And away we go...

And away we go...

So far most of the things I have mentioned in the last post has come to fruition. The only things that have come of note is that Amir is having more of an impact then I anticipated. I don't know why, but Amir always seems to surprise me when he plays well and I guess it really shouldn't anymore. Derozan is not playing up to his potential. We have no real small forward on the team. Our bench consists of a mish mash of garbage players that other teams would avoid and tip toe around like dog doo doo.

The biggest story so far for this team is of course the play of Andrea Bargnani, who seems to have woken from some sort of 5 year long daze and seems to be a more complete player on both ends of the floor than previous incarnations of AB7. Wanna see how well he is actually doing?

He's on the front F'n page of ESPN beside Kobe Bryant for frig sakes. He's been linked to trades to LA and he's in the top 10 in scoring for the league. He's got a great PER which you can see him put together most games. He's actually putting in an effort on the boards. Still not rebounding as much as he should but the difference is noticeable and I'll take that compared to what he used to give us on the boards any day of the week. He seems more aware of his position on the court, opponents positions on the court and he's making defensive plays that a normal starting center in the NBA will make. Like once in a while actually trying to swipe the ball away from an opponent and getting his hands into passing lanes.

He seems to create a lot more contact now and that's earning him and his team more trips to the line. He's coming off a high pick and roll with Jose which Jose has the option of curling and pulling up for a jumper or slip the pass to Drea. Andrea then has the option to shoot, pump fake to draw the foul (which he does amazingly well and should get more credit for), or pump fake and drive where he has been having a lot of success hitting or drawing the foul. This is the Raptor's bread and butter play. That or they have Andrea come across the weak side of the court under the basket and iso for a post-up play. Nice and simple.None of this convoluted crap that they used to run in previous season.

Demar Derozan, Rasual Butler: We suck! Add James Johnson to that mix too. These guys shouldn't be allowed to shoot when they're on the floor. At least James J and Butler provide some decent D when they're on the floor but I think the Raptor's fanbase collectively clinch their sphincters and cringe in unison every time one of these jackasses have jacked up a shot in the past few games. Sure they might have a good game here or there between the four of them. But every blind squirrel eventually finds a nut if he sniffs around the ground long enough. 

As far as the next few weeks, I'd like to see the Raptors continue doing what they're doing. Winning a few here and there, losing the majority and continue to have Drea develop and score. Hopefully by the Allstar game we'll have a new allstar on this team and also have BC pull off some half decent trades.

Breaking down the 3 stars of the team:

Amir Johnson: Defensive sound and responsible. Plays with high energy, and intensity but at the same time he plays under control and knows his limits. The work he's put in off the court regarding adding strength and working on that 15-18 foot jump shot. Teams are more then happy to let him try that shot judging by past history so it's a great opportunity for Amir to oblige. He's also always got the one-two punch combo with Jose where Jose seems to be able to pass the ball to him as he's moving up the gut of the paint. Amir uses his long arms to catch the pass and while keeping it up in the air, he deposits it for an easy 2 points. This play has been seen time and again and is very effective.

Jose Calderon: He's playing injury free and seems to be having a second wind in his career. Maybe the poor defense really was due more to his injuries that seemed to have restricted his lateral movement. He's not point guard stopper but maybe it's more his success running the team on the other end that have made me overlook his defensive deficiencies. He's running out of gas during games as he, like Andrea, have been playing a ton of minutes to make up for the lack of talent on the rest of the roster. But when he's fresh he's running the pick and roll like a champ, putting pressure of the other team's d, and just causing mass confusion for opponents while averaging nearly double digits in assists. This is the best he's played in years and I am really enjoying watching it despite the recent losses.

Andrea Bargnani: Fueled by Primo pasta and sauce. This pasty pasta peddler is finally putting it all together and showing us where all that potential they talked about on the 2006 draft night is coming from. He has always done most of these sorts of things like driving, posting up, shooting well. But only recently have we seen him put it together game after game. He looks comfortable on the floor. Some might be attributed to him not being fluent in English the past years. I mean how are you going to communicate on the court if you literally don't understand what your teammates are saying. Some of it also seems like a light has click on in his brain and he realizes what he can to do to a lot of the slower power forwards and centers in the league. I want to see him drive more and post up more and shoot that 3 pointer less than 4 times in a game. Keep on keepin' on.

Raptors through 3 games

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. 

The Draft Shmaft and things of that nature

As I was sitting there watching the draft in a restaurant in Maui, I said to myself, "Wow!! We got him!! We got Walker or Knight!! It's all over, suck it! But...

With the 5th pick in the NBA draft, The Toronto Raptors select: JONAS VALANCIUNAS

Along with the rest of the fan base of the Toronto Raptors, our jaws collectively dropped in unison. No friggin way! As I have said before, Jonas was one of the picks I thought would be a good choice. But not in a situation like this. Not with 2 players we clearly coveted more, that would fill a much bigger need were still available.

But hold the frickin phone here. Walker and Knight get passed up again, and again. Is there something about these players that us, as mere fans don't know about? Is Jonas Valanciunas the next coming of the Raptor saviour?

The term "european and soft" gets tossed around the digital social scene like cheap candy out of a pinata. To be honest, not too many people know much about Valanciunas. To add fuel to the fire, the guy couldn't play in the NBA next season either due to contract issues with his pro team in europe. So the chance for instant gratification is null. I was hesitant to warm up to the move at first but several things got me excited.

-First being the rumour that San Antonio was willing to trade up to get him. With San Antonio being such a prestigious franchise the last two decades, they to some are considered an expert in the evaluation of draft talent. On the flip side of this coin, that doesn't mean that much to me. I mean, it does and it doesn't. Just cause the Spurs wanted him doesn't automatically make him a must have player.

-Cleveland who was picking fourth chose to pass on him due to his contract issues. So basically he would have went fourth had he have been free to go where he pleased. On one side reaffirming his status as a clearer choice by another NBA team in terms of talent level over the likes of Knight and Walker. So you have the Cavs, Raptors, and the Spurs giving evidence that they would have taken him here before those two guards. On the other side of the coin, it's again just a rumour. How do we know this for sure? And this isn't something we can take to the bank.

-Like i mentioned before, the Wizards and the Bobcats pass on Knight and Walker. With that being said, I don't exactly trust what a team run by Michael Jordon thinks, or a team that used to be run by him. But again, it reaffirms the idea that Jonas is rated higher then the two guards by NBA teams at the time of draft.

-Jonas plays in the U19 tourney and not only does Lithuania win the whole damn thing but Jonas dominates, gets tournament MVP honours and puts up impressive numbers like 23ppg, and 14rbpg. Ok, so in action the guy does NOT seem like a stiff at all. He's agile, gets into dirty areas, defends well and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Awesome. The guy is only 18 years old. So perhaps it is a good thing he spends another season in Europe. There's going to be an NBA lockout anyway. So maybe this pick by Colangelo is pure genius afterall.

Gun to my head, I think the Raptors might have gotten the steal of the draft. In 2 years time we could be talking about a star on the team. Someone who will play well, give the Raps what they need on both ends, and make is fellow european, Bargnani, look a little better.

Random Thoughts Pre-Draft

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.

A valiant effort by the Raptors in England

The Raptors gave a good effort overseas today against the Nets but they did the right thing and I am really enjoying this season despite the record. I know they're not winning much but the way they're losing, and the upside and the direction this club is going is positive.

As I haven't blogged in a while I want to preface this blog by saying that I have taken a step back and tried to watch this season in backseat in terms of my mental involvement and emotional dedication. Whereas in previous seasons I would get really involved and get really high on wins and low on losses.

As I said at the beginning of the season, I predict this team to be lucky if they get 20 wins. So far my prediction has been solid. However, what I have been pleasantly surprised with is the potential that some players have shown. The growth in their skills, games, and numbers has all be positive. This team is a player or two away from taking a step forward. By that I mean that they are a piece or two away from becoming a playoff team. So lose now, lose well, lose encouragingly. Fans don't mind... in fact it's what some Leaf fans in this city kind of wishes the Leafs did the past few seasons barring the idiotic shedding of their first rounders.

Bargnani is progressing well. He's got a few go-to moves and seems more comfortable on both ends of the floor. That being said, he still sucks defensively obviously but I think if he puts up the scoring he usually does, I can live with that and can accept the fact that they needs someone in the frontcourt to make up for his defensive and rebounding inefficiencies.

Demar Derozan is also growing. In fact by leaps and bounds during the course of this season. All those hours he puts in at the gym seem to be showing up in the form of numbers. His shot has improved but it could still use more consistency. He has a very good tendency to drive which is what this team needs. I wish he would add more post moves to his game to compliment his other attributes on the offensive end.

Ed Davis has shown that he has the obvious natural instincts and attributes required to being a successful power forward in this league. Defensively, he's light years more athletic and mature than Bargnani. Offensively, he has a decent shot, and nice post moves. I'm just salivating at the idea of him adding some strength and starting to impose his will more on stronger players. He just seems to have the natural savvy and feel.

James Johnson and Bayless are works in progress. They were nice pickups but so far despite showing flashes of obvious talent, have not impressed me to the point where I would say they were sure-fire shots at being part of the backbone of this team going forward.  I like James better as a player. He seems a bit more like a dog that's been kept on a chain too long whereas Bayless seems to be limited to his effectiveness depending on how and when he enters the game. In fairness though, point guard is the more difficult position to play in the NBA.

This new era of Big Threes will not be good news for the Raptors in their situation being seen as a less than desireable location in the minds of top American talent. But they're doing it the right way. In Bryan Colangelo I trust. Sign that guy now. I don't want another Rob Babcock situation here.

All hail King Bargnani... errr maybe

I wanna talk a bit about the last 2 games from the Raptors season thus far. The first was against the Sacramento Kings and despite being up by as much as 16 pts. the Raps succumbed to their house of cards defense. The second game was against the Jazz where they were getting demolished for most of the game, came back strong only to run out of gas. This was the second game of their first west coast trip so I didn't expect much. Like I said before, I'll be satisfied if this team has a good showing and their guys start developing. Sure we're not winning and it's may seem stupid to argue otherwise but we're in a situation where, like it or not we're a rebuilding team so high draft picks and developing stars is perfect for the situation.

Several obvious points to talk about in this games were:

1. Andrea continuing to score
2. Reggie Evans continuing to be a beast on the boards
3. Demar continuing to be aggressive
4. Point Guards struggling

1. Andrea seems to be scoring very efficiently and with consistency now. Something we haven't seen from him in previous seasons. I know it's early still but he doesn't just ring off 3 straight 20+ performances all the time. He seems very comfortable out there on both end of the floor. He's not rebounding as much but I think we can all safely say that it's because a certain teammates been inhaling them all. He doesn't seem lost in the post, he seems to have decided what move he's making before he moves for the most part. His shot is on and he seems confident, very confident. I think he's taking this new role of The Man seriously and I think he may be getting a boost from the encouragement he's getting from Reggie. Of course I am only speculating but Reggie seems to be openly encouraging him on the floor and obviously from comments he's made to the media.

Teams seem to be respecting his shot and as usual the slower centers in the league, (so far) can't keep up with his pump fakes and leave him enough room due to the respect for his driving ability. He's cut out those horrible layup attempts where he usually, easily gets blocked right at the rim. He's showing a lot of arc on his shot which i noticed is a nice change from last season. He's got 2 moves that seem to be his favorites. First he has finally perfected a standard post up where he pushes his man in then turns towards the paint, (while protecting the ball) and either shoots over the top or tries a little hook. The main thing here that's new is that he's not getting it stripped from him cause he's going in strong and protecting the ball. He seems to be finding isolation and space on the floor a lot better.

Defensively he's still decent on a man to man basis. He seems slightly improved on the help defense situations but I'm not sure if he's not just being masked by Reggie's rebounding. Their next game against the Lakers will be a true test and I think Bargs is going to see double teams like crazy. He's scored 20 or more in 4 straight and I got a bad feeling that the streak comes to an end at the Staples Center.

2. Reggie is a beast. Imagine if he was healthy all of last season what kinds of performances he could have had. He ran out of gas against the Jazz but I think everyone was expecting he to tire out sooner rather than later. Could have done without him taunting the Kings but hey, if you got it flaunt it a bit. It sucks that he got them going but at the same time I don't 100% prescribe to always being a clean cut, quiet and reserve goody goody. He's going at it on both ends like a rabid dog on pork chop. Beating taller guys to the ball, knocking into other guys to get the ball, stealing boards right out of the hands of his own teammates. I say, if he gets his hands on it without fouling people then who cares. That's exactly the type of hustle that this team needs and that you wish was instilled at least a bit, into every player on the roster.

3. Demar's trying hard. He's gotten stronger, braver, and he's been working on his lane driving game. Our team was in need of a wing that isn't afraid to drive through the lane and get fouled or get points at the rim. Earlier he seemed to be overly aggressive and driving himself into double teams, triple teams and just situations where he ends up turning the ball over or getting an offensive foul. The last 2 games he been more methodical and has been very successful. He's also hitting more of his free throws which seems to be a team wide epidemic. He's shown that he's developing the skills needed to become a top tier wing man. He needs to hit his shots from the outside and mid range more consistently but his willingness to stick his nose in is a real positive change and I've really enjoyed watching it.

4. About the only negative besides the actual losses themselves, has been what's lacking at the point guard position. Where's the steady points? Where's the assists? I don't expect this to keep happening. I fully expect either Jose or Jarrett or both to come out of this and elevate their game. They might not be considered #1 PG's by most people but they ARE considered good, and highly capable. At times, they've both obviously shown they can be dangerous. This will not continue, I guaran-damn-tee it.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is the play of Linas, Leandro, and Sonny. All three have shown glimpses but all three have been inconsistent. There's nothing wrong with this. Linas and Leandro are both new and Sonny has much higher expectations than he's ever had in his short NBA career. They'll come around. Linas' consistency reminds me of Bargnani's from past seasons. I'm confident he'll bounce back. Leandro's been slowed by his wrist.

Amir... big disappointment so far. I am not sure he can play well enough to justify his pay cheque but so far he hasn't played well enough to justify Roko Ukic's pay cheque. I think he's a good bench player and paying his like a starter has been a mistake. It's not his fault. Someone gives you a zillion dollars, what would you do? Tell them no? Hellz no. It's Bryan's fault. I've been a supporter of him in the past and I still am but this particular signing I DO NOT agree with.

Other tidbits:

• Triano's F-bomb was a slip obviously. But it doesn't stop me from giggling every time I watch it
•  Marcus Banks is suddenly looking very good at least contract wise compared to Amir
• I'm still excited to see what Ed Davis can do. Very stoopid move playing a pick up game but he's got a lot of upside and an up and coming team thrives on its first round picks. We're building on Demar, Andrea being our future. Davis could be a big part of that future.
• BTW... like i said in the past, this Bargnani contract is looking better and better isn't it?

2 games in... pretty impressed and surprised.

So we're two games in this season and so far we've seen a good defensive effort against the Knicks and a dismantling of the Cavs who just took out the Fake Thugs. The Knicks probably could have been beaten if the Raps could have coupled their good defense with decent shooting.

Andrea Bargnani's performance so far has given me reason to believe that he can do a decent job as one of the Raptor's main offensive weapons. Let's hope he can stay consistent. His rebounding has been par for the course which is sub par but with an animal on the team named Reggie, how can one get a board? Barg's post up has improved slightly but I think his go-to move should be just his turn around jump shot. If it works and ain't broke, don't fix it.

Reggie is an absolute beast but we knew that before. Only now he's getting solid minutes and has partaken in a full training camp and stayed healthy. I wonder how long he can keep this up. With the amount of energy it looks like it takes for him to run on his break neck pace, he might be shaving years off his life!! He's stealing rebounds from his own teammates but who cares? As long as he rips them down it doesn't matter.

Amir's proven to be the worst signing in recent Raptor history. It's two games in so I'm not really concerned but so far he hasn't done anything but fuel his own critics. Jose's play has been pretty much the same low level. What happened to the Spanish Fly we were used to seeing when the Raps won the Atlantic title? It's MIA just like his shot. If you're a liability on defense at least knock down some of your shots. Again, it's just been 2 games but so far he's been a useless turd.

The Young Gunz so far seem just like Youngsters. Demar seems a bit too aggressive but seeing as how the knock on him last year was he wasn't aggressive enough I am more then happy to let that slide. Sonny at the same time is doing the same thing. Overly aggressive but I am gonna predict that Sonny and Demar will get their game together and start to cruise. I expect Demar to average 15ppg and Sonny at least 12ppg.

Linas Kleiza and The Brazilian Blur have been as good as advertised. Let's hope all this adds up to a few more wins. But honestly to me, if they put in a good effort I don't mind them losing this season.... especially since I am praying for a high draft pick. YOINK!!