71 replies to this topic

[outsider13]

serge, on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008, 11:54 AM, said:

I have been on vacation and totally missed that Chuck Swirsky is gone to Chicago. What happened there??

That was a good month or two ago. He's their radio play by play guy now. No more Salami & Cheese http://tsn.ca/nba/st...=headlines_main

[fleung22]

serge, on Thursday, July 10th, 2008, 12:54 AM, said:

I have been on vacation and totally missed that Chuck Swirsky is gone to Chicago. What happened there??

c'mon serge...that's old news. the announcement was made during the playoffs.only explanation was "for family reasons"salami and cheese will never be the same

[FCP Bob]

I just did my draft for which games I'll be going to this year as I buy a third of the season from somebody. First row in the upper bowl and face value is only $43 per ticket which is a great value for these seats as they have extra legroom and nobody sitting in from of you.Fri Oct 31st - Golden State - Home OpenerWed Nov 12th - SixersSun Nov 19th - HeatWed Nov 26th - CharlotteSun Dec 14th - New OrleansFri Jan 2nd - HoustonWed Jan 14th - ChicagoFri Jan 30th - MilwaukeeWed Feb 4th - LakersTues Feb 24th - MinnesotaFri Mar 6th - HeatSun Mar 15th - PacersTues Apr 7th AtlantaSun Apr 12th - SixersI went into the draft hoping to get Lakers, Suns and New Orleans so getting 2 of the 3 makes me happy. I also wanted the Sixers games as got them as well.

[outsider13]

Sigh at missing the Suns game. And wtf with them opening up against a West coast team at home. That hardly makes any sense.

[fleung22]

FCP Bob, on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008, 12:43 AM, said:

I just did my draft for which games I'll be going to this year as I buy a third of the season from somebody. First row in the upper bowl and face value is only $43 per ticket which is a great value for these seats as they have extra legroom and nobody sitting in from of you.Fri Oct 31st - Golden State - Home OpenerWed Nov 12th - SixersSun Nov 19th - HeatWed Nov 26th - CharlotteSun Dec 14th - New OrleansFri Jan 2nd - HoustonWed Jan 14th - ChicagoFri Jan 30th - MilwaukeeWed Feb 4th - LakersTues Feb 24th - MinnesotaFri Mar 6th - HeatSun Mar 15th - PacersTues Apr 7th AtlantaSun Apr 12th - SixersI went into the draft hoping to get Lakers, Suns and New Orleans so getting 2 of the 3 makes me happy. I also wanted the Sixers games as got them as well.

wow, nice draft bob. I'll be back sometime in 2009...if you happen to need a friend...

[babylondonks]

Any word on Nathan Jawai? I've heard that he has some heart problems

[fleung22]

I'm pretty damn excited about this upcoming season. Any news on the starting line-up? Has training camp started??My guess:5O'neal4Bosh3Moon/Kapono2Parker1CalderonI think having Bargnani come off the bench again will be really beneficial to his progress. Less pressure and playing against weaker opponents should bode well for Andrea. I think this may be the last year for Graham to prove he's worth something or else he's gonna get moved.Team Forecast: Toronto Raptors2007-08 RecapIt was only one season, but it kind of felt like three.Act I saw the Raptors get out to a solid 12-10 start. Starting point guard T.J. Ford was playing like an All-Star while sharing time with backup Jose Calderon -- often in a perfect 24-24 minutes split, and the Raps were playing better than their record. In fact, they ripped off two 30-point road wins in the season's first two weeks.HOLLINGER'S '07-08 STATSW-L: 41-41 (Pythagorean W-L: 51-31)Offensive Efficiency: 107.7 (9th)Defensive Efficiency: 104.3 (14th)Pace Factor: 92.4 (25th)Highest PER: Chris Bosh (23.88)That came to a sudden end, however, when a blow from Atlanta's Al Horford knocked out Ford, who has a history of neck and spine problems. In addition to scaring the bejeezus out of everyone present, the injury kept him out action for nearly two months.Act II, however, saw the Raptors fail to skip a beat. Calderon took over as the starting point guard and played even better than Ford, registering near-nightly double-doubles in points and assists while hardly ever turning the ball over and shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Toronto went 18-14 from the Ford injury until late February, when he'd been able to work his way back into a regular rotation spot and back into his time-share at the point with Calderon.At this point, the Raptors looked like a dark horse to make a deep playoff run -- they'd even had an impressive road win in Boston -- and the general thinking was "imagine how tough they'll be when Ford is back at full strength."Instead, their season went off the rails. Ford tried to force the action at every opportunity and bristled at coming off the bench behind Calderon. He was such a distraction that eventually the Raptors put him back in as a starter, but by then the damage had already been done.From Feb. 25 -- the first game where Ford saw more than half the action -- through the end of the playoffs, the Raptors went 13-20, closing with a five-game dismissal at the hands of Orlando in the first-round of the playoffs. Toronto was 3-17 on the road in that stretch, lost home games to Indiana and Charlotte, and generally bore no resemblance to the cohesive, efficient unit that played the first 54 games.L'Affaire Ford dominated the headlines, but the other interesting story was the development of Andrea Bargnani … or rather, the lack of it. The first overall pick in 2007 was handed a starting job and major minutes after a solid rookie year, in anticipation of a possible breakout in Year 2. Instead the Raptors got a very different break -- a total breakdown in his shooting and confidence. Bargnani shot 38.6 percent from the floor with a 10.68 player efficiency rating; given his defensive shortcomings, he was one of the worst players in the league to see regular minutes.Compare him to the Raptors' other big men and you can see how costly his playing time was. Rasho Nesterovic shot 55 percent with a 16.23 PER; Kris Humphries shot 48.3 percent and had a 15.72 PER; and little-used Maceo Baston also shot well and posted a strong PER. Had the Raptors simply benched Bargnani and played the other three guys more, they would have projected to win 3-to-5 more games, depending on your playing time assumptions for the others. That, in turn, might have been enough for them to finish fourth in the East and host a first-round playoff series.Instead, Bargnani played 1,856 minutes, and for the most part he played them quite badly. His situation immediately brought up echoes of the last guy the Raptors gave heavy minutes to solely because he was a first-round pick, but let's not start the Rafael Araujo comparisons just yet. Unlike Hoffa, Bargnani demonstrated considerable ability in his rookie season; it's just unfortunate that he regressed so much last season.Despite Bargnani's struggles, the Raptors were one of the league's best shooting teams overall. Toronto was second in the league in 3-point shooting at 39.2 percent, and was also second with an 81.2 percent mark from the line.Unfortunately, they didn't attempt either shot in large quantities. The low free-throw rate won't surprise longtime Raps fans, who have watched their team play largely outside the paint for years -- as a result, Toronto had the league's lowest rate of free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt, pretty much undoing any advantage from shooting so well from the stripe.More surprising is that the Raptors' 3-point rate was slightly below the league average; you'd think a team full of jump-shooters would find a way to get three points more often. The shining example here is Jason Kapono, a free-agent flop despite shooting 48.3 percent from downtown -- largely because fewer than a quarter of his attempts were 3s.Lowest Turnover Rate, 2007-08TEAM PCT. OF POSSESSIONS W/ TOToronto 12.6New Orleans 12.8Detroit 12.9Golden State 13.0Dallas 13.7League Average 14.8The Raps also took remarkably good care of the ball. With two point guards playing at a high level and several low-turnover, catch-and-shoot guys around them, Toronto's best offensive attribute was that they almost never turned the ball over. The Raptors gave it away on only 12.6 percent of their possessions, easily the best rate in the league (see chart). Because of this they took an above-average number of shots per possession despite being a horrible offensive rebounding team.Those positives allowed Toronto to finish ninth in the league in offensive efficiency, and combined with a league-average defense that was notable mainly for the high number of 3-point attempts it allowed, it enabled the Raptors to outscore their opponents by 238 points on the season.In fact, the Raptors were a far better team than most folks realized. Though their record was only 41-41, they heavily outscored their opponents -- Toronto had the victory margin of a 51-win team. The Raps had the greatest differential between real and expected wins in 2007-08; in fact it was one of the largest in recent history (see chart).Real vs. Expected Wins: Biggest Negative DifferentialsTEAM REAL W EXPECTED W DIFF.Toronto 41 50.8 -9.8Utah 54 61.6 -7.6Orlando 52 58.1 -6.1Detroit 59 64.5 -5.5L.A. Lakers 57 62.1 -5.5That last part, at least, is a good omen for the coming season. Point differential is a better predictor of future success than win-loss record, so the fact that margin was so strong is a great indicator.And the Raptors were unlucky in another way, too. Their opponents shot 77.6 percent from the line; no other team's opponents shot as high a percentage. Obviously, this was luck, unless you want to argue that Toronto has an innate inability to "defend" free throws. Compared to the league average of 75.5 percent, it cost the Raptors 0.42 points per game, which was worth slightly more than one win over the course of a season. All told, then, the Raptors went 41-41 … but with the stats of a 51-win team.Biggest Strength: Interior defenseIt sounds crazy to be saying this about a Raptors team, but if O'Neal is even remotely healthy it will be true. His defense hasn't received a lot of attention so I'm not sure casual fans understand what a force he is at that end -- he not only block shots, rebounds and takes charges, but he's tough enough to guard the opponent's top post threat every night. Those attributes will be immensely helpful to Bosh, as he often was an undersized center in previous Raptors lineups.OFFSEASON MOVESWhat roster moves did the Raptors make over the summer? Were they the right moves? John Hollinger breaks it down. Insider InsiderInstead, he can be the active, perimeter-focused guy who guards the lesser of the opponent's frontcourt threats and can make plays from the weak side with his quickness and length. Those who watched the U.S. Olympic team saw what a force he can be in that role.In addition, don't forget about small forward Jamario Moon, another long high-flier who blocks shots like a big man. Between he, Bosh and O'Neal the Raps should be among the league leaders in shot blocks and defensive rebounding, even with relatively little help from the frontcourt off the pine.Biggest Weakness: Backcourt depthThe Raptors had a strong second unit on the perimeter a year ago, as the Ford-Calderon tag team at the point was incredibly effective and Delfino often gave the team a big spark on the wings.This year it's the opposite situation. At the very least, Ukic is going to need an adjustment year before he's ready to be an effective contributor; for this year it's more of a "please don't kill us" situation for the 10 minutes or so that he relives Calderon. On the wings, the loss of Delfino leaves Adams, Kapono and Joey Graham fighting for minutes; none are particularly appetizing solutions.Kapono probably offers the greatest potential because of his long-range shooting ability, but that's only a factor if he actually shoots some 3s. Otherwise his defensive shortcomings will swallow up any benefit he provides offensively. Graham is a good athlete but has looked lost at both ends, while Adams is a limited energizer who won't score much.About the best thing Toronto could do here would be to trade for a more proven reserve, but they can't cobble much together in expiring contracts or prospects to make such a deal happen.OutlookIn projecting Toronto's record, it's important to note that they had the performance of a 52-win team a year ago, even though they only won 41 games, and that they could have won even more had they not sabotaged themselves by keeping Bargnani in the rotation.The trade for O'Neal offers another potential bright spot. While Calderon can take over most of the minutes that Ford played a year ago, O'Neal fills in a large defensive void and, if healthy, should greatly improve Toronto at this end. That's the rub, of course -- I projected him to average 27 minutes a game, including injury time-outs, and even that may have been optimistic.Additionally, the bench seems nowhere near as strong as the unit from a year ago. Toronto finds itself counting on players like Ukic, Kapono and Bargnani, and based on their numbers from a season ago that's a scary proposition indeed. It's possible Bargnani surprises us with a breakout year, but the odds of the other two doing so are remote.Add it all up and you have a sleeper in the East, but one whose lack of depth and injury-prone frontcourt make it unlikely to pile up a huge regular-season victory total. They may very well win a round in the playoffs, but they're not quite ready to move into the conference's upper crust yet.Prediction: 47-35, 3rd in Atlantic Division, T-5th in Eastern Conference

[FCP Bob]

If you want to read about what's going on with the Raptors on a daily basis you should read Doug Smith's blog at the Toronto Star.http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/

[fleung22]

FCP Bob, on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008, 6:02 PM, said:

If you want to read about what's going on with the Raptors on a daily basis you should read Doug Smith's blog at the Toronto Star.http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/

wow, great blog. thanks bob!

[fleung22]

So it looks like most of the rotation is set for the upcoming season (barring injury):starting:5O'neal4Bosh3Moon2Parker1Calderonbench5Humphries4Bargnani3Kapono2Graham1Solomon/Ukicbiggest question left is who will back-up Calderon on pg. looks like it's Solomon's job to lose but from recent statements from Sam it looks like Ukic isn't that fasr away.

[fleung22]

wow, Bosh looked good in leading the Raptors to a 1-0 start to the season

[GeneralGeeWhiz]

Warriors are gonna PWN tonight!

[chgocubs99]

Are Raptors fans the best fans in the league? Amazing amount of energy in that building for an early season game, and I seem to remember something similar when they play the Bulls.

[FCP Bob]

chgocubs99, on Friday, October 31st, 2008, 9:37 PM, said:

Are Raptors fans the best fans in the league? Amazing amount of energy in that building for an early season game, and I seem to remember something similar when they play the Bulls.

I was at the game tonight and the Raptor fans do really get into games. Maybe not the best in the league but we're up there.

[Poppy_Hillis]

chgocubs99, on Friday, October 31st, 2008, 6:37 PM, said:

Are Raptors fans the best fans in the league? Amazing amount of energy in that building for an early season game, and I seem to remember something similar when they play the Bulls.

In my opinion the top 4 in no particular order are: Portland, Utah, Toronto and Golden State.

[Poppy_Hillis]

What's the deal with KG and Calderon tonight. Did Calderon start talking to KG earlier? This should be a great 4th quarter.Edit: Wow, that's a tough loss. God, I hate the Celtics.

[FCP Bob]

Poppy_Hillis, on Monday, November 10th, 2008, 9:29 PM, said:

What's the deal with KG and Calderon tonight. Did Calderon start talking to KG earlier? This should be a great 4th quarter.Edit: Wow, that's a tough loss. God, I hate the Celtics.

It was Garnett doing things that if it was anybody else would get them a taunting tech and Calderon just reacting.Boston plays tough but it sure helps when they get all the calls and not just against the Raptors. My biggest issue with the NBA is the fact that the refs don't call games straight up but call based on reputation.

[Poppy_Hillis]

FCP Bob, on Monday, November 10th, 2008, 7:09 PM, said:

It was Garnett doing things that if it was anybody else would get them a taunting tech and Calderon just reacting.Boston plays tough but it sure helps when they get all the calls and not just against the Raptors. My biggest issue with the NBA is the fact that the refs don't call games straight up but call based on reputation.

Yea, I've never seen a more blatant example of taunting than that, right in the middle of the floor no less, every time down for like 2 minutes. I don't get it.Boston gets every call all the time, but the Lakers do get the benefit a lot of the time so I can't really complain. Well except Game 2 of the Finals. That was a joke.

[babylondonks]

I can't say I've seen the game, but from what I've read that definately seemed like taunting, like, not even Dikembe 'crowd taunting'. Apparently it got into his head though. I completely agree with the thoughts about fair calling though, unfortunately the NBA has become a league dominated by superstars and the refs have to give them leeway for their highlights reels and it creates terrible fundamentals. The number of carries and travels you see, not to mention invisible fouls, it's disgusting. It's what makes players like LeBron so tough to play against on any one game.Looking at the box score, Bosh only took 8 shots?

[HollywoodAFD]

fleung22, on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008, 4:09 AM, said:

Get ready NBA for your 2008-2009 RAPTORS!!!

Since I'm Canadian now... this may be my new team !