Toronto Raptors 2012/2013 season

[octothorp]

Valanciunas watch:
8 rebounds
10 points on 3 shots
4 blocks
Also, the big thing you don't see in the box score: 7 drawn fouls, while picking up just 2 himself. Three of his drawn fouls were on Dalembert.

[TitovFTW]

The Raptors are going to be exciting to watch this season and I'd love to see them run the Knicks into the ground when they play one another. Bargs is a huge point of concern for this team though. he's looked awful most of the pre-season, not in the greatest of shapes and without him, the Raptors have no chance of going anywhere

[moon]

This team looks terrifyingly bad for the next 4-5 years but at least they are winning pre-season games and Valicunas doesn't look like a complete stiff.

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by moon

This team looks terrifyingly bad for the next 4-5 years but at least they are winning pre-season games and Valicunas doesn't look like a complete stiff.

haha. why are such a glass half empty? your posts now just crack me up.

[The Big Chill]

I don't think they are terrible. If they can avoid a few key injuries then a .500 record is very possible.

[TitovFTW]

Have to agree while the Raptors are still on the playoff bubble, they're not a terrible team or any other hyperbole. They weren't even that bad last year when they were healthy. I'm excited to watch them.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

haha. why are such a glass half empty? your posts now just crack me up.

Why glass half empty with this team?

They have maybe two legit starters depending on how Valcunas plays, one decent young guy (Valcunas), wasted a lot of money on a 7-8th bench guy in FA, their best player is struggling right now and shown he us more than wiling to take games off and they have a moron GM who is supposed to fix it.

It seems Valcunas and Casey are the only two positives and the rest is a big mess.

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by moon

Why glass half empty with this team?

They have maybe two legit starters depending on how Valcunas plays, one decent young guy (Valcunas), wasted a lot of money on a 7-8th bench guy in FA, their best player is struggling right now and shown he us more than wiling to take games off and they have a moron GM who is supposed to fix it.

It seems Valcunas and Casey are the only two positives and the rest is a big mess.

Kyle Lowry is a hell of a point guard. Him and Calderon make up one of the strongest 1-2 Point guard combos in the league. I don't think people realize how strong of a Point Guard Calderon is, outside of defense.

Bargs is struggling in pre-season although he's been good the last two games. Don't think we can read too much into that yet as much as I might be nervous. When healthy last year he was a force. Him and Valanciunas create a ton of matchup problems for other teams.

Landry Fields, while overpayed, is still a strong addition. His rookie year was incredibly promising, he struggled last year when the offense became a Melo-centric one. I'm not sure where else they could have spent that money this offseason, so I'm fine with it.

Terrence Ross had a really great summer league, Ed Davis and Derozan are still so young that you can't close the book on them just yet.

Dwayne Casey had a team riddled with injuries last season and an awful bench and he still made this team competitive on most nights. Playoffs are still going to be an uphill battle but the Raptors are not terribly bad by any stretch of the imagination, especially with how young they are. I'm also not to high on the Atlantic Division at all outside of the Celtics, who I would love to see blow up right in front of our faces.

I look forward to watching this team, have not for the last 5 years being in the states but bought the NBA package so will be watching a lot. The pick and roll with Lowry is going to make this team really exciting.

[TitovFTW]

Raptors finish the pre-season 6-1, although they didn't look that sharp with how they started in the last two games. Andrea really started to play well the last couple of games and Lowry was the best player on the court almost every night. Another good night for Big V. 15 points 7 rebounds. As St Pats has said on here, this is still likely to be a big learning year for him. I really hope the Toronto media doesn't start any narratives if he struggles early on. His potential is sky high and at a position where it's argued, that it could impact the game the most.

A lot more excitement around this years team then last, let's see what the new season will bring!

[St. Pats]

Originally Posted by TitovFTW

Raptors finish the pre-season 6-1, although they didn't look that sharp with how they started in the last two games. Andrea really started to play well the last couple of games and Lowry was the best player on the court almost every night. Another good night for Big V. 15 points 7 rebounds. As St Pats has said on here, this is still likely to be a big learning year for him. I really hope the Toronto media doesn't start any narratives if he struggles early on. His potential is sky high and at a position where it's argued, that it could impact the game the most.

A lot more excitement around this years team then last, let's see what the new season will bring!

I don't think JV will struggle because anybody who expected him to be a big scoring threat in his first year is more than a little basketball IQ challenged. Coming into the year I was hoping he was mobile and had a good work ethic. He is a very athletic 7fter so that part is looking good and he is in the right place way more often than not.

The real challenge for him according to the experts was that he would be a foul machine. Not much evidence of that so far.

He sure looks like a guy tailor made to play for Casey.

[The Big Chill]

JV has officially been named a starter for opening day.

I'm getting excited for the season! Its a pretty different looking team this year.

[keratosis]

Honestly didn't know they were still around. Amaizing what happens when hockey is gone.

Sent from my GT-S5830D using Tapatalk 2

[octothorp]

Game 1 in half an hour. Looking forward to seeing what happens now that the games count, though at this point in the season I'll be paying more attention to the performance of individual players than wins and losses.
Tough one tonight... In recent years, Pacers have matched up really well against Toronto, and I think a lot of that has been the lack of perimeter defense on Toronto... so Lowry and Fields will have an opportunity to make a difference there. Hibbert's going to be a really tough matchup for Valanciunas. With Danny Granger out, it at least makes it a winnable game for them.

[TitovFTW]

The Derozan contract is so tough to stomach. But I'm not going to let it get me down for this season, which will be a dog fight just to have the honor to get swept by the Heat. I can't help but be full fledged optimist towards the Raps without hockey. Toronto has incredibly underrated basketball fans, should be a great atmosphere tonight.

[The Big Chill]

Bargs' Primo commercials are back!

[octothorp]

Yeah, not sure how I feel about the DeRozan contract. I would have been okay with them riding out this season and then see what happens in free agency; I doubt he would have received a better offer sheet, assuming he plays at a similar level to recent years. It's not an awful contract, but he needs to improve to be worth it.

Bargnani and Valanciunas with 17 of the Raptors first 22 points... great to see.

[The Big Chill]

The DeRozan contract is definitely a risk. He has the potential to be worth it and more, but he has a long way to go to get there.

Pacers are on fire right now.

[Machiavelli]

Not enough interior defense or offense from this team.

Get...into...the paint.

[Hockey_Ninja]

Fields hasn't been good. 24 minuets, no points.

[Machiavelli]

Again with the jumpshots...