Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' 121-112 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Will breaks down the joy of watching the Raptors execute in crunch time, and the contributions of the entire roster. Three stars: Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poeltl Gerald Henderson award: Quentin Grimes #raptors #torontoraptors #sixers Reach out to the …

Will Lou gives four of the main reasons behind the Toronto Raptors' 8-1 record in their last nine games. 1. Darko Rajakovic reset the culture 2. Front office improved the talent 3. Scottie Barnes is putting it together 4. They're not tanking anymore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Will Lou is still buzzing as he reacts to the Toronto Raptors' 110-108 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He breaks down the strong performances by Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, and generally gushes over the strong performances of late. Later, Alex Wong joins the show (40:00) to discuss the in-person experience of seeing the Raptors' new city edi…

Will Lou reacts to the Toronto Raptors' 129-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. He breaks down the strong performances across the board by the team, before being joined by birthday boy Jerome Cheng as they take listener questions. Three stars: Jakob Poeltl, Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick Gerald Henderson award: commenter "herbopotamus" for his "CMB is Ca…

Will and Alex dive into the Mavericks’ decision to fire Nico Harrison and debate whether Masai Ujiri could be a fit in Dallas. Alex then unveils his latest NBA in/out list, touching on Derik Queen, OKC’s chase for 73 wins, the state of the Brooklyn Nets, and why he’s officially out on the Clippers. Later, Will, Alex, and Jerome break down a new lis…

Will Lou handles slander pod duties solo as the Toronto Raptors defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-113 to improve to 7-5. Will breaks down the dominant performance of Scottie Barnes, the importance of Jamal Shead, and Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickley rounding into form. Three stars: Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, Jakob Poellt (sorry, Jamal!) …

Will Lou speaks with Toronto Raptors point guard Immanuel Quickley ahead of the release of Call of Duty 7 on Nov. 14. They discuss IQ's new signature celebration, reflect on the trade that brought Quickley from New York to Toronto, discuss his two signature moves -- the pull-up 3 and the floater -- and then discuss video game culture in the NBA. #r…

Will Lou recaps the Toronto Raptors' 119-109 win over the Brooklyn Nets to improve to 6-5 on the season. Will discusses the strong showings by Immanuel Quickley and Brandon Ingram in the second half and then takes listener questions. Three stars: Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, Jakob Poeltl Gerald Henderson award: Egor Demin #raptors #torontorap…

Will and Alex dive into the most pressing Raptors topics, including Brandon Ingram’s water bottle incident, the four-way battle for bench minutes at shooting guard, whether the team needs to add another big, and why fans should be excited about the NBA Cup. Plus: can the Raptors become an above-average three-point shooting team this season? Later, …

Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' 130-120 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. He discusses the lineup decision to start Ochai Agbaji to fill in for a resting Jakob Poeltl, the continued excitement over Collin Murray-Boyles, and the difficulties of playing small against a very large team. Three stars: Collin Murray-Boyles, Immanuel Quickley, Sco…

Will Lou goes live from his dear friend Jeremy's 30th birthday to discuss the Toronto Raptors' 109-97 win over the Atlanta Hawks in NBA Cup action. It was a shorter than usual reaction podcast because Will wants to be a good friend. Three stars: Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, Sandro Mamukelashvili Gerald Henderson award: Nickeil Alexander-Walke…

Will, Alex, and Jerome tackle life’s most important questions: would you take $5 million if it meant not showering for a year, give up Asian food in exchange for unlimited travel, or stop buying new clothes if it meant you could still get haircuts? Later, Alex drops his latest Five Dollar Thoughts on the death of social etiquette, swearing on TV, a…

Will and Alex break down the biggest storylines of the Raptors’ season so far, debating whether the defence is truly a concern, if Immanuel Quickley has become the team’s scapegoat, whether Toronto actually has a “big three,” and if Collin Murray-Boyles is ahead of schedule. They also discuss the Raptors’ chances of cracking the East’s top six befo…

Will Lou goes live to recap the Toronto Raptors' 128-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He gives props to Scottie Barnes for winning his matchup against Giannis Antetokounmpo, then shares praise for how Gradey Dick and others bounced back in this win. Later on, Jerome Cheng joins the show to discuss the announcement of Sandy Brondello as the first e…

Will and Alex walk through the painful ending to the 2025 World Series and discuss: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s dominance, the improbable series of events in the ninth inning of Game 7, a frame-by-frame breakdown of IKF’s slide home, Andy Pages’ ridiculous catch, where this game ranks on Bill Simmons’ “Level of Losing,” and their personal takeaways from t…

Will Lou recaps the Toronto Raptors' 117-104 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He discusses the strong performances from RJ Barrett, Collin Murray-Boyles, Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram, then takes questions from the live chat. Three stars: RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram Gerald Henderson award: Vince Williams Jr. #nba #torontoraptors #…

Will Lou recaps the Toronto Raptors' 112-101 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He breaks down the important contributions from Jamison Battle off the bench and the improvements on defense. He then turns his attention to the Toronto Blue Jays (46:35) who catch a run of spectacularly bad breaks with Addison Barger's ground rule double and then Barger…

Will Lou goes live to first discuss the Toronto Raptors' 139-121 loss to the Houston Rockets. He offers solutions for how to fix the Raptors' current problems. He then turns his attention to live-reacting to the Toronto Blue Jays' 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Game 5 of the World Series. He is joined afterwards by Alex Wong (2:10:10) to reac…

Will and Alex are joined by author Oren Weisfeld to build a blame pie for the Raptors’ 1-3 start to the season as they discuss Immanuel Quickley and Jakob Poeltl’s slow starts, whether Darko is on the hot seat, how much blame the front office should take, and more. Later, Oren takes us behind the scenes and shares stories from his upcoming book “Th…

Will Lou reacts to the Toronto Raptors' loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He then sticks around until the bottom of the 18th inning in a historic Game 3 World Series battle between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers but we have cut it from the audio podcast. For the full 4 hour experience check out the YouTube stream: https://youtube.com/li…

Will Lou and Alex Wong go live after the Toronto Raptors' 139-129 loss to the Dallas Mavericks game on Sunday night. He breaks down the Raptors' unacceptable effort on defense and then brings on Alex to talk about the Blue Jays and answer fan questions. Three stars: Scottie Barnes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Brandon Ingram's offense Gerald Henderson aw…

Will Lou goes live to break down the Toronto Raptors' 122-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He also reacts to some key moments in Game 1 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers including a delirious 9-running inning by the Jays in the sixth (1:09:43) Three stars: Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Jamison Battle Gerald Hen…

Will and Alex unpack the latest gambling scandal to hit the NBA, debate whether Wemby and the Spurs are ready to take a massive leap in the West, give their first impressions on NBC’s coverage of the league, discuss LeBron’s future with the Lakers, review the best Doc Rivers impersonations, and finally: a special World Series edition of Jays Corner…

Will Lou and Samson Folk from Raptors Republic recap the Toronto Raptors' 138-118 win over the Atlanta Hawks in the season opener. They break down the dominant performances by the entire starting five and the strong showings from Gradey Dick and Jamal Shead off the bench. Three stars: RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick Gerald Henderson award: …

Friend of the show Keerthika Uthayakumar (Keeks!) joins Will to share some "Fun Facts" going into the Toronto Raptors 2025-26 season. They agree halfway through that the word fun was being disingenuous and so they rebranded it to 10 stats to be improved by the Raptors this season. #raptors #torontoraptors Reach out to the show by leaving a voicemai…

Daaaaaaaa Mariners lose! Will Lou and Alex Wong celebrate a delirious Game 7 victory as the Toronto Blue Jays advance to the World Series for the first time since 1993. Three stars: George Springer, Jeff Hoffman, Chris Bassett Gerald Henderson award: Bryan Woo's lethal face card Reach out to the show by leaving a voicemail at hellowelcome.show or e…

Will and Alex are joined by TSN’s Josh Lewenberg to make predictions for the upcoming season including: what will the conversation around Scottie Barnes be about this year, Brandon Ingram’s upside, most surprising player, which Raptor is most likely to be traded, the team’s win total, and more. Later, they discuss the Raptors Halloween party, the p…

Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' final preseason game in their 119-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets. He discusses the tremendous showing from Scottie Barnes who had 31 points, the point guard mastery from Immanuel Quickley, and Brandon Ingram's impressive playmaking in crunch time to seal the win. #raptors #torontoraptors Reach out to the sh…

Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' 110-108 loss to the Boston Celtics in preseason. He looks at how the Raptors starting five performed, the off-nights from Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, and then takes music recommendations from the live chat. Three stars: Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji Gerald Henderson award: Xavier Tillma…

Will and Alex are joined by James Herbert of CBS Sports to make their annual NBA awards predictions. They debate the MVP race between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić, discuss whether Nico Harrison could take home Executive of the Year, and share their picks for Best Teammate and other awards. Later, they choose their most intriguing player…

Will and Alex share their takeaways from the Raptors’ preseason so far, including thoughts on the team’s emerging defensive identity, Brandon Ingram’s potential as a true number one option, and whether the roster might be overloaded with shooting guards. Later, they dive into the most obscure NBA player references in rap lyrics and play a preseason…

Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' 113-112 win over the Washington Wizards in preseason action. He gives credit to Darko Rajakovic for drawing up yet another game-winning play, and then touches on the conversation on Scottie Barnes' approach on offense. Three stars: Chucky Hepburn, Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes Gerald Henderson award: Wi…

Will Lou reacts to the Toronto Raptors' 107-105 win over the Boston Celtics in preseason. He breaks down Chris Boucher's return to Toronto, the great effort by the third stringers to come back in dramatic fashion, and shows love to Gradey Dick's continued improvements. Three stars: Gradey Dick, Chucky Hepburn, Jonathan Mogbo Gerald Henderson award:…

It’s the October Banter Pod! Will, Alex, and Jerome debate whether it’s ever acceptable to wear a Yankees cap in Toronto, recap their celebration dinner with Bobby Webster, and share the highs and lows from their trip to Calgary for Raptors training camp. Later, Alex delivers his latest takes on why guys should hype up guys more, imitation crab, th…

Will Lou breaks down the Toronto Raptors' 130-122 win over the Sacramento Kings in preseason. He discusses the heater that Brandon Ingram continues to be on, the impressive showing by rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, and the strong performances of Ja'Kobe Walter and Gradey Dick. To close, he reacts to the Toronto Blue Jays beating the New York Yankees …

Will and Alex are joined by Joseph Casciaro of theScore to draft their locks for this season’s NBA over/unders. They debate whether the Raptors can crack the top six in the East, if it’s finally safe to trust the Clippers again, whether Denver can challenge OKC for the West’s top seed, who the true favorite is in the East, if Detroit can build on l…

Will and Alex recap the Raptors open practice and scrimmage live from the University of Calgary and discuss Collin Murray-Boyles’ impressive debut, Brandon Ingram’s fit with the starters, standouts from the second unit, and more. Three stars: Collin Murray-Boyles, Brandon Ingram, Sandro Sandro Mamukelashvili Gerald Henderson award: Chucky Hepburn #…

Will and Alex sit down with Matt Devlin to discuss whether the Raptors are ready to win this season, Bobby Webster’s new role leading the team, and the challenges of covering a rebuild. They also get into Kyle Lowry’s potential future as a TV analyst, Devlin’s favorite Asian athletes, his top four movies, career advice, and more. #raptors #torontor…

Will Lou and Alex Wong are joined by Joseph Casciaro of theScore to break down the three biggest storylines coming out of Toronto Raptors training camp. They discuss who will be the first option will be this season, a new role for Scottie Barnes, and expectations for Immanuel Quickley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Will Lou and Alex Wong go live from Hotel X after the Toronto Raptors' media day for 2025-26. They discuss the team's excitement for Brandon Ingram, defense as a main priority heading into pre-season, playoff expectations, RJ Barrett winning media day, and Bruce Brown confirming he never wanted to be in Toronto. #raptors #torontoraptors #nba Reach …

Will and Alex react to Bobby Webster’s season-opening presser, covering his expectations for the year, Brandon Ingram’s fit, and the urgency for the Raptors to win now. Later, they dive into Sam Presti’s headline-making media day quote, Kyle Lowry working two jobs, and Draymond Green sampling baijiu in China. #raptors #nba #brandoningram Hosted on …

Will and Alex are joined by JE Skeets of No Dunks to re-draft the Raptors’ starters and debate Scottie Barnes’ next leap, Immanuel Quickley’s future as a full-time starter, and more. Later, Skeets takes on the Basketball Reference game. #raptors #torontoraptors Reach out to the show by leaving a voicemail at hellowelcome.show or email the guys info…

Will and Alex are joined by Vivek Jacob to break down what excites them about the upcoming Raptors season. They get into Brandon Ingram’s impact on offence, RJ Barrett’s long-term future, a full year of Immanuel Quickley, and whether Gradey Dick can make a leap. Plus: potential rivalries in the East, Matt Devlin calling meaningful games again, a pi…

Indiana Pacers point guard Andrew Nembhard sits down with Will Lou for the second summer to discuss another very eventful season. Andrew opens up about losing in Game 7 of the Finals, how his role will change with Tyrese Haliburton's injury, and Team Canada's run at the 2024 Olympics. Then, Andrew breaks down his signature moves, and answers spicy …

Will and Alex continue to follow the Kawhi Leonard–Clippers scandal (2:39), debating whether it signals a larger trend of cap circumvention across the league, if Kawhi should take the same blame as Uncle Dennis, and revisiting past and present other potential cases of tampering (22:10). Later, Alex lays out five ways the league could actually punis…

Will is joined by the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur to discuss his article on the attempted dealings for Kawhi Leonard through his uncle Dennis in the summer of 2019 following the Toronto Raptors championship. (read here: https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/inside-kawhi-leonard-s-bizarre-list-of-secret-demands-from-raptors-and-how-they-line/articl…

Toronto Raptors guard and Brampton's very own AJ Lawson joins the Hello and Welcome podcast for an in-depth interview. AJ gives us a look behind the scenes on the Toronto Raptors' offseason, reviews his inspiring journey to the NBA, revels in pride of his Canadian roots and coming up through Brampton, and shares his stories about playing with Luka …

It’s the annual Hello and Welcome off-season tradition as Alex predicts all 82 games of the upcoming Raptors season, diving into career-high performances, surprise twists, a new rivalry with the Washington Wizards, and more. Later, Will and Alex discuss Jeremy Lin’s retirement (1:13:23) and share personal stories from the 2019 championship run. #ra…