Normally a mere 13 points and 6 assists wouldn’t be enough for me to be compelled to make a highlight video for Fred “Vleet of Voot” VanVleet. But there are extenuating circumstances here. Those circumstances being that he has been TOTAL and ABSOLUTE booty FLAKES during these playoffs. He had a good opener, scoring 14 in that loss against the Magic, but other than that? FLAKES. During the series with the 76ers, he made a grand total of 3 shots on 24 attempts. And this series with the Bucks hasn’t been much better: 4 of 20 before tonight. He did have a big three last game, which I thought was extremely unfair from a Bucks fan standpoint, as that was his only make of the contest.
Raptors fans have made their displeasure known. They’re one of the most reactionary fanbases, wildly swinging from negativity (the first two games) to positivity (the last two games). But there have been no wild swings when it comes to VanVleet: the annoyance is unanimous. I’ve seen many people unironically claiming they want Jeremy Lin to be playing instead. That’s how bad VanVleet has been. The general consensus that was reached on social media is that VanVleet has compromising pictures of Nick Nurse engaging in embarrassing sexual acts and the threat of blackmail is the reason Nurse is forced to play him.
Given how bad he’s been playing, I find that this Raptors win caused in part by VanVleet’s excellent play is making me very upset. This is not fair. VanVleet has been trash, so he should continue being trash until the Bucks make the Finals (thus rendering unable to be trash anymore because the Raptors aren’t playing any more games). There is no reason why he should suddenly turn in a good performance. That banked-in three he hit, let me tell you friends, I got so heated I muttered “darn” at my TV while my tubby little kitty, Japurri Purrker, looked startled then frightened by my outburst. But can you blame me?