Raptors 2014-2015 season

[Zach]

Not sure which coach is worse. Probably Wittman by a bit.

[bubbsy]

got tickets to tonight's playoff game here in TO.

Dumb question of the day:
I'm a distant bandwaggoner, so am looking for guidance on whether there's any real "dress code" for this (ie. dress in white, etc)??

[Senator Clay Davis]

Wear an old school purple uniform. But no there's no real thing they do, no white out or black out or red out.

[bubbsy]

nice, i'll wear a flames shirt then.

Excited to go, sad to miss the flames game. will PVR it and watch when i get back, have taken the day off so as to deal wtih the hangover

[The Big Chill]

Casey is killing me. JV has a great start to the game, 4 boards and 8 points in 8 minutes, and has yet to get back in the game. James Johnson just got a standing O for being subbed into the game. Everyone in Raptor-land outside of Casey sees his value.

Edit: JV subbed in now.

[The Big Chill]

It looks like a layup drill for WSH.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Getting swept would be typical Toronto sports team. The start of the year was such a tease, but it's been reverting to the Gay days again since, so much iso ball, weak defense and really no identity. Masai needs to nail the coaching hire obviously.

[Machiavelli]

Raps are done.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Utter humiliation. Total no show after the first quarter.

[Antithesis]

There's gotta be some changes on the way for this team. Starting with the coach.

[OzSome]

What a joke!! I was watching the game while waiting for the Flames game and got tired of it. It was an embarrassment and it is showing that punk Paul Pierce comment about Raptors not having an 'IT' was spot on. Too many mistakes and defense sucks. Terrence Ross was brutal on both offense and defense so I finally had it and changed the channel.

They are going to Washington now and if their play does not change and cut down on their mistakes, they are done.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Besides finding a coach, the Raps obviously are desperate for more size. Especially when Jonas goes long stretches on the bench and your big men are some combination of Amir, Hansborough, James Johnson and Patterson, all 6'9 or shorter. Gonna need some lights out shooting the rest of the series to even have a prayer.

[Hessen]

I didn't expect too much. Their record after the break was atrocious and they limped into the playoffs.

[St. Pats]

I have to admit I lost interest in the Raps as the year progressed. They were at best a one round winner. Their record was just so much baloney. Probably the crappiest team to ever win that many games in a season ever. They should have tanked when they had the chance to do so. Now they will just have to fire the coaching staff and comepletely overhaul the roster. Another wasted year. Why are all the franchises in Toronto so stupid?

[Senator Clay Davis]

As it turns out there were really only two players worth tanking for last year, Wiggins and Embiid (even if we still haven't seen him, he was the most talented player last year). So gutting the roster (and getting nothing of value in return to boot) to get Dante Exum or Jabari Parker likewise would have been a debacle. Only Embiid or Wiggins were worth it, and the Raptors would have had to instruct their players to intentionally lose to get either.

Tanking was never going to really work without going full Sixers and tanking for 3-5 years. Fan base is basically dead at that point, and you have only hope and nothing real to prove those players were worth tanking for. They mostly need a new coach, Atlanta's roster is not that much more talented than the Raptors but they play a better team game and system game.

[The Big Chill]

Tanking was not the solution. There is no way this team could have gotten rid of enough talent to lose that many games.

This team has a lot of the right pieces. Bringing in the right coach is the first move that needs to be made. They need to play a simpler defence, and actually make an attempt at establishing an inside presence on offence.

JV
Patterson
J.Johnson
DeRozan
Lowry

That is a much more balanced starting 5. I have no idea why Ross plays so much, he provides absolutely nothing besides a decent shooting game now and again. He is also more useless on the defensive end then DeRozan is. Starting James Johnson would allow DeMar to cover the weakest opponent, and would help us with some rebounding and energy.

I imagine this summer we'll see MU really put his stamp on this team by picking a new coach and making a few moves on this roster.

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

As it turns out there were really only two players worth tanking for last year, Wiggins and Embiid (even if we still haven't seen him, he was the most talented player last year). So gutting the roster (and getting nothing of value in return to boot) to get Dante Exum or Jabari Parker likewise would have been a debacle. Only Embiid or Wiggins were worth it, and the Raptors would have had to instruct their players to intentionally lose to get either.

Tanking was never going to really work without going full Sixers and tanking for 3-5 years. Fan base is basically dead at that point, and you have only hope and nothing real to prove those players were worth tanking for. They mostly need a new coach, Atlanta's roster is not that much more talented than the Raptors but they play a better team game and system game.

Tanking was MU's plan as we all know. He knew the roster was crap and was I'm sure as stunned as everyone else when Dolan killed his Lowry deal and the return from dumping Gay produced a false little run.

It's far deeper than the usual solution of fire the coach. They don't have players that can play a defensive system no matter who implements it. JV is not a defensive anchor. Nor do they have one. Their perimeter players are slow and weak. DD is useless on defense and inefficient on offense. Ross was a waste of a high pick. Lowry is good when he is isn't out of shape or injured. At least he has some spark to his game.

Casey is gone for sure. MU should move DD, Ross, GV and both Johnson's. In fact just move anybody other than I would hold onto JV unless he is part of a deal for Cousins.

There is no core worth building around. Thats the stupidity BC tried for years with the shuffling of pieces. Get a star and build around him. Quit wasting time on mediocre players that are going to take them nowhere.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Yeah but again, even dumping Lowry and Gay, they would not have gotten into position to get a top 3 pick. They needed to literally gut the entire roster to be bad enough to tank. Giving away any decent players for scraps and fielding a disgraceful roster. And even that would not have guaranteed them anything, they could have gotten 4th in the lottery.

Now granted had they gutted the roster they might be position for Towns or Okafor this year, but even then outtanking Minny, Philly and the Lakers this year was going to take a gargantuan effort of piss poor play. The NBA has too many teams in a year tanking for tanking to truly be a viable strategy. They just need to find someone from the Spurs system to come in, and just instituting that kind of system alone gets them 5-10 more wins a year with the same talent.

[bluejays]

I'm not a fan of dumping coaches in any sport - except basketball. It's more of an X's and O's type of sport than others, and when coaches can't get that right, they're badly exposed. I really like Casey as a person, but he's simply not a guy who can implement strategy.

[octothorp]

Lots of interesting coaching options out there... a list of reasonably respected NBA guys available (JVG, Brooks, Malone, potentially Thibs), a couple high-profile international guys in Messina and Obradovic who are rumoured to be willing to make a jump to the NBA, plus assistant coaches and NCAA coaches galore. Good season to jettison your head coach.

My top choices would be JVG or Hoiberg (Iowa State)... it would be hard to lure either of those guys to Toronto. I also really like everything I've read about Obradovic but admittedly I don't know a lot about him. He might be too antagonistic for the NBA, but he sounds like a brilliant coach.