Tip-In: Rocket Fuel

Awful game last night. Pondering a question to everyone. Thoughts/comments on are two big issues (that franchise states also). One being a slasher/scorer and two and rebounder/blocker.

What does everyone think of Gerald Wallace (if he can stay healthy), Rashad Lewis. Not sure about a shot blocker? Would love to see a David Lee in a raps uniform though.

Wow, that was quite a blowout. It's curious, i often think that the Raptors squad depth is quite remarkable with plenty of guys who can win you a game in a good night: Bosh, Bargnani, Parker, TJ, Mo Pete, even Garbo and Calderon... However, in nights like yesterday's, it feels like missing just two guys (Parker and Calderon) makes the Raps a lot less dangerous with a predictable offense and an effortless defense. It makes you realize how, for all the great individual performances we see all year, it really is the team effort from all the guys which has brought the Raps to the current standings, so a couple of injuries can make a big difference...

Bad loss. For all intents and purposes, the Raptors were never a threat to win that game. We were forced to the perimeter because of Yao, and couldn't hit the shots. Leo pointed this out during the game, but I would have liked to see a little more aggression from Bosh. Yes he had almost all of our rebounds, but on offense he settled alot for jumpers. He could've put alot more pressure on Houston's bigs by attacking and getting them into foul trouble.

As for your question, Jay....I love Gerald Wallace's game, but he has NEVER been healthy. He plays a very aggressive game and his body just doesn't hold up. Rashad Lewis would be nice (although he has some health issues too), but we won't have the cap space to make that deal happen. We should have between 4-6 million this offseason to spend on players, so in all likelyhood, unless a significant trade is made, we'll be only able to address one of the two glaring needs that we have. My vote would be to go after Anderson Varajeo, but he may be out of range as well. I'm iffy on Darko, because he seems to have work ethic issues.

If we can't get a decent big, then I'll settle for the slasher. I know that this guy has an extensive injury history, and may retire at the end of the year, but wouldn't Grant Hill be a perfect fit for this team? Plus you could probably get him for the Mid Level exception (5 million).

David Lee, Gerald Wallace, Anderson Varejao, Rashard Lewis...and yes, Grant Hill of course...all would be welcome in my books. It's going to come down to cap space and first, what Toronto does come draft day. At some point I think BC's going to have to address the number of "potential contributors" on this club and upgrade. Pape Sow, Uros Slokar, PJ Tucker, even Kris Humphries to some degree all have shown promise but at some point Colangelo may have to simply decide that they can't wait any longer (not to mention there's been no playing time for most of them) to get returns.

Ideally I think next year BC would like to have a lineup of Ford, Parker, an slashing 2/3, Bosh and Bargs as starters with Calderon, Garbajosa, Dixon and Rasho coming off the bench. Filling that 3 spot with a Rashard Lewis would take some serious cap management but I can't think of a more perfect fit and I'm sure this is going to spawn a good number of posts this off-season...

Back to Ohio State/Xavier

I was at the game and was sooooo hyped for this one, as was the rest of the crowd. usually the place doesn't even fill up until a good few minutes after tip-off, but last night the place was jam packed by the intro's. dissapointing, to say the least. everybody knew the game was over 6 or 7 minutes into the game.

a few things:
1) tj was scared witless to go into the paint against yao. which is understandable, considering he's about a foot and half taller. but I still would have liked to see him do it more. i hope his inability to finish at the rim consistenly wasn't in the back of his mind as well. I think that's where the change up of jose would have come into play. I think jose is a bit more confident taking it to the hole at this point. he probably would have gotten swated a few times, but it has to be done.

2) mo looked awful on defense. he is/was my favorite raptor, but man does he look slow out there. I'm not even going to talk about offense, because that's just a matter of shots falling. but the defense?? wow, it was tough to watch him chase t-mac around - and by chase, I mean he mostly just watched.

but knowing that the rockets have 3 guys in the top 10 of 3's made, it's hard to fault the raps too much for getting burned like they did last night.

it's either that, or let yao go to work.

and one last thing, seeing that guy in person is scary. he made andrea look like a child standing next to him.

not the worst loss ever. I got a sinking feeling as soon as I saw parker and calderon in their fancy suits.

You're sooo right, we need a decent big to match up against yao and shaq. And we NEED AP to match up with their best guard. I don't understand what's up with mopete's defense. I'm still a fan but this guy needs a change of scenery or something. Without AP, our shots just had to fall. I think if even just a few more shots had fallen it would have opened things up enough to make it a game. Where were bargnani's three anyway?

Hi, they broadcasted the game in Italy as well so I could see it for once. I would like to make the case against having the team in the hands of TJ Ford. HE is for sure an aggressive driver but he has no inclination for team play. His first option is constantly to attack the bucket and then, failing to attack successfully he uses the (sometimes little) time left to reopen. That is not what you want your playmaker to do. I believe he could be more useful to the team if he was coming it to change the game’s rhythm, a la Vinny Johnson. What the team needs is somebody who is able to get the most out of the several talented players Toronto has. It seems to me that Calderon fulfills that role way better than TJ Ford. Utilizing TJ skills this way does no favor, nor to toronoto neither to TJ himself.
PS I guess a couple of plays for exploiting Bargnani’s attacking talent would not hurt either.

Franchise,

I know that the Raps will only have 4-6 million in cap space but sometimes ya gotta put your money where your mouth is. The luxuray tax doen't kick in until what $63 million in salaries?

What's the chance the Raps go over the cap to land someone like Lewis? Would he want to play in Canada?

TJ still needs to work on the decision making, CB4 on his defense, and Andrea on his post game. Get a slasher like Lewis, and move Garbo to the bench .

Make Darrick Martin an assistant coach to free up his roster spot and if Joey G can't develop the way the Raps want him to let him go.

FInally either let Uros and Pape get some minutes so they can develop or let them go some place else where they can actually play.

Renato Cool to hear you got to see the game overseas. Question - how bad were CHuck and Leo?

hi,
we did not get to enjoy CHuck Leo broadcast, the live broadcast (around midnight) was I guess produced by Rocket's tv (according to hum much advertisement was going on in relation to getting tickets for attending rocket's games). The next day afternoon replica had Italian broadcasters.
I guess I'll follow Chuck and Leo this afternoon that I'll may be watching an internet feed of Raptors TV. Le't just hope Calderon and Parker are back. I could see Parker play for Maccabi for years and we were, for all that time, wondering why he wasn't playing in the NBA, he is just *that* good and have a look on how much difference it makes not having it (by the numbers, more than say CB4) Not bashing CB4, just trying to credit Parker

As always, I have been watching the tournament every chance I get. The first round wasn't great, but Saturday's action was unbelievable, especially the finish to the OSU game and the Texas A&M/Louisville game. It's a shame those two teams met in the second round; Louisville obviously deserved a much higher seed.

If you're wondering where I'm going with this, I've been watching the tourney with an eye to the Raps needs, so here are my comments on several players. (And just how sick is the 2007 draft?)

Two guys who I would love to see in Toronto uniforms are Joakim Noah and Julian Wright. Noah's an obvious pick with his rebounding, shot blocking and passing ability. Wright's one of those guys who can really do it all, but it's his defensive ability that would really benefit the Raps. Unfortunately, we'll never be in a position to draft either of those guys unless Colangelo pulls off some magic. Ditto Jeff Green.

I don't know if the Raps will still have their first round pick this year, but one guy who might be around in their draft range is Alando Tucker. If you're looking for an athletic slasher and scorer who won't embarass himself on D, he's your man. With MoPete's departure appearing more certain, Tucker would be a nice replacement. He doesn't have Mo's shooting range, but he's a better athlete.

Roy Hibbert is another guy who would help solver their woes in the middle, but I'm not sure what his draft status is, and he's go much earlier than the Raps would draft anyway.

I absolutely agree with Renato about Parker. I know it's been a nice surprise for most fans, but those of us who watched him play in Europe still kinda feel that the raptors are not using him to his full potential most of the time... I know he will never be the go-to guy in this team with CB4 (and of course that's fair enough), but with some more scoring opportunities and plays i'm sure he could put up numbers like a Ginobili does.

Skywalker - Totally agree on yesterday's action - wow, what a crazy consecutive bunch of games. We've got an article coming out tomorrow discussing the prospects we've seen so far and we'll get into some pre-draft thoughts.