Official Toronto Raptors 2009-2010 Season Thread. The Raptors are garbage. That is all.

[inno21]

Originally Posted by maddog345

Originally Posted by EightysBaby

A well needed wins for the Raptors, good game

Thoughts on the game?

You guys got some great production by Antoine Wright. The Raptors played some very unselfish ball today. It kept the defense on their heels. Is Calderon gonna be starting for you guys soon? Are they just trying to work him back in the lineup?

Nope not anytime soon, unless Jack starts messing up or slipping. I really like Calderon from the bench cause he plays well against other teams 2nd units and his poor D isn't usually exposed.

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

You sure you wouldn't rather have Lamarcus Aldridge?

 

[eightysbaby]

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

You sure you wouldn't rather have Lamarcus Aldridge?

I was thinking that too but the only reason why I said Aldridge over Bargnani is because we don't really need a 7 foot 3pt shooter who can't rebound but Bargnani's game has been improving, hes more aggressive, he rebounds, scores and plays good defense.

So naw..

Bargani > Aldridge

 

[rap sizzle]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

I didn't know you cared so much. You claimed to have given up on this team yet you still want to see it improve. Oh and suddenly you're impressed with Bargnani? Let's see this team lose for you to rip on this team again.

 

[ballinboykz]

Good win. We still need to keep going strong for the next few days going into the all star break.

Good streak to get going into the break regardless the next week though. Things are looking up. But again, I still aint convinced

 

[eightysbaby]

Originally Posted by Rap Sizzle

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

I didn't know you cared so much. You claimed to have given up on this team yet you still want to see it improve. Oh and suddenly you're impressed with Bargnani? Let's see this team lose for you to rip on this team again.

QFT!

 

[ridingonlorenzos]

Yup... alotta you dudes are def fair weather fans SMH

 

[copp 2 of em]

LOL @ the bench.

 

[damnthosejs]

couldn't find Cleveland tickets without giving up my left testicle so I settled for the Portland game. 1st Raps game this year.

 

[chris boshs neck]

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

You sure you wouldn't rather have Lamarcus Aldridge?

Bargani > Aldridge by light years. I don't think you appreciate bargs enoguh

 

[ridingonlorenzos]

By the way if you guys need tix, I can get them alot cheaper than ticket master and can get tickets even if they appear to be sold out. My bro works for MLSE. Just PM me

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by Rap Sizzle

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

I didn't know you cared so much. You claimed to have given up on this team yet you still want to see it improve. Oh and suddenly you're impressed with Bargnani? Let's see this team lose for you to rip on this team again.

I've been a Raptors fan since the day the announced the franchise was born back in 1993...which is nothing to be proud of.

I will rip this team when they win and win they lose because they are not any good. Being a 45-win team is never anything to be proud of in this league, especially when you're going to get mollywhooped in the first round of the playoffs.

I've never seen you in any Toronto threads...I doubt you're even from Toronto but just decided to support the team just because you felt like it one day but you feel obliged to replace Swirsky as this team's #1 cheerleader.

Dude is upset like I insulted his mother or something

As for Aldridge vs. Bargnani...last time I checked, Bargnani is on our roster and not Aldridge. How did you want me to phrase the sentence? "Bosh and Bargnani (Although we should've drafted Aldridge) can stay".

Player A: 270 GP, 16 ppg 7 rpg, 1 BPG, 49% shooting
Player B: 269 GP, 13 ppg 5 rpg, 1 BPG, 44% shooting

Tell me, who has been better up to this point? And if you're going to type up a dissertation about Bargnani's potential then dont waste your time. The numbers speak for themselves. Aldridge has been better up to this point. I'm sorry.

To be perfectly honest and objective though, it wouldn't matter if we had Aldridge or Bargnani on the team at this point since the rest of the supporting cast is not very good. Bargnani and Bosh are clearly our 2 best players but otherwise the team is relatively weak.

 

[rap sizzle]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Rap Sizzle

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Originally Posted by Osh Kosh Bosh

It's official.

The best power forward in the game today.

If only we had a half competent GM who could build a decent team around him.

Bosh and Bargnani can stay. DeRozan is a project and we have some good role players that aren't being paid too much. The rest of the team needs to get fixed.

I didn't know you cared so much. You claimed to have given up on this team yet you still want to see it improve. Oh and suddenly you're impressed with Bargnani? Let's see this team lose for you to rip on this team again.

I've been a Raptors fan since the day the announced the franchise was born back in 1993...which is nothing to be proud of.

I will rip this team when they win and win they lose because they are not any good. Being a 45-win team is never anything to be proud of in this league, especially when you're going to get mollywhooped in the first round of the playoffs.

I've never seen you in any Toronto threads...I doubt you're even from Toronto but just decided to support the team just because you felt like it one day but you feel obliged to replace Swirsky as this team's #1 cheerleader.

Dude is upset like I insulted his mother or something

As for Aldridge vs. Bargnani...last time I checked, Bargnani is on our roster and not Aldridge. How did you want me to phrase the sentence? "Bosh and Bargnani (Although we should've drafted Aldridge) can stay".

Player A: 270 GP, 16 ppg 7 rpg, 1 BPG, 49% shooting
Player B: 269 GP, 13 ppg 5 rpg, 1 BPG, 44% shooting

Tell me, who has been better up to this point? And if you're going to type up a dissertation about Bargnani's potential then dont waste your time. The numbers speak for themselves. Aldridge has been better up to this point. I'm sorry.

To be perfectly honest and objective though, it wouldn't matter if we had Aldridge or Bargnani on the team at this point since the rest of the supporting cast is not very good. Bargnani and Bosh are clearly our 2 best players but otherwise the team is relatively weak.

now look at who's sounding offended. No, I'm not from Toronto or even Canada for that matter. Does it matter? I've supported this team for years now and I have no reason to explain why I became a Raptors fan to a nobody. Actually, let me correct that. To somebody, who claims to be a Raptors fan since day 1 but has shown no real support for the team here in the S&T forum besides constantly complaining about the team's weaknesses and problems. Clearly we are not a contender yet but rather than celebrating or enjoying a win, you come in here to bring up even the most minute issues we had in a game. I have yet to see you even post something as simple and positive as "good win". Of course as fans we have the right to be the harshest critics of our team but you have shown no support whatsoever. You want to be a real fan? How about you rip on the team when it loses AND cheer for the win when we do win. I could care less about you rocking that Knicks sig but when you keep claiming to have lost faith in this team while continually commenting on the Raptors', it's beyond annoying. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this too.

Oh and I bet if we do get to the 2nd round of the playoffs, you'll be back in here coming up with excuses on how we somehow made it. It's one thing to be realistic but you're so far beyond pessimistic that I can't respect your claim of being a Raps "fan." I'd rather sound like an optimistic cheerleader than sound like pessimistic old man who seems to be mad at the world.

 

[carlos tevez]

You've probably never been to Toronto so you have no idea what kind of loser sports city many of us reside in.

Most of the fans here just blindly throw their support behind teams like the Leafs and Raptors and that is exactly why both teams have been failures for so many years.

The Leafs have not even come close to winning a cup in 43-years. Despite being really poor since 1993 (with the exception of the Pat Quinn years), the franchise sells out every home game every single season and usually get the highest ratings on nights when they are playing. Dont you see the problem?

When fans blindly support their favorite team, regardless of how they are performing, then ownership have absolutely no incentive to improve the product. The Leafs have increased ticket prices year after year despite being one of the worst teams in the NHL for the last 5 years and yet they sell out every night and draw nearly 1 million local viewers on tv.

Of course you are asking yourself what this has to do with the Raptors, but you probably dont know that MLSE own both the Leafs and Raptors. MLSE have managed this team horribly in the past decade. After firing Grunwald, they hired a man with very little experience to take over as the team GM for a fraction of the price what most teams were paying their GM. When they realized he was a horrible failure, they fired him and brought in a GM with more pedigree. The team has made Colangelo one of the wealthiest GMs in the NBA but he has failed to improve the overall state of the team. The best player he's brought in was a result of being fortunate enough to win the #1 overall pick in the draft lottery.

After Triano finished last season with a terrible record (a much worse WIN% than Sam Mitchell's WIN%) he was given an extension for no justifiable reason. The team has been hovering around .500 all season and have made it a habit to beat up on non-playoff teams while usually losing to real competition. The 4 teams above us in the standings have all had no problems beating the Raptors this season. As it stands right now, the Raptors would be huge underdogs in the 1st round against any #4 team.

This team is not good enough and as long as fans continue to blindly support the Leafs and Raptors then do not expect much effort on MLSE's behalf to build contending teams. Colangelo's mandate is probably just to create an entertaining team full of players the fans can relate to and maybe steal a playoff series. You look at the team he's built and any basketball fan will tell you that he is not following the blue print of building an actual NBA contender.

Optimistic cheerleaders are the reason why Toronto sports teams suck. Leafs sign/trade for a bunch of bums every year and you hear the word 'contender' getting thrown around. Colangelo has made bad decision after bad decision and you never hear any criticism of the guy because he has such a peachy relationship with the media. I have not heard one bad word uttered about Colangelo by the Toronto media where as Babcock was getting ripped all the time. What has Colangelo done for this team in the grand scheme of things? What reason is there for optimism?

This Raptors team will finish 5th and lose in the first round. I wont even say "I told you so" when it happens.

 

[brownin187]

^ you might be a ball fan from the GTA but you're no raps fun bruh be real with yourself...

 

[carlos tevez]

I was a huge Raptors fan until 2007 when they lost like b.itches to the Nets.

2008 rolled around and Colangelo did not make any changes.

We're now in 2010 and this team is not much better than it was in Colangelo's first season.

Fire this guy and give me some hope. He has 1-year remaining after this season is over. I think it'd be in Raptors fans best interest for the team to fail, Colangelo to get fired and another GM to take over.

The way BC has built this team is a joke. He inherited Bosh and Calderon, was lucky to get the #1 overall pick and draft Bargnani, and has since surrounded the team with role players that have not really worked out. The team has no cap-flexibility for years to come (assuming they resign Bosh) and will have to work out some trades if they want to change team personnel.

I was probably one of the most hardcore Raps fan on this board but I'm not going to get suckered in to this hype. This team is not good enough and does not deserve our praise.

 

[rap sizzle]

Wow did you seriously type all that thinking I had zero knowledge about Raptors basketball? I've be a Raps fan for more than a decade now so don't even bother trying to give me a history and background lesson on the team. Yes, I'm aware that MLSE have been stingy about spending money to get us the best players possible but that's something we really can't control. Back before the whole VC debacle, I joined the petition to get Richard Peddie fired. I'm not gonna even bother going into Colangelo because you clearly disagree with every move he's made. This team may not quite be a contender yet but I do believe BC is doing everything he can to improve this team. If you haven't read around he's actively looking for a deal before the trade deadline to lift us into contention.

Oh and never been to Toronto? GTFOOH with that garbage. You don't know me. I spend every summer and Christmas break in Toronto. It's my favorite city. If you seriously think the town is satisfied with mediocrity then you don't seem to watch Raptors games yourself. Are you not aware of the booing fans give players when they're not happy with the performance?

I, as well as most Raptor fans remain optimistic not because we're blinded by our support but because we see something that you're not...improvements. If you really don't think Colangelo wants a winning team, he could have easily just kept JO last year but he admitted that plan as a failure and has made some excellent moves to right the ship, and we're seeing that right now. It doesn't matter anyway. If BC magically brought in a star player (besides Bosh) to help this team, you'd end up talking about his flaws and how he's overpaid. I bet in a few years, if we don't end up being contenders, you'd be bashing the team for giving Bosh a max contract.

While I disagree with Brownin about the whole VC thing, he's right...you need to wake up and realize that you really aren't a Raptors fan.

 

[carlos tevez]

It's not hard to improve a team that has won a grand total of 1-playoff series in about 15-seasons.

Colangelo has not really improved this team. He's changed this team - many times - and they are still very mediocre.

This team does not have the complexion of an NBA title contender. You need 1 big man who can score (we have 2 that can score), and a SG/SF that can score 20+ ppg (we do not have that but DeRozan has the potential). Then you need a bunch of role players who can hustle, defend, knock down 3s, etc.

Colangelo has built a team that lacks identity. Defence has always been a problem since he's arrived, rebounding has been an issue, and this is a team that has lived and died by jump shots. He made not one, but two mistakes last season that cost the team Rasho's expiring contract, a decent player in T.J. Ford, as well as a 1st rounder going to the Pacers, a 1st rounder going to the Heat and trading away a decent role player in Jamario Moon. What the Raptors ultimately got out of those two trades was the cap room to sign Hedo (which ironically, was cap room we would've had if we just let Rasho's contract expire).

We've also committed a lot of money to a player like Hedo who is a good player but does not meet the needs of the franchise. We could've used a more hard-nosed and aggressive player at SF than a player of Hedo's profile.

This team is not good enough to compete in the East this season, next season or the next 5-seasons. Colangelo or who ever is in charge will need to make some serious changes to this team.

If you can not accept the reality that this is a 45-win team that'll lose in the 1st round of the playoffs then I suggest you click on the "Ignore" feature on the left-hand side of your screen. I'm not changing my tone any time soon.

 

[wttm]

lol carlos your pessimism on this team is getting old.
i don't like mediocrity but honestly, it's not like BC haven't been pulling moves to try to tweak the team.
you make it sound soo easy to build a contender in a couple years or so. how many legit contenders are out there really? Cavs, Lakers, Boston, Magic? Spurs, and Denver maybe? Also, it helps getting players for chump change (Gasol, KG). While I'm not thrilled with the Hedo signing, I'm happy at what we got. How many guys would've wanted to come to Canada?
Think abotu the years it took for the Hawks and Blazers to rebuild even with the luck of some ping pong balls.
Although, I'm with you on that fact this team will not be contending in the near future but i'm optimistic with the job BC is doing.

 

[clutchshooter]

1. the raps are making the playoffs.
2. no they are not advancing past the first round.
3. regardless of great gm  or not this franchise needs everything to fall into place perfectly to ever be truly successful because as much as anyone would ever deny it, being located in canada puts the team at a distinct disadvantage for countless reasons.
4. it will be a travesty if chris bosh is not First Team All NBA this season.

 

[jaysfan24]

All I have to say is.... MASK!!!!

 

[carlos tevez]

Originally Posted by wttm

lol carlos your pessimism on this team is getting old.
i don't like mediocrity but honestly, it's not like BC haven't been pulling moves to try to tweak the team.
you make it sound soo easy to build a contender in a couple years or so. how many legit contenders are out there really? Cavs, Lakers, Boston, Magic? Spurs, and Denver maybe? Also, it helps getting players for chump change (Gasol, KG). While I'm not thrilled with the Hedo signing, I'm happy at what we got. How many guys would've wanted to come to Canada?
Think abotu the years it took for the Hawks and Blazers to rebuild even with the luck of some ping pong balls.
Although, I'm with you on that fact this team will not be contending in the near future but i'm optimistic with the job BC is doing.

My point though is, this is BC's 4th year in charge and overall the team has not improved much.

1st season: #1 overall pick falls in his lap, makes some good moves in acquiring players like Parker, Garbo, Rasho, Ford, etc. Raps surprisingly make the playoffs, lose in the 1st round, but it was ultimately a successful season considering that the team won less than 30-games the season before

2nd season: Despite seeing how poorly the team played on the defensive end, Colangelo does little to fix the problem...team finishes around .500, Magic easily beat them in the 1st round. Not a successful season at all since no progress was made.

3rd season: BC brings in JO, Calderon becomes the #1 PG, little is done to address the holes at the 2 and 3 spots. Mitchell is fired after a .500 start, Triano fares much much worse. JO is then traded for Marion. Team finishes with a little more than 30-wins, very unsuccessful and disappointing season

4th season: BC completely overhauls the bench, drafts DeRozan and signs Hedo to a big-contract. Extends Triano's contract even though he finished with a winning % much worse than Mitchell's win% when Mitchell got fired. The team is comfortably above the .500 mark and will easily finish over .500 this season but appear to be stuck in the East's #5 seed where they will face ORL/BOS/ATL, 3 teams that have defeated the Raptors comfortably in recent years.

So lets say the Raptors finish the season with another 1st round exit. There will have been no progress since season 1.

Lets say the Raptors win a playoff series. We can say that this team has progressed and there is reason for optimism.

Realistically speaking though, this team will be huge underdogs against any of their first round opponents and are unlikely to win a playoff series.

If you were to tell Raptor fans before Colangelo was hired that this team would have a .500 record and no playoff series wins after 4 seasons of him in charge, how do you think the fans would respond? Assuming that the Raptors fail to make it out of the first round, you can not say that much progress has been made with Colangelo in charge.

 

[ballinboykz]

Well this thread turned for the worse

 

[swyftdahoe]

Originally Posted by Carlos Tevez

Most of the fans here just blindly throw their support behind teams like the Leafs and Raptors and that is exactly why both teams have been failures for so many years.

That's way better than living in a bandwagon city like Vancouver.. where fans hop on and off with every winning/losing streak. Faithful fans > %%#*%%*@! bandwagoners.