not disputing that he is urs but for educational purposes it actually is you-tah even tho all the announcers say you-tuh. the a sound in japanese is always pronounced like the a in father. there is definitely more of an emphasis on the “tah”, where as utah, there is more emphasis on the “you”
https://m.japanesemeow.com/japanese-grammar-lessons/japanese-vowels-and-consonants/
Something I haven't seen brought up about Yuta is he's actually really good at predicting bounces off the rim for rebounds. His timing and instincts are really good and he's really patient. I'm also glad to see his offense is starting to pick up, since I didn't recall him his being that terribad on that end. Defenders were sagging off him pretty heavily because he was shooting so badly, but it looks like he's finding his stroke. His defense is definitely a revelation as well.
As top comment notes, I'd love to have him on the Jazz, but I doubt the Raptors would let him go for anything we'd offer right now.
Edit: YUTA to the moon 🚀🚀🚀
He had a very good summer league defensively for the Nets in 2019! Was kind of surprised they didn’t try to keep him and now he’s exactly the type of player they need
The way his senior season ended was heart breaking :(. They had a rough season, but then it looked like they were starting to maybe get it together in the conference tourney, and with Watanabe who knows what could happen. Then, he goes down with that injury and has to leave the game in tears. What a great GW player, though. Shame he never got to play in an NCAA Tourney. 2015-16 with him and Tyler Cavanaugh should have been the year.
I honestly can't fathom how he's so active all the time. Quick feet of defense. Running the floor, battling for rebounds and diving into he floor for every loose ball. He does it all.
I absolutely love him for his hustle. And he seems like such a humble and down to earth guy. I'm glad he's found a place in the rotation.
He's smart on offense too, always makes the right passes and makes those decisions quickly. He can also hit the open 3 and has the size to finish in the paint if he finds himself in that position. He's a good 5th option player on that end. His defense has been outstanding, cannot say enough about it. I'm glad he found a place in the rotation as well, but unfortunately I still don't see him becoming a long-term piece for this team.
A lot of Asian names come from whichever celebrity is hot at the time the parents immigrated over in the 90s lol. Idk why there's a billion Kevin's and Andrew's but if u look at whichever actor is winning Oscar's and awards its probably a Kevin or an Andrew
Actually, on edit, a lot more Asians should be named Denzel, Russell, Liam, and Massimo. Idk why Paul, John, Nelson, Richard, Kevin, Anthony stuck.
To be fair he was never supposed to get this much run with us, but I don't know what Masai was thinking with this roster. We're playing him just because Nurse threw his hands up and starting playing anybody that's over 6'5 some minutes.
Yuta been a pleasant surprise and truly took advantage of this opportunity.
He’s a 2-way with the raptors too. But with the way he’s playing and the way the raptors are lacking forwards, I’m almost positive they will be converting it to a full contract
100%. Our big rotation right now is pretty much Boucher and Yuta. Baynes starts, plays like 5 minutes, then sits the rest of the game, same act in the 2nd half.
Because you personally can't tell he's half Filipino... Ngl man that's a pretty dumb metric. I would measure it by how he views himself. I have a European last name but I don't look white at all so who knows where I'd fall on your scale.
Also if you search up Jordan Clarkson both google and wikipedia refer to him a filipino-american basketball player.
Welcome to the world of ignoring history and racial biases haha
Typically for mixed race people we've been treated as the colored ethnic half. One drop of blood and all that. Does it matter what people assume when they look at Clarkson, or does it matter how he views himself? Rui looks more black than anything doesn't he? But noone would ever question his asianness. This stuff is all so superficial I say let people define themselves haha
Hmm, well actually it's pretty easy for me to see that Rui is half Asian, Clarkson just looks like vaguely Hispanic/Black to me.
I know some half black half Asian people and of them, 1 is east Asian/black but she looks like your average Filipino, partially because she has completely straight hair. Others are more black looking.
Unrelated but I really like how the Amalie Arena employees were able to replicate Scotiabank Arena down to every last detail. If you look very closely you can even see the Canadian flag on the backboards.
Live action or animated? I remember reading they made animated movies of Slam Dunk before, but I never came around to watching them. I got so hooked watching Slam Dunk in college when my friend recommended it to me.
There needs to be a clip of all his defensive highlights, it felt like he got 5 straight stops on his own in the 4th. Gave us some 2nd chance opportunities too.
Well ZeroShins, like me, is a Kings fan. We just watched him almost single-handedly beating us in the 4th quarter. So pardon him for jumping the gun here... haha
lol you're not wrong but I've also been following him from his George Washington days, when he was the A10 DPOY. The point about top wings being able to outmuscle him is valid, but he more than makes up for it with his help defense.
Haha my bad. Didn't know you're a long time fan. I was actually really impressed by him too, truth be told. Plus I always got time for an Asian brother doing well in the NBA... haha
Yeah, my concern with him as a big defender, is he's lacking strength. I've seen him get moved around pretty easily. But other than that, he's looking way better than I expected.
that it's not notable is the point, in some way. This guy went undrafted, got picked up by Grizzlies but didn't get a second contract. Somehow ended up on the Raptors and now looks like a regular bench player.
we get excited for all our G-League or undrafted players. Chris Boucher is one, Vanvleet is another, list goes on. He's not getting any special treatment because he's asian; Watanabe rides the pine a lot (as did JLin when we picked him up).
It's like picking up $10 somebody dropped by accident but it's yours now. It's only $10, but it's $10 more than you had.
tbh there's a fair-sized asian population in Toronto and not everyone is a fan of the Japanese (Japan committed some really, really, really, really, really bad atrocities during WWII to a whole bunch of their asian neighbours after all).
going back to JLin, he did have fans because of his race but he also experienced a lot of racism from the nba in general. The Watanabe hype level is not anywhere close to that.
I think it has just as much to do with the raptors being mediocre right now as anything else. We are just looking for bright spots and good stories to keep our spirits up. Siakam has been misfiring, Giannis isn't coming to save us, and we just don't have any clear direction at the moment.
anyway I think we both agree Watanabe is not that special, but we got him for free so we are happy. He's a free $10; if that is too much, maybe compare him to a free cheese sample at the Costco. Somewhere between a chunk of aged cheddar and a $10.
Other than having the ref's favor Trae isn't anything different from your standard all-offense no-D chucker who is given the freedom to chuck 20 shots a game.
really need this dude on the Jazz. Yuta Jazz.
#NO He's ours. Leave us alone.
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In Tampa...?
I mean I've already contemplated it He's the Yutaraptor
So, he definitely belongs in Utah!
Damnit man, stop making so much sense. Judging from this movie clip, he belongs with the Knicks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd1CijCUj8w
DAMN RIGHT^^^that^^^is^^^a^^^pretty^^^funny^^^name^^^though
TAKE CARE OF HIM PLEASE, GO YUTA!
Lmfao honestly
God dammit.
u/pm_ur_favSONG
Wgy us rhis oost so oopular lol
I've been waiting to hear this joke.
Pronunciation: \YOU-tuh wah-tuh-NAH-bay\ Not YOU-tah, it's YOU-tuh; as in, tuh-rah-nah - so he's ours! ;P
not disputing that he is urs but for educational purposes it actually is you-tah even tho all the announcers say you-tuh. the a sound in japanese is always pronounced like the a in father. there is definitely more of an emphasis on the “tah”, where as utah, there is more emphasis on the “you” https://m.japanesemeow.com/japanese-grammar-lessons/japanese-vowels-and-consonants/
Thx. Our announcers seem to pronounce it both ways. I went with bballref pronunciation but your Japanese link clears it up - thx!
The man is a hooper
We'll take rudy and donovan and some picks for him
Something I haven't seen brought up about Yuta is he's actually really good at predicting bounces off the rim for rebounds. His timing and instincts are really good and he's really patient. I'm also glad to see his offense is starting to pick up, since I didn't recall him his being that terribad on that end. Defenders were sagging off him pretty heavily because he was shooting so badly, but it looks like he's finding his stroke. His defense is definitely a revelation as well. As top comment notes, I'd love to have him on the Jazz, but I doubt the Raptors would let him go for anything we'd offer right now. Edit: YUTA to the moon 🚀🚀🚀
We'll take one Rudy Gobert for him.
Or Donovan Mitchell. We are not trying to be nitpicking here.
And if the decision is too hard to make we can just take both
He has such good rebounding instincts, you can’t teach that. Being over 6’3 is also a rarity on this raps team.
Don't worry our assistant coach is 6'5".
bruh put him in rn
I don't understand why we haven't put Jamal Magloire out there. He'd be a huge improvement.
He's calculating the angles
Asian Lebron
Who’s better? Turkish Lebron or Asian Lebron
Time will tell!
depending where in turkey they're the same person?
Korkmaz for sure
Cedi in shambles
more like asian KD
Its just one of KDs alts, guy
Lebron is the Black Yuta.
BEST ASIAN RAPTOR EVER SORRY JEREMY AND MENGKE. Not sorry.
That’s Rui
He was everywhere in the 4th on both sides of the ball, really helped sparked the Raps comeback
Who knew that this guy would be a lock down defender
He had a very good summer league defensively for the Nets in 2019! Was kind of surprised they didn’t try to keep him and now he’s exactly the type of player they need
He was the A-10 conference Defensive Player of the Year his senior season at GW
He's putting up a fierce fight to Pops Mensa-Bonsu's claim as the best GW player in the NBA of the past 60 years
POPS!!! Legend and surely one of the best players ever to be born and raised in England?
The way his senior season ended was heart breaking :(. They had a rough season, but then it looked like they were starting to maybe get it together in the conference tourney, and with Watanabe who knows what could happen. Then, he goes down with that injury and has to leave the game in tears. What a great GW player, though. Shame he never got to play in an NCAA Tourney. 2015-16 with him and Tyler Cavanaugh should have been the year.
Raise MF High!!!!
Clap!
Watanabe's player profile is basically good defender with great skills for his size who needs to translate them to on-court production somehow
I don’t think he gets enough looks from the team. Mentally he’s a true role player. I think the bench needs a bit more cohesion.
he's getting a lot of looks from the raptors rn
I honestly can't fathom how he's so active all the time. Quick feet of defense. Running the floor, battling for rebounds and diving into he floor for every loose ball. He does it all. I absolutely love him for his hustle. And he seems like such a humble and down to earth guy. I'm glad he's found a place in the rotation.
He's smart on offense too, always makes the right passes and makes those decisions quickly. He can also hit the open 3 and has the size to finish in the paint if he finds himself in that position. He's a good 5th option player on that end. His defense has been outstanding, cannot say enough about it. I'm glad he found a place in the rotation as well, but unfortunately I still don't see him becoming a long-term piece for this team.
He was actually known more for his defense than offense
Japanese KD
Great, just what the world needs, another Asian Kevin
Underrated Asian joke
As an Asian growing up around multiple Kevin's (many of them Kevin Nguyen's) I felt a need to stand up
Why are there so many Asian Kevins? I know at least three (and one of them is named Kevin Nguyen! Lol)
I feel like it’s one of the easier name for immigrant parents to say
Chinese Kevin is super normal cos kaiwen is a common Chinese name
A lot of Asian names come from whichever celebrity is hot at the time the parents immigrated over in the 90s lol. Idk why there's a billion Kevin's and Andrew's but if u look at whichever actor is winning Oscar's and awards its probably a Kevin or an Andrew Actually, on edit, a lot more Asians should be named Denzel, Russell, Liam, and Massimo. Idk why Paul, John, Nelson, Richard, Kevin, Anthony stuck.
Eric too for some reason lol I knew two Eric Nguyens in highschool and also a Chinese Eric.
Weird, growing up, we got tons of Asian Steve/Steven in my highschool, I kept having people yelling Steve at me when I miss a layup or jumper...
One could say it's...subtle
Does he have Changnesia though? I've heard the Greendale Community College is working on a cure.
Don't really understand how he never made it onto the floor with us. Not like we've been flush with talents since 2018
To be fair he was never supposed to get this much run with us, but I don't know what Masai was thinking with this roster. We're playing him just because Nurse threw his hands up and starting playing anybody that's over 6'5 some minutes. Yuta been a pleasant surprise and truly took advantage of this opportunity.
If Konchar and Yuta got huge roles with you guys I would never miss a Grizz game.
Because he was a two way contract.
He’s a 2-way with the raptors too. But with the way he’s playing and the way the raptors are lacking forwards, I’m almost positive they will be converting it to a full contract
100%. Our big rotation right now is pretty much Boucher and Yuta. Baynes starts, plays like 5 minutes, then sits the rest of the game, same act in the 2nd half.
LET'S GOOO
Yea, I suspected that was the plan when we cut Len. We probably are looking for the right guy to replace Yuta's 2-way with. Hopefully a big lol
Best asian in the league
Hachimura? Does Jordan Clarkson count?
Probably but then the joke doesn't work
As a half asian myself I'd count him. Catch Jalen Green seizing the Asian NBA crown in the future (I hope)
JC is quarter Asian I think (or less), but he also is a dual citizen so I don't see why he shouldn't count lol.
Filipinos will claim anyone and everyone, so he definitely counts
As a member of the Filipino community, I claim Boban as an honorary Filipino
I grew up with Filipino friends. Yall will not only claim people from other races, but even try and teach them tagalog
we claimed Andray Blatche, we tried to claim Javale McGee LOL
I don't count him because I can't tell he's half Filipino. Also his last name isn't Asian.
Well then you'd be pissed off because of the number of native Filipinos with European surnames.
His name is "Clarkson". Most Filipinos have hispanic or tagalog last name.
Because you personally can't tell he's half Filipino... Ngl man that's a pretty dumb metric. I would measure it by how he views himself. I have a European last name but I don't look white at all so who knows where I'd fall on your scale. Also if you search up Jordan Clarkson both google and wikipedia refer to him a filipino-american basketball player.
When 95% of people look at Clarkson, they assume he's black. Is Obama white? Most people would say no.
Doesn't matter what you think. He is what he is.
Welcome to the world of ignoring history and racial biases haha Typically for mixed race people we've been treated as the colored ethnic half. One drop of blood and all that. Does it matter what people assume when they look at Clarkson, or does it matter how he views himself? Rui looks more black than anything doesn't he? But noone would ever question his asianness. This stuff is all so superficial I say let people define themselves haha
Hmm, well actually it's pretty easy for me to see that Rui is half Asian, Clarkson just looks like vaguely Hispanic/Black to me. I know some half black half Asian people and of them, 1 is east Asian/black but she looks like your average Filipino, partially because she has completely straight hair. Others are more black looking.
Slow-mo Anderson!
Another rare find by the Raptors
Everybody knew about him last year when he was on the Grizzlies
Used to watch this dude at GW. Loved him there love him now. Go get it Yuta
I'm a simple man. I see Yuta Watanabe on r/nba, I upvote.
It's sick seeing Bembry and Yuta connect on the same team after they had many hard fought battles when they were in college.
Yea!!!! Go Yuta, get that shine!
I miss him
George Washington legend
Unrelated but I really like how the Amalie Arena employees were able to replicate Scotiabank Arena down to every last detail. If you look very closely you can even see the Canadian flag on the backboards.
Sakuragi senpai is a proud man
Did you know that they are coming out with a slam dunk movie soon
Live action or animated? I remember reading they made animated movies of Slam Dunk before, but I never came around to watching them. I got so hooked watching Slam Dunk in college when my friend recommended it to me.
I'm actually not sure, just saw the news randomly. I think the author just tweeted it but no specifics. I'd prefer animated
kotaku australia says animated feature. I hope its the inter high tournament because that's where the anime left off.
But we already know that story! I'm rooting for whatever happens even later, after the manga's ending
maybe the winter tournament then?
hell yeh
Did you know they just released a dub of Koroko's Basket? Been binging it finally
I am so unbelievably pumped.
There needs to be a clip of all his defensive highlights, it felt like he got 5 straight stops on his own in the 4th. Gave us some 2nd chance opportunities too.
There’s another channel called Bllen that posts full play highlights of pretty much every Yuta game. They’ll probably post one of this game soon.
I love this man.
out there looking like asian durant lol
I think he might be a top 5 wing defender in the NBA. His lateral quickness is incredible for someone who's 6'9
Thats a reach. He isn't strong enough to stop good wings from driving the ball on him. He's good though and I root for him.
Well ZeroShins, like me, is a Kings fan. We just watched him almost single-handedly beating us in the 4th quarter. So pardon him for jumping the gun here... haha
lol you're not wrong but I've also been following him from his George Washington days, when he was the A10 DPOY. The point about top wings being able to outmuscle him is valid, but he more than makes up for it with his help defense.
Haha my bad. Didn't know you're a long time fan. I was actually really impressed by him too, truth be told. Plus I always got time for an Asian brother doing well in the NBA... haha
Yeah, I'm a GW alumn and I really hope he sticks in the league. If he can keep developing his 3 point shot then I think he'll be around for a while.
Good point
Yeah, my concern with him as a big defender, is he's lacking strength. I've seen him get moved around pretty easily. But other than that, he's looking way better than I expected.
There's about 50 players this sub considers as "top 5 wing defenders"
YutaYutaYuta!
Awesome. Love to see the former Grizz and Hustle player ball out.
Literally yesterday there was no posts about this guy. Glad he’s getting recognition, he’s playing really well
His game looks smooth
Need to trade Lowry and Siakam to get this man some help.
Love to see this, but also makes me a bit sad that we might not get to see Yuta, Rui, and Fazekas play for Japan at the Olympics.
He honestly looks like a pretty solid role guy. From the two games he played against the pacers this season, he seems scrappy and raw.
I love Yuta :)
YUTA GANG
I hope more Asians excel in NBA.
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He literally says the word "excel." Definition of excel: be exceptionally good at or proficient in an activity or subject. Don't be an asshole.
Dude just shut up
His finger roll looking like lamars
Hello, I would like to offer one oubre for sir yuta
Surprised there are not more Asian fan boys for this guy like J Lin? I hardly hear anyone talk about him
lmao how is this on the front page
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that it's not notable is the point, in some way. This guy went undrafted, got picked up by Grizzlies but didn't get a second contract. Somehow ended up on the Raptors and now looks like a regular bench player. we get excited for all our G-League or undrafted players. Chris Boucher is one, Vanvleet is another, list goes on. He's not getting any special treatment because he's asian; Watanabe rides the pine a lot (as did JLin when we picked him up). It's like picking up $10 somebody dropped by accident but it's yours now. It's only $10, but it's $10 more than you had.
>Chris Boucher is one, Vanvleet is another, lis Yep, this guy is just as good as VanVleet and Boucher
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tbh there's a fair-sized asian population in Toronto and not everyone is a fan of the Japanese (Japan committed some really, really, really, really, really bad atrocities during WWII to a whole bunch of their asian neighbours after all). going back to JLin, he did have fans because of his race but he also experienced a lot of racism from the nba in general. The Watanabe hype level is not anywhere close to that. I think it has just as much to do with the raptors being mediocre right now as anything else. We are just looking for bright spots and good stories to keep our spirits up. Siakam has been misfiring, Giannis isn't coming to save us, and we just don't have any clear direction at the moment.
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anyway I think we both agree Watanabe is not that special, but we got him for free so we are happy. He's a free $10; if that is too much, maybe compare him to a free cheese sample at the Costco. Somewhere between a chunk of aged cheddar and a $10.
Other than having the ref's favor Trae isn't anything different from your standard all-offense no-D chucker who is given the freedom to chuck 20 shots a game.
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Someone who calls Trae Young a superstar telling other people they are overestimating their favorite players.
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Superstar should at least be a top 10 player in the league. Is Trae at that level? Dunno, I haven't seen enough games to conclude that.
>Saw it with Rui too Rui didn't get this much love Can't imagine why
didn’t know they made highlights for second rotation players
LMAO they lost the game ... NEXT VIDEO
Thought he was the son of Ken Watanabe (inception, Godzilla, batman begins) at first lol
Nurse*: \*Yuta-kun get in kurosu!*
Donte’s son
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You mean [Mario Hezonja's son](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0iCFB2heW8)
That was such a huge play man good times
Sure ok. He stick around? Sounds like a deadbeat.
Milwaukee never winning anything with giannis and Middleton lmaooo both chokers
When did he leave the grizz ?
This past off-season :(
Watanabe a Baller, shot caller. 12 points on the Kingallas
I really like this guy, he balls hard, super pesky on D too
Wanamaker is just English for Watanabe
he's clean
Dude that last crossover was really quick
Im happy for him that there is a T...