Well the tank is now officially on with Bargs missing action and the the upcoming schedule.
I saw my first Raptors game this month and had a ball. One thing I noticed that you don't see on TV, is Maglore is off the bench and standing up, pushing the guys on the floor on and cheering them on. I know he had a pretty embarrassing couple of free throws tonight, but I thought I'd mention how invested in this team he seems to be and pushing the young guys.
^ great, but doesn't make up for the fact he has 0 skill or finish. Hire him as the 15th guy on the bench. He's not making or breaking the team, but to the extent the fans have loved the signing is ridiculous. He's barely an NBA player. His size alone has made his career.
if Nash doesn't retire, he'll have offers from every team in the league who is a contender, with the exception (probably) of San Antonio.
My bet is Miami or LA
I agree. Nash in the last 8 years or so, hasn't shown any loyalty to Team Canada, and I'm sure that'll roll into a decision to play a year with the Raptors. Let's face it, he obviously likes the limelight, whether in NY or England. My guess is he'll go down south to the Lakers.
In 26 games this season, defending Lietuvos Rytas in the EuroLeague qualifiers, the EuroCup group stages, the LKL regular season and the VTB United league regular season, Valanciunas has posted averages of 21 minutes, 10.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 61.1% shooting.
Right now, the scouting on him is simple. Valanciunas is a defensive presence that keeps opponents away from the paint, thanks to his long arms and shot-blocking ability, and a volume rebounder, despite lacking great motor, but very limited offensively.
Nothing is a lock but keeping the same mediocre players is a an absolute guarantee of failure. They lost the last two and looked like the tank is right back on schedule. I don't mind short term pain for long term gain. The alternative is to just suck forever.
TANKING is very unprofessional. If you are a season ticket holder and paid big amount of money to go to the game, how would you feel if the team throws the game? You are not a fan of the game if all you want is for the team to lose the game just to get a high draft pick.
TANKING is very unprofessional. If you are a season ticket holder and paid big amount of money to go to the game, how would you feel if the team throws the game? You are not a fan of the game if all you want is for the team to lose the game just to get a high draft pick.
Then there have been a great number of unprofessional teams in the NBA and other leagues. In a setup where losing as much as possible gains you the best possible player then just being mediocre is maybe professional but stupid.
An intelligent fanbase would realize that there must be some short term pain for long term gain. They would go to the games to watch their young players develop and to watch good players on other teams.
Plus these teams do not throw games. Raptors, as an example, are hustling but BC skillfully gave them absolutely no bench. Tanking is an art as well as any other strategy. It has to be sold as something else. This year BC is using the "build" as the code word. For the casual fan that means they are looking to the future by developing their youth(which is true to some extent). To us hardcore fans it is a more than obvious tank job.
I don't think, if done right, that tanking is unprofessional at all. It is simply a strategy to be employed. The team, coach etc. are still trying to win. The GM just makes sure they are incapable of doing so.
Whoever they scoop if they go for a wing player needs superior handles and the ability to create his own shot. Without both of those he is useless to the Raptors. Their big men are alright and hopefully DD gets his act together at the 2 or he and Bayless can share the spot. They will have to grab a free agent or do a trade to get a PG.
But a very much missing ingredient is a guy who can take it to the hoop.
Wing defense is another thing they're missing. Well, a guy who can defend the better wings in the league, but still contribute offensively. Right now all their wing-players are poor defenders with some scoring ability, or capable defenders who can't do anything on offense. MKG looks to have a really nice balance of contributing on both ends. He's definitely my choice if the Raptors draft in the 3-8 range. If Drummond or Davis are on the board when they're drafting though, it definitely gets more complicated... I'd probably draft one of those guys, and then see if someone would offer a mid-lottery pick for Ed Davis, and use it to acquire the most talented wing still left on the board, whether it's Barnes, MKG, Millier, Beal, or Lamb.
Even from mid-first onward, there's some intriguing wing-players available, from Evan Fornier to CJ Leslie to Kris Joseph. None of those guys are in the same class as a guy like MKG, but I wouldn't be disappointed if the Raptors came away from the draft with Davis (or Drummond) and Evan Fornier.
Bargs really is the only thing that makes this team watchable. His third quarter last night was the most impressive quarter I've seen from a Raptor in a very long time. Defense is still a work in progress, but he had a crucial block on Gortat last night, in a help-situation no less. But the Suns were doing a good job using screens to leave Bargnani defending Nash, which was a disasterous mismatch for the Raptors.
So frustrated with Ed Davis and DeRozan. I really thought those two guys were going to be the key parts of our core, but they've shown nothing in the last few weeks.
On the flip side, James Johnson has put together three solid games in a row, and he doesn't look out of place in the starting lineup (which is only possible because Kleiza's back and playing well off the bench). Finally Butler's getting buried on the bench, where he should be.
Aaron Grey is growing on me. Not great at anything, but knows his role and doesn't try to do too much. Overall, I like the new starting lineup.
As much as losses are good for the team this year, it's still important to get a win every now and then to keep morale from plummeting, and last night was one of the few winnable games they have this month.
JJ and kleiza are looking really good....i thought it was GG when bargs left with an injury, but the raps really fought back hard with a smaller lineup
I like what Casey is doing this year but the stupidity of playing Bargs 40+ minutes in back to back games is hard to ignore. What on earth are they doing? You bring a guy back slowly from an injury in any sport. Nevermind back to back games after being out for awhile.
The whole overplay the vets thing so far is a little annoying. Now that it's led yet again to injury I hope Casey will wise up.
I like what Casey is doing this year but the stupidity of playing Bargs 40+ minutes in back to back games is hard to ignore. What on earth are they doing? You bring a guy back slowly from an injury in any sport. Nevermind back to back games after being out for awhile.
The whole overplay the vets thing so far is a little annoying. Now that it's led yet again to injury I hope Casey will wise up.
yeah but you can't blame him considering the alternatives he has to work with.....the difference between the raps with bargs and without him is enormous
I agree. Nash in the last 8 years or so, hasn't shown any loyalty to Team Canada, and I'm sure that'll roll into a decision to play a year with the Raptors. Let's face it, he obviously likes the limelight, whether in NY or England. My guess is he'll go down south to the Lakers.
I don't know man - if he somehow came to Canada, there is little double in my mind that he would be treated like a god.
Would get really good treatment elsewhere, but nothing compared to what he could expect from Toronto.
yeah but you can't blame him considering the alternatives he has to work with.....the difference between the raps with bargs and without him is enormous
Yeah I can it's simple player management. You don't do that in any sport. Just plain dumb. There is wanting to win and then there is short term gain and long term pain. They beat another scrub team tonight without him or Barbosa. They don't need him to play 40+ minutes a night.
Yeah I can it's simple player management. You don't do that in any sport. Just plain dumb. There is wanting to win and then there is short term gain and long term pain. They beat another scrub team tonight without him or Barbosa. They don't need him to play 40+ minutes a night.
wasn't last night the first game they won without bargnani? seems like the exception rather than the norm.
i agree it is simple player management and he shouldn't overplay him but if Casey wants to win some games he needs to squeeze every minute he can out of bargs
wasn't last night the first game they won without bargnani? seems like the exception rather than the norm.
i agree it is simple player management and he shouldn't overplay him but if Casey wants to win some games he needs to squeeze every minute he can out of bargs
No he really does not need to. He can give Davis proper minutes along with Kleiza. He can spread out the workload and work on youth development. All that squeezing minutes will accomplish is to put AB on the shelf which Casey has accomplished twice already--more than enough.
Yeah, Atlanta's just a brutal matchup for them. I'm really thinking this team is not bad enough to get a high lottery pick, but too bad to be a playoff team. If Colangelo does have a shot to grab Wilson Chandler once he's done in China, I think he's got to jump on it.
