Raptors are ranked number 27 for the month of January

by Jeffrey Thompson on Jan 27, 2011 6:25 PM EST

If you are a Raptors fan, you are better off repeatedly slamming your head to a cinder block than actually watching a game. So far In month of January, the Raps have only won 2 games and those came against the two worst teams in the league—the Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers. Their problems are too many to name. Their defense is terrible and they can’t grab a rebound to save their lives. Andrea Bargnarni has also started to revert to his old ways of playing the perimeter and watching him on the defensive end can make you laugh or cry depending if you are a Raptors fan or not. Actually Raptors fans probably do both. Add to the fact that injuries has decimated what little talent they do have, the Raptors look to keep what few fans that still watch their games cringing in frustration and disgust. The one thing that the Raptors have for them is their youth. Toronto has a treasure trove of young athletes it can develop and the results are starting to show. Demar Derozan is starting to look like a go to player and a consistent scorer. Jerryd Bayless looks as he could soon take over from Jose Calderon as the starting point guard. And Ed Davis, Toronto’s first round pick, has had a solid season producing 6 points, 6 boards, and 2 blocks a game. The only problem is that these young guys still need plenty of time to develop—time that the Raptors are running out of. After two straight years of disappointment, the fans are starting to lose their patience along with their interest. Toronto needs a shot in the arm or they might end up having more and more empty seats in the Air Canada Centre.

To see this and where the other NBA team rank ahead of them, Check out http://jtshoopsblog.blogspot.com

Poll

What has hurt the Raptors the most so far this season?

Poor coaching

4 votes

Lack of talent

7 votes

Poor focus/discipline

1 votes

Lack of mental toughness

3 votes

15 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

The Poll is Missing Something

Age and experience of the players.

If people don’t understand how that can negatively impact a team’s ability to win they don’t understand basketball and sports in general.

The Thunder with the same core players of KD, Westbrook and Green won only 25 games two seasons ago.

The Spurs who are off their best start in history have a very experienced roster. In fact even their rookies on the average are older than the Raptors roster!!!

So i would say.

1. Youth and Inexperience
2. Lack of talent

How much of it is #2 we will find out more as the season rolls along

The other options in the poll I don’t think are responsible at all for the Raptors bad record. In fact this group of players remains extremely hard working and focused despite the long losing streak.

i also think that the coaches are dong an above average job in developing the young players on the whole.

by Buddahfan on Jan 27, 2011 7:15 PM EST reply actions

Agreed

Injuries haven’t helped the situation. I’d argue that is the key factor. If Reggie doesn’t go down, we don’t have a problem with rebounding. If Barbosa doesn’t go down, we don’t have as much of a problem scoring off the bench, etc.

I’m not saying that without these injuries, the Raptors would be a great team or even a good team, but they would have won a few more games along the way.

by siggian on Jan 28, 2011 9:48 AM EST up reply actions

Maybe It Was For The Best

Doubtful whether they would have made the playoffs even with no injuries to Evans and Barbosa.

The injuries have allowed some of the young guys to get more minutes and be better evaluated as to their future potential in addition to now getting a higher draft pick.

I never would want someone injured, even KG – LOL, but in this case I think it could be for the better starting next season.

by Buddahfan on Jan 28, 2011 2:25 PM EST up reply actions

Yes, there definitely is a silver lining to the injuries. It’s forced the team to play the young players.

by siggian on Jan 28, 2011 4:19 PM EST up reply actions

The Poll is Missing Something

I think that the lack of experience and age of the team account for most of the bad record.

The Thunder with the same basic core group of players of KD, Westbrook and Green won only 25 games two seasons ago.

The Spurs who are off to their best record ever have a very mature team. In fact the average age of their rookies is more than the average age of the Raptors roster.

It seems to me that the players are remaining upbeat, focused and continue to work hard and play hard despite the losing streak.

As far as the coaches go, overall I think that they have done a good job on the whole developing the young players.

Do the Raptors need more talent. Yes they do but that can be said about most teams. Do the Raptors need more than most other teams? I want to wait to see how the remainder of the season plays out before answering how much talent they may need in addition to continuing to develop the young and inexperienced players that they have.

by Buddahfan on Jan 27, 2011 7:25 PM EST reply actions