Lamond Murray never really fit into Toronto's plans. The player brought over from the Cleveland Cavaliers to take some of the scoring load off of former Raptor Vince Carter just never got it. Sure he had a great scoring average with the Cavs...but the Cavs were also during his tenure there, a perenial bottom feeder with little other talent.
However Lamond Murray doesn't see it that way. In an interview with the Star-Ledger Murray blasted the Raptors management and the direction of the team. It's actually a funny read considering Lamond has NEVER been happy on a team and I can't wait till 8 months from now when he's trapped on a bench behind gunslingers Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and even Jeff McInnis and wanting more shots.
Speaking of Vince, his second return to Toronto will be tonight and will undoubtedly be met with a chorus of boos. While it's still only a preseason matchup both teams should be fired up for the contest.
One player who will definitely be fired up is Alvin Williams. Williams in all likelyhood will make his long awaited return vs. the Nets tonight at the ACC. While he'll probably come off the bench, it will be his first actual game playing time since March 19, 2004. It's not certain how much impact Williams will have at this stage of the game as microfracture surgery is not something many players make successful returns from. Microfracture surgery in fact was the key reason behind Allan Houston's retirement announcement yesterday. In any event, Alvin's mere presence should be a boost to a team in dire need of one.
And the main area needing a boost at this point in time...the center position. While it may be too early to push the panic button, Raptors' GM Rob Babcock has admitted that his scouts are out in full force looking for possible candidates. While this is not exactly a ringing endorsement of the current roster of bigs, the game tonight vs. New Jersey will be a great test for both Loren Woods and Rafael Araujo. New Jersey's main weakness on paper is in the frontcourt after they failed to obtain Shareef Abdur Rahim this summer and therefore Woods and Hoffa SHOULD be able to post respectable numbers. That being said...we're also going to send a letter to Rob Babcock to request the services of one Zendon Hamilton...not sure who he is? Read on...
FRANCHISE