The Problem with Blogs

Parker did a great job for the Raptors last year and he'll do even better this year.Over-all the Raptors should do better as long as the new additions do not mess up the chemistry and they will not have to go through that "100 shots" a game crap again. Bargnani will be better with a year under his belt.They should trade Rasho, not because he did a bad job but because Sam would really rather not play him and he has too much salary to be sitting on the bench.One negative- Sam's love for TJ allows TJ to get away with stuff he shouldn't.

I read the Winderman article after it was referenced in the comment section of your previous post. Sad. But then I get sad whenever I read ESPN writers (with the notable exception of Buccigross) talk hockey, so there you go.

Rick mentions above that Rasho is getting paid too much to sit on the bench - to which I have to respectfully disagree for a couple of reasons.

Rasho wasn't brought on board to score 20-10 and lead the block party. He was brought in to stabilize a position that had been a team weakness since, well since the franchise landed in TO (apologies to Oak, but dude seriously, I have better vertical). He's a solid citizen in every way, and gives the team a defensive presence and some offensive options. That he gets paid more than he produces on paper is a function of his true value being what he brings to areas outside of the stat sheet.

I'd agree that trading Rasho might make sense, but he is more valuable to the Raptors than he would be to just about any other team given his salary, and the return we would get for him wouldn't match up with what we are losing.

On a completely different topic, I am wondering if someone can give me advice on how to best set up an NBA pool.

Is there a simple design (eg. pts+rbds+steals+assists = total) that is easy to calculate?

Is their a website that tracks the stats both on-line and for free?

As long as we're still talking about blogs and forums...Celtic fans on RealGM are already talking about playoff rotations. I don't think I've ever seen a more smug and arrogant group of fans...They haven't even played a single game! Nothing will give me greater satisfaction than to see the Celtics NOT make the playoffs.

I'm not the only one who disagrees with characterizing il Mago's rebounding numbers as encouraging:

"Rebounds have been a problem for us throughout the tournament. I think we lost this game because of that. We gave them more chances to score. My aim coming into this tournament was bringing Italy to the final eight. But I was unable to accomplish that. So it's very frustrating."

Frustrating indeed. In rebounds and blocked shots last year the Raptors were, where they have been for years, near the bottom of the league. That Bargs continues to put up sub-par numbers in these categories (sub-par for someone his size and skill) and given that Andreas is clearly a thoughtful intelligent player suggests that he is a perimeter Radmonovic clone by choice, which is disheartening for both Toronto and Italia fans alike...

The only thing I'll add in a ray-of-hope vein is the thought of AB watching Dirk take his team into the quarters at his expense will drive home the point: "if I want to win, I must be like Dirk and rebound the freaking ball!"

Has anyone ever checked the record of them ESPN prognosticators? Bah!

So a few of us had an interesting and mildly heated debate yesterday about the upcoming season for the Raps this year.

There were a lot of nay sayers here on this very forum last summer when I threw out 42 wins as the target.

However this year I think I'm throwing out 42 again, and it'll touch and go whether the Raps make the playoffs.

This set my band wagon raptor fan colleagues into a tizzle with a shizzle.

But my point was, the Raptors really didn't do anything to improve themselves, while the rest of the division got better. The Raps are relying on a major improvement from Adreas, and that's a big question mark. Whether Kap-one and Delfino makes any major impacts is questionable as well.

Meanwhile, NY got better with Zach Randolph, and well couldn't do any worse?!?! We all know about the Celts, and whether we agree how much better they'll be, they are definitely a better team than last year. Orlando with Rashard Lewis makes them more competitive. And with NJ, Miami returning to a healthy status, they can't be worse than last year can they (this may also include the Bucks)?

So where are these additional wins going to come from? Aside from the lowley Pacers, I can't say any team in the East definitely got worse! So therefore, some of these wins have got to come from a few places like Toronto.

And we still have to see where the likes of Anderson Varejao and Chris Webber go. Hate to say it, but this ain't the 2005 Eastern Division.

So.. 42 it is..

On the topic at hand, I must add that at first when i started following the Raps and this site, I thought you guys were exaggerating about the US media, but over time i've come to realize that you are absolutely right: most of them don't really know next to nothing about the Raps, with the highlights being this Winderman fiasco and Rosen describing Garbo and Bargs as having an identical playing-style.

Euro update: Well Germany beat Italy (sending them home) and will now play Spain in the quarter finals. Again I didn't watch the game (for some reason the damn calendar guy keeps putting Italy games at 4:30pm when i'm still at work or on my way home), but from the boxscore it looks like another not-so-great game by Bargnani (10p on 3/12 FG, 1/4 3p, 6reb in 30min).

On the Bargnani debate, i'm not as pessimist as Rappy but i agree with him more than with Franchise, in that I am a bit disappointed by his performance. I thought he was gonna step up big in this tournament, but he has not played that greatly. I've only watched one full Italy game plus glimpses and highlights of the rest, but i'm concerned that he has not really evolved his game much. He still settles too much for the outside jumper, he still doesn't rebound decently for his size, and he still has pretty inconsistent performances from game to game...

Anyway, I still have no doubt that his long-term future is very bright (although i expect a lower ceiling than most of you guys), but I believe he will not develop as quickly as expected in this second season, so i wouldn't count on him as the clear-cut starter at center for the entire season like many people do.

Well, that’s not encouraging news. I was expecting Bargnani to be exhibiting more characteristics of a true center, rebounding, defense, blocks shots etc, in the off-season.

My question is, are the expectations to convert a fully formed perimeter player into a center, one of most difficult positions to learn, unrealistic? Has it been done before? Will the Raptors still be in search for a starting center a year or two from now?

My two cents on Bargnani...

I think we all want a center to be the second coming of Shaq, like Oden. Big, mean, tough under the basket. Rebound, block shots and defend. We still haven't drafted that, and I agree that we should stop expecting Andrea to become that.

What we should hope for is that with Bargs, Kapono and Parker out on the floor, the middle should be freed up for Bosh inside or Jose Ford to drive the lane. Probably not the idea we all have in our heads for what we want, but that looks like how we are building the team.

If our shooters are outside, maybe not in 3-point land, but still on the perimeter there will be consequences. The big center won't be getting easy put back (but Bosh might). Also their shots should have longer rebounds, meaning we need to team rebound better.

We could have drafted Aldrige and kept CV and had a big imposing front line of skilled big men, but we went a different way. Last year we had great success, and I see no reason why we shouldn't do well again this year. Yes a lot of other teams have improved in the east (remember Charlotte and Chicago), but keeping a good, young unit together is also a good thing. Let's give them a chance before we rip them too bad. Heck even the dude that predicted 42 wins was off by 5...

Next question, Who the heck is Eric Hughes?

I totally agree with you Bedhead about Rasho, I believe he is doing a good job with the younger raptors and I see no reason to trade him unless it was well worth it to our team. Ustation you seem so negative I have a lot of faith in the raptors they will win 50 games. Yes who is Eric Huges, never heard of him, I beleive in the TORONTO RAPTORS and I know they will do MUCH MUCH better this season. GO RAPS!!

Bedhead right on with regards to Rasho - he has given us everything we asked for(I for one thought he was underused last year) and Mr Archibald is on the right track with Bargs - lets judge by the end of the upcoming year. As I remember he was really coming on prior to his appendice came out - and near the end of the Nets series he was as well. Frankly am not at all concerned with what he did in Europe this summer, I'll let Mitchell and Bosh bring him along come October.
Keep in mind, had he stayed healthy he was in the running for ROY and he was starting to show more consistancy at both ends of the floor. Lets not ask too much too soon.
Difference of opinion with Ustation on the Raptors off season - unlike the other teams we didn't need to dramatically upgrade like our division rivals, and believe that with our roster we have forced the other teams to upgrade. Of course we're relying on Bargs improvement just as Portland's counting on Odens'and Roys' improvement Seattle on Durants improvement. Whats unusual about needing young guys to grow - its the same in all sports. Once again BC made a bunch of under the radar moves that will improve this team, Delfino and Kapano impact will not be questionned come mid year and the continued growth of our young core and a year under the belt for Garbo and Parker will provide all the improvement we require.
That being said - last years 47 wins will be tough but thats my guess at this point.

Wow, Oden out for the season, now that is shocking news... or is it some kind of April Fools in the US?

Well, gregoden.com is reporting the same thing Sergi, so looks like it's legit. Wow, crazy! I hope this injury is something he can recover from and be around 100% in a year or so. Knee injuries, especially to basketball players who really need the ability to explode upwards, have a chance to completely derail careers.

Ouch. I'm from Toronto living in Portland and this city is somewhere between mourning and apoplexy.

*shakes head*

Spain has just defeated Germany 83-55 in the best game so far by the world champs. There is a lot to write about this game, but i would say the highlight was watching the delightful attitude this team had when, up by 16 in the third quarter, the spanish players kept pushing and pushing and pushing with an incredible defensive effort (combining full-court press, zone defense, etc...) until they were up by 30 or 35. Their intensity was huge, the fans went absolutely nuts at that moment and the whole attendance acknowledged the effort by giving a huge standing ovation to the entire team with still a quarter to go. It was a very emotional moment, which i hope helps you understand why Jorge wanted so badly to play here. Spain limited Nowitzki to only 11p, the most amazing fact being that the defense only allowed him to take 10 shots in the entire game (4/10 FG).

Calderon put on another very impressive performance, with 17p in just 22min with again very high shooting percentage (6/9 FG including 2/3 3p), he really is rising up to the occasion in these key games. Garbo got 7p in 16 min (3/6 FG with 1/4 3p), but he was not really needed to step up big in this game.

Looking forward to the semifinals on saturday!

Rappy - Would love to hear more about the feeling in Portland...any second guessing going on about who they should have taken???

Sergi - Loving the updates and cool to hear how bananas thefans went. I can only imagine and yeah, it's sinking in why Garba wanted to play so bad.

Marcia, just because I'm a fan doesn't mean I can't be objective either. I was a season ticket holder during the best of times and the worst of times. Just trying to set expectations and see what everyone else thinks. Obviously, I hope they go 82 and 0 - but you won't see me betting 1 penney on that.

Just because someone dawns on a Rap jersey doesn't also require me to like them either. Especially if I don't think they're going to help the team win a championship (i.e. Mike who? MP3), and it also doesn't mean I can't change my mind if they start changing in their performance (i.e. I wasn't a big Alvin Williams fan, but he turned it around a bit).

So I set 42 win last year as my reasonable goal for the team (which many thought that was too high)and I was happy the Raps exceeded my personal expectations. I think the Raps have a chance to even win 50 this year, but I think that's more unlikely than they are to win 42. IMHO.

Re: Bargnani

I think we should keep our expectations realistic with regards the Italian Stallion. He simply isn't going to be the second coming of Bill Russell or Wes Unseld at centre for us.

When reviewing the video on him prior to his being drafted I was struck by the thought that he might not end up as a centre at all and that he could end up as a 7ft 'small' forward instead. Everything from his shooting skills to his handle to his lack of instinct for rebounding had me seeing him as an over-sized 3 rather than the fluid perimeter bombing 5 everyone else did.

That all said, the game and the way the Raptors play it is changing. Yao Ming type centremen are a dying breed and the necessity for having mobility, team play, and shooting skills is becoming paramount.

As such Bargnani has the opportunity to be part of the new breed of centres - ones who don't score all their points off of dunks and put backs, but who space the floor better, kill you with their shooting and driving, and look to pass as part of the offense instead of going all Yinka Dare.

Someone mentioned a smart observation above (and I apologize for not reviewing each of the posts to see who), that Bosh is better at the rebounding/put-back/block party stuff anyway, and that even though he is supposed to be the 4, Bosh may end up carrying the load in this regard while Bargnani maximizes his talents elsewhere on the floor.

In any case, it's an exciting time to be a Raptors fan as the ongoing development of Bargnani, Ford, Calderone, Bosh and the rest of the Raps is going to be fun to watch!

As far as predictions go here is my two cents worth (which is fair value really);

50 wins on the nose - The Raptors have both the skill and depth at every position to play at a furious pace and get over all but the most serious injury setbacks. How many other teams in the East can say that?

I just realized I have agreed with Marcia about both Rasho and the number of wins the Raptors will get. Ok, so maybe it's worth less than two cents.

Bedhead-Vicious and unprovoked.
I'm a bigtime homer but 50 wins this season would be as big a surprise as last years 47(but still attainable). Remember how the season ended - I think we lost the last two games but prior to them we had one of the ugliest win streaks going. Improved record and all -I think the b-ball gods were smiling on us at times last year.

Re: 'Vicious and unprovoked'

Just think of me as your favourite flagrant foul!