12 things that may or may not happen during the course of the season:
1. Utah Jazz will win the champions - these guys are better than people are giving them credit for, Boozer is a monster and the supporting cast is very good. Ak-47 is the x-factor, if his fragile ego holds up this team will be tough to beat.
2. The Sun will have the best record - Their up-tempo style and skill will win a lot of regular season games, but they will not be able to translate it into playoff success, yet again.
3. Chicago will win the east - They have the most talented roster and one of the best defensive systems in the conference. That will be good enough for a number one seed and eastern conference championship. Unless they trade for Kobe, in which case they're fucked.
4. The MVP will go to KG - The Celtics are going to be a lot better this year and KG will get all the credit. Every sports writer is the country has a giant man crush on this guy.
5. Andrea Bargnani will have a lot less doubters by the end of the year - he's got the natural skills, the aggressive and the willingness to learn to take huge strides in his development.
6. Raptors will win the same number of games as last year - well give or take two. They have gotten better, but so has the rest of the conference.
7. Raptors will make the playoffs as a fourth or fifth seed and lose in the second round - This will make everyone fairly happy.
8. Baston, Moon and Martin will spend most of their time on the inactive list
9. Chris Bosh's body will hold up - everyone is getting way too excited about his potential health problems, he will play more than 70 games this year.
10. Washington won't make the playoffs - Agent Zero's knee won't be 100% for a good chunk of the season and the rest of the team is not good enough to take up the slack. Especially since they still won't play defense.
11. Boston will make the playoffs - But they won't be higher than fifth seed.
12. New Jersey will win the Atlantic division - I don't like it either, but they have Jason Kidd and a good supporting cast. They would have won it last year too, if they hadn't been hit so hard by the injury bug.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Another Preseason Victory, But Still More Questions
Well, if you missed it the Raptors crushed the Wizards tonight, it's really too bad its only the preseason. They do look good though, let's just hope they keep it up when the games count.
The consensus seems to be that the odd man out of the Raptors lineup will be Jamario Moon, Luke Jackson or Juan Dixon. It's not a decision I would like to make, I honestly like each of these guys and think that they can contribute to the Raptors success. If I had to guess I would say that Jackson is the most likely cut, He's much cheaper to get rid of then Dixon and Moon has been playing very well. But who knows, coach Mitchell has said that the cut would be based more on what he sees in practice, then what has happened in the preseason games.
If we're really lucky Bryan Colangelo will find a team in desperate need of some bench scoring (Miami, maybe. Though, they did just trade for Ricky Buckets) and ship Dixon off for some future draft picks.
On Another note, the season is just not starting soon enough, the waiting is killing me.
The consensus seems to be that the odd man out of the Raptors lineup will be Jamario Moon, Luke Jackson or Juan Dixon. It's not a decision I would like to make, I honestly like each of these guys and think that they can contribute to the Raptors success. If I had to guess I would say that Jackson is the most likely cut, He's much cheaper to get rid of then Dixon and Moon has been playing very well. But who knows, coach Mitchell has said that the cut would be based more on what he sees in practice, then what has happened in the preseason games.
If we're really lucky Bryan Colangelo will find a team in desperate need of some bench scoring (Miami, maybe. Though, they did just trade for Ricky Buckets) and ship Dixon off for some future draft picks.
On Another note, the season is just not starting soon enough, the waiting is killing me.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Tricky cuts
Someone on the current Raptors squad isn't going to make it to the regular season. Its sad, but its the rules. Before training camp began I was sure that the cutee(I don't think that's a word, but it works for me) would be one of, Jamario Moon, Luke Jackson or Derrick Martin, with Juan Dixon being a long shot. After these last few preseason games, I have to admit that I have no idea.
Juan Dixon has been shooting very well coming off the bench, which is exactly what he's supposed to do. So I'm pretty such he's a lock to make the team
Luke Jackson and Jamario Moon are both fairly young players with the potential to be quality role players for Toronto for a long time... And neither of them are likely to cost much. That leaves Derrick Martin.
While he certainly isn't going to get any better and right now he's little more than a tutor for Toronto's young PG tandem, I don't think they want to get rid of him either. His mentoring has been very valuable to both Ford and Calderon and is a big reason why they both improved dramatically last year. While the Raptors could instead try to keep Martin on as a coach this year, his relationship with the other two point guard would likely suffer and if either of them get injured Martin can still be a reasonably effective backup PG.
So where does this leave us? To my surprise the player who seems to have performed the most poorly and who really doesn't seem to be getting much burn is Maceo Baston. Really the Raptors don't need him and at his age his is unlikely to be a part of their long term plan. However, I can't see them simply giving up on a guy they just agreed to pay a couple of a million dollars to, without at least giving him some time in the regular season to prove himself. On the other hand, they won't lose much if they do
So who gets cut... Only time will tell, but my money is on Moon or Martin. Mostly because they are the only two in camp without a guaranteed contract.
Juan Dixon has been shooting very well coming off the bench, which is exactly what he's supposed to do. So I'm pretty such he's a lock to make the team
Luke Jackson and Jamario Moon are both fairly young players with the potential to be quality role players for Toronto for a long time... And neither of them are likely to cost much. That leaves Derrick Martin.
While he certainly isn't going to get any better and right now he's little more than a tutor for Toronto's young PG tandem, I don't think they want to get rid of him either. His mentoring has been very valuable to both Ford and Calderon and is a big reason why they both improved dramatically last year. While the Raptors could instead try to keep Martin on as a coach this year, his relationship with the other two point guard would likely suffer and if either of them get injured Martin can still be a reasonably effective backup PG.
So where does this leave us? To my surprise the player who seems to have performed the most poorly and who really doesn't seem to be getting much burn is Maceo Baston. Really the Raptors don't need him and at his age his is unlikely to be a part of their long term plan. However, I can't see them simply giving up on a guy they just agreed to pay a couple of a million dollars to, without at least giving him some time in the regular season to prove himself. On the other hand, they won't lose much if they do
So who gets cut... Only time will tell, but my money is on Moon or Martin. Mostly because they are the only two in camp without a guaranteed contract.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Thoughts on Raptors preseason
So much for posting more frequently... but I am back again.
The Raptors preseason is half over and we've had a chance to kinda see how the new players are fitting in. Yesterdays game seemed to be a step in the right direction, but they still have a lot of work to do if they're going to repeat as division champs.
Things I like
They finally look like they're learning to rebound. Out-rebounding 47-43 Zalgiris without Bosh in the lineup is a definate positive.
Despite shooting only 20% from three point range they still managed to put up 105 points, a lot of which came from the charity strip. Its good to see that kind of aggresiveness in attacking the basket.
They have gotten back to the team scoring that made them one of the more efficient offenses last year. Six players were in double figures and no one scored more than 13 points.
T.J. Ford seems determined to prove that he can be an all-star and the way he's playing he might be right.
Things I don't like
Bosh is hurt. Why does Toronto always seem to get injury prone stars?
Garbajosa might have come back too early from his injury. He certainly looks like his injury is bothering him. How long until he regains last years form? or did he screw himselft permanently?
The Raptors preseason is half over and we've had a chance to kinda see how the new players are fitting in. Yesterdays game seemed to be a step in the right direction, but they still have a lot of work to do if they're going to repeat as division champs.
Things I like
They finally look like they're learning to rebound. Out-rebounding 47-43 Zalgiris without Bosh in the lineup is a definate positive.
Despite shooting only 20% from three point range they still managed to put up 105 points, a lot of which came from the charity strip. Its good to see that kind of aggresiveness in attacking the basket.
They have gotten back to the team scoring that made them one of the more efficient offenses last year. Six players were in double figures and no one scored more than 13 points.
T.J. Ford seems determined to prove that he can be an all-star and the way he's playing he might be right.
Things I don't like
Bosh is hurt. Why does Toronto always seem to get injury prone stars?
Garbajosa might have come back too early from his injury. He certainly looks like his injury is bothering him. How long until he regains last years form? or did he screw himselft permanently?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
