5 Pre-Season Questions for the Raptors
by Adam Francis on Sep 21, 2010 8:45 AM EDT
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PrintPre-season is around the corner and the HQ has five burning questions they hope to see resolved early on...
The NBA season is back!
Well...not quite, but with the receipt of yesterday's invitation to the Raptors' annual media day, in the words of Trent in Swingers when he sees Mikey talking to Heather Graham...
"Dude, it's freaking on!"
Media Day for us each year represents the start of a new season in many ways, and considering Media Day this year falls on Monday the 27th of September, that means we've got essentially a week to go before we get back into the swing of things.
Recently on the site we've talked a bit about the upcoming season in terms of previews and the like, but this morning I wanted to build on those with five questions that keep popping into my head. These are questions that may transfer over to the regular season, but really, they're more grounded in the pre-season and I'm sure will at least be partially answered by the time things really start in late October.
Let's start with maybe now the most obvious one...
1) How fragile is Ed Davis?
Last night the Raptors sent us a mini press release speaking to the extend of Ed Davis' recent injury. They made it sound as positive as possible, but the bottom line is that Davis underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a meniscus tear to his right knee, and will be out at least six weeks.
Great.
Not exactly how you want to start off the former Tar Heels' NBA career is it.
The concerning thing to me is that this makes two straight fairly tough injuries for the Dino's top draft pick, and seeing him in person, he's not exactly the second coming of Shaq. If indeed he's ready to go after six weeks and plays injury-free the rest of the way, no harm, no foul. But you've gotta admit that this is a rather ominous way to kick off the 2010-11 season.
2) Who starts?
Right now I've got a Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson group. However it's quite possible that Jose Calderon and Sonny Weems get in the mix at some point, as well as maybe even Julian Wright.
3) Who fills out the rotation?
Related to the first point, I'm extremely curious to see how Jay Triano uses the rest of his rag-tag group. Does Reggie Evans get minutes? How about Solomon Alabi now that Ed Davis is hurt? Will Triano look to go with a very broad rotation for now until Davis returns and we get deeper into the season?
All of these queries are related and similar to last season, with so many players of similar talent levels, it's going to be interesting to see how Jay uses his personnel.
4) Who steps up in Bosh's absence?
Right from the get-go it's going to be interesting to see who looks to takeover the main scoring role for CB4. The assumption is that it will be Andrea Bargnani, but I'm wondering if Linas Kleiza isn't a close second. As well, guys like DeMar DeRozan showed in Summer League that they were ready to lead a team's offence so we'll see if that transfers over to pre-season and the following regular season schedule.
5) How bad will this team be?
Yikes, a bit of a negative slant on that one. However considering Vegas is saying Toronto is only going to win about 28 games, the pre-season should give us an idea of just what's to come. Does pre-season predict regular season success? Hardly. It's the time of the year when scrubs get extra run, and players and coaches are still feeling things out. However like Summer League, I'd argue that pre-season is a good predictor of failure.
What do I mean by that?
Well simply that in past years, when the Raps have struggled in pre-season in certain capacities, those same capacities show up over and over as their undoing in regular season.
The best example of this I think was a couple seasons back when Bryan Colangelo had Roko Ukic and Will Solomon backing up Jose Calderon. Right from the jump you could see this was an issue as the Raps even in pre-season got killed when these two stepped on the court. The drop-off from Jose to both was quite large, and it was quite evident that early that it was going to be a problem come regular season.
I'm betting that in a similar way, the pre-season this year will throw out some "regular season red flags."
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Good questions
1. We are all praying that Ed will not turn out to be made of glass. He seems like just the kind of big man that the Raptors need(nothing fancy, just grab boards, help on D and score when needed).
2&3. Ideally, the nine man rotation would be: Calderon, Jack, DeRozan, Weems, Kleiza, Wright, Johnson, Davis, Bargnani. Alabi should probably get some time in the D-league and then maybe be used situationally later in the season. If Evans plays much that is a sure sign of tanking.
4. Agreed, Kleiza will probably take over Bosh’s role of being assertive on offense when the team is bogging down. Bargnani ideally will step up on offense, also, but who knows if that will happen.
5. I am hoping that the Raptors finish near the bottom of the league(for a top pick next year), but that they don’t need too terrible a record to do it. Ideally, they finish just behind a bunch of teams(say 30 wins, with a bunch clumped in the low 30s just above them).
Rotation
I’d like to see a starting five actually of Jack, Weems, Kleiza, Bargs and Amir, with Jose, Barbosa, DeMar and Wright as the next 3 depending on situations. I too think that Alabi will be in the D League, with Dorsey getting Reggie Evans’ minutes (I hope.)
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Sep 21, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Barbosa
Oops, forgot about him. He throws a bit of a wrench into the rotation. I am not sure how Triano is going to get a lot out of him. It is not clear to me what combination of teammates he would work well with. You could do a speedy small line-up of say: Barbosa, DeMar, Weems, Wright, Johnson(Barbosa and Weems would initiate the offense, I guess). I can’t really see how Barbosa can play well with either Calderon or Jack. Stylistically they don’t work together and defensively things would be terrible.
Dude is a monster scorer when given minutes...
by ap3604 on Sep 21, 2010 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions
I didn’t mention Barbosa but I fully expect him to be in that 9-10 man mix. It’s just going to depend on how Jay uses him because his minutes will likely come at the expense of a player they’re trying to develop like Weems or DeRozan, or a Jack or Calderon, who are both much more true PG’s.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Sep 21, 2010 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions
you left Davis out too....
I would imagen he should get the DD treatment too…
true but the topic was Raptors' rotation in general
not the starting five at the opening night
Davis
Left him out because if indeed he misses 6 weeks, that’s pre-season gone…that being said, if he manages to come back early, we may get a good idea of how “rugged” he is.
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Sep 21, 2010 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Kid gloves
I’d rather he sit the whole season than come back less than 100%.
Starters and subs
I start Calderon, Derozan, Kleiza, Johnson and Bargnani
Second lineup being Jack, Weems, Wright, Evans and Alabi
Mix in some Barbosa as needed and never let the second lineup be all out on the court at the same time…
One of the most interesting thing to watch this season is how the pecking order on offense works itself out. There hasn’t been a question of who would be the alpha dog scorer since before Vince was drafted.
Maybe the injury will be a blessing in disguise for Davis and he can spend time in the gym getting stronger. Obviously he’ll have to wait to get the legs stronger, unfortunately.
28 wins sounds pretty fair to me. My predictions is 20-30 wins. I think there are so many questions it’s hard to be any more exact than that.
Tim W.
The Picket Fence
I would hardly call watching a bunch of Beta’s TRY to be Alpha’s "interesting". Words like, discouraging, sad, painful-to-watch, bitter-sweet come to mind… Even this team’s young players, who everyone wants to reach their potential, don’t have the potential to be Alpha dogs in my estimation. Too many Indians, not enough Chiefs.
I think it will be interesting, but yeah, a sad statement in a sense as that’s unfortunately something fans are going to have to “look forward to.”
Adam Francis - Publisher - RaptorsHQ.com
by Adam Francis on Sep 21, 2010 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions
but it just doesn't matter!
Next season is a wash. Lowest pick in the lottery is our target. We will draft that Chief next June. i see a dapperly dressed Andrea, representing the Raptors at the draft lottery, flashing that dopey smile as he realizes the Raptors pick first, – live on TSN2.
Lets hope BC don’t blow it on, ah, Renato, I can’t say it.
WOW! they deserve more credit
Ed Davis is fine, in this sport injuries happen. He didn’t try to injur himself. better they happen now and get repaired so he can play strong then it happen in the middle of the year and he was an inportant part of the team.
No one will pick up for CB4, he was the team. Brags is a good shooter, but to think he will be able to carry the team is a dream. Brags has shown us all that he is cvapable of doing. Kliza is a great pick up but is the current system going to fit his style? The young guns have proven they can play and defend what and how will teh coach use them?
I don’t beleive its about the starters anymore. This current team is has a good core of young talented players that must become the focal point of the franchise case and point Oklahoma.
I don’t beleive that the team will be as bad as everyone thinks. The east is not a strong confrence and outside of Boston, Miami, Chicago and Atlanta, the last 4 places are up for grabs.
I think Toronto should have gone after Dampier for some stability in the middle. Do the Raps have the right coach?
another question
hey, here’s another question…
which team will have a worse season: the Maple Laughs, or the TO RIPtors?
might be a good one to take bets on…
Andrea's interview in Italy
Andrea’s interview on an italian magazine
Q: You are about to go back to TO for the start of the training camp, what’s your attitude towards the next season?
A: I REALLy look forward to start again, to go back to my gym (in TO) we are a very young team, very dangerous because of that. We have for sure a big offensive talent, now let’s see what kind of chemestry we can develop during training camp.
Q: the bad new is the Raptors have lost Chris Bosh and Hedo Turk.
A: Tue, on the other hand it is not that with them we are coming froma winning season, we did not even make the playoffs, so we, as a team need to improve a lot.
Q another departure from the team was MArco Belinelli
A: I am really sorry to see MArco leaving, but I hope this will give him the chance to play as he deserve to do so and to show his worth.
Q: During the summer you have experienced for the first time to be the focal point of a team, a new experience from you?
A: Yes definetly. It made me learn something important, especially for the new season in TO.
Q: TO is not a candidate for the playoffs but you could be a candidate, the first Italian for the ASG, what do you need to do to get there?
A: Well, I need to keep working and improving like I did in every season, let’s see what happens.
Q: Lebron has been crucified for going to Miamo together with Bosh and Wae, do you see them as favourites?
A: With three players of that caliber, moreover surronded by other first level players, if they find a chemestry, they will become hard to beat.
Q:Lebron has been criticized for doing that, what do you think about what happened?
A: We are all entitled to make our choices, if he and his family are fine with the new situation, he was right to do it.
Q: garbage
A: he confirms that lady of the video is indeed his girlfriend.
sorry, no time for re reading, forgive the ( I am sure) various typos.
Linas
Linas has proven he can compete on the international level and he will average between 16 and 19 pts per game.
Agreed - but should he be the sixth man?
I definitely could see Kleiza at 15-16 ppg.
However, I think that gunners like Barbosa and Kleiza might be a better fit on the bench?
I’d rather see a decent defender like Weems or even Wright in the starting 5.
If Jack/Demar/Linas/Amir/Bargs is the starting 5, your bench is:
Calderon
Barbosa
Weems
Wright
Evans/Alabi/Andersen/Dupree/Dorsey?
You would get zero offense from your PF/C in that scenario (unless Andersen is your “go to” big in the post I guess – which is a scary thought).
I’d rather have Kleiza come in for whoever of the SF-PF-C (Weems/Amir/Bargs) is struggling in the first 6 minutes of the game.
You need to balance the offense/defense in the lineup also — Kleiza is stronger on offense, but most of the other bigs on the bench are there for defense/rebounding.
first of all, there is no chance that linas kleiza has the offensive skill set to average over 12 ppg in the NBA, so there is no way he will be average 15-16. He’s a great defensive player who can score, but not a consistent scorer, Klieza has only average 15 ppg or over once in his career, and that was in 2007. The NBA is more competitive than whatever league he played in last year, especially if he’s going to be a “main offensive threat” on our team and have good defenders covering him and defenses focusing on him.
Agreed – but should he be the sixth man? I definitely could see Kleiza at 15-16 ppg.
However, I think that gunners like Barbosa and Kleiza might be a better fit on the bench?
I think that the majority of our team are fantastic 6-spot players. One could argue that with such a plethora of talent of 6-spotters, we will have to run a more ‘millitary style’ of play – and its very likely none of our guys will win 6th man of the year award (because if they are that good – they will be considered ‘starters’)…
However if you are a betting person – or simply superstitious – we all know that a bunch of sixes are the sign and number of the beast — time to give the Captaincy to Reggie! – and then trade him.
Don’t forget the Aussie is most likely a financial asset – rather than a mainstay of this team…
PS — Why haven’t we signed Artsiom Parakhouski to play C for us? WHY?!
Just a note… whether a player is eligible for the 6th man award is determined by his number of games started, not whether he is good enough to start or not.
by dhackett1565 on Sep 23, 2010 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Answers
1. Pretty damn fragile. He`s 6`10 and like 215. He’s a stick, man.
2. I say Mago, Amir, Sonny, Leo Barbosa and Jose C
3. Jack at PG, DeRozan pklaying the wing, Julian Wright, Linus Klieza because of his big pay day and David Anderson
4.Mago should, Barbosa should pick up the load too and hopefully Calderon can wake up from the crappy season he had.
5.I say 25 wins tops
by Jeffrey Thompson on Sep 23, 2010 1:38 PM EDT reply actions
calderon at PG, barbosa and weems on each wing makes for some exciting ball...
perhaps JT can compensate for calderon’s D by putting in the right two players to complement this combination.
Or if you really want boil it down to Barbosa and Weems playing corner ball … should be fun to watch….
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