The Upside of Anger

Very well written.

P.J Tucker for toughness and grit anyone? (if he plays that is)

Lacoco - Great point on Tucker... considered including him as yes, I think he'll definitely provide both...but like you I'm wondering how effective he'll be given that he probably won't get many minutes. That being said, he does seem like a Mitchell type player and maybe he'll play more than expected. The team's pretty deep now so SOMEONE is going to be sitting more than they wanted/expected to.

Im just wondering how much you really need a tough in-your-face player. Did the Mavericks have one? It seems that all of the "tough" players are more the players who go all out for a loose ball or a foul. I rould rather have a team of players willing to dive for a ball, than one who will talk trash. The older days of ball with the knicks, and pistons etc etc where the referees allowed a street fight to occur during the game are long gone.

And it may be that you need someone with a huge self confidence to boost the teams spirit and make them play better. But I ask, these are professional atheletes, should they not be able to motivate themselves and not need a cocky player on the team? I mean when I play ball, I am confindent in my abilities. I do not need someone on my team to trash talk, or be confident. I am confident in myself. And I am 6-1 220 lbs, but let me tell you, most of that 220lbs is most definatly NOT muscel, but rather "potential" for a six pack.

Production per 48 Minutes has to be the most useless basketball stat ever. By your logic, a player is tough if he's on pace to foul out every game

Yah I've been thinking about who that someone will be. I wonder if Joey Graham plays as many minutes or starts in as many contests as last year? Sam Mitchell will make the players earn their minutes. I questioned the Toronto papers inking Parker in as a starter; I could see Salmons experience helping him win the start at the 2 and I think Peterson would be equally as effective at small forward (especially if Ford can help further expand his catch and shoot game).
Araujo leaving is nothing but positive. Having an enforcer isn't somthing I think Colangelo is too worried about. His defence was so terrible, if poeple disrespected my game like oppenents do his i would get frustrated too, look at the size of him. I was confused when Aruajo started and he was just confused. From what I've seen and heard I like Humphries game

Agreed with Scott up until he started describing himself like this was Lavalife. Personally, i think the toughness thing is overrated. How do you define it? Hoffa was more of a goon, and brings the same upside that a goon in the new look NHL brings. No use to the Raps.

More important to a winning program is great team chemistry. I think if they get that in the locker-room, get everyone understanding their roles, and wanting to win for each other, they've got the horses to be a solid team. Guys will step up for each other and be tough in the sense of playing hard for 48 minutes, not giving up easy baskets or settling for 3's too often like they have for the past few years. How about an article on who these guys are outside of the basketball skillz, since we don't really know them? Salmons, Ford, etc... what intangibles do you think they'll bring to the locker room to turn this into a playoff team again? I think we all agree the team talent-wise has moved up, but do you think they'll gel and why?

Graham is on a short lease this year, but I would not expect that it will be Tucker taking a significant portion of his minutes. But I fully expect Tucker to make the roster and try make the most of every opportunity that is given to him. He will play damn hard and will grab some boards but likely will be overzealous, at least to start the season.

Bargnani is going to be all up in everyone's face.

I'm liking the new Raptors ! I'm liking B.C and his ability to get things done. Come time we will truely see how good or bad these moves are.

Rebounding? That seems to be the big ? Compared to last years stats this years team will look fantastic! We have good rebounders at all positions. Nester will rebound Bosh will rebound MoPete can get em Salmons/Parker are both excellent rebounders for the 2 /3 spot and finally both Ford/Calderon are decent rebounders for the point guard. The Bench in my opinion will look and play so much better than last year's.That certianly was the biggest problem last year.

"The Gel Factor"the other big concern seems to be how quickly can this team get it together? I don't think it will take long at all ! Why do you say that ? I don't see any ego's on the team firstly.Just about everyone is new so there is no tearing down old foundatians only building new ones. Motivation will spark a strong work ethic for coach Sam to work with in training camp. There are alot of minutes of playing time up for graps with this new team.

I'm liking it alot !!!!!!

I asked chuck swirsky how will the chemistry be between the players after such an upheaval? His answer - we will know after 20 games. I guess the result of the first 20 games will determine if coach mitchell stays with the current line up, or will sam still use his fav excuse...the boys are still learning etc ?

All I have to say in response to this article is: I MISS THE JUNK YARD DOG.

If Arujo was so tough, where the hell was he when Kobe scored 80+ points. I remember seeing Kobe scoring without any will when Arujo was on the floor. I just hope this new team has some grits and toughness to compete.

ok, sorry, I didnt mean to sound like a lava life add...my bad. I still stand by my point. There are some teams without super tough guys. The mavs, phoenix, NJ off the top of my head. THat is also the last time I will sound like a lava life add thanks for letting me know ;)

I like all this chemistry talk...when I was writing the article for yesterday I started touching on that topic as well...but by then it was starting to resemble Loren Woods in length. So tomorrow I'll be talking a bit about that and yes, discussing a bit more on the Raps new additions.

Kyron - I agree, 48 minute stats are a bit useless because in reality the players AREN'T playing 48 minutes a game right? I guess my point here was that for comparitive purposes (as much as you CAN compare considering different team game-plans) Humphries should be able to replace Bonner in many regards. Of course he won't be the 3 point threat the Red Rocket was...but then again even the Red Rocket wasn't the 3 point threat he was in his first year with the club!

Re Blaker: Salmons has the ability to start on this team, but I don't think that he will. Why? He's too well suited to be our 6th man. Just think - he can come in at the 1, 2, or 3. Based upon an excellent description of his play from RaptorsHQ (wink), he can fill a stat sheet across the board. That type of versatility allows Mitchell to basically plunk him in for any player that isn't get the job done that night. MoPete firing bricks? Send Salmons in at the 3. Parker not adjusting well and missing assignments? Salmons goes in at 2. TJ Ford needs a spell and Calderon can't hit a shot? Salmons, play point.

The advantage of that on-the-spot solution for someone having a bad game far outweighs the advantage of having him start at the 2.

This topic goes back to the same old argument: the Raps lost like it was their job last year despite all the supposed hard-nosedness. Where's the mean grittiness on the Suns? Or the Mavs? Or the Spurs? OK Bowen is a cold-blooded killer. But imo, work ethic and effort comes in many flavours and there's no reason why these new look Raps can't surpass last year's version by leaps and bounds.

As a Mavericks fan who saw the Mavericks be soft for years and years, I can tell you the need for those kinds of attitude players are very important. The presence Stackhouse and Terry, for example brought to the Mavs made a huge difference. When you are relying on a relatively soft guy like Bosh (no offense the mavs have nowitzki), you need other guys who can play tough-nosed.

You don't win in this league with toughness or trash talking. You win in this league with STARS and a decent supporting cast that can rebound and feed the rock to the big guns. It is largely for that reason that I'm somewhat disappointed in how the Raptors are building. They are 1-12 a better roster, but give me 3 stars and a bunch of role players that can play D and rebound, and I'll take on any "well-balanced" team. We have have 1 all star, gave up potentially our 2nd and now have to hope that a questionable draft pick pans out faster than most rookie big men do.

I think that if everything works well and our revamped roster gels, we should be able to compete for a 6-8th playoff spot in the East over the next 3 years. Is this what you want?? (see Maple Leafs) You have to increase your odds of landing young superstars when rebuilding and lets face it the Raptors are in rebuilding mode. You rebuild through shrewed trades, well thought out drafts and great coaching that can build team chemistry. Not by getting a cast of 4-5 million$ 7-9th men on most teams.

Pape will be tough as long as he stays standing. It seems that everytime he goes for the rebound or attemp a basket , Sow finds himself on his ass.
Parker is a softie . He is no Michael James. Garbajosa will likely be playing during garbage time .
Where was Hoffa when Kobe went on a a rampage ? the bench.

Baby steps !! Boys and Girls, Baby steps!!

No this team as we now know it will not be in the NBA finals next season. I'm hearing everyone say that they feel this team wil finish some where between 6th&9th place in the East. That sounds pretty good to me considering last years finish.B.C has picked up a number of players with nice(tradeble) salaries this gives B.C the ability to shop a few of these players around if he wants or needs to in the following years.

I still think Raptor fans are going to be pleased with the recent moves.

Why is Parker a softie ? How do you become a two time MVP if you don't like to compete!!

Well written,
No worries about Humphries being a steal however. He is a horrrible defender both on the interior and exterior and is lost on the offensive end of the court as well. Warm up a blog for what a stiff humphries is to replace your haffa blogs.

mudhen, spot on about "baby steps".

This team should definitely be an improvement. Bosh will continue his growth and having a quick, competent, PASS-FIRST PG in Ford is a huge improvement.

Bargnani will probably be a little off CV3's numbers from last year, but probably not that much. Even if he struggles for a while, the bench will be IMMENSELY improved.

Not even a mention of Nesterovic? I mean, he's a reliable 7-footer. Perhaps not known for incredible toughness, but he at least gives us a decent option in the middle. When Davis was here last year the team looked like a .500 squad. I suspect Nesterovic can at least do the job AD did when he was with the team last year (briefly).

Either Graham will take on a tougher role, or Mitchell will be giving Tucker the chance. No second (third, fourth ...) chances for Graham this year with the team so deep.

I expect Garbajosa to be the "X-Factor" plenty of times on Raptor broadcasts. Toughness is his forte.

Rose did little to nothing valuable for the team last year. In my opinion, being a good interviewer doesn't make someone tough. James kept a lot of games close but couldn't come through at the end with any type of consistency. Again, talk is cheap. Bonner was ... well, that Bonner is on any team's list of "tough" players says a lot about last year's team. Araujo showed so little skill that no matter what his abillity of "thuggery", it always made for a worse rather than better situation for the team with him on the court.

This team will be better on all fronts, including toughness. However, it'll take (as people have stated) a 1/4 of the season to see how much of an improvement will occur over last year's 27 wins.

When I see that people are disappointed because BC didn't trade scrubs from a 27 win squad for a couple more all-stars, well I just have to laugh. Unless you figure it would have been a great idea to throw all our cap space at Peja S., I'm not sure what you wanted out of the past 2 months. In the real world, it takes a few years to build up a team and you gotta start somewhere. BC isn't finished yet, you can count on that - more moves will come, and the talent level will keep increasing.

I think the Raptors will be moderately improved in defence and rebounding because they are slightly deeper, more athletic, and more versatile. However I figure that stepping up the grit/defence is gonna be on the "to do list" for a little while yet.

I read this morning that there is a problem with the John Salmon trade, what is going on we waive a guy for this guy and now we might not get him. Did anyone else said anything about this?

SR Says: "When I see that people are disappointed because BC didn’t trade scrubs from a 27 win squad for a couple more all-stars..."

Hahaha, well put.