Something to Get Excited About

Can't believe Babcock hasn't found a home with another club down in the dumps...

I can't believe I watched every game I could in 04-05. What a bunch of bricklayers.
The Omar Cook line cracked me right up as I had also swallowed the Kool-Aid, and thought this kid could be a player.

50 wins for the Raps!
Who's better in their division?
New York? With Eddy Curry's bad shoulder? Philly sucks, New Jersey isn't deep, and if New Jersey isn't deep Boston won't even get the bottom of your feet wet!
Yah, the Conference is a different story but the Atlantic is Toronto’s to lose!
Howland is bang on with Toronto’s ability to handle injury. If Boston or New Jersey suffer a loss to one of there big three it’s deadly. While if we lost Bosh for extended periods last year and it was just an opportunity for Bargnani to get better.
Colangelo gets a fruit basket from me this year.
Go Raps Go!

God bless Bryan Colangelo. Thanks for the morning chuckle - nearly forgot about that line-up.
Tougher competition and all - let the trumpets sound - the Raps have arrived as a Eastern Conference powerhouse. My predictions - first in much more competitive Atlantic, second in much more competitive East, overalll record of 54-28. Eastern conference closes the gap with the Western conference.
Sam Michell wins second COY and Jose Calderon wins sixth man. No starting all-stars from Raps.
Too soon to be predicting playoffs

Great post! It is really scary to look at that team...makes you think of the analogy of the frog that is a gradually heating water - doesn't notice that it is about to get cooked!

This team will win between 45 and 50 teams. The win estimate is conservative because of their vastly improved division.

That was just three seasons ago?! Feels like a lifetime. Hey, didn't Loren Woods do a stint with the Kings after leaving Toronto?

I am very excited about this season but I am also bracing for a small step backwards in the win column. I really believe that NJ, Boston and NYK improving their personnel to varying degrees will have an impact on the Raptors' winning %. Last year was magic, but a lot of wins were bagged by frequent matchups with cruddy Atlantic conf teams. Even Philly should be more of a pain as they showed good defensive play towards the end of last season and should grow that much more this year.

Couldn't be more excited or confident than I am right now going into the season, although I have a bit of a dilemma. I am currently teaching English in Taiwan and would desperately like to see all 82 games this year, does anyone have any ideas of how this can be done? I looked into league pass on NBA.com, but it looks like you have to be American....figures.

Quiet confidence, that’s how I’ll describe myself as a fan. I have entirely no problem that the Raptors are not being noticed for the current strength and future potential that exists on club. Being the only non-American team, loudly boasting that we are the greatest when we haven’t proven anything yet is fraught will peril if we fall short for any reason. I think the humiliation that we would receive from the Americans would be too much to bear.

Is it so wrong to strongly support the team and when no one looking the next thing you know, BAM…we’re NBA Champs leaving our southern friends wondering what just happened (i.e. Blue Jays, Spanish national team). It would so satisfying and oh so Canadian. Would love to ask Jose or Garbo how it feels.

Great post.
A couple of things though. I really think Babcock got a bad rap when he was in Toronto and he might have turned things around eventually anyway. No doubt Colangelo is a better fit but I think Babcock could GM a team to decency.
2ndly - Atlanta's problems have nothing to do with their front office and everything to do with their ownership. Until the ownership situation settles it won't matter who is in the front office of that team.

McGateway - No doubt the ATL ownership situation is a mess, but the front office has made a mess of the draft the last few seasons (passing on Paul, Williams, Roy, Foye, etc.)

If the big four of bosh, bargs, tj and calderon stay healthy, I think we're looking at 50+ wins

deezonions, I've mentioned it before in other posts. Get yourself a Slingbox and set it up at a friend/family place in Toronto. Works for me when I'm out of town, never miss a Raptors game!

Howland/Franchise, you should consider getting all posters input on number of wins, place of finish and playoff sucess and digging it all out in April.

For the record, 49-33. First in the Atlantic, 3rd in the East and going to the conference finals.

Erezona -

Great idea. Why doesn't everyone get in on the forum and "place their wagers". That way we can have a record of everyone's thoughts to look at throughout the season in an organized fashio.

Unicaja Malaga just defeated Memphis with a very solid team performance. This Unicaja squad does not have any hugely talented player but plays great as a team, which is similar to what the Raptors should expect from Madrid next Thursday. Of course the Raps are a lot better team than the Grizzlies, but Madrid is quite better than Unicaja too, so i wouldn't expect an easy game. That said, half the Raps players are very well versed in euro-style basketball (and the game is played under NBA rules anyway) so i don't expect an upset.

By the way great performance by Navarro with 21p (including 5/8 3p) who single-handedly kept the Grizzs in the game in the second half and proved just how good he can be. Franchise, you being in Spain, did you get to watch the game?

Is this something to worry about?

Chris Bosh Sidelined With Knee Injury
http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/10/09/chris-bosh-sidelined-with-knee-injury/

OldSchool says:
October 9th, 2007... I enjoy reading your comment OldSchool, I like the part about our southern friends, I don't think we should start worring about Bosh, he is going to shine he is our hero. I hate the fact that the American NBAers still treat the Raptors as if they are not ther and if they ignore us we will go away, I just want to say to the American NBAers don't ignore us we are not going anywhere the TORONTO RAPTORS will be in all you all sides like a thorn, we are here to STAY, we don't care who traded for the BIG THREE we are no longer without confidence we will be the The David and Goliath of the EAST...Go my beloved TORONTO RAPTORS..

Unicaja was a beast against the Griz's Loved watching Him play. Why is He not in the NBA?

Nice article Howland.
It brings a certain unease thinking about this particular team which is quickly negated by the overwhelming sense of relief the current management brings to fans now. If I've learned anything about Bryan Colangelo, it is that he is willing to pull the trigger. I'm willing to see through the Ford/Calderon duo for the rest of my living Raptor days but it wouldn't surprise me to hear the "basketball is a business" and "we have to give up talent to get talent" speeches once again.

Wow, one word, scary. can't believe we called that a "team". I still get shivers looking at that. I have the Raps down for a 50-32 record, first in the Atlantic and second in the Conference. They'll push for a Conference Final.

Having a poor memory has it benefits, such as watching a good movie over and over again as if it’s the first time, so excuse me if I’m in error. Somehow I remember last season as one with an unusual number of teams experiencing the injury bug and Raptors schedule nearly perfectly in sync when opposing teams were the most vulnerable. We had a few more easy games than normal. Most teams in the East have improved and Raps will need to fight harder to win same amount of games as last season.

So my prediction is: 46-36. 2nd in the Atlantic, 4th in the East.

43-39, but I hope I'm wrong and they do better.

So far, Juan Dixon has looked horribly disapointing. If I didn't do a double take I would have thought it was Mike James. Pack your bags buddy, it's time to find a new job.

And I hope the merry-go-round swing position settles down a little. Maybe we can play Joey Graham every other game.

Andrea's range never ceases to amaze me.

Let's hope Kap-1 becomes the 2nd coming of Dell "Get your laptops & vindaloo ready" Curry.

Do we now beat Utah for the "whitest" team in the NBA? (Not that there's anything wrong with that). I think we need to bring back Mengke Bateer (sp?).

Where is this BC interview at??

Oldschool - your memory is correct. Mid year we had a stretch of games where it seemed like the stars of our opponents were injured. As well the last ten games or so, although we won the majority, included some of the ugliest wins of the season.
Keep in my. We lost Bosh, Ford, Calderon, Parker, Barghani, and Garbarosa to injuries last year. Injuries hit us as well, harder than some.

Ha…Tinman, it’s slowly coming back to me. Boston, New Jersey, Washington, Miami…oh my. I remember Raps trying not smirk (it’s not our way) when we were layin’ down a whoopin’ on their sorry asses. Gosh…I was feeling sorry for them, thinking they’re going to be so pissed at us when they get healthy. Note - this feeling of dread past when I realized the Raps were for real.

Nope, this year is going to quite different and we’ll be full measure for all our wins.

I have to admit thinking that Babcock was on his way to improving things, but in a kind of hard, long, way. He did bring us Jose and draft a player who we thought was too good to give up for Ford. BC has done the job he's always done, and won as many championships here as in Phoenix. He's been incredible, but the job isn't done yet - let's not give him a free ride.
I wonder what BC would have done if he'd inherited Carter.

Well BCock was on his was to Improving this team. It is not a ridiculous argument that he may have been better as of right now that we currently are.

Obviously last year we would have sucked. But this year we would have two undetermined picks (bargs and durant anyone??), and who ever they could have signed with Roses' money off the books.

While he did make a mess of things, he was in a good position to wait it out and come out in a good position.