Earlier in the season, Jay Williams was firm in his belief that the Toronto Raptors were an overhyped team. He referred to them as mediocre, but was he right in assessment?
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After the culmination of Game 2 of the ECSF, it seemed like the Boston Celtics would make short work of the Toronto Raptors, perhaps eliminating them in 4 or 5.
However, Toronto surged back into the series with late game heroics from OG Anunoby in Game 3 and a team effort in Game 4. With the series tied, both Boston and Toronto take Games 5 and 6 respectively.
With their seasons on the line, both teams duke it out in a classic Game 7 with Boston coming out on top, 92-87.
Also read: “I take a lot of the blame, man”, Pascal Siakam grilled by reporter post Game 7 loss
Did the Toronto Raptors meet the expectations that were set for them?
Many forget that when Toronto lost Kawhi to the Clippers, most of the general public lost all faith in the Raptors. Some went as far as saying the Raps won’t even make the Playoffs.
In that sense, the Raptors have obviously gone above and beyond to prove those nay-sayers wrong.
However, when the season reached its halfway point, it was clear that the defending champions were no joke and needed to be taken seriously.
Were the Raptors overhyped and mediocre?
Even with the Toronto Raptors were exceeding expectations so early on in the season, Jay Williams believed that the Raptors are severely overrated and did not deserve the hype they were receiving.
He referred to the team as mediocre, and that they were essentially only good enough to play well during the regular season. He was clearly implying that come the playoffs, they would be blown away.
Now, while they did lose to the Celtics, they weren’t exactly blown away and stuck to their horses all through the series.
Other NBA analysts however bought into the hype and immediately catapulted the Raps into conversations such as, “does Toronto have enough firepower to beat the Bucks in the ECF?”Quite ironic that both those teams got sent home packing in the Semis.
With the Eastern Conference being stronger than it usually is, the Raptors would have to go through a slew of incredible East teams to reach the Finals.
For the first time, there is no No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference Finals 😳 pic.twitter.com/BJJHjKSjSi
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 12, 2020
All in all, it’s safe to assume that the Raps were properly rated throughout the duration of the season. Honestly, they could’ve gotten bounced in the first round or could’ve reached the Finals and it would equally as believable.
Where do the Raptors go from here?
With almost the entire roster having contracts that end after 2020 or 2021, except for Pascal Siakam who signed a max deal last summer, the front office has a tough decision to make going forward.
Do you blow it up and surround Pascal with younger talent so they develop together or do you resign Gasol and Ibaka to one year deals and give it another shot next season?
It will be quite interesting to see how this unfolds up North.
