It's been a while since I checked in to this blog. Reason being, I figured hey, Raptors as a team have checked out, so I might as well too. This season went exactly the way most fans thought it would go, unfortunately. But hey, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs and a team in rebuilding has to go through at least one abysmal year.
The re-signing of Bryan Colangelo is a step in the right direction. Granted he made some serious errors, nobody likes a Monday morning quarterback. That being said:
I told you so:
Hedo Turkoglu - Knew he would be a bad fit from day one. Too easy going, no motivation, not exactly a defensive gem. Blew goats. Probably Colangelo's worst mistake.
Jermaine O'Neal - Almost as bad as the Hakeem Olajuwon deal. It's like Hakeem the wet dream... the sequel. Buying a car knowing the engine on it has been blown out is stupid idea. Spending tens of millions of it is moronic. Dunce cap worthy. Saw this disaster a mile away.
Jason Kapono - A real shock to everyone. At the time the team was already loaded with 3 point shooters. Why add another one who can't play a lick of defense and really had a hard time getting a shot off? I can't say i saw this as a disaster but knew this wasn't a fit in any way, shape or form.
Turned out poorly:
Andrea Bargnani - While not a titanic disaster, from an admitted fan of his. It's time to put up or shut up. Then again, maybe it has been put up or shut up time for 3 seasons now. In fairness the poor bastard has at least scored. But being half a man out there is like leaving your team on the penalty kill 100% of the time you're on the floor to use a hockey analogy. If they don't ship his ass out at draft time, Dwane Casey had better get the whip out. But to start, I hope Andrea realizes that Andrea is the only person that can fix Andrea. No point lying to yourself, your rebounding and defense suck. At some points on D, I wondered if he could fight his way out of a paper bag.
Jose Calderon - He's gotten older, slower, more injured, and worse on D. Time to call it a day Jose. In today's NBA we need a faster, more aggressive shooter.
Eggs in the basket:
Demar Derozan - He's just one more go-to-move on offense to become a solid NBA contributor. He needs to batten down the hatches on defense. He's got the speed and lateral quickness. Now he just needs to direction and know-how.
Ed Davis - Has obvious low post talents and defensive grit. Hopefully a good summer of workouts and healthy knees will see him make a big stride in improvement. He's got a ton of upside and I for one am very excited to see what he can bring to the table. He has way more upside than Amir. Amir is almost at his ceiling and Ed is similar. I see Ed eclipsing what Ed can do.
New Coach:
So the Raptors got themselves a legitimate coach? We'll see. I was expecting a drastic improvement in X's and O's when Triano took the reigns. But all we got from him was the same old tired offense trotted out there every night and almost a complete disregard for defense on the other end.
Things I like about him:
*He comes from a winning environment. Postive and forward thinking. That, i think is the most important thing. Never underestimate a change in culture to a group.
*He's known for he defense. Good, cause our team is know for it's lack of defense. Do the two things cancel each other out be make a so-so team? Cause so-so is still a huge improvement and I'd take that. Or even better, would it make a better than so-so team?
*He's not Jay Triano. God love that guy, I loved him too. He wasn't a bad coach. Just wasn't particularly good. We needed a bit more grit from him. A bit more sandpaper. A bit more accountability.
The Draft:
Who I want:
Kemba Walker - Good speed. Seems to fit into the mold of scoring PG's the league seems to covet.
Brandon Knight - A high quality elite starting capable point. An upgrade for the Raps any way you look at it with the size to match so he won't get pushed around on the other end.
Enes Kanter - Supposedly a beast on both ends.
Jonas Valanciunas - Seems be be solid defensively and on the boards. Has good size and seems a hell of a lot more athletic for a big man than Bargs.
To a lesser extent:
Jimmer Fredette - Shoots the lights out
Iman Shupert - An athletic gem. We already have Derozan though
Donatas Motiejunas - A decent consolation prize. Although he seems like a Bargnani clone. I think he has more agility and mobility. Adding a decent 7 footer isn't a horrible thing.
That's about it. I hope we end up with a PG or a bigman. We have enought SG/SF's and enough lanky 6'9''-6'10'' PF's who aren't good enough. As well as Amir did, he wouldn't be a starting PF on many of the other teams let's face it.
