Could the struggling New Orleans Hornets move to Vancouver?
Arturo Galletti has already illustrated that Andrea Bargnani is far and away the worst player in the Eastern Conference in terms of Wins Produced. Now, Dave Berri looks at the problems with talent evaluation in Toronto. Warning: It's not a good read if you're clinging to the belief that Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan have improved this season or that either player is someone you can build around.
As a die-hard Raptors fan, the following quote is arguably the most frustrating part of Berri's post:
(The) team is being led in Wins Produced by Amir Johnson, Jose Calderon, and Ed Davis. Each of these players is posting a WP48 mark above 0.200 (or twice the mark of an average player). In general, teams with three players who are twice as good as average tend to be very good. Unfortunately this team is being held back by the players who lead this team in shot attempts.
Is DeRozan allergic to passing? If it wasn't for the Wizards' Nick Young, he'd top the list of guards who pass the least per touch.
Ball Don't Lie's Kelly Dwyer weighs in on the possible Bryan Colangelo contract extension:
It's an offense-first team that is 22nd in offense. A defense-last team that would be last in the NBA in defense were it not for the once-in-a-decade season we're seeing in Cleveland. Bargs is clearly limited -- he's not keeping this team in games -- and there is nobody else on that roster with a ceiling worth drooling over. I appreciate DeMar DeRozan's strides in his second year, Amir Johnson has cut the fouling and played well, and Ed Davis is a keeper up front, but these aren't the things that contract extensions are made of.
For more on the Colangelo extension, check out Eric Smith's latest blog post.
In what is quickly becoming a must-read for stat-obsessed Raptors fans, the latest editions of Tom Liston's Statophile focus on Power Forwards and Booing Theory. Keep the latter post in mind when you decide to boo Chris Bosh in his return to the Air Canada Centre this evening.
Speaking of Bosh, he's ready for the booing. But while scorned Raptors fans will bring their venom, the Star's Dave Feschuk doesn't think Toronto's pros will respond in a similar fashion.
It's something most of the HQ team witnessed in-person at a sold out ACC this past Sunday night: Blake Griffin is taking steps to the next level.
Griffin overtakes LeBron James atop SB Nation's 2011 NBA Player Watchability Rankings.
The Raptors remain at 27th in SB Nation's NBA Power Rankings.