it was a sunday night. i was watching game of thrones and i thought to myself, this is really boring. let's watch something else
i had heard a bit about the toronto raptors being very good, and that they were playing that evening, so i thought, hey, why not tune in and support my home team.
i learn that the current series was tied at 3-3 in the quarter finals. back and forth action between the teams, and the score is tied by the last minutes. and then this happens:
after witnessing this live, my mind was blown. these kind of moments only happen in cheesy sports animes. seeing the entire stadium silent and still, as the ball audibly bounces on the rim, transition instantly into stadium wide pop off of emotions, i knew this moment right here is history in the making. see leonard in the next canadian heritage minute
after watching this, i took some time to look up some more recent highlights, read up on some wikipedia pages and reddit forums regarding our team, and i am now a self declared expert and the raptors number 1 fan
just kidding, i am no sports expert at all. in fact, i had 0 interest in sports before this fateful day, and am definitely a bandwagoner. but i am going to give my shitty analysis of our godly team anyways, because i love them.
OUR STARTERS
these are the main players of our team. they're all very important, good, and cool
KAWHI LEONARD
kawhi leonard is the face of the raptors this year. he is amazing at everything and can do anything. he's built like a machine and plays like one too. he has insane composure and will never lose tempo, leading our team to many victories.
i would say his best attribute is his ball control. he's got massive klaw hands that can grip the ball with ease. with one hand, he can wave a ball around like a stick.
here's a video of him recieving a pass with one hand, then faking a pass in one single motion
what a god. kawhi leonard is very humble, straightforward, and a relatively introverted on camera. he has no social media and rarely shows emotion, but when he does, you know he's a fun guy KYLE LOWRY if kawhi leonard is the face of the raptors, then kyle lowry is the heart. although not officially, everyone views lowry as the captain of the raptors. he is reliable and always doing what he can to support the team. and while the desired call might not always come out, his endurance and constitution is extremely impressive. take a look at how he gets knocked down, gets right back up, and knocked down instantly again. and what's most impressive, is that he always bounces right back up, makes some 3s, then buys his teammates custom beats headphones to celebrate the win PASCAL SIAKAM pascal siakam is a real underdog from cameroon. he was late pick in the drafts, but now shines in his games with his long, quick, spaghetti arms that block, dribble, pass, and shoot with ease. he's also 6'9'' (nice) this relatively new player's rate of improvement, nobody could siakamin'(get it? 'see it coming' haHAA) but he trained harder than anyone. DANNY GREEN danny green is a beast. also known as the green ranger, he stands at the 3 point line, dials in, and shoots the basketball as if it's an arrow from a bow and the net is his quarry. Do what you do, @DGreen_14. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/Fy0veWgaZz although his defence is also great, the raptors can always rely on an open danny green to land his 3 pointers. MARC GASOL originally from spain, gasol has been playing pro basketball for 10 years. he is an experienced veteran, and that's what makes grampa gasol a monster. he's the biggest raptor, at a height of 7'1. take a look at this video you might not have noticed, but that brick wall that iguodala runs into is actually just marc gasol setting an extremely sturdy screen for his team. iguodala is a strong player, but gasol's defense could stop a speeding truck. THE MAIN BENCH these are the ones we can expect to see rotate in for a good portion of every game SERGE IBAKA serge ibaka, aka iblockya, aka big cocka. serge is congolese, and he's the one goes in when grampa gasol gets tired. although he's not as tall or as intellectual of a player, ibaka is a god in his own right. this moment right here was pivotal. we were trailing from huge leads early on, but our defense stepped up and we started catch up. ibaka made the block and shot that gave us the lead for the first time in the game, and the raptors turned that lead into a borderline runaway game and despite a bit of a language barrier, ibaka is a beloved friend to his teammates, and has a great series on youtube where he cooks them interesting food, such as nice, delicious, beef penis pizza.
how hungry are you is a great series on youtube, where you can get to know the mafuzzy chef himself, ibaka, as well as his teammates who sit down and enjoy his cooking with him
FRED VANVLEET freddy is our shortest player at around 5'8'', more than a whole foot shorter than most other players! but this doesn't stop him from having some of the strongest presence when on defense. incredibly persistent with his long chonky arms, he keeps even the greatest shooters such as steph curry stuck in useless state when he's guarding. STOP THAT, @FredVanVleet! ??#WeTheNorth | #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/hbTjEEWmb5 the vanvleet motto is "they feed it, i yeet it". sometimes danny green has an off day, so vanvleet steps up to the plate and locks in the 3s that danny missed NORMAN POWELL norman powell comes in for a few minutes every game for a burst of his strong and quick offense. OTHER INTERESTING AND NOTEWORTHY PLAYERS OG ANUNOBY og anunoby played a ton during our run but i had not jumped on the bandwagon while he was one of our main players. from what i've read, he's a great guard, and he's been healing from a ruptured appendix while the other boys have been making their run. PATRICK MCCAW every once in a while, patrick mccaw comes in to close a quarter. he doesn't see much play, but seems to be the raptor's go to man if everyone else needs an extended rest going into an intermission. one thing that's notable is that this year, mccaw turned down an offer to be signed with the golden state warriors. people said this was a stupid decision, but those people must be feeling dumb now and mccaw must have had some crazy insight, because he's been riding the highs of the raptor energy JEREMY LIN jeremy lin is the beloved token asian, and really stands out when he's with the team. admittedly, he is not very good compared to the rest of the raptors but he remains a fan favourite for his great personality and the linsanity legacy he has behind him. check out this hilarious highlight video of his 1 minute play time in game 3 of the finals ??JEREMY LIN GAME 3 HIGHLIGHTS HYPE REEL?? pic.twitter.com/RBWdyJQmBx excellent sleeve fasten form, jeremy! THE REST OF THE BENCH the rest of our bench does not really see play. that isn't to say they aren't important, in fact quite the contrary. STAFF AND SUPPORT here are some other very notable members of the raptors NICK NURSE the soft spoken, rookie coach of the raptors is a vital part of our team. he's willing to take risks and feels no pressure with his decisions of management and coaching. our team would definitely not have made it out this far without coach nurse. coach himself is an underdog, and he has proven himself to be the greatest coach in the nba ALEX MCKECHNIE this old man you see sitting with the raptors in our games is a physiotherapist. he knows how to best prepare the raptors physically during practice and before games. NAV BHATIA nav bhatia is our number 1 fan. he has never missed a home game since the raptors inception. you can always expect to see him at our home games beside the net, cheering on the raptors or twirling his superfan jerseys to psych out our opponent's free throws. DRAKE drake is another superfan, he's our courtside hypeman. his passion for the raptors has been noted by the nba, who keep telling him to calm down, but he doesn't.
~ also shoutout to my friend brian who is a big fan and cries a lot
CONCLUSION there are definitely details and people that i missed or don't know about. my brief analysis can not do this amazing team justice. regardless, watching the raptors play and win has been a priviledge for me, and i am happy to be a torontonian backed up by such an incredible team. cheer on the raptors and click here to go back to the castle homepage
kyle lowry's best attribute is his fearless ability to use his physical presence. he draws many fouls every game for the raptors by taking hits from charging opposing players.
when our opponent's fans complain about the raptors getting so many free throws, they shouldn't get mad at the refs, they should get mad at kyle lowry's valor.
with a captain's mindset, kyle lowry is always willing to go down for his team
pascal siakam is speedy and consistent, the raptors can always rely on him to weave his way through opponents to land a dunk
siakam never underperforms, and he's one of the most consistent players.
danny's shooting ability is what makes him amazing
he's regarded as one of the best defensive players ever and has an extremely high basketball iq, with brilliant fast decision making, and he is always providing screens for his teammates' offense.
he is a pretty reliable shooter from many distances, but what defines ibaka is his ability to block and rebound everything
but his best attribute as of late is his 3-point shooting
vanvleet has been so consistent with his 3s lately, that you'll often find the audience cheering with their hands up before the ball even goes in the net, because we know as soon as the ball leaves his hands, we'll be up by another 3 points
whenever we need some points, we can expect norman powell to channel his norman power, and squeeze his way through any kind of defense to land an impressive net
fortunately he has healed and will be attending the final games. we shall see if coach nurse puts him in to rock the court once again
needless to say, he's a still capable of making plays with his shooting and jump height.
he isn't useless by any means but he's often only sent in to close out games and dribble out the clock. the fans love him
our starters and main bench are amazing, and that's all thanks to the team they scrim against when they practice. the rest of the toronto bench is a vital part of helping the starters run their sets and make their amazing team plays
he has also helped our team through many important and fast recoveries so that we are always ready to play. injuries that could take months to heal are mitigated within days when mckenchnie uses his magical methods. i bet kevin durant is jealous
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he also does a lot of charitble things, such as pay for underpriviledged kids to see raptors games. he is beloved by not only the raptors, but every basketball player and fan for his kindness and passion for the team.
i think people who find him disruptive are just jealous that they can't feel as much passion as he does, but i love his passion and i wouldn't want him to act any other way.
WE THE NORTH