Bad fit in terms that they already have Derozan and Ross and that they dont have the elite player/s needed to play with him to be a contender.
I think Gay will be fine and get a ton of points on a 7-11th place team but I am hoping for more than that from the Raptors.
DD and Gay do have similar games. Which isn't all that bad IF the other components are in place. There is no inside game and no consistent outside shooting.
I would take Sequin 10 time out of 10 before I took Hall, I said it on draft day that drafting Hallover the TS was possibly one of the dumbest moves that Lowe made
4 wins in a row with 3 of the next 5 against the wizards and cavs. Hopefully they can keep this momentum going after the break and find a way to unload AB for a decent return. They seem to be meshing well and maybe they can make a run at the 8 seed if the bucks slip. Go Raps!
I don't follow Basketball as much as I follow Hockey, but can NBA teams go and sign undrafted college players like the NHL? I guess it doesn't really matter as teams only have a max of 12 players or something like that.
What i dont like about the Raptors in the 4th quarter is that the offence is so predictable.
High pick and roll leading to a three or long 2. No one inside the paint, ever. Next game watch for it. No contesting for offensive rebounds, and hoping like hell the shots go in.
Tonight they went in, but the games they do not it is easy to see why the raptors disappear down the stetch.
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Realistically, the Raps need to go 20-9 or 19-10 to have a good shot at 8th.
Their next 10 are:
@Washington (W), Memphis (L), NYK, Washington, @Cleveland, Indiana, @Milwaukee, @Golden State, @Phoenix, @LA Lakers
Realistically, they are probably looking at 6-4/5-5 which would effectively end their playoff hopes but there are alot of games during that stretch that the Raptors will have a chance to win. If they can somehow go 7-3 or better, they would "only" need to go 13-6 in their last 19 to have a great chance of sneaking in.
I'm not getting my hopes up but it would be awesome if they could go on a tear and actually play some relevant late season games for a change. Also, the more drama Brandon Jennings continues to cause in Milwaukee the better!
The Bucks play @Brooklyn (L), Brooklyn (L), Atlanta, @Dallas, @Houston before they face the Raps on March 2nd. Milwaukee has beat Brooklyn in both matchups this season so it will be interesting to see how they hold up in the next few games.
Realistically, the Raps need to go 20-9 or 19-10 to have a good shot at 8th.
Their next 10 are:
@Washington, Memphis, NYK, Washington, @Cleveland, Indiana, @Milwaukee, @Golden State, @Phoenix, @LA Lakers
Realistically, they are probably looking at 6-4/5-5 which would effectively end their playoff hopes but there are alot of games during that stretch that the Raptors will have a chance to win. If they can somehow go 7-3 or better, they would "only" need to go 13-6 in their last 19 to have a great chance of sneaking in.
I'm not getting my hopes up but it would be awesome if they could go on a tear and actually play some relevant late season games for a change. Also, the more drama Brandon Jennings continues to cause in Milwaukee the better!
The Bucks play @Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Atlanta, @Dallas, @Houston before they face the Raps on March 2nd. Milwaukee has beat Brooklyn in both matchups this season so it will be interesting to see how they hold up in the next few games.
Only hope is a deadline deal. Casey is a defensive coach who looks just confused on offense. They just give the ball to whoever and run ISO's. Then hope Lucas or AA or a committee can hold them in there. All with virtually not inside game at all.
It's a very iffy prospect but IMO without a good deadline deal they are done like dinner.
I don't follow Basketball as much as I follow Hockey, but can NBA teams go and sign undrafted college players like the NHL? I guess it doesn't really matter as teams only have a max of 12 players or something like that.
Yeah, after a player declares for the draft and goes undrafted, he becomes a UFA. One of the most significant differences is that in the NBA, teams can offer UFAs 10-day contracts, which amount to cheap tryouts for these guys (but the team must have space on the roster, which is limited to 15 players, including injured and d-league players, but not including unsigned, drafted players, such as those stashed in Europe). Typically from this time of the year onward, you'll see a lot of guys getting a shot with 10-day contracts. Alan Anderson came onto the Raptors this way last spring before earning a guaranteed contract this year, and Chris Andersen got a 10-day contract with Miami earlier in the year before he was signed to a contract for the remainder of the season. Currently for the Raptors, they're at 15 contracts, including Haddadi, who has yet to suit up, or even appear in Toronto as far as I know. I've heard that there's visa issues and they can't even release him until they get the visas sorted out. Don't know if that's true, but otherwise I'd expected them to release Haddadi and then start bringing in some 10-day contracts for a look.
I still think they're a long shot for the playoffs. They can maybe reach 38 wins if everything falls into place (17-12 after the all-star break) , but they'll need a couple teams to go on a slide (most likely Philly and Milwaukee) for that to be good enough. That said, the reason I've always been pessimistic about their chances is that they've shown no ability to chalk up unlikely wins, and only a moderate conversion rate on should-win games. They've got a couple unlikely wins since Gay arrived, so it's difficult to use their past results and extrapolate forward.
And I don't know that there's a trade out there that definitely gets them into the playoffs this year. Not to mention, since anything better than eighth is pretty-much impossible, there's no point in any trade that isn't more focused on next year.
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The other thing Gay's arrival has done is solidified the roles guys will be playing.
Gay gets last shot.
Demar is scoring option 2
Anderson comes in to shoot and defend
Fields can just play d and set picks
Lucas does not have to look to score every posession.
Before it seemed the team left it open for someone to step up and be the primary scorer, and that meant theybwetent focussing on the other roles
This may actually help Bargniani as well.
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Apparently the Raptors can do this whenever they want (let us pray they don't). Luxury tax hell is not worth it.
Quote:
League sources said last week the Raptors were told the Carlos Boozer and Nate Robinson deal for Andrea Bargnani and John Lucas III was available whenever they wanted it
That really depends on how much tax ownership is willing to pay. They're going to be well over the cap next year regardless, so the only difference in going into the tax will be the $3 million mini-MLE rather than the $5 million full MLE.
I'd rather have Millsap, Jefferson, Ilyasova, Hickson, okafor, D. Williams, Gasol, etc. but if all of those guys are unavailable for Bargnani + filler, I'd rather that they take Boozer than stick with Bargnani.
Nate Robinson? He's such a self indulgent fool, I know I wouldn't want him near the team. Boozer is still pretty intriguing to me, if you use him at PF in the future. The problem is that can't come at the expense of Jonas. I know a week ago I said that the Boozer deal was good, and it is fair value, but you can get a center like him as a FA in the offseason, and deal Bargnani in a package to get another bonafide talent, so at this point given that reason, I'd hold on to Bargnani until the off-season.
Kinda comical in Washington with makeshift scoreboard and 24 second clocks. Plus an air horn somebody ran out and bought as the official horn. Some malfunction at the junction. Players yelling out how much time remaining and the announcer counting it down.
Weird but a win for the Raps and they keep streaking.
Yeah, plus watching these teams tonight in the last five minutes was like watching two slackers in the back row trying to one-up one-another on how little they cared about class. I'm going to hope it's just Toronto playing down to the level of their competition. Also, Wall is drifting perilously close to losing relevance as one of the next good PGs.
Yeah, plus watching these teams tonight in the last five minutes was like watching two slackers in the back row trying to one-up one-another on how little they cared about class. I'm going to hope it's just Toronto playing down to the level of their competition. Also, Wall is drifting perilously close to losing relevance as one of the next good PGs.
Post allstar game blues is what I rack it up to and they should get back in the groove very quickly. Raptors better cause they have a couple of tough games ahead.
