Depending on perspective the Toronto Raptors are either the worst franchise in sport now, or a team that is simply in need of something to get over the hump in terms of the playoffs.
I probably fall somewhere in between.
My tendency is to watch a sport on a game-to-game basis. I seek to be entertained for two to three hours, much the same way I hope a movie does. Sometimes a game exceeds expectations, and sometimes it falls short, but ultimately it is three hours of commitment on my part, and if a game bores too much, there is the likelihood I go channel surfing.
What that ends up meaning is that I do not live and die in my support of a team based on the playoffs.
This season, for example, I watched several Vancouver Canuck games and enjoyed them, but never once was there an expectation of the team even making the playoffs. Of course in the case of the Canucks the Stanley Cup has never been achieved since joining the league in 1970.
That said a Canadian franchise has not hoisted the cup since 1993, so if winning the championship is paramount to being satisfied most fans are going to be hugely disappointed.
The four NHL teams I follow, all in Canada, have won two cups in 51 years. The Jays have two World Series wins. The Roughriders have only added three championships over that time, and the Raptors zippo crowns.
To make the math simple in 200-plus opportunities my favourite seven teams across the four major sports have five league championships that is a success rate of 2.5 per cent.
So the Raptors losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers is hardly a stunning occurrence.
Going into the season I had the Cavs and Golden State in the final for a third straight season, and while the road has been a tad more winding than expected for Cleveland, it looks like I was right on that prognostication last fall.
Admittedly it was not a hugely risky prediction. The team with LeBron James in the fold has been the east rep in the final every year since 2011. He is the best player of his era, and arguably the best-ever. That means something in basketball which, while a team sport, can be most dominated by the best players.
It has been years since a team without a top-10 player has won the NBA championship, and while there are nights DeMar DeRozan has performed like a top-10 player, he is reasonably in the next tier of top players.
I will grant you that after the Raptors topped the east in the regular season expectations rose. But for me those expectations were tempered by the realization they still had to beat the Cavs.
In game one they were on track to win, and if not for a ball that was dipped three times and rolled out, they would have. Instead, they suffered a defeat as demoralizing as can be imagined and they clearly stumbled on game two.
The Raptors fought back in game three, and OG Anunoby made a great three that should have forced overtime, but with six seconds left James scored a basket few in the game would even attempt as the buzzer sounded. It was another demoralizing loss.
But in games one and three fans saw a Raptors team that one foul extra falling could have had them up in the series. They were that close against James.
So for a third straight year the Raps have lost to the best.
But it is the fifth straight playoff year with limited success. That sounds bad, but for a little perspective the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the NHL in 2000, and have not been out of the first round in the playoffs. The St. Louis Blues have been in the playoffs 38 times since last making a Cup final. And San Jose has made one Cup final, but have six division titles.
The question for the offseason is what to do next?
Do you fire coach Dwayne Casey? Obviously now that deed has already been done, but is it a needed change or just a PR move to placate fans? Casey did show he would make tough choices like benching DeRozan if he thinks it will help, but just couldn’t get the Raps past the Cavs.
With the coach already gone, do you trade DeRozan and Lowry?
Maybe, but recognize you will only get youth back, so you decline in the regular season to live on the hope the new kids on the block become that elusive top-10 player. How many teams are ready to trade that sort of prospect? Bet on none.
And there is the quandary for the Raps.
Frankly, I just hope whatever they do, they still offer games that are three hours of joy, and not suffering through a team stuck for a plan of what to do next.
