10 Questions – The Post-Season Edition

Rahso's got to be one of the toughest decisions. He seems essential to the team defensively and IQ-wise, yet not quite worth the money he will make, but at the same time one of the best trading chips for teams want to clear cap space. Kapono same boat, paid a lot, but worth a lot. These guys have to be turned into something good if they are let go.

Colangelo is smart enough to know that he can't give anything less than 100% confidence in his coach up until the day he fires him. This media market will stop at nothing to get a controversy, so BC isn't gonna give them any ammunition to start one.

IMO, the coaching situation is all but impossible to get a read on. I would wager that if mitchell ever gets canned, it's going to be unexpected by the fans and media.

I predict everything stays the same, no trades, Jose resigned as backup to TJ, non-contributing project drafted, non-contributing Garbajosa, Bargs plods along etc., but it's the east and the Raps win 40-45 and make the playoffs and once again fail to defend or rebound and are convenient soft fodder for whoever meets us.

BC's legacy will be determined not this season, but next, when all that cap space comes up and he can safely fire Mitchell and make his move. This offseason will be an idling snore-fest...

I sincerely hope we don't end up with Chris Duhon as a backup PG. Ugh. Milt Palacio II. That would be almost as bad as seeing Wince in a Raptor uni again.

How about Jarrett Jack as a backup to Jose? Whether that means TJ to Portland or via a combination of moves, if Portland wants to upgrade at PG or make Sergio Rodriguez happy (with more minutes backing up Blake and timesharing PG with Brandon Roy), Jack could be available. I'd much prefer him to Duhon, for sure!

Interesting point raptorman...especially now that the axe has started to fall.

Avery first:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3375306

And SI reported this AM that D'Antoni is gone too:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jack_mccallum/04/30/suns.dantonio/index.html

Rappy - hope that's not the case but you make some valid points. BC can try as hard as he wants to shuffle the deck but the reality is that he may not be able to until the summer after this one.

agree with the earlier poster - please, no Duhon. He's been painfully inconsistent in Chicago and makes poor decisions. People will be pining for TJ before you know it. Also hearing a lot of talk about trying to pick up Ron Ron, Maggette, or even JR Smith. I know we need toughness, but we don't need nut jobs that are going to disrupt the team chemistry.

Out of the restricted agents you listed, I like Deng and Monta the best - of course, not sure that's contractually possible - however, while Monta's value has skyrocketed, Deng's has taken a hit a bit this year. Could the raps afford to take him on?

Otherwise, Tony Allen would be a solid upgrade defensively for the Raps and potentially affordable.

Looking forward to more analysis from you guys...

I wonder if Josh Howard might be available after Sh*#ing the bed against the Hornets. Perhaps TJ and Moon for J-Ho.

Is this dumb? I have no idea what people in Dallas think of him.

That was a rather timely post, raptorman.

The Raptors are in a state of flux in so many areas, that I think coaching should probably be left as is. The last two years, the team has added major pieces and taken time to find what works where. Any influx of incoming players would be even more chaotic with a new coach trying to make his mark on the team.

While Dallas and Phoenix both canned their coaches, its after a track record of deep playoff runs with roughly the same core. I mean, at that point you've got nothing left to try but a new coach and a new approach.

DAntoni hasn't actually been fired. The guy on SI.com is just speculating.

Memphis really needs a point guard and TJ would be starting their for sure...BC should swing a deal to get Mike Miller and Juan Carlos Navaro for TJ and Delphino. I am not sure how much Miller is making but one thing I know he can create his own shots and Carlos would love to play with Jose and Garbo.........raps4life

Raps4Life - Memphis has a glut of young PG's, specifically Conley who is they drafted last year.

Yardly - I think the raps are in the state of flux you mention BECAUSE Smitch hasn't been able to give players roles they could excel in.

Mazel - Would Dallas pass the J? Wishful thinking

Bfett - Manta and Deng are way out of our league this offseason. I like Allen's D, but do we really need another so-so option there?

MattK - I dunno, I think Duhon would be a great back up, but it really all depends on what happens with our current two PG's.

Rappy - Sad but true. I think BC will have to wait until the season starts and even closer to the trade deadline to ge better value for his assets (TJ and expiring contracts)

Raptorman- good insight. I am hoping to be surprised! I hate the whole 'give Sam everything he needs to win' argument. Sam has had plenty of time to showcase himself, he has shown little. If D'Antoni is available, GET HIM.

My proposals for everyone to rip? TJ for Jamal Crawford, straight up. Sign Diop. Draft the best player available. Use expiring contracts at the trade deadline to address needs then.

I'm tired of the T.J. show !!!enough already.
What does the "want to be all star" say...."I'm a starter"...thats right its all about me.....dont try & sugar coat it,I'm sure Jose and I can work things out...really get the F.... out.
We need to find ourselves a big Mothe.....who aint scared to drop someone .
The exit press conference was all bullshit..yadda,yadda,yadda.
Yup I heard it all before,last year same time same channel...we need a slasher,a rebounder.
I guess what should really insult our intelligence is Kap can shoot!!!! no shit Sam...ever try running a play for him.
No that would not happen,lets call a time out design a play and watch Stinger hang on to the ball till the 24 second shot clock is nearly up,and launch a falling back jump shot.....done !!!!! trade him for a stick of deoderant,or like someone said earlier a bucket of piss.Yes I'm venting..could be worse I could be a Suns,or Mavs fan!!!!

Robert Archibald I like your suggestion with Jamaal C for TJ and sign Diop to play the 5. Only problem is Isaih is the only one that would make that deal and he is gone. But Diop is a free agent so the Legomaster can go after him..this should be a very interesting off season. Its going to be a long 6 months with all this anticipation of what the Raps will be like next season...Raps4Life

Food for thought...

Coach of the year 2005 Mike Dantoni

Coach of the year 2006 Avery Johnson

Coach of the year 2007 Sam Mitchell

They could all be looking for Realtors !!!

I think people put too much liability on the coach. If the players and coach are matched well, then it's matter of smart upgrading.

Look at coaches who stick around even through lean years, Jackson, Popovich, Sloan. They just stick around, ignore the press (more importantly the GMs ignore the press) develop young guys and all the while win a lot and have consistent teams.

Escalation of commitment is the phenomenon where people increase their investment in a decision despite evidence suggesting that the decision was probably wrong or flawed to begin with. These decisions are usually made based on philosophical or ideological belief.

The hiring of Mike D’Antoni by BC would be an escalation of commitment. The philosophical belief in this case would be something like this: Soft, "Euro-style", jump-shooting, offence first with a complete disregard for rebounding and defense can win in the NBA.

I worry because BC showed signs of escalating his commitment to the "jump-shooting cures all" philosophy last off-season when Kapono was signed to a relatively large, multi-year contract last year when his team was obviously out-toughed by Jersey in the playoffs and was one of the worst defensive and rebounding teams in the league. Yes, kapono played well (for two weeks) in the playoffs. However, the Raps were ousted in the first round once again and suffered through poor defense and rebounding all year.

No, BC needs to change gears and realize that defense, rebounding wins championships. By getting D’Antoni to coach this team, I will read that Colangelo is saying "I believe that gimmick, fan friendly, offense first, defense never can win in the NBA and I am ignoring all the evidence to the contrary."

However, it is now evident that this style of play does not win championships in the NBA (recent examples: Golden State did not even get into the playoffs and Pheonix couldn’t get out of the first round in '08). Over the past 20 years, I challenge you think of one NBA championship team that was not a stellar defensive, rebounding club. Gimmick basketball, like "Nelly-Ball" and the version played under Mike D’antoni always end up getting exposed sooner or later. Take a look here, name one team that was not a great defensive, rebounding team usually led by a dominant Centre (or the opposite of Bargnani): http://www.nba.com/history/finals/champions.html

I hope BC and everyone else recognizes what this team needs… and it ain't D'Antoni

Absolutely, MAS, well put.

I think BC's philosphy is:

1. Get players who are happy to be in Canada. No Antonio Davis's, Roses, VCs who are embarrased to be in Toronto.

2. Get players who have succeeded elsewhere.

3. Get players that complement CB4 AND Sam Mitchell.

4. Get Offensively minded players.

At point 4 you see I totally agree with you. There are too many supposed great shooters who are liabilities on D. Basically swapping Mo Pete for Kapono is a scary move for a team with such little defense and I think the moon signing was an attempt to balance that but you can't have both on the floor at the same time, so it's not the same as having one Mo Pete(not that he was amazing, just not a liability on either end).

Because of the loss of MoPete, what was asked of Parker this year was just over the top: score more, defend more, Garbo doesn't come back so you've got to be The Glue Guy too, swinging the ball and rebounding. I honestly think AP will benefit more from some "help" than CB4.

much as i love tj

i had a dog

and his name was buh-bye

TJ stating He should be a starter really means playing 35 min per game and at crunch time not the splitting of 24 and 24 the Raptors have been doing after He returned. It just won't work! One is gone hopefully not Jose!(but He has much more value)

MAS, I agree that D'Antoni is not the right coach for us right now. The criticisms in Phoenix - that they need to rebound more, defend better, play smarter, be held accountable - can apply to the Raptors too. Now, I don't know enough about Avery Johnson to say whether he'd fit in Toronto, but I think we need someone LIKE AJ to instill toughness into the Raps.

TJ is a defensive liability and his attitude and bad decision-making is killing us.

MAS - interesting post!

Most championship teams do have at least one or two dead-eye shooters from the outside. Having an excellent three point shooter is an asset. Kapono is currently the best in the biz, so he's a great asset to stockpile.

Here's a point to ponder: Maybe Colangelo signed Kapono last summer not to fill a perceived need for even more shooting, but because Kapono is excellently suited to be that dead-eye shooter for a championship team. Maybe BC was snatching up a valuable asset when it became available - not for immediate use, but with an eye for the long term.

Remember that BC has made several moves for defensive players with limited offensive games - Rasho, Moon, Garbo, but none have worked out as well as hoped.

The real question for my theory above is to see what BC does this offseason. If he signs another shooter with no D, then your escalation of commitment theory becomes unavoidable

Bargs is no bust. He improved at every area of his game except for the his meal ticket skill of shooting. Sometimes guys have bad shooting years. We think he can be a good shooter, but even then he is not a "firt pick" in the class of the Howards, Lebrons, etc.. No one in that year other than ROY has really been a top echelon player. Gay and Aldridge are moving toward it, but I don't think that any of them will be Superstars. hindsight would tell us to select Roy and get a one dimensional bruiser to play center for a few million a year. But no one picked Roy as the first pick coming up to the draft. Wasn't he too old? The worst times are the best times for growth. Let's see what he does with it. Once he gets his shot back, he'll be a solid Okur type. Stop thinking Dirk - isn't gonna happen. But don't think Hoffa either.

And don't think D'Antoni. He's no better at the coaching battles than Sam. He has a worse record of developing players than Sam. He's had 6 great guys and rode them hard. When Marion left, he didn't create a compensating perimeter defensive scheme.
I think Ford may be moved more as a salary dump than as a trade for equal parts. With the cash from him, Rasho, and Brezec, if they can be moved properly, the space for a major player coming back or acquired in a trade is possible. Delfino may go to, though I think we all like that he has some guts lacking on the rest of the team.

Oh please. You can't blame D'Antoni for the Suns' early exit. They got Shaq to guard Tim Duncan and he got embarrassed the entire series. Marion was crucial to D'Antoni's scheme, and they just didn't get enough from Shaq to make up for losing their best perimeter defender and leading rebounder. If he's fired, it'll be purely to make him into a scapegoat for Kerr's dropping the ball with the Shaq trade.
It's not like the Raps are a fast-break team like the Suns, anyways. Smitch's offence is plodding, and the Raps played one of the slowest paces in the NBA last year. D'Antoni would at least get them to run the break and get easy baskets when their jumpers aren't falling.
I can't believe how many Smitch defenders are out there. Have you watched any of the games from the past few years? I feel that he's made no progress. He still makes the exact same mistakes he did as a rookie coach, draws up the exact same plays (all two of them!). I don't think there were 10 games this year where Smitch outcoached his opponent, and about 50 or 60 where he was outcoached, often badly. You can't win games when your coach is shooting your team in the foot at every turn. The humiliating coaching beatdowns at the hands of such luminaries as Lawrence Frank and Stan Van Gundy are just goddamn ghastly. Am I living in an episode of twilight zone or something? it's like no one else sees that sam mitchell is a bad to very bad coach.

Frachise, if I read your comment about Bargs you seem to imply that if he had his shoot rolling on top of what he was doing in the playoffs you would have been happy about "where he is" right now. Shooting is not something you lose, if you had it. I remember Eddie House, Eddie House! not being able to make a shot for an extended period of time during his last period with the Suns.
Summarizing, the playoff drea + shooting is a reasonable expectation, rebounding.... well that is the thing to find out about. But the question now is, where do you set the bar for being happy with Bargs? Mind you, the alternative is to find him doing all of the above to the raptors wearing another uniform, would not that be a too late (and stupid) moment to find out how much the dude is worth?

Raptorman, I hope you’re right and yes, you absolutely right, this off-season will be very telling.

Firesmitch, first off, D’Antoni was a key factor, pleading with management for the Shaq trade. In fact it is rumoured that this is why he is leaving because the Shaq trade, which he lobbied for, did not work out.
Secondly, Fast breaks come from two things, forced turnovers or defensive rebounds.
You need the ball to run a fast break and this team, as presently constructed can’t rebound or defend.
Thirdly, what has this guy done?! He has a two time MVP on his team and never made it to the finals?!
My problem with D’Antoni is his basketball philosophy. It is proven that this philosophy just doesn’t win in the NBA. Oh and as for your and every other Smitch detractor’s comments around Smitch’s lack of offensive ingenuity, I’ll say two things. First, you coach the talent you have and after watching the Orlando series, it is blatantly obvious that this team needs a talent upgrade. Secondly, offence wasn’t the Raptor’s problem this year, or last year! This past season the Raps were 7th in FG% at 46.8%, second in 3PT% at 39.2% and 5th in team assists per game. This means that this team gets good shots. Further, if the Raptors had even one wing player who could create off the dribble I’m sure we would see a more varied offence.

Defence is the issue and again this is a talent issue.

Renato - I'm setting the bar pretty high for Bargs next year. I hope to see improved help D, more aggressiveness going to the basket (although that was one area he improved in this year) and averages comparable to Dirk's second year in the league - almost 18 points and about six rebounds a game with nearly a block on top of that. If he doesn't get very close to those marks, I'll be disappointed.

MAS - Great post.

However I don't think that hiring D'Antoni would be an example of "escalation of commitment." I simply think that D'Antoni is a better coach and tactician than Mitchell and he's shown that he CAN guide a team that doesn't run a "gimmick" offense. As much as I hated the Shaq trade for Phoenix, D'Antoni made it work until the first round of the playoffs. But he wasn't the one turning the ball over four times in the last two minutes, or bricking free-throws. The funny thing is that four of the five games in that series were very close and I think if Duncan didn't hit that 3 in game 1, both clubs would still be playing right down to the wire.

As for Kapono and some of BC's other additions, at the time I did totally think that they fit your theory. And currently there are just too many one-dimensional pieces on this team, or players with redundant skill sets. However like raptorman, after the playoffs I now wonder if Kapono becomes a much more valuable piece if BC can bring in more complimentary players to surround him with. Perhaps Kap-One was simply like one of those purple or blue properties early in a game of Monopoly...they're not worth much right away, but if you can snatch them up before anyone else and put up some hotels, than you can reap the rewards...

Granger/Ford in a heart beat!!!

it would be nice to have a boardwalk to go with our parkplace. Too much free parking on this team. A healthy garbo solves many of our issues, god i hope he comes back as good as he was.

1. Smitch should go.

1A. IF D'Antoni gets the job he will be a great replacement and the following is what I believe will happen.

2. The Barnyard will find his stroke once again under a better coach. (not every athlete responds well to being yelled at on every other play)

3. Kapono will get more minutes and actually have some plays drawn up for him. Big break-out year.

4. Calderon will win the Most Improved Player award.

5. Moon will regress.

6. Garbo will be a major factor. (Don't count him out just yet)

7. AP will be........AP. Consistent team player.

8. Bosh's #'s will go up because of the new up-tempo offence. (the one we were supposed to see the last two years. Last year we saw it a little but this year NOTHING!)

9. TJ destination? Best guess. New Jersey.

8. Bosh's numbers will go up slightly

Steve Kerr in Phoenix has stated he wants D'Antoni,who is under contract for 2 more yrs @ $8/9mil back. He says they have some differences, but sees no reason they can't be resolved.
In any event BC has stated Mitchell is his coach and has no intention of making a change because the media is speculating, and storeytelling.

Some things to remember in Raptorland for '08/09:

Rap's have 11 players signed at approx $59mil, including Moon @ a team option of $711k & Rasho @ a player option of $8.4mil.
That leaves $11/12 mil under the lux tax (estimated $70/71mil) available to sign Calderon, Ukic, Delfino if they want him, #17 draft pick if the keep it, another free agent (max $5.5/6mil MLE) because they are over the cap, if not Delfino. Bargnani will not be moved.

With these facts known BC's challenge is to upgrade the defense/rebounding and offensive scoring to support Bosh. Should be an interesting summer.

what about shawn marion on your slasher/rebounder list???

Great post, Mas.

I just want to paste a recent snippet from Grange's "In Deep" on the D'Antoni topic:

" I made a point of staying up to watch the end of the Suns era, as it turned out. When the Shaq trade went down I wasn't overly optimistic about how it would play out. But overall I just felt like here was this bold basketball experiment that was being trashed just a bit too early. Or at least the idea that the way they played couldn't ‘win' – if winning is defined as being an NBA champion – was just not true. There are lots of ways to play that don't end up delivering an NBA title – 29 of them every year as a matter of fact. The Suns way – or the D'Antoni way or the Colangelo way – came closer than almost all of them in recent years but never quite got there more because of extenuating post-season circumstances (Joe Johnson getting hurt in 2005; Amare missing the 2006 season; the suspensions in 2007) than the process, I'm convinced. But whether it was the owner or Steve Kerr or D'Antoni or Marion's neediness or Nash's frustration they caved and made the Shaq deal, and then in the stretch, with the game, season and the whole damn franchise on the line, they kept going to Boris Diaw in the post. Perfect."

Franchise:
Just a thought for the Fire Sam crowd. Does anyone really think Colangeelo is going to go to the MLSE board, and tell them he made a mistake in giving Sam 3 yrs guaranteed, and needs to spend $13mil to replace him?

That after admitting publicly that the players he signed had not grown as he had expected, and he needed to upgrade the defensive and rebounding and offensive scoring in support of their franchise player Bosh.

SonicSuper,

I saw that post on Grange’s blog yesterday as well and found it a great read (as usual from Grange). Throughout the piece I felt as though Grange was a proponent of D’Antoni. But when you read between the lines I’m not so sure. He blames the collapse of the Suns on a few different things, including D’Antoni’s inability to manage Marion’s personality, the Shaq trade etc. however when it comes down to it, the magic D’Antoni offence strategy was to keep force feeding it to freaking Diaw in the post with the series on the line… My overall point guys is, even with arguably the best point guard of this generation in arguably his prime the D’Antoni system failed. What makes us think that it could work better WITHOUT Steve Nash?

Adam,

Post of the year!

MAS,
I think the sign of any good GM and coach is being able to adjust your strategies to maximize the resources you have at your disposal. I'm HOPING that BC doesn't seek to emulate the SUNS style entirely, more to acquire the personnel who can play different paces, much like the Spurs do from time to time.
I hope this summer bears that strategy out, cause I don't want to see SUNS style ball without SUNS players.

If I'm BC I revise my upside view of Bargnani to that of a 30 min tops instant offense, decent defence kind of guy. I'd also make an addendum to the long term plan, to seek out a hardcore post defender.

As far as Smitch, I think Johnn19 makes a great point regarding his contract and BC's admission the roster is lacking in several areas. I'd favor a more experienced coach, but I don't think its worth eating the remaining years on Sam's contract to get one. If MLSE has that kind of change kicking around, let BC go into the luxury tax when he's shopping for help this summer.

As far as a different coach's effect on Bargnani, I side with Bosh's view that personal development is all on the player, nobody else. We had Mitchell saying post-playoffs that perhaps he pushed Andrea too hard. We have BC saying that moving forward there has to be greater attention placed on the whole roster, as opposed to certain pieces. I think these guys are both covering for Bargnani since their respective fates are tied up in how he turns out.

If I'm BC, I'm calling Portland and Denver and guaging their level of interest in TJ. A TJ for Jarrett Jack and Travis Outlaw deal wouldn't address our need for a backup PG, and an athletic swingman and portlan would get a starting PG. Denver needs a PG too, and I'd be interested to see if they'd part with JR smith for TJ. I know has a checkered history (I'm being very kind), but he doesn't have alot of miles on him and he's exactly the kind of 2 guard that we need. You could easily argue that he was Denver's best player against the Lakers. Besides, this team is too nice, we need a crazy guy to give us a bit of an edge.

Not a huge D'Antoni fan. To be honest, I'd prefer Avery Johnson to him. But I suspect that Sam won't be removed, so the debate is irrelevant. He's got one more year, I suspect.

Look for Rasho to be packaged in a deal if he doesn't opt out. I think BC may force Sam to play Bargnani by getting rid of the alternative.

As for a cheap free agent pick up...how about Kurt Thomas? You wouldn't need to use all of the MLE on him and he'd provide some defense, rebounding and toughness, all of which this team sorely lacks.

Offseason should be interesting. Diop and maybe Najera seem to be the only free agents that fit the Raps needs and price range, so trades should be the focus.

Hoopsworld suggests a Raps trade for RJ on their site today:
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=8511

Getting RJ at a discount would be great, but in my mind we've got to look at teams that are either desparate for a PG (TJ) or desparate for a major overhaul:

Clippers, Sacramento, Miami, Boston, Cleveland, and maybe Minnesota, Chicago, Indiana and the Knicks all need starting PGs.

Denver, Dallas, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Sacramento, and maybe Phoenix all seem to be destined to shake up their rosters.

There are also a few teams like Philly and Washington where unexpected trades could become available depending on if players re-sign or not.

Clippers - *MAGGETTE* for TJ?

Sacramento - Artest is intriguing, but not worth the risk (even if it gets TJ outta here).

Miami - Dorrell Wright has potential, but their roster is mostly NBDL callups and crappy veterans watching Wade dribble around.

Boston - Tony Allen could be a good bench guy, but no one really excites me on their roster besides the Big 3.

Cleveland - Varajeo is still a decent fit, but I don't see the Cavs trading him.

Minnestoa - ugh.

Chicago - major possibilities with their overloaded roster: Nocioni is a more athletic Garbo, Deng might have peaked but is a good all-around SF, and they have a few extra PFs.

Indiana - JO is paid too much, Diogu might be worth a risk, Stephen Graham is better than Joey and cheaper too!

Knicks - I hate their entire team except for David Lee.

Denver - *NENE* would look good next to Bosh. The rest of their roster (that they would trade) is pretty bad.

Dallas - Josh Howard might come cheap after his pot comments... he's better than any of the Raptors SF bunch so definitely worth a look.

Charlotte - *OKAFOR* would be a great fit, but I'm not sure who we trade for him... maybe TJ and Bargnani for Emeka and Adam Morrison (so both TO and Charlotte can pretend that the 2006 draft never happened).

Milwaukee - I can't see anyone from their roster really filling a need for hte Raptors (besides Bogut). We already have too many 3-PT shooters, and too many softies.

New Jersey - RJ would be amazing, and Diop (free agent) would fit. I don't know who they would want from the Raps roster though.

Phoenix - no trades really seem to make sense here either. Diaw is intriguing at the 3, and Barbosa would be a great combo guard behind Calderon, but I can't see a trade happening there.

Philly - I would love to trade for *DALEMBERT* or Reggie Evans, who are both complimentary to Bosh. Thaddeus Young seems like a lock at PF for them, so one of those two should be tradeable. Philly could also be looking for some G/F players pretty quick if Iggy doesn't re-sign.

Wizards - they have lots of players who would help the Raps, but I can't see them tradiing Butler, Stevenson, or even Haywood. Only hope would be that they get desparate if Arenas and Jamison leave for some reason.

Jeff! I was thinking about that exact same trade with Portland. My freaken dream trade! Outlaw is the key, absolutely money in the clutch and super athletic. Not sure if it is possible contract wise or if Portland would even consider it. I would even throw in our first round pic. If that trade went down, sign Diop and we’re done for the off-season. Brilliant.

As for JR Smith… if Smitch stays around, having JR Smith on the Raptors could lead to the first in-team homicide in the NBA.

Sam Mitchell - Sam's greatest strength in the past has been that his players seemed to respect him and they put forward effort in most games they played. While that certainly seemed true last year and for the first 2/3rds of this season, I don't believe its true any longer.

For all of the criticism (which I fully support) directed at TJ for his unwillingness to put the team's best interests first, little or no criticism was directed at Sam for how he handled the TJ fiasco. In my opinion, Sam as coach has an opportunity to control TJ by putting him on the bench when he was playing 1 on 5 or refusing to pass the ball and by telling TJ privately that he had to accept his role and that Sam would not accept this sort of behaviour. Instead, TJ was allowed by Sam to pout and was rewarded with a spot in the starting lineup.

I have no doubt that the TJ issue had an impact on the team's chemistry, the player's relationship with TJ and their respect for Sam. After all, if you're one of the players in the 2nd unit who gets pulled for making a bone-headed play and then you see Sam giving TJ all kinds of leeway despite not playing in the team's best interest, wouldn't you think that there are separate rules for some players on this team. Its a question of fairness and equality in the treatment of the players. I suspect that a number of players have lost respect for Sam for the way he handled the TJ situation and that had an impact on the team's chemistry and performance during the last 20 games of the season.

A point for discussion - how many players do you think actually respect or would be privately supportive of Same - I suspect there are only a very few.

Is Sam solely the reason why the team played so poorly this year? No, this team clearly needs an upgrade of talent but Sam is one of the reasons why this team played poorly down the stretch. He likely deserves one more year with a better group of talent but I do have a concern as to whether he's lost the respect of his players.

Having said all that, I don't expect BC will fire Sam unless D'Antoni becomes available.

MAS, I would have to disagree somewhat with your comments:

1. D'Antoni is clearly an upgrade and a better coach than Sam - as evidenced by his teams having won 55+ games in the last number of years.

2. Phoenix has been one of the best teams in the league and as Grange pointed out in his blog they came very close in the previous 2 years to playing for and perhaps winning a championship but for injuries to Amare in 2006, and the suspensions to Amare and Diaw in 2007. While I certainly agree that defense is key to a champiionship, I'm not convinced that Phoenix's system could not win a championship.

3. In any event, BC's public comments have made it clear that he recognizes that this team needs help on defense and rebounding. I truly do not believe he intends to create a Phoenix north here in Toronto - given the personnel. Even if D'Antoni were hired, he would recognize that the players you have in large part dictate the style of play.

The Raps aren't gonna get alot for tj. So i have no idea what they are gonna do, cuz they are obviously gonna keep calderon. I see both pgs coming back next year, and BC making a big move in season.

B.Ball,well said!!!

Just wanted to agree with the poster that mentioned Jarrett Jack as a quality back up. Not only is he a good ball handler, he’s also physically strong, tough minded, a very very good perimeter defender and he shoots well (enough). I like his mental toughness the most though; he'd be a great pick up for the Raps.

Great read from Bill Simons:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/080501
Maybe we should get D'antoni after all

If you think that Bosh is a superstar you should stop writing in these posts. You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

If you think that Bosh can put rebound numbers greater than 10 per season you should be banned from watching Raptors TV. He is an injury prone player that will just get beat up as the season progresses. His frame is too thin which leads to too many injuries

If you think that Sam should be fired then you're an idiot. Sam may not be the best X and O coach, but he does make his players form a cohesive unit together. That what's he did with the 06-07 team.

IF you think TJ is staying with this team next year. I laugh at your face! HAHA. BC is not going to spend starters money for 2 PG.

As for Bosh taking it to the next level, I don't know if he can. He's 24 and only 2 years from entering his prime. But with his past years of injuries this is going to be questionable.

Sun newspaper ran a story saying that this team's success rests on Bargs shoulders. This is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard.

This team rests on Bosh's shoulders. He's the franchise player. But, he's not a superstar so he can't imipact the game that D.Howard, Kobe, Duncan, James, Garnett can.

This team has so many holes, but these holes are covered up with the Toronto fans of being blind and naive.

Raptors lost in the playoffs because they can't rebound, defend, and get to the free throw line.

Think about it, if you can defend, get rebounds, you get more possession of the ball on defense. Then on the offensive end, if you stay aggressive and take the ball to the hoop and shoot free throws at a high %, you're taking shots that no one is guarding you.

Basketball is such an easy game to understand. I don't know why everyone thinks about it so f'n much. Sports analysis evaluate this game way too much and keep on outthinking themselves.

Most sports writers thought that the Suns would win over Spurs. What a joke! If you know anything about basketball, Spurs are the favorites all the way.

Boston vs. Lakers is just promotional news people for the NBA.

BargsBust,

You said: "If you think that Bosh can put rebound numbers greater than 10 per season you should be banned from watching Raptors TV."

ummm he averaged 10.7 rebounds last season...

This may sound a little bit simple, but I know the reason why Jamario Moon can't be be our slash and burn small forward.

He can't DRIBBLE!

Not sure why people slag on CB4. Can he take over a game like Lebron James, KG, or Kobe? No. How many players can? How many championships have they won by themselves? No All Star is winning by himself. Get Bosh some all star help.

Kobe had Shaq in his good years. Duncan had David Robinson and now has Ginobli and Parker. Lebron doesn't have any rings, KG is on winning team for the first time in years thanks to Pierce and "Jesus" Shuttlesworth. Even JOrdan couldn't carry a team by himself and needed Pippen, Grant/ Rodman.

Bottom line is this team needs another go to guy. A slasher/defender of all star caliber before they can even think about getting to the 2nd round.

I respect Bosh's game, his work ethic, and he's a solid (not lock down) defender. Who would you guys trade him for? Amare? Complains about touches and gets in foul trouble too much. Melo? HAHA. Doesn't defend and is a gets DUIs. Josh Smith? Maturity issues. Josh Howard? Puff, puff, give. Jermaine O'Neal? Bad wheels. Who would you trade CB4 for?Kobe? HAHAHAHA. He'd come to TO and the Lakers would trade him? Put down theb crack pipe please.

Bottom line is CB4 is an all star and a player to build around. But he needs help.

MAS, I was just alluding to the point that Bosh can't be relied on for our rebounding deficiencies. He also is injury prone and the likelihood of him continuing to get more than 10 rebounds per game in the near and distant future is unlikely. He's got injury problem with his feet and knees.

Todd, that player who is supposed to help Bosh is Bargnani. But as we all know, well at least I know, Bargs is a bust.

Which again puts greater pressure on CB4 to be a franchise player to carry the team.

But, as you already have pointed out he can't take over the game like Superstars.

And isn't if funny how all those players you mentioned, Todd, who can take over games have played in the NBA finals.

We don't have any of those players.

We have a long building process ahead of us.

Just some fantastic discussion and points going on. Not sure whether to post the grades tomorrow now or wait till Saturday and let this keep going...

Love the Jack idea from Portland. I actually wanted Toronto to take a look at him at 16 if Granger was gone. Oh right...he was still there and we didn't draft him OR Jack!

BC - I think that sows up the record for longest post of all time ha ha, nice work and great breakdown of all the teams. That was a future summer article for sure and one we'll probably still do.

How does everyone feel about Jamal Crawford? It's weird because I used to hate him but now am thinking I'd move him for Ford in a flash. Is that:

a) An assessment of how much I want TJ gone now?

b) indicative of how bad Toronto needs a scoring 2-3?

or

c) Just me thinking that Crawford is a good fit because he's on the Knicks...and on that team he looks like Jordan instead of Harold Miner.

Adam - love the monopoly follow-up, we posted it on the homepage as comment of the week.

I think Portland ideas are very realistic. Howland was kicking around some options to me the other day. Not sure they'd give up a freak athlete like Outlaw but they do need to move someone with another fairly high pick coming on board and not much veteran experience.

Agree that Bosh needs some major help. Right now he's sort of stuck with decent assistance, but no next level guys.

And Bargsbust - Raptors lost in the playoffs because they can't rebound, defend, and get to the free throw line.

Yep, that wasn't just the case in the playoffs though, but all year. It would be great to see BC address some of those issues this off-season but as some have posted, it may be band-aid style solutions until the real cap room comes in next summer. Plus by then, we'll really have an idea about Bargs...

and Joey Graham...

I think TJ will fetch more in a trade than people will expect. There will be some GMs that will be intriqued by the numbers that he can put up when healthy.

As for Sam, I think the odds are fairly low that he gets fired but if D'Antoni becomes available its a distinct possibility. As for absorving Sam's contract, it is likely that there is a set-off provision in Sam's contract where if he gets hired by another team the new salary would reduce the amount that the Raptors would have to pay to Sam.

Bargsbust,

You make some good points but I am unclear on something? Exactly what is your definition of a superstar and how many players in the NBA qualify?

Last summer Kobe whined like a 5 year old so he could get some help and he's definitely a superstar. His reward, Pau Gasol.

Whether or not you can take over a game you still need help all star calibre help which was my point. Glad we agree on something.

CB4 is not in the same category as Kobe or Lebron. Neither are 425 other guys in the league (KG, D12, CP3 exceptions?). But he's who the Raptors have to build on and that's a pretty good start.

We have a rebuilding process in front of us but if Danny Ainge can turn things around in a season then BC should be able to get us into the 2nd round next year if he plays his cards right this summer.

CB4 is a keeper. Get Rasho to opt out of his current deal and sign a cheaper 3 year deal. He's a decent back up center with championship experience. Kapono proved he can do more. Keep him, Jose, AP, Moon,and maybe Delfino if the price is right. The rest of the team can go.

Bargnani has next season to prove himself or he's gone. In think he'll make it OK.

Firesmitch,
I agree with much of what you say, though I don't know what other play Mitchell has beside the pick and roll with Bosh.
D'Antoni has not won anything and the Suns are done, especially with Shaq sucking 20 mill off the payroll. But the fact remains that the Suns, like the Raps, were getting killed off the bounce, and have been for the last 3 years. There simply has been no effective defences put in by either Smitch or D'Antoni to combat it. And neither has developed one. Marion was great, but not good enough for what the Suns had with him. Bell is still a better perimeter defender than any Raps, and he was not up to the task. Barbosa has some tools that should make him a good defender, but he hasn't developed into one. As for the fast break, the Raps tried and failed. Turns out that Marion, Stottlemyre, and Nash are very good at it. But, not good enough to beat the Spurs.
Some interesting suggestions posted. Marion coming to town would be a little rich and I don't think he'd accept less exposure than he had in Phoenix. But I like what he'd bring to the team on the court. As for moving TJ, I wonder if anyone will bite on his contract. It would likely require taking back some bad contracts. It is an interesting summer coming up for BC. He better do well, this town thought that we had at least one good GM in the city.

Colangelo on Mitchell yesterday:

"I met Sam [on Wednesday] and it was a normal, end of season meeting," said Colangelo. "We discussed a lot of things; the season, the off-season; the state of the team; our relationship, everything. It was a good meeting and we both walked out of the room on the basis that he was coaching the team moving forward. I thought I put this to rest the other day, but let me say this: We have no intention of making a coaching change – period.

"It's not an issue. He has three years left on his deal and what happened in the playoffs does not affect his status here. We lost to a very good basketball team."

And this Nunyo golf stuff is ridiculous.

Can we get back to talking ball now?

For all of you thinking D'Antoni will do a better job than Sam, please consider D'Antoni had Steve Nash (two time MVP) and Amare "Stat" Stoudamire to work with. He hasn't had any real challenges as far as talent goes. It's like saying lets get Doc from Boston.
Sam deserves a chance with some quality talent...when has management ever given him that?

Franchise, my fear with grabbing Crawford is that I'm not sure he addresses anything other than being another perimeter scorer. Don't get me wrong, he's one of 3 or 4 knicks I think are decent, but I wonder if that skews things. He's not a ball mover, or at least he hasn't shown it to this point in his career. Plus, he's more of a perimeter scorer, getting alot of his points off jump shots. I don't think he's built to take the pounding of going to the basket and getting fouled on a nightly basis. Plus, can he defend? I'm not sure anyone on the Knicks has proven that they can.

I'm not ruling a deal like that out, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

I threw JR smith's name out there because, attitude and shot selection issues aside, he's exactly the kind of shooting guard that we need. He's an explosive scorer that's not afraid to take it to the basket. If you think you can reign in his shot-happiness and keep him and Sam from killing each other, you have a guard that you can contend with.

I thought he was Denver's best player against LA. The Lakers really weren't effective guarding him at all. I wasn't sold on him until that series, but despite his team getting destroyed, he stood out.

Jeff,

JR Smith’s skill set would be a great asset to this team. I wrote earlier that Smitch + JR Smith = pre-meditated homicide. Mainly because Smith has a track record of being a grade A knucklehead. However, he is still very young (came to the league straight out of high school I believe) and it is possible that Smitch is the perfect type of coach for him. Smitch is a young (not yet out of touch), no nonsense coach that I believe can motivate a head case like Smith. Plus the "team first" environment lead by Bosh and Claderone would definitely be a change in environment over Denver. At the same time I see it going either very well (Smith buys in, finds success and turns his career around) or very, very badly (half-time locker room fisticuffs followed by Smith throwing up gang signs, threatening to retire Rafer style… or shanking Smitch in the gut). I don’t think there is any middle ground here.

Here is the list of guys I would take over Bosh (excluding age):

Tim Duncan
KG
Lebron
Kobe
Dwight Howard
Chris Paul

Guys who I'd consider him on par with

Dirk
Deron Williams
Tracy McGrady (he might actually be on the above list)
Amare
Boozer

So only 6 guys better than him and 5 guys right around his level imo. Doesn't that qualify him as a superstar.....you don't have to be a consistant mvp candidate to be a superstar.

There is a reason he was a 3 time allstar, a reason he made 2nd all nba team, a reason he was picked for the US National team, a reason Phil Jackson was fined over 100 000 dollars for commentating on the Lakers wanted Bosh. The guy is a superstar....there are minor questions about his health however he's never had any major problems.

I would agree that if the Raps do not bring in any major help the success of this team does rest on Bargnani (a scary thought). You know what Bosh will give you, you know what Jose will give you and most of the other guys.....you don't know what Bargnani will give you.....if he becomes a reliable second option raps can get past the first round...if he doesn't they won't make it past the first round.

When you look at all the playoff teams in the league with the exception of the Rockets (minus Yao of course) and Philly the raps probably have the least amount of natural talent so its no suprise they couldn't get past Orlando which has 3 guys who have been on allstar teams.

Get a rebounder, toughness, a backup pg, a second option at the wing, a psychologist for Bargnani.

Corey Maggette can opt out or resign, he'd be a nice fit although nothing about him really says allstar.

Richard Jefferson would be great but no way the nets deal him to us.

AK 47 is another option....bring a lot of the stuff we need; toughness, rebounding, shot blocking, defence. However he has cried about in Utah, his contract is a bit much and he has not shown he can be a second scoring option although he does have to take a back seat to boozer and deron williams.

For a backup PG I've been a support of Duhon even with some of the minor problems he has had. He's a free agent and there have been numerous reports in Chicago about how his time there might be up. He could certainly be a raptor for less than the MLE.

He'd also be a nice contrast to Jose who if offensively strong and weak defensively. Duhon can lock people down but he struggles on the other end at times.

Jack is another great choice.

The soncis have some nice pieces....would Ridnour who makes 6 million be too expensive as a backup?

I could see a package of Ridnour and Chris Wilcox coming to the raptors. They'll provide rest for Jose and some atheltisism and rebounding help for Bosh. Luke has 2 years 13 million left on his contract while Wilcox has one year 7 million. Contracts are pretty attractive....

Word out of Denver is they would be willing to deal Marcus Camby....he has 8 and then 7.5 million remaining on his contract

wtf,

Good analysis. I'd agree with you list of guys who can take over games.

I think BC has dipped into the Euro well as much as he can for the next little while. Unless he can find Ginobli version 2.0 it's time for some North American talent.

For rebounders/ defenders I'd like what Wilcox could bring to TO but can't see Ridnour making the trip. Reggie Evans/David Lee/ Varejao would be great but their teams would be crazy to let them go.

For slashers Richard Jefferson would fit nicely as long as his head is straight. Kirilenko cost too much and almost had a break down last season. Everybody seems to like Corey Magette although I always thought he had "I need touches" issues. JR Smith has potential but MAS is right and his summary was hilarious.

Either way CB4 needs some help.

Champions
2007 San Antonio
Duncan, Parker, Ginobli with defensive stopper Bowen
2006 Miami
Wade, Shaq, defensive stopper Posey
2005 San Antonio (see above)
2004 Detroit
Billups, Hamilton, Sheed, and 4 time DPOY Wallace
2003 San Antonio (see above and add a declining but still kicking a$$ David Robinson)
1999-2002 LA Lakers
Shaq, Kobe, Horry, (I think Horace Grant was in there too)

Championship teams have two/three all stars, solid role player, and good defense. The Raptors have one all star some role players and their defense is soft as tissue.

Batman had Robin, Dean Martin had Jerry Lewis, peanut butter has jelly. Get CB4 some help!

Travis Outlaw would be fantastic but is unlikely available.

Franchise, the interesting point about the nonyo golf is the revelation in Grange's blog about the numerous conflicts between Sam and Colangelo regarding Bargnani's development.

Great points.....it'll be interesting to see what kind of help Bosh gets because there is no doubt he needs it. Even if we ignore the championship teams we see how much help other guys have.

Spurs - Duncan has two allstars next to him

Mavs - Dirk had two allstars next to him

Denver - Mello had an allstar and defensive player of the year next to him (we won't count martin)

Lakers - Kobe has Gasol who is an allstar and Lamar who is dam close

Hornets - Chirs Paul has Peja and David West who have both been allstars

Utah - Deron Williams has Boozer, Kirilenko, Okor who have all been allstars

Boston - Kg has two allstars next to him

Pistons - There are 3 guys who have made allstar teams

Orlando - Dwight has two allstar guys next to him

It is only the rockets (minus Yao), Cavs (excluding a washed up Ben Wallace), 76ers team and Hawks that don't have side kicks to the main guy.

Although for the Hawks you could argue that Joe Johnson does have a lot of help with Bibby, Josh Smith, Al Horford and even Williams and Childress.

But fortuantely for the raptors....making them better is easy. Get Bosh more help, get tougher, get rebounding, get a good wing player.

How do teams like teh Suns and Mavs get better?

firesmitch...your blog name says it all....your opinion about sam is totally bias because you do not like his coaching style...he has been out coached 50 to 60 times the last time i check the Raps finish with a 41-41 record. And how do you characterized being out coach...ORLANDO has a better talent pool than the Raps even Bosh admit, so does that mean Sam was out coached. Lawrence Frank had a battle tested veteran team with Jk, VC and RJ which started to play their best basketball at the end of the 07 season...so I doubt that the Raps could beat that new jersey team, their experience caught up with them....so mr firesmitch Sam is a very talented young coach, kind of in the same position from a coaching stand point like Bargnani..They both will be fine giving the time and chance to develop...the last thing the Raptors need is a coaching change and I was really happy when BC reiterate that he will not be making a coaching change...Unlike our hockey GM, BC does not get influence by bias fans and media coverage..The whole incident with TJ has been stemmed from the Media, when does being ambicious make you a bad person..TJ said he is an allstar and a starter and everyone wants to ship him out of town because he wants to start...what if there was no jose would you feel the same way...The Raps have a solid core of players which if given the time to develop like the Spurs, utah, suns and the pistons did to their core group, toronto will be a contender in the east in 2 to 5 years guaranteed...So leave SAM and TJ alone they are not going anywhere.......Raps4Life

Raps4life...
Take off your rose coloured glasses...you sound like Chuck!!!!!!

Raps4Life,

There's nothing wrong with being ambitious, but he'd better work damn hard to back up his talk. From what I've seen, TJ doesn't play like an all-star. He makes bad decisions, especially in crunch time, and looks for his own shot instead of his teammates too much. Maybe it's TJ taking time to reintegrate back into the team, but a lot of the time it looks like he's not sure what offence they're running when he brings the ball up. He plays terrible D, too. It seems obvious to me that Jose outplays TJ and we desperately need Jose to run the floor. Since TJ doesn't want to come off the bench, he needs to go. I don't know if his whining is messing up team chemistry, but it sure is annoying.

ALL the players seem to like TJ in their comments they always say he is a great locker room guy, even Bosh when the team went 0-5 on the western trip said that the team miss having TJ on the road, not for his playing but for team chemistry. Its the media that gave this perception that TJ is a whiner. I personally have never seen him whining. TJ and Jose both admit that they do not have a problem with each other...BAd cop, good cop..Jose always says the right things, I bet once he leans to speak english properly every one will turn on him, and TJ no matter what he says its blown out of proportion. I think the Raps still have the best PG tandem in the league and with another year experience under their belt, they will be unstoppable next season, so I hope BC does the right thing and keep both of them on the team...The Raps will be a better team next season we all know that..Sam will be a better coach, TJ will be more mature and be a better player..(he will also do better in interviews, he need to speak with Matt Sundin and the Fans will once again be chanting his name)I am looking forward to the off season to see what help the Raps will get Bosh and AP. Jose will be the starter and TJ won't have a problem with it...Who ever is playing best will finish the game....Raps4Life

This is the way I see it playin' out--

1-Ford/Jack/Ukic/Westbrook* POR 1st rd. pick
2-Miller/Westbrook/Kapono
3-Outlaw/Kapono/Moon
4-Bosh/Garbajosa/C. Frye
5-Bargnani/C. Frye/R. Lopez Raptors 1st rd.pick/Nesterovic

Calderon S&T to POR for Outlaw/Jack/Frye/13th pick

Humphries/Parker/Baston for Mike Miller

Sign whoever w/ MLE

Draft Robin Lopez w/ 17th pick (might end up just trading it along w/ Calderon)

Ya hoo Atlanta goes to a game 7. Would it be a great laugh if Boston Lost it at home!!!

1. No. Jose has earned too big a raise for both to be affordable. It was nice while it lasted, goodbye unrivaled point guard depth.

2. Smitch

3. No. Will he be the best guy from his draft class? Probably not.

4. I think there is still one more gear for him offensively, and maybe another one for him defensively. That said, he's an all-star who leads his team in every category except assists, so even if he plateaus, I'm ok with it.

5. I'm with Franchise on who stays right down to Kapono playing himself into a spot.

6. Starting small forward, starting shooting guard, starting centre, and inventing a new position for Bargnani.

7. Re-signing Delfino isn't a bad idea given he can back up Jose or Ford at point and is versatile enough to play a variety of roles. Plus he's cheap.

8. Garba will return to be the teams back-up PF/C and if his leg is ok, he'll probably be pretty good at it.

9. Yes - Nicolas Batum SF (and Boris Diaw clone) will be the pick. Marcia, Bargsbust and other Euro-sceptics will have another reason to howl. Instead of Diaw, Batum will end up being our Iguodala.

10. I think they already are on the same page. Smitch is hired to coach, and aside from the occasional 'why the frack isn't my first overall pick starting at centre yet?' I think they see things the same way.

In 2001, at age 38, Michael Jordan was able to grab 5 rebounds! He's a SG for crying out loud who plays away from the basket on defense.
Bargs plays right under the basket and away from it too. But he can only manage 4 rebounds a game.
My point is that when you have the skill to play in the NBA, you have it made. Bargs has no skills.
You don't even have to be the tallest player.
Bargs athletic talent is barely passable. He has decent footwork, but he really has no height/lift in his jump.
He often doesn't bend is knees in his jumpshot and he struggles to get rebounds at 7 ft!!
You can put wight on him all you want, but he really needs to improve jumping capability, which is really really hard to do.
You can't teach every kid to soar like MJ. It's a God given talent.

(One day, I hope I'm proven wrong though, because it's getting too easy to bash IL Mago. LOL)

Its great how he completely ignores the Bosh is not a superstar comment that he made and so many people responded to and then argues something different.....

Nah, Bargnani is not an untouchable, he will not become the second coming of Nowitzki (who by the way hasn't brought a ring to his team neither and is a defensive liability). He can go...

Couple of things.
Can we all just give up on the Barg bashing for awhile. I find it ironic that we just lost a series to a team that depended heavily on a guy a lot of people thought would never "get it" (Turkolgu). In his short career he has played for 3 teams and even up to the end of the 06/07 campaign didn't look like he would amount to anything other than a at best a passable 6th man. This season he looked good, cut to the basket, hit jumpers etc. The point here is, it took him like 7 years to get there. Bargs is only in his 2nd year, was trying to learn a new position and taking on more responsibility. I am with the talking heads here who say he needs at least another year before you can call him a bust. If he still isn't producing something by the end of next year I will wholeheartedly join the chorus of those who think he should go back to Italy.
Smitch was never going to be fired because this team was a disaster in the 2nd half of the season and as much as some of you might like to blame mitchell, you can't. He wasn't on the floor taking bad shots 3 seconds into the clock instead of pounding the ball down to the superstar. He wasn't the moron who said "If we make more shots we won't need rebounding", and thus didn't try and get a rebounder and interior defender. He wasn't the one who didn't get a 3rd option at the point so that when Ford acted like an idiot on the floor he could go with another option so Calderon (who if yall recall, looked like he was burning out midseason because he was playing more minutes then he ever did before). He isn't the one who tipped rebounds to the other team all the time. Smitch is like Bargs and deserves at least another year before you start calling for him to be fired. And what is the criteria we should tie him too? Win a playoff round? Win a championship?
I am not convinced that the Raps will be able to solve all the problems they have in the offseason. There were too many glaring holes and not enough options to fill them. Yes the list of names of FAs and tradeable pieces is nice but the truth is, unless Rasho opts out (unlikely) and TJ gets dealt for the help we need, the best BC can do is fix one area (baring another Memphis fire sale by another team, yes I am looking at you Denver). I think the easiest thing to fix is the teams interior toughness and rebounding because there a number of guys out there that you can trade for or sign as FAs who could help (evans K. Thomas et al). Finding a second player to compliment (and compliment not override) Bosh will not be easy. Most of the guys who fit the category (can create their own shot, take it to the hole) will also be more likely to want the rock all the time. That is why they are who they are. There simply are not a lot of guys (and no one I can think of off the top of my head) who would willing play second fiddle to Bosh. Maggette might as he did it with Brand but he also might want to showcase himself for one last big contract (assuming Toronto could convince him to play here on a one year contract or something like that).

My thoughts….

1) Bargs still needs time to develop some type of post game. Next year will be critical for him. If he continues to regress then we have serious issues and probably abandon the project. If he shows improvement and his shot begins to fall again, we probably give him another year to show us what he’s got. BargsBust even commented on his youtube video a couple of weeks ago and seemed impressed.
2) Sam didn’t have a lot to work with, but other coaches still utilize players they have and try to create a gameplan that caters to those players. Doing the same thing over and over again is never considered good coaching. One poster actually called him a good coach earlier in this post. I disagree! He is/was a good motivator, but as we saw in the last third of the season, he even lost that ability a little bit. I did like that Sam attempted to try new things this playoffs, but it was too little too late. Plus he had a tough time adjusting to Stan’s adjustments in 3 out of the 5 games. I am not trying to put the season on Sam, but when Bosh was out, he tried to play the same style and it wasn’t working. When something isn’t working properly you try different things to try and fix it. You don’t settle for the status quo, which in this case is playing one-dimensional basketball.
3) As for people claiming that D’Antoni isn’t an upgrade over Sam because he too doesn’t play defence is a bit misleading. The Raptors don’t have a true offensive strategy (except for plan A). Do any of you guys stay up and watch Suns games before making these statements. D’Antoni has an offensive system. He is drawing out plays at every timeout, and understands how to utilize his strengths. For those who claim that the Spurs have killed them every year in the playoffs, I beg to differ. Yes, the best team in the NBA this decade did beat them 3 out of 4 years, but every game was close and down to the wire. So please stop talking about the Suns lack of defence and the rest because the Suns were always a basket or two away from beating the Spurs. The better team just happened to win out…and eventually win the championship (in two of those years anyway).

Thinking out loud....and we think we have issues !!!!
Boston / Atlanta....game 7
Shades of Dallas /Golden State.
Mr.Ainge dont count on that Exec. of the year just yet !!!
Our /or my argument has always been Bosh needs help,but looking at Atlanta we need athletes ...they dont have three hall of famers (all stars as well)but guys that are hungry and athletic and play above the rim...

It's fun being ahead of the curve. Sun newspaper just wrote an article AFTER the Raptors season. It was pretty obvious that these were the struggles DURING the season and needed to be adjusted. I guess this is corporate trying to make a story and make money. Trying to promote the game for next season - as in make everyone anticipate Barg's comeback.
http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Basketball/2008/04/30/5426281-sun.html

Right to the point BBust - you are wrong about Bargnani. After his rookie season would you of labeled him a bust? Step backwards? Yup, no doubt. Asking him to adjust his game. How old is he? I've brought this up before and I'll bring it up again, prior to his rookie year, after being chosen # 1 a poll was taken on ESPN from NBA people sking who would be ROY. Bargnani came in 7th(posssibly 6th, was a while ago). 2nd question asked in 5 years who would be best player and Bargnani was voted # 1 by a nice margin. Was it a weak draft? Quite possibly.
Could not back up an arguement that he had a good season, but did see improvements in aspects of his game. Also see a potential mean streak, wait until he gets his confidence back.

Jamaal Magloire should be signed. I know he'e a bust but hey Brian C might breath life into him like he did to Marion,Joe J,Quenton. Get Mikael Peitrus and a really good SG

bargsbust please get over yourself.

A lot of people knew the problems the raptors had. You were not ahead of the curve. The only difference is some people chose to be optomistic and you chose to be negative.

Do you really think it takes a genius to figure out the raps needs Bargs to be a lot better, the raps need better defence, they need better rebounding and they need a second option?

"Can we all just give up on the Barg bashing for awhile. I find it ironic that we just lost a series to a team that depended heavily on a guy a lot of people thought would never "get it" (Turkolgu)"

McGateway,
I couldn`t agree more. Turkoglu had 17.8 PPG and 7.7 RPG against Toronto, somewhat similar to his season numbers.

And he`s 29.

And BargsBust .... try not to be one-dimensional so often.

As Rap fans, we have to look a little more time at the positive side.

We get to keep one (of two) top notch PGs. And we have hope that the other one, along with Nesterovic, gets us a top wingman. One with a good rebound presence, and ability to add some points.

Plus, hopefully Moon will make the next step -- no Bargnani curse please -- plus Garbs will be back.

As for Bargs, another year, a better language situation, some tough summer love, and maybe ... just maybe we see what we have hoped for.

Tinman,

That poll that you were referring to was a poll of all the GM's in the league taken before last season began. It kind of tells you something about how Bargs was viewed by the bigwigs across the league. Are the majority of GM's in the league idiots? I don't believe so. Let's just wait and see what becomes of him!

I'm a bit suprised at people wanting to move Rasho provided he exercises his contract option.

If we move Rasho for anyone other than a center who do we count on as a center? Bargs has not proved anything yet...neither has humphries.

We have other expiring contracts we could move such as AP (we have plenty of average swingman or slightly above average), Garbo, Joey Graham and Baston. That totals about 13 million.

Don't forget before the playoffs when Rasho was getting minutes he was averaging 16 points and 7 boards. He is a lot more valuble than he is being given credit for. Even when he got 0 playing time he never complained once.

Had he got PT and kept performing he could have opted out and secured another long term contract. But he didn't get the PT....and yet you never heard him complain once (please take note TJ).

Thats what the Raps need: size, rebounding, vet presence/influence and leadership

wtf,

If BC is smart he'll get Rasho to opt out of his last year at $8 m and resign for a 3 year deal at $4m to $5m each. That way we get to keep a solid back up center with Championship experience and Rasho gets to end his career in a kick ass city like TO.

Great point Todd....never really thought about it that way.

Now if that does happen where is that rebounding and toughness help going to come from that he promised us? Does that mean Andrea gets pushed to the back burner? Behind Bosh, Rasho and the "help"?

I expect Calderon stay at Raptors next year. As Gasol , he need time and minutes on NBA
KIM,
http://www.servifans.com

RAPS4LIFE - My response is "bias" because I have an opinion and then expressed it? Huh? Let me explain something: every response is an opinion; every opinion is biased in some way. This isn't an academic paper, it's a discussion on a blog page. Get over yourself.

MAS - Several things:
1. Well of course D'Antoni had to come out and say he supported the Shaq trade. They had to get Marion out at all costs (similarly to our situation with TJ), and it's not like he could have ripped into his boss for making the trade. I don't have any links on hand to back it up, but I remember reading around the time of the trade that D'Antoni was totally against it behind the scenes. I guess we can't know for sure either way, but nevertheless, whatever D'Antoni's stance was on the trade, it was ultimately Kerr's decision and he should bear the blame for their early exit.
2. Sure, D'Antoni had Steve Nash. But who's to say Steve Nash would be STEVE NASH! without D'Antoni? D'Antoni's system gave Nash the freedom that made him an MVP. It's a chicken-egg situation.
3. D'Antoni's system "doesn't work"? How about the string of 50+ win seasons his teams have strung together? The Raps haven't had a single such season in their entire existence.
4. You definitely coach only the talent you have. That goes without saying. However, my opinion is that Sam Mitchell didn't maximize the talent he had, and didn't use players correctly. Do you recall a single play this season that was intended to, say, get Kapono a clean look? We have the statistically-best three point shooter in the NBA on our team, and Smitch can't (or won't) even run him off a screen. What about his pattern of substitutions? The way he tends to take guys out of games when they're playing well and then forget about them? Talent level is one thing, a coach's ability to get the most out of it is another. Sam doesn't get the most out of the talent he has.
5. Speaking of talent vs. coaching, you mention the good offensive stats the Raps piled up. Sam Mitchell is responsible for these? Really? Did you actually watch the games? The Raps put up good offensive numbers because they're an offensively talented team, not because of anything Smitch did. If anything, Smitch held them back with his Xs-and-Os deficiencies.

Bargsbust - It almost seems like you're just trolling and trying to get people riled up. Whatever.
Bosh isn't a superstar? By what criteria? You lump KG in with Kobe/Lebron/Duncan, but you forget that throughout his career - and even at times this year - he has been criticized for being too passive and being unwilling or unable to take over games. It's not every player's game to jack up 20+ shots a night, especially big men who are so reliant on their guards to get them the ball in the right spots. Bosh is more naturally a facilitator than a guy who dominates games single-handedly. That doesn't make him any less talented or any less of a superstar.

Also, I agree wholeheartedly with bball's comments on Sam Mitchell. We all know Sam Mitchell isn't a great "game" coach, but in 06-07 he offset that by his out-of-game performance, motivating guys to play hard and keeping everyone on the same page and ensuring positive team chemistry. For whatever reason, down the stretch this year, he stopped being effective at this. So what does he bring to the table now? When he coaches like he did down the stretch and in the first round, he's a bad game coach who can't motivate players or keep guys in line. So what does he bring to the table, exactly? He sure takes a lot off it at times.

Firesmitch - I define a superstar as the best player for their position. Garnnett is a superstar, if you don't think so then you're an idiot. He only won an MVP accolade in the past, has been one of the best defenders in the last decade, and has made the biggest turnaround in NBA this year.
CB4 is a 'facilitator' - yup that sounds like a very good role player to me. Would you start him over Duncan or Garnett - Hell no!
What you start him over Amare? No.
Over D. Howard? Nope.
Over Boozer? - Nope.
Over David West? - Nope.
Yeah, that's right, I wouldn't start Bosh after all of these guys.
NO is a sick ass team, they have an MVP caliber level player in Chris Paul, and a player who is just as good as Bosh in David West.
How anyone thinks that the Raptors have a bright future is beyond me, when you look at New Orleans team that has Chris Paul.
I would rather have Chris Paul over TJ Ford and Jose anyday, hey, but that's just me.
Maybe you Raptor fans wouldn't.

I'm still a Raptor fan, I just see think objectively, I don't get blind sighted by media.

I'm not sold on Chris Bosh as a superstar, but comparing him to West is unfair. West HAS Chris Paul dishing him the ball and creating his own space (opening things up for the rest of the guys), and Bosh has TJ Ford who dribbles back and forth bumping into players while dribbling some more....well you get the point.

firesmitch, good points about Smitch and D’Antoni. Last year I ran into BC in a takeout line on the Danforth. My wife and I were stunned at his willingness to talk hoops with a total stranger for a good 7 minutes while our food was being prepared. After that conversation I was positive that Smitch was going to be let go at season’s end. We discussed the Pistons/Raps game from the week before, and how Bosh was being abused by Wallace. Then BC tells me how disappointed he was that Rasho only played 17 minutes while Bosh was getting mugged. Then he expresses frustration at how Joey was underused that game (and believe me I am not kidding here). He tells me that he was frustrated to see Joey come out strong in six minutes, making a couple of emphatic dunks helping to give the Raps some momentum and then gets pulled for the rest of the game. He actually said that he believed that Joey deserved much more than the 6 minutes he was given. This took place sometime in late January/early February of last season. I was blown away that a GM was so willing to get into this type of discourse with a fan regarding coaching decisions (or lack thereof). I gave you guys the gist of the conversation, but even though he never once mentioned Sam's name, he was openly criticizing his decisions. The Raps then win the Atlantic a couple of months later and we are where we are today where Smitch is concerned!

Assistant GM - Just posted our grades but wanted to touch on what you wrote...some crazy insight, and something I think that we'll have to discuss in an upcoming article. So great to have an open GM like that.

Rap4life u have to agree otherwise ur opinion does not this is a 1 sided blog

Bargsbust - Calling someone who disagrees with you an idiot makes you seem like... well, an idiot.

Speaking of idiots, you would rather have Amare than Bosh? Boozer? DAVID FREAKIN' WEST!? Your idiocy astounds me.