The Toronto Raptors Are FINALLY Moving In The Right Direction

The Toronto Raptors have gone through so many development trials - such as losing and being inexperienced. Will they come back this year ready, and more improved?

 

It’s that time again. The time where NBA fans get to see their hometown or favorite team get a new draft pick and potentially, a different basketball team.

For the Raptors, things have gone.. hmm let’s say “alright“. Draft selections of Ed Davis, DeMar DeRozan, as well as the additions of Jerryd Bayless, Amir Johnson, and James Johnson have given the team new hope. Other players on the team like Sonny Weems, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon and others (Julian Wright, Alabi) have been mediocre in terms of their expected potential. Bargnani isn’t the player he lived up to (so far), Sonny Weems is a great offensive talent, but on defense he lacks certain qualities, Jose is a good veteran, but a mediocre defender, etc.

As for the staff of the Raptors, as you all may have already known, Jay Triano has been relieved and has taken his talents upstairs helping out B.C.  So far, I like the approach Toronto has made, dealing with only defensive minded and talented coaches. Dwyane (or Dwane, I’m not sure) Casey is a GREAT coach to pick up on, as he was on the championship team this year! Lawrence Frank has great experience as well (remember that playoff run we had against his former team, New Jersey?) and he has experience especially with Boston and New Jersey! This coaching move will be great, regardless of the choice!

Overall, the Raptors have gone through so many developmental, young flaws, as a young team should be enduring. A year has gone by, a year of pain, frustrations, development, improvement, and so much more. 

All we can do now is sit and wait for June 23rd, 2011, and it’s go time.

Why The Toronto Raptors Will SUCK With The Trade With The Hornets

OK, OK so first of all here is the proposal.

They will trade away Jarrett Jack, David Andersen and Marcus Banks to the New Orleans Hornets for Peja Stojakovic and Jerryd Bayless.

First of all, why. WHY would you trade away two of your main rotation players for a hot Hornets team who have a bad defender in Peja and an average Point Guard in Bayless.

Jarrett had a GREAT campaign here in Toronto. David Andersen was great as well. Marcus was there for backup also. So why in your right mind, Bryan, would you trade them away.

Easy, long-term cap space. Hahaha, I know this sounds really dumb right now, but it’s true! Jarrett has his cash until 2012-2013 season which is literally a good thing for a contract worth 15.3 million in Peja. David Andersen was a STEAL for Toronto in his short time here and Marcus wasn’t given enough credit for his defense.

Jerryd is still a young player and still needs to mature and grow. Jarrett is a veteran savvy player that can play extremely well in New Orleans.

This deal is the WORST deal Bryan has ever made. Toronto already has enough backcourt wingmen and forwards to accompany. The point guard has changed from Jarrett to Jose starting. Andrea has no one else to backup except for Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi, both rookies.

Bryan Colangelo, why would you make this deal? I know that you are rebuilding long term for free money, but why not just keep these pieces and see what’ll happen? These guys have played really well for Toronto and they are hardworkers. Peja has had a massive amount of injury bugs in his career and you would take a chance like that? Jerryd, an unproved young point guard in the NBA for Jarrett Jack, who’s had great chemistry with all the Raptors players and David, who’s proved to be a good journeymen big for Toronto?

I know this is just a business, and a fan like myself would hate great people and players like these to leave. However, when our two new players arrive in Canada, all we can ask is one question: Why?

Why The Toronto Raptors Keep On Losing: BRUTAL TRUTH.

This is the reason why I haven’t been posting frequently.. Toronto loses. I know, I know, “if I’m supposed to be a true friend, why don’t I post win or loss“. Well, it’s plain and simple, Toronto doesn’t deserve to be told off that they lost their game to the other team because they already are getting enough BS that they have on their plate. I don’t wanna add on to their disappointment and losing.

However, it is EXTREMELY important for me to tell you guys why they lose. Here are the main reasons.

The first reason is consistency. Throughout forty eight minutes there are about 95-99% that we complete each game. Winners have to get 100% to reach their goal of a championship. Toronto is obviously not playing all 48 and it has showed. They play well in the first three quarters, then they start to lose momentum and focus on the last quarters.

Defense is the second issue, and it ties perfectly with their consistency problem. At times they are average, sometimes they’re poor and sometimes they’re highly intense and friggen awesome! This is why San Antonio or the upcoming teams like the Thunder are getting these quality wins against other teams. They know how to play intense defense for 48 minutes straight and to never quit.

Another issue is the maturity. I know this team is young, but that doesn’t have an excuse for making stupid mistakes. This is a grown man’s game and if you don’t play it with your smarts, you will always fight a losing battle. This is what Toronto has to learn, they know they won’t have as much talent as the team, but with the right mindset, focus and smarts, they can outplay another better team and can get quality wins!

I can see Toronto is getting frustrated and it kind of shows after games. They have excuses to their losses, but there is absolutely no excuse. They just have to play each game one at a time, with the right consistency and intensity every single minute.

As a fan, I know it’s difficult to see our national team play like this, even without Chris. We have no excuses to play hard every single minute of each game, and if we do that. We’ll have a fighting chance.

I still believe in you Toronto, you will pull through.

Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings – “What The..”

DeMar DeRozan kept it close and played real hard.. the whole team did! They unfortunately ended up short against SAC last night with a 111-108 loss.

Surprised? Not really.

Yesterday night, the Toronto Raptors lost once again to the Kings 111-108. The funny thing was actually we were winning by double digits because of our great offense, decent defense, rebounds, etc.

The other funny thing was the Kings came back from behind to win on BOTH of their games so far. They came back as well to New Jersey.

DeMar played great. Reggie was rebounding like a beast once again. Everybody was on point. Until the second half.

You see, I only watched the first half. The first half was great. Up double digits, aggressive Raptors ball, what else could go wrong? (guess there was a LOT).

Sacramento just played basketball. Raptors just missed a few shots. No biggie.

BUT.. we have seen the previous Raps and these “new” Raptors. It always seems like I don’t have the 100% confidence in the team to win a game like this. All the contenders should be able to beat these games. We are definitely not showing it so far. I still believe, just turn it up guys.

Get ready guys.. Jazz and Lakers (and Portland) are up next.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors – Post-Game Assessment

A 20 point blow out by the Raptors against the Cavs. What better way to celebrate your 27th birthday, huh Jarrett?

After a close, down-to-the-last-shot game with New York, the Raps looked to climb back with a win against the Cavs.

The outcome? Blowout. (No pun intended or anything sexual in that regard haha!)

The Toronto Raptors finally showed their youth, athleticism and raw talent they have on this team. Rebounding, scoring and defense were all positives in this regard.

From the get go, the Raps were out fast leading 16-8 until the Cavs made a little mini run of their own. This was the type of games where you really don’t know the outcome!

The Raptors had a great second quarter, quiet but not as good as the Cavs who made it a close game at halftime. However, after the half, it was all Raptors. Deflections, steals, blocks, key rebounds and shots, movement, defense, you name it! The Raptors showed that hard work truly pays off in the long run.

The game ended off pretty well, easy buckets and good chemistry from the team. I liked the vibe and way to go Dinos for giving the fans their free pizza! It was actually fun basketball I saw and I’m really looking forward to the game against the Kings. Great game there, cool action and fast paced scoring on both sides.

Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza showed their offensive game, while the whole team showed their willingness to help and rotate on defense! I liked the HUSTLE there as well! Great passion. Oh and for the Young Gunz.. great :p

This was a great way to celebrate Jarrett Jack’s 27th birthday. Happy Birthday, Jarrett, Happy Birthday. (well not today)

 

New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors – Post-Game Assessment

Andrea played a monster game for the Raps - but still ended up with a lost, 98-93.

First game. New team. New season. Same result?

As you may (or may not) already know, the Toronto Raptors lost against the New York Knicks 98-93. Five points. There are many good things in this game, however the bad things can be easily fixed.

The good things I saw were good transition offense, great comebacks after New York scored, and pretty good defense.. but not all the defense was good. Rotation’s were weak, they seemed out of shape and other things came in play but I still believe the Dinos played a decent game.

Overall, I believed they played a good game to start off the season. As Jarrett said, it wasn’t a great outcome but the effort and mentality was there. It showed in the next game which will be feature next.

Assessment: Toronto Raptors vs. Phoenix Suns (Pre-Season)

Phoenix sucked. Period.

Why?

Well, this was their second game on a back-to-back. So obviously they’re tired.

Basically this game was a kick ass game for Toronto.. and Vancouver. I felt happy for Vancouver because it brought back memories for both Steve Nash and Jay Triano. I still believe Vancouver should get the Grizzlies back and Seattle should bring back the Supersonics.

Anyways, this game was a dunking, shooting and easy game for Toronto. Highlight plays for many players like Sonny Weems, Demar DeRozan, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, etc! It was pretty much not a contest. The Raptors took over from the get go.

Toronto showcased their young legs and it’s a great scenery. It’ll take more development, but I liked the potential!

Raptors won by 51. End of story.

 

Assessment: Toronto Raptors vs. Boston Celtics (Pre-Season)

I would just like to apologize once again for being dormant. To be quite frank, I have been busy with so many other things!

Anyways, enough about the sorry’s, let’s get straight to the assessment (or recap for you noobs).

Unfortunately, I haven’t watched the pre-season game and I apologize if I didn’t assess it with my full knowledge of the game! I saw the highlights and recap on NBA.com.

So the first thing I saw was a bit of over aggressiveness among the whole team, The Raps.  I’ve seen a play with Jarrett overplaying a Rajon Rondo on defense and he got schooled because obviously Jarrett isn’t as quick as he was. That’s the thing with being over aggressive. You get too close to a guy that’s quicker than you, say buh-bye.

Another play I saw was DeMar playing tight D on Delonte West on a pick and roll.  This play bothered me for two reasons. I didn’t see DeMar call out the guy that was supposed to switch on Delonte to give help to him. I respect for DeMar for at least getting back, but if he had more bodies to help, Delonte would’ve had to make a circus shot and earn it at the stripe, or he’d have to kick out if there were enough bodies. The second reason is because DeMar seemed to run INTO the pick-er.  He didn’t go around or under the screen.. he went into the picker.

Offense was pretty good from what I saw. I like our transition offense and our fast breaks. I haven’t seen much half-court from this team. We’ll see. Good dunk for Sonny “Money” Weems btw!

Overall, I think we played pretty good offense. A few defensive breakdowns here and there, but we played pretty good. I just would like to tell all your encouraged fans that this is just the PRE-SEASON. The real season starts in about three weeks. Get prepared guys!

 

The Toronto Raptor’s Summer Recap

School is almost in session. At least for students anyways (sighs). Let’s see how the Toronto Raptor’s shake up from the whole league.

Toronto didn’t really make a big move to obtain the loss from Chris Bosh, but they did improve for the future. Although NBA.com’s review was a bit too harsh, I kind of agree with the review. Although they are rated D, I think they are a lot better than most people assume.

The Raptors have improved from last year, but nobody seems to agree. DeMar DeRozan, Sonny Weems, Ed Davis, Solomon Alabi, Amir Johnson worked a lot this summer and it will show during the season. Obviously, the whole team still needs that chemistry with the new additions of Leandro Barbosa, Linas Kleiza, Julian Wright, and others, but I think our team is good.

Summer's coming to a close.. time for Toronto's Summer Recap!

Now, I know that people will underestimate us. Just look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were one of the worser teams in the NBA and it showed two years ago. With a bit of patience, chemistry and growth, they have grown to become one of the bigger threats of the NBA. It is possible for Toronto do achieve the same results. Lose bad this year, gain chemistry and experience and then grow and mature, then eventually they’ll get better.

The new additions of the Raptors are good and the core pieces are here. They will need however maturing, chemistry and growth to gain more success. This summer wasn’t too bad.. I guess.

Toronto Raptors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Who Wins?

LeBron left Cleveland. Chris left Toronto. Who is left with the biggest loss?

Chris Bosh and LeBron James left these two teams respectively this year to go to South Beach. These two teams are the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Obviously the team’s have declined in talent, but I dared to ask which is the better team. My answer? The Toronto Raptors. For a number of reasons of course.

First of all, Toronto has better talent. No, I am not judging the Cav’s talent, but it’s true. Without LeBron, their engine doesn’t run properly. Now that Mo Williams has to run the show, it’s clear that the Cavs are in desperate need of help.  With key pieces of Delonte and Shaq both going to the Celtics, they are in quite in a dispute. They lost their superstar, their engine, their best player, their coach, their GM.. what else could go wrong?

Meanwhile, Toronto still had it’s core pieces. Sonny Weems, DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson,  Jarrett Jack and Andrea Bargnani. There were other good pieces as well including Leandro Barbosa, Linas Kleiza, Jose Calderon, Joey Dorsey, Reggie Evans, David Andersen, Julian Wright, Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi. This team is still is very close knit and has quite a good chemistry forming and growing. Jarrett Jack seems to be the vocal leader, Sonny & DeMar seem to want to carry this team together and Andrea could emerge to be an all-star. Losing Chris Bosh was and is still a significant loss, but Bryan Colangelo did a very good job picking good pieces up. This team could surprise people this year.

As for the matchup, I still believe Toronto would win. Toronto has better talent, better chemistry and didn’t lose as much as Cleveland did. The matchups seem kind of unfair as well. Usually Cleveland would bully away Toronto with their size and toughness. They lost both of that, and now it could be a problem for Cleveland to keep up with Toronto.

In my opinion, NO team should focus their team on one superstar. Last year, Miami tried it with just D. Wade and Cleveland tried it with just LeBron James, and Toronto tried it with just Chris Bosh. All three teams did not win the championship.

So what is the conclusion? Toronto Raptors over Cleveland.