our findings that basketball is indeed very popular in Montreal,'' former senator Michael Fortier told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

"This run ... has demonstrated to people that don't live in Canada that our interest in basketball isn't just concentrated in the GTA.''

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Wow! This is shocking to me but awesome! Maybe Montreal getting a team is in the future?

If I'm not mistaken, Montreal is the largest city without an NBA team.

Now it's certainly lower on the list of potential future relocations or expansion franchises than somewhere like Seattle, but there's certainly a case to be made there (ideally, the next expansion would be to both Seattle and Montreal - 1 in the east and 1 in the west).

[TorontoDrew]

I didn't know but they are already trying to get a team.


Montreal must prove to NBA it has value as an expansion city
https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/...xpansion-city/

[le calmar]

It would be pretty ridiculous if the Raptors win and there is some kind of riot as a result. Montrealers are also hungry for big celebrations and even though that would be surprising, it is not out of the realm of possibilities.

[TorontoDrew]

Let's hope not. Aside from a handful of assholes let's show them how we celebrate (or lose) without trashing our cities.

[logan5]

All's we need now is a big crowd in Vancouver to complete the riot hat trick.

I do t think Raptor Fever has hit Vancouver the way it has in other places though.

WE THE WEST.