Tip-In: Toronto Raptors Post Game- Better Late Then Never

Another must win if you believe they "should" make the playoffs. I am not sure that is the best move (nor do I think they shouldn't at least try) in the long term but maybe the pressure of having to win every night will help this team take the next step in its development. This team needs intensity and a push to the playoffs (which we can all hope falls short though not through lack of trying) could help instill some intensity and desire to win that has been missing at times from this team.
Another point about Moon vs Marion - I wonder if Moon had been in the lineup last night whether the Raps would have even been able to come back. I don't mean it just from a talent stand point but Marion has been in the NBA for a long time and has been on quite a few winning teams. His leadership is going to be invaluable down the stretch as I believe he can infleunce Bosh, Calderon and Bargnani (and Graham as well) more so than any other player who has played with them (Oneal was a consumate professional but his reputation in the past has been suspect).

I think whoever makes the comment that winning right now for the Raptors is the right thing to do is an absolute moron who doesn't understand how to build an NBA team. These writers should all be punished or silenced because they clearly have a weak NBA IQ.

Most of these players that come to the NBA are winners already. They have won for most of their lives. And winning together for the next 30 games is not going to make a difference because BC is going to make plenty of moves with this poo poo team. So to expect cohesiveness from this team is just a down right waste of time.

Also reading the obvious that this team needs to play defense is a waste of time too. If Howland had any good expert understanding of the Raptors he should be explaining what defensive strategies we can implement into these Raptors to use.
For instance how do we get more rebounds?
How do we box out players better?
How do we prevent perimeter scorers scorching our behinds from beyond the 3 point line?

Just a few comments:
On Parker, very likeable player but for the Raps to improve they need someone at his position that is more consistant in scoring. In one game he will score 25 and for the next two or three, he scores 8.
On O'Bryant: This kid went 9th in the 2006 draft.Raps should make a project out of him, give him a few minutes a game and see if they can make him a good back up center.
On Bargnani: Becoming the star of the team which should make management assess Bosh's postion on the team both in the short term and long term. With Bosh's injury history and probably a high inflated future salary demand, Raps hopefully are looking at that.
Finally, on Marion: Whats with that sissy shot from the hip, this guy literally can not shoot a jump shot, that's amasing that a player can get that far with out a jump shot.

Jack and Devlin are awesome. I would love to have these two guys calling all the games. I think Devlin may be one of the bright spots of this season ... and that doesn't say much for the team.

Did I hear Adnan Virk say "Two high octane offences coming together in Phoenix"?? Really?

I think we'd all like it if the Raptors had a better defense consistency, but right now, I'd rather have them at least have the offense going on track and then worrying about the defense after. To make sure they at least win these winnable games, they've gotta at least score. It's not like their defense ever came back last night, and I feel like had we just simply waited for our defense to come back first before sparking our offense, we would have lost this game like many other this year. I agree with Jack that in the long term, just forgetting about defense is a folly, but for now, there's just little that you can do about it. But come playoffs, it's defense that wins. Just by having Marion in the lineup, you don't have to worry as much about people blowing by you from three positions anymore. That immediately makes your defense just a little better.

However, with both Calderon and Bosh with leg injuries, that's two positions where the lateral quickness just isn't there. Just like Howland said, Bosh doesn't look right because he doesn't have the same explosive jump or first step that should own players like Cardinal.

Bargsbust, those are not really defensive strategies that you are suggesting, but defensive fundamentals.

I too don't want the team to strive for the playoffs and risk drafting weaker talent. On the flip side, if they do play good basketball and win 65-70% of their games, does it then not suggest that the team is better than it has shown us this year? That with Marion manning the 3, the team is more balanced than it was with JO? In addition, if we tank the season, will a player like Marion want to resign with the Raps and will Bosh then ask BC to move him in the offseason?

There are just too many questions that we can't answer. I want a better draft pick in order to get a player like Harden or Aminu, but at what expense. I don't think it's just about pleasing Bosh anymore. We need to make a push for Marion and possibly another FA SG...just my thoughts!

Isn't it about time Bargsbust started going by 'Bargs=pretty-good', or 'Bargs-team-leading-scorer', or 'Iwassowrongjustpunchmeintheface'?

Howland,
is there such a thing as a "shouting report" or were you being sarchastic? :)
Renato

Renato -

Fixed. Nice catch.

Bargsbust - guess if u cant hate on bargs than you need to find something else.

Your logic makes no sense though. Sure all nba players have been winners at certain times in their careers but does that mean that losing the next 30 games is going to help this team in the long or short run???? I dont think you can say that.

As howland and co have discussed time and time again here, this team is in a damned if it does - damned if it doesnt holding pattern.

They win games they lose possibly a better draft pick but maybe can keep bosh and entice marion to stick around.

They lose games they maybe get a top 5 pick but risk losing bosh, fans, revenue, etc, etc.

Theres just so much more here so its overly simplistic to suggest that winning now wont help. Plus, the draft thing is such a crapshoot anyways...getting a higher pick doesnt equal getting a better player. It might, but if the team is hanging its hat on that, it has much biggger issues i think.

Besides, anyone who thinks this two game winning streak is a sign of an 8 gamer to come is on drugs - they probably lose the next 3 so yes marion helps but the reality is that this is one of the top 10 worst teams in the league - not bad enough to get a top 5 pick, not good enough to get to that 8th spot in the playoffs even in the east.

Losing to get a higher draft pick is the most ridiculous thing I can think of in terms of building a winner, unless your Cleveland in the Lebron sweepstakes - but Stern was behind that!

This team needs to play hard and squeak into the playoffs or die trying. Anything less than going all out every game to win should be unacceptable by the fans, coaches, players, and owners.

Remember - if you don't make the playoffs you get into the "lottery", well most teams do.

From Ira Winderman, Heat blogger for the Sun-Sentinel:

"Got to like Moon's pluck and moxie. He really is a mini-Marion."
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_basketball_heat/2009/02/heat-103-pistons-91.html

WTF??????

Utes - Stern was not behind that. If Stern was, Lebron would have ended up in a big market city.

As for the raps, they need to lose. Lets just say the Raps squeak into the playoffs who do they play? Boston, Cleveland or Orlando. Does anyone think they win any of those series? All of a sudden you have a worse pick and end up like the last two seasons... out in the first round. Doesn't seem like much in the way of progress. If the raps tank now they get a better pick that can either be used to draft or a trading peice. I love the Raps as much as anyone else and want to see them do well, but this late in the season I'd rather be a realist and try to improve this team in the future. Every loss counts from here on in!

As for Marion.... will he stay if the raps win? Maybe. But for all we know he will stay if they lose, or leave if the raps win. Nobody knows what he wants to do so you can not base the Raps future on unknowns.

On the losing point it is a non-issue. These guys will play to win. The degree of intensity that they bring night in and night out will waiver but no player wants to lose. I'm hardpressed to believe that the players care about the lottery and increasing or decreasing odds of a pick. There is also no chance that BC relay's a message that essentially says "Guys...yeah...if we could lose some more that would be great....".

Now whether you want the team to lose or not is another issue all together.

Despite a love for the draft I don't want to see this team lose. Even if they make a run and fall short it is better than watching them toil away. Winning is the only way to change the culture on this team. Aminu or Thabeet can't and won't do that.

Obviously enthusiasm should be tempered given that over the past three games, we have played the Knicks and Twolves, and in one of those games we got blown the f - out. However, it is undeniable we have been playing better basketball, regardless of the specific outcomes of each game or even each possession. And for the Raptors to play like this - even against two of the worst teams in the league! - is a substantial improvement over the milquetoast junk we have witnessed over the past two years.

Obviously Marion will be rightfully recognized as the catalyst of this improved play we have observed so far. However, the main reason we are playing so well isn’t so much his specific individual contribution to each game as much as it is the adjustment that the entire team has made to their style of play – which is not to take anything away from Marion’s specific individual contribution to any particular game, which as has been well noted, is much greater than what we could have expected from one Super Jamario Moon.

The great thing is that it seems that Caldy, Bargs and Bosh have the capabilities to play full court ball - it had been argued by many that this was likely, it had just been a while since we have seen supporting evidence of ability in games. ( Remember a couple of years ago when Bosh had the block at one end, ran the floor, was hooked up in transition and finished with the jam?! That was sick! What happened to that stuff?? )
Caldy had some nice passes in transition. Bargs and Bosh are looking like they could really work well together in a quicker offensive scheme. I really feel that relying so heavily on slow half court sets was to our detriment. The amount of easy looks we were manufacturing was negligible, plus the more we needed to rely on our half court game, the less effective it was! I just feel that Bosh looses a little edge on his 16th late shot clock isolation move of the game.

It will take time for our team, and these three guys in particular, time to acclimatize to the greater physical demands of playing at a faster pace, as well as the particular cognitive orientation required to always be on the go and to be frequently making quick aggressive decisions. This will come with time. But over all, I think it will facilitate further development of our players’ ability to execute and respond with composure in crunch time. They are being challenged and are currently operating outside of their comfort zones - except for Bargnani, who is indifferent to the meaning of the phrase ‘comfort zone’ and is only really concerned with winning basketball games and eating lasagne.

One by product of a high tempo game is that our players counting stats will be inflated. There will be more possessions per game, meaning more outcomes for our guys to grab boards, assists whatever. Calderon will get more assists, Bosh and Barsg will get more Boards, Kapono can take more threes. More players can be involved through the course of the game, and players are less likely to feel disengaged because they aren’t getting their looks. This will lead also to our players being better regarded around the league because they are putting up more boards and points, even though they may be doing so at basically the same rates as before. (however, I do anticipate increases in field goal percentages and assists, simply because we are moving the ball better, pushing it in transition, which should lead to more easy looks, as well as more FG’s being assisted.)

Who knows, if Kapono steps it up with a few more made threes per game down the stretch maybe we can ship him and hump along with our draft pick for a Legit SG!?

I agree with assistant GM with regards to being opposed to tanking. I’m not against tanking in general, but not in our current situation. We are starting from scratch and needing to go in the tank for multiple years to acquire assets. We have some pieces that we need to add to. Given that we have four guys who are likely to be with us long term, they are probably better playing competitive ball, trying their best, and learning to execute in important situations.

Further, we need a SG. The draft doesn’t work like "oh lets tank and pick up a sick shooting guard." And even if we are fortunate enough to get a good one with our pick, will he be ready to contribute at the NBA level? Ya the guy may have been a winner at the high school and college level, but that is a stronger indication that he got a lot of action at post game parties and not that he will necessarily be able to come in and play substantial minutes on a competitive NBA team.

Plus, in the NBA, with the Salary Cap structure in place, there are more opportunities to acquire talent given cap motivated transactions. Look at the JO deal. I would have quite pleased if we landed Marion last offseason for TJ and Rasho ( and moon and two mid first round picks ), as it would have addressed one of our needs, as well as provided flexibility in the subsequent offseason. Bc can leverage assets in this Salary Cap structure as well as anyone in the league – I felt that before, and my belief in this is being rekindled the more I consider our present circumstance. ( For this reason, I would prefer the NBA maintain a luxury tax in the new CBA, I enjoy the dynamics facilitated by the current agreement. )

We are starting from scratch and needing to go in the tank for multiple years to acquire assets. We have some pieces that we need to add to.

> should read

We are *NOT* starting from scratch and needing to go in the tank for multiple years to acquire assets. We have some pieces that we need to add to.

bargsbust - Dude, don't talk out of your a**. How can you complain about the lack of talk about specific defensive sets when you consider "boxing out" as a defensive play? I think you meant whether they should go Zone, man-to-man or man/zone, or whether they should double down more or defend the pick and roll with better switches and help sets.
As for tanking, what does that really achieve? Yes, if you finish dead last you are guarenteed a top 4 pick but the Raptors have almost no chance of finishing last as they would have to climb over 6 or 7 teams in the underall standings. They have a better chance of making the playoffs then gaining the 25% of landing the top spot in the lottery. I am not saying they should make the playoffs but they should be trying to win and work out a good rotation to see what they have overall before they waste time and/or money on a few of the Raps FAs this offseason(Parker, Marion, trade or not trade Kapono etc). If they were to go into tank mode they would have no idea whether the Marion/Bosh/Bargnani dynamic would work and whether they should resign Parker/Graham to contracts in the summer. That is more important than what ever draft pick we may end up with as it is unlikely that they will get into a position that they can draft an impact player for next year.

McGateway is spot on!

Amen McGateway!

Blanco beat me to it!

Howland - I do agree that none of these players want to lose and they all play to win. Thats why they have made it as far as they have. As for a GM I'm not saying pass around a note to lose... that will not win much support with the players and would likely piss off every other GM out there. You simply give the bench more minutes. Let Roko and Banks play an extra 10 minutes a game, and guarantee Joey 30 minutes. Play Jawai for 10 minutes a game and see if he is even worth keeping. At the very least it will help these players develop.

Personally I hate thinking this way, and I get grief from my friends for mentioning it, but lets be realistic here. 2 years ago the Raps showed progress. A new team and they won their division (with a plus 500 record). Last year they took a step backwards from that. Didn't win their division (although not a suprise with the Celtics getting handed a championship team) and a 500 record. Each year they lost in the first round. Now the best they could do is to slide into the playoffs in the 8th or 7th spot and lose in the first round. Each year the team has gotten worse... and there is no sign that this team can compete at an elite level with the team they have. Lets not get stuck in a few token wins now at the cost of the future or you can just rename this team to the Maple Leafs (circa 1967-2008).

This team needs a serious adjustment and a new focus. I would rather them look at improving in the near future, than having a few more sub par years and then blowing it up and starting over again 2 or 3 years from now.

On a side note... if for some reason they do slide into the playoffs and win a few series, I will ignore everything I wrote/said and tell every non-raps fan on the internet that they undervalued this team :)

I would be more impressed with Jack's comment about Moon on the broadcast, if Moon were still on the team!! That would, IMO, be "calling it" like it is.

Guys stop and think for a minute. THE PLAYOFFS. We need the Raps make the playoffs. Why? That is where the GM can truly evaluate the team. Only 8 teams make the post season and to be one of them after a season like the Raptors have would be a huge confidence booster because the Raps would have to play really well down the stretch to make it. At the start of the season our expectations was not making the playoffs but getting out of the 1st round. Well the season did not go the way the team, management and the fans wanted but getting to the playoffs they would have accomplish something. Tanking to get a good draft pic is rediculous because you never know where you will pic in the lottery and it is possible that the player that you are trying to get, will get picked by another team before you get your pick. So forget the draft, experience in the playoffs is priceless. We lost 4-1 last year but the whole experience was fun just watching the sea of red come out to support the Raps. I will be totally dissappointed if the Raps does not make the playoffs. We have a good team and like a few teams in the league this year, things just did not pan out, but with a few win we could even get to the 6th spot, its not that far off if you look at the stats....so heres to optimism and lets cheer the boys on........Suns are in a slump so this should be another win for us.......raps4life

As an aside:

After a couple years of developing, it seem that Toronto FC is turning into a MONSTER!

GO RAPS!

Raps4life - lets take a look at the Minnesota Timberwolves. Good teams for years... always made the playoffs. Always lost in the first round. How did this team improve over the course of 5-8 years(?) (sorry can't remember how many years it was that they lost in the first round). They realized they were not going to win with their team and blew it up. They didn't get the good young picks or even a chance at them because they were out of the lottery. Yes they kept a good team for a number of years but never a great team and never a championship team. Hell, they didn't even get a chance to lose in Conference championships. Now they've had to spend 2 years as bottom feeders, and more than likely a third before the playoffs are a possibility for them (let alone going places in the playoffs). Do you remember the Jalen Rose years? I don't want this for the raps again.

I don't expect a championships per say (as only 1 team in 30 can take it any year), but I want a Pistons or Spurs style team. Always going deep in the playoffs even if they don't win. This team does not have a chance of doing that (with what they have) and I'm pretty sure everyone here realizes that. If this was a bottom feeding team finally making a push for the playoffs, then awesome. But this is a team going backwards. Losing in the first round means nothing... there are 8 teams (more than 25% of the league) that do that every year.

I'll agree that getting a good pick does not mean the player will work out, and they will likely mean a few years to develop... but then again sometimes the player works out great and immediately makes an impact. (Think Duncan, Shaq, VC, Brandon Roy). At the very least it is a trading piece for another team. High first rounders will always get you a decent return. (say maybe a John Salmons or a Boris Diaw..... hint hint) This team needs any advantage it can get to improve for next year. I want a team that has a chance year after year. I want a team that gets recognition across the league.

The Suns really have a banner of Amare Stoudemire with an ad for their "Win corrective eye surgery" contest directly above it.

The Raptors right now would pick eighth or ninth. If they lost every game for the rest of the year there would still be 4-5 teams with worst records. Drafting 6-12th is basically a crap shoot anyway so I'd rather they finish the year off playing some decent ball and hopefully Bosh and Marion (even Bargnani) would see some light at the end of the tunnel and hang around to be part of something good. The last 2 years have been tough with all the ups and downs but I'm ready for a really good Raptors team next year, not in three or 4.

again, as I've said before, making the playoffs has to be put into context. and that context is: if the raps do manage somehow to make the playoffs, it means they've managed to rattle off 17 or 18 (probably even more) of their last 24 games. meaning they're playing some pretty decent ball. meaning a first round match up with any team not named the lakers isn't necessarily going to be a blowout.

and that would be one hell of an end to a season.

and I would love it. as should any self respecting raps fan.

so no more playoff talk at this point(whether pro or against) without the context.

All I can say about the notion of "tanking it", is that I hope these advocates aren’t coaching any team I cheer for. And certainly not any team that my kids might play for.

Kinda reminds me of a parent who let’s their kid win ALL the time, not realizing the real world doesn’t operate like that.

Winning can be contagious, and ending the season with a good run, creates some hope for next season. Tanking does not. And as far as I’m concerned, no draft pick is worthy of that attitude. Besides going hard, the next 23 or so games should be about gelling parts to this team. And that includes the assumption that Marion will re-sign with the Raps. Most of us know our weak positions, including parts of the Bench, but it’s the strengths we have, that we need to focus on. Guys like Jake will not be here next year – I think ... I hope – but maybe O’ Bryant might be a nice surprise (and not someone to jettison so easily, as Doug Smith suggests).

As for whether Marion stays, the biggest hint we can get out of his statements, is that Nash is hoping to retire as a Raptor. And as far as I can tell – with all the cap talk going on – how many teams can really bid on Marion?

Tanking doesn't work. There have only been like 2 or 3 teams since the NBA instituted the lottery system that finished deadlast and won the first overall pick so why bother. Besides, as people have already mentioned this is not a deep 2guard draft (from what I have read so far though things change) so even if we somehow won one of the top 3 draft spots, we still may end up having to draft a different player then flip them to a team who drafts who we want. That could benefit us but it is still not worth tanking. The Raptors are not the Celtics who could afford to tank (when they tried to get Oden or Durant) as they had a team filled with young players that if either of those players had ended up on their team (thinking at the time) they could have built a Portland in the East. The Raptors do have young core but they still have too much dead wood on the team eating up Cap space (*cough* Jason Kapono *cough*). I believe that they should push for a playoff spot but not because i believe they can get one as there are simply too many teams to leap frog and to expect them to go on an 18 game win streak is nothing short of delusional (this team doesn't have a winning streak of more than 3 games so far this season). The best case scenario is that they push hard and then fall short (somewhere in the 10-14 spots) then get lucky in the lottery. I think the worst case scenario is that we make the playoffs and get swept. I am all for character building but how much character do you think Bosh wants before he starts to worry about being the next Abdul-Rahim?

Playoffs or not, run-and-gun or not... I feel that the veil cast by Sam Mitchell is finally starting to lift.

Imagine! Three seasons without a coherent strategy! Three seasons of stupid mind-games with developing players.

Now we can legitimately miss Joey Graham during an injury. Not as a integral component, but as an 8th or 9th guy who can mix it up a bit... with potential to develop. We've seen Bargnani make great strides over the past few months as well (As an aside, how Bargsbust can even show his/her face around here is a mystery to me). Joey G and Bargnani were in some kind of semi-permanent stasis under Smitch.

It's just nice to see some team basketball, no matter what happens.

Gonna add some points to the tank or no tank debate.
Its not like there's even a choice. Everybody plays to win, or else what's the point. I was opposed to some kind of last ditch effort whereby BC sacrificed capspace for a player that wasn't capable of helping us long term. This roster got us in this mess, let them get themselves out.

Marion gets us under the tax one year earlier which is good, compared to Oneal's deal which goes up by 2 million next year (21-23). Combine that with the fact that the soft and hard caps will be going done next year. This had the potential to be ugly, with the possiblity of fielding the exact team as this year, except minus Parker or Graham, with a Hassan Adams minimum contract in his place.

IMHO, you should either be wayyy under the soft cap, ie 12-15 mill, or you might as well be 2-3 million under the luxury tax. That way you have a buffer so that salaries don't have to match up 100% in trades. Delfino, Parker, and Graham, they are all assets to that end.

What I hope having Marion proves, is that injecting some athleticism into our team will make the low athleticism, high skill players perform better. Every team needs a balance of the two to perform optimally. I'd even argue that this means every potential incoming player needs to be a better then average athlete to make up for players like Kapono and Calderon. Marion has a rep for being a great help defender, to the point that he helped coverup for Nash's defensive deficiencies. Ideally, at least one of the incoming wing players next year would have the ability to do the same.

Our PG situation, now that's where I'm torn. On the one hand, I think Ukic's head is in the right place, and is gonna show a steep learning curve over the next three years. On the other hand, Calderon isn't exactly mr. durable or mr. big minutes. He needs a competent backup that can play 15-20 minutes, while being ready to spot-start at different times during the year. It looks like having TJ here helped Jose more then any of us would have thought. And this even without considering Calderon captains one of the most sucessful national bball teams on the planet, ensuring that they are in the mix at the end of every tournament/Olympics.

IMHO, we should resign Parker to trade him later. When players decline, its not all at once like I once thought. Its a gradual decline, and it can manifest itself with a chance in your ratio of great:okay:awful games. I was sparked onto this idea with an article of how things had changed for Ben Wallace in the last few years. Instead of hanging onto AP just because he can handle third guard, I'd rather they just signed a competent third guard with the LLE (~1.8 million). With Calderon as your pg, there will always be plenty of minutes to go around backing him up, so not worried about stunting Ukic's development. And this is the right offseason to be shopping for anything, especially bench players.

I would also draw a parallel between Wallace's decline and Marion's next few years. He's got a GREAT second jump, isn't that the first thing to go when a bball player ages (he's 31). And he's in no position to compensate by relying more on his funky perimeter shot or ballhandling/passing.
Sign and trade him as well, either right away, or next season. If this was Marion five years ago different story, but it is what it is. We need our money tied up in players that can age with our core, capable at the very least of maintaining their standard of performance for the next 3-4 years.

SwirskySoldier you said:

"They didn't get the good young picks or even a chance at them because they were out of the lottery".

You said this about the Timberwolves over the past 5-8 years.

*You, my friend, have no idea what you're talking about and I don't think you've been following the NBA for 5-8 years; if you had been, you would know that commissioner David Stern stripped the team of 5 first round picks becuase of their under the table deal with Joe Smith in the year 2000.

They didn't have lottery picks because they actually DIDN'T have picks.

Wow...Detroit lost 8 in a row... they arent gonna make the playoffs i bet

Hey AI - how's your free-agent value doing?

Yardly your way off. MLB's
Big Papi is only 33 and people say he's getting old, and he's tired of hearing it. Same thing with Marion at 31. What's a Shawn Marion 5 years ago, a less intelligent player who hasn't learned as much, played as many big games. Plus he's probably more hungry, and would know how to blend in. We've got enough young guys Yardly. He's not the type of athlete that would get worn down anyways, and he plays entire seasons, never having a serious injury. He looks as fresh as a daisy to me. He's BC's guy all along, he's the guy that gives you 3-4 years and someone who does help Calderon's defense, and Jose's whole game.
Calderon was the guy who was getting Stail out there. Ukic is a great young Backup.
Totally agree with Athletic players. The next guy(1st round) needs to be freaky athletic, but also come from a real winner(Uconn, Duke, UNC). With Marion and another High Flyer guys like Kapono, Parker and Bargs can drain those 3 bombs.
What's so bad with Kapono, he tries his balls off, looks discouraged when he's not doing well and seems like a perfect teamate, and he's a winner (UCLA), his shot is clutch. Not this year but hopefully next.
I think Bosh would be hard pressed to leave a place that has such an active Center. Bargs runs the court hard these days. What other center can give Bosh that type of room to work his craft?

LOLLLLL TJ Caino ur a F&*%^%N JOKER BUDDY...."except for Bargnani, who is indifferent to the meaning of the phrase ‘comfort zone’ and is only really concerned with winning basketball games and eating lasagne."
LOL SO TRUE

Tell me again, whoever it was, how the strength of schedule doesn't matter? If we played more teams like this we might have gotten rolling.

And this young team was a bad matchup for marion, who was 5 for 15. But he distributed. That comment from jack was classic howland, moon was soo predictable. Love reading your blogs as always raptorshq!

I have to say, I'd just as soon have moon coming off the bench as kapono...

'What's so bad with Kapono, he tries his balls off, looks discouraged when he's not doing well and seems like a perfect teamate"

Thank you Doug, I wholeheartedly agree. I don't know why everyone is hating on Kapono...ya he may not be worth 5 mil but he definitely has heart, he definitely is clutch (Orlando playoffs) and is definitely one of the best team players I have seen...(check him and Roko out always talking and helping each other out)

Has anyone noticed how raptors media is putting an emphases on Andrea's performances (that seem to be singled out all the time) like they are trying to prop him up like a legitimate Franchise's face. It seems like they are preparing or bracing for a possible "life after Bosh"

Doug and SyMMetry - The issue isn't wether we like Kapono or not (personally or as a player). The real issue is that his skill set doesn't fit with this team as constructed and at the salary level he currently has. 6 Million per year is too much for a guy who is suppose to be a 3 point specialist but doesn't shoot 3's. Ideally, he fits better on a Drive and kick team where there is a player who can cause defenses to collapse down and leave him wide open (think how the Raptors play defense, doesn't it always seem that they are leaving the most dangerous 3 point shooter open when they collapse to the rim?). That is why he had such good numbers in Miami where Dwayne Wade and Shaq played. On another team who could still produce but I just don't think he will be consistent enough over the course of a season with the Raptors to warrant having him. Trading him to get his numbers off the books and getting either a younger more athletic version of him or another PG would make more sense for this team.