A few things became apparent to me watching the Raptors the first few games. First I just want to say that this isn't a good enough sample size so I guess I will take my own comments with a grain of salt as I suggest anyone reading this should too. First thing that I noticed is that Dwane Casey is having an impact on this team and that it is clear that this team is playing with a solid defensive system and mindset in place which is in contrast to the Triano era, very refreshing and promising. Instead of watching the team make the same defensive mistakes game in and game out. I am going to throw Triano under the bus a bit because quite frankly his time as head coach sucked. That's not to say it was his fault. He wasn't put into a situation to succeed and hence he didn't. He's too nice of a guy and that's not a bad thing in life, it just isn't the best for a role which requires you to exert some authority.
Another thing that is abundantly clear is that the talent on this team, as well as the talent level that was on the team last season is absurdly low. All i hear from people is that Bayless is good he just needs a chance, James Johnson is good he just needs a chance, Linas Kleiza's gonna be amazing you just wait till he gets back. But the sad truth is you wouldn't find any of these players on contending teams. Otherwise, somebody good would have given enough of a hoot to sign them in the first place. Instead the Raps are scrounging the bottom of the barrel for talent and maybe that's a good thing. For once they got a season with low enough expectations to justify it. Which brings the question of, what the heck were they trying to do last season to mind?
Bayless is a ball hog. He's got a decent shot but more often then not, he looks past better plays and options on the court to get his own shot up regardless of whether or not it's the best choice. Hey, it's easy for me to sit back and play Monday morning quarterback but I'm just telling you what I see. The guy cannot run a team, he cannot run an offense. That's been the knock on him his whole career and it doesn't look like he's interested in changing that aspect of his game. He's a score first kind of player and has limited court vision. Actually I am not sure he has limited court vision or he just doesn't give a crap. I really can't tell.
As for Calderon, I've ragged on this guy in the past non stop and I am sure a lot of others have too about his defense. But the truth is, as bad as the guy is on defense he's still our best point guard. Bar-none. End of discussion. Show me another guy on this team capable of running this team's offense at his level. There was a guy who did it but they traded his ass to the Hornets for a sack of potatoes. And by a sack of potatoes i mean Bayless who can't play well enough not to trip over himself, Predrag Stojakovic, (yes that's his REAL name) a guy who they kept on the bench for no reason then released him so that he could help Dallas win a championship. *cough cough Alonzo Mourning. At least they didn't gift him millions of dollars for it.
As for Demar Derozan he's shown me he's learned nothing this summer other than missing the 3 point shot more often then he used to. He still hogs the ball, drives to the lane and more often than not loses the ball on a strip, reach in or generally stupid turnover. Why do people like him? Cause he's got potential to be more. True it is early and chances are he'll play better but compared with the expectations I had for this guy coming into this league. His first step isn't that explosive. His defense is suspect at best. If it weren't for the giant Italian guy on the team that plays bad defense, Demar's defense would be a lot more apparent to people. His lateral movement is garbage for the type of athlete he is. Which is probably why his drives to the basket look more like a running back trying to push his way through. Sorry Demar, wrong sport. A good example of how it should be done is right in front of him every day in Barbosa. He's got blisteringly fast drives, amazing lateral quicks to get around people and a fantastic shot in the air. Why that guy doesn't start is beyond me. I guess they gotta try to give Demar more PT.
Leandro Barbosa is probably the only guy on the team who's a legitimate proven NBA player and the only guy on the team who someone outside of Ontario has heard of and actually seen play an important NBA game. He's got great cuts to the basket, puts pressure on the other team's defense and passes out of plays to create space for the rest of the bums he calls teammates.
Which brings me to Andrea Bargnani. Har Har. Everyone's favourite whipping boy. Yes everyone hates him because he should have more rebounds, and be a better player cause he's been drafted #1. But everyone really should back off on this guy. Look at the draft history of the Raptors and you might appreciate him more even though he was #1 in a weak draft class. Michael Bradley, Alex Radojevic, Joey Graham, Chris Jefferies, Rafael Arjauo, need I go on? Or is it too painful? What I'm trying to say is that it could be worse... much much worse. We also could have ended up with a guy who's got bummed knees and is out of the league already. Is he great? No. Is he good? I don't know about that either. But I wonder if Raptor fans can ever realize the poor guy is the best player we have. Yes his defense and rebounding blow but we didn't draft him for that, we drafted him knowing he can shoot the ball and score and he does that. He's the only player on the team that averaged 20 points a game last season and the only player on any given night that can give you that even though he could give you 30 one night and 9 the next.
Yup he sucks, but he's the best we got and what's that say about the rest of the team? Overhaul? We need like 5 trades to get our team to a skill level to even consider it a start of a rebuild. What happened to our talent? Oh it was squandered in guys who either sucked once we signed them, or took the first or second bus out of town. The only way this team is going to succeed is by drafting well and stopping the signings of has- beens and wannabes like Hakeem, and Hidiot Turkoglu. I often wonder what would have happened to that team back when they got Hakeem if they didn't blow the money on him and signed a half decent player. That was in my mind the pin to the grenade that blew up the Carter/Antonio Davis era just as the Turk's signing was the pin to the grenade that blew up the Bosh era. Which I guess is debatable but arguable. Only Chris Bosh knows the answer to that.
So what are the Toronto Raptors?
C- Amir Johnson - a hustle guy who wouldn't be starting for probably 25 of the other teams in the league
PF- Andrea Bargnani - sadly the best player on the team
SF- we don't have a real NBA starter
SG- Demar who is almost an NBA player and we have a real NBA starter but he's coming off the bench
PG- Jose Calderon who would be a fantastic backup on a semi contending team
bench:
Barbosa
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
insert bum's name here
I can't wait to see next years draft. Don't tank you say? Why not? Cleveland did it last year and they got the #1 pick. See anyone in Cleveland complaining about their season last year? You're not gonna say, ok let's lose these games. But it seems like Colangelo has created an enviroment which won't let his team succeed in any real terms but at the same time has enough of a foundation in Dwane Casey to point the club forward. Whatever detours that derail this along the way I am interested in seeing.
