15 (14)
Raptors
33-49
If the Raps can overcome their shortcomings on D to get off to a good start, that should hush at least a fraction of the incessant chatter about Bosh’s future. If they don’t, though, you can probably do the math.
Speaking of Marco, this is a pretty big week for him.
And Quincy Douby, too.
As some know, the Raptors have until the end of the month to exercise a 2010-11 contract option on Belinelli. If they pick it up, his deal worth $2,372,542 becomes fully guaranteed for next year; if they don’t, he’s a restricted free agent.
I expect Bryan to pick it up, it’s not a huge number, I’m sure he factored it into the equation when he obtained him in the summer.
Douby’s an entirely different case.
The Toronto Raptors placed forward Reggie Evans on the inactive list with a left mid-foot sprain on Monday.
Evans has been out with the injury since October 15.
A seven-year veteran, he averaged 3.3 points and 4.6 rebounds over 79 games with Philadelphia last season. The Raptors acquired Evans from the 76ers for Jason Kapono this past June.
The team also placed guards Quincy Douby and Sonny Weems on the inactive list to set its opening day roster.
It’s an understatement to say that "hope" is not a word being kicked around much in Toronto sports circles, but the Toronto Raptors will likely have the whole city behind them this season, because (sorry Leafs!) they represent our only chance for playoff action.
"I heard what Chris Bosh said, and that’s strong words coming from the RuPaul of big men," O’Neal said, making reference to the drag performer/singer-songwriter. "I’m going to do the same thing [in their next meeting] I did before — make him quit. Make ‘em quit and complain. It’s what I do."
“I don’t care,” Bosh said Monday after the team’s practice. “I really don’t care. Comments are comments. Move on. I’ve never really been a person to dwell on anything. It’s basketball.”
He did have one point to clarify, though.
“I’ve never quit in my life.”
Eyes on: Bargnani. Italian finally showed under Triano the level of play that spurred Toronto to take him with No. 1 pick in 2006 draft. The Raptors then gave him a huge extension during the summer, so they’ll expect continued improvement from the 7-footer.
The Toronto Raptors have so many new pieces that it will take time, but if they can gel by the end of the season, it may be enough to convince impending free agent Chris Bosh to re-sign with the club.
Clever move by the Raptors, who are honoring Toronto’s hoops heritage with 1946-47 Toronto Huskies throwbacks (for more on the Huskies, look here and here). Yes, the design is pretty plain, but hey, a Toronto throwback could’ve been much worse. Now let’s hope they make use of the Huskies’ old logo, too. On-court debut: Dec. 8.
As I’ve posted before, there’s little I’ve seen in the exhibition season to convince me that the Raptors are on their way to the fourth or fifth seed in the East. At the very least between injuries, etc., their top five guys – with Antoine Wright in place of DeRozan – has played almost not at all together, which makes it hard to expect a fast start, particularly when you look at the Raptors schedule, which is a tough one early on: Two very difficult west coast trips to start with, and the only title contender they don’t play by December 1 is the Lakers.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see what everything looks like when the lights go on, and having Shaq and LeBron and some old friends on hand make it even better.
How he will handle it if things don’t go smoothly in the first few weeks of season, thanks to a tough schedule to start: "The biggest thing is, they will feed off of me. I’m going to approach it the same way I approach every practice. We’re going to get better today and you just kind of have to keep everybody focused on getting better that day. You can’t look at the big picture, you can’t look at the losses two days ago, you can’t let that affect you. I think the one thing that we’ve got this year is we’ve got some depth and because of that, if guys start hanging their heads and aren’t playing well, we’ve got guys we can go do that are going to be dying for playing time."
16 (13)
Toronto Raptors
0 – 0
It’s not there yet. It may come quickly – certainly faster than it did last year- but the Raptors are going to need some time to adjust to all the offseason roster changes.
This is a critical year for Wright because he’s entering the final year on his rookie contract. Now with his third NBA team, Wright has been a disappointment considering that he was picked 15th overall in the 2005 draft — one spot ahead of Joey Graham and two spots ahead of Danny Granger. If he wants another contract, he has to live up to his reputation on defence — and improving his shooting certainly wouldn’t hurt.
As fans, it’s only natural to start freaking out when your team loses six of their first eight games (including one to the Wolves sans Jefferson or Love). It’s easy to start blaming Jose, Triano, Colangelo or whoever for the colossal failure that this team will inevitably become. It’s easy to drink the Kool Aid and pass a cup to anyone around you who will listen.
What’s hard is stepping back from the situation, taking a deep breath and telling yourself that you knew it was going to be this way, that the team will take time to gel and that it is way too early to make judgments on their future success (or lack thereof). While I can’t tell you that the Raps will be good this year, I can, without a shadow of a doubt, tell you that they will be considerably better than they are right now. It’s a long season and even if they stumble out of the gates, there is a lot of time to catch up.
Raptors if you don’t know what I think about them by now not much more I can say. I really like what I saw from Philly in the Pre-season. The Knicks are a little better but not much. Nets will much like the Raps had to need some time to recover from the Post V.C experience. Celtics are the clear cut favourites in this Division. So much so to see them go 14-2 in the Division would not be so crazy to think. Boston is focused on the Conference and not the division and they should be.
I’m very surprised at how well DeRozan is getting to the free throw line. He didn’t look at all capable of posting above average numbers during summer league.
This is something to watch going forward. It would be great news for the Raptors if DeRozan could supply a good dose of free throw attempts … because the Raps’ offense is way too reliant on Chris Bosh for easy points at the stripe + it would be a great sign for DeRozan’s scoring efficiency both in the short term but more importantly in the long term.
The reality of the situation (the Raptors not the flu) is that one month doesn’t make or break an NBA team, especially one with so many new faces. They’ll be nights when we look at this team and shake our heads and they’ll be nights when they’ll look unstoppable. Given the current state of Toronto sports franchises, I can understand the jaded view of the city, but these aren’t the Leafs and although a tough start to the schedule could see the Raps a few games south of five hundred early remember, when the Raps won the Atlantic they started the season 22-22.
To kick off this week’s series of Raptor previews, Franchise takes an analytical look at the Atlantic Division, and then the rest of the Eastern Conference…
I know what you’re thinking: How is a rookie(ish) head coach going to integrate nine new players in a new system with two new assistant coaches (Marc Iavaroni and ex-Raptor Alvin Williams)? Triano actually has credentials at the national level for both USA and Canada, is on the same page with general manager Bryan Colangelo and commands the respect of his players. Don’t believe me? Ask Mike Krzyzewski or Jerry Colangelo. Most of all, he doesn’t just yell “Go go go!” with both arms waving like his predecessor. Most of all, he doesn’t cater solely to Bosh but factors in the whole team.
Chris Bosh is very good. Sometimes we forget how good this guy is. There is not a hole in this man’s offensive game, he can shoot with range out to the 3 point line, has enough of a post up game to open up his jump shot, and has the best face-up game of any power forward in the league.
Can he score at will at the end of the game like LeBron, Kobe or Wade? No, but name 3 others that could. Is he a great defender? No, but this is without ever playing with a true center and now with the added weight, he may shut up critics.
They stand a far better chance of holding a UN summit than the Larry O’Brien trophy. But the Raptors, who speak more languages than Berlitz, will throw a memorable season-long going-away party for Chris Bosh. Six new players will figure into the rotation, which raises the possibility of a chaotic first few months. But everyone on the roster has a specific role. Ballhandling by Jose Calderon. Outside shooting by Andrea Bargnani. Rebounding by Reggie Evans. Toughness by Jarret Jack. Scoring off the dribble by Hedo Turkoglu. Young bounce by DeMar DeRozan. Defense by … um, oh well. You won’t fall in love with any one player, but you’ll fall in like with several. Plus, Bosh is playing for money. They’ll finish top-6 in the East, make the playoffs, pull a first-round surprise and then reach for a hanky when Bosh goes off to … drum roll … Miami.
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