Toronto Raptors - We can't be pathetic forever, can we?

[Bklyn]

Eff Psycho T.

I do enjoy the Raptors success dumbfounding both Yoss and Sotola. Their silence has been riotous.

[hedge]

I can understand most NBA fans hating Hansbrow. He wasn't especially beloved by many college hoops fans outside Carolina fans. But I'm sure glad we had him. Great four years as a Tar Heel fan when he was there...

[Jungle Rat]

Nobody cares, dickweed.

[hedge]

You are the Tyler Hansbrow of the internet...

[Bklyn]

Looks like Pied Piper of Crazy has competition.

I don't know why I don't like Hansbrough...besides his face. I don't know what it is, but it annoys me and has for ages.

[hedge]

I would probably hate him too if he hadn't gone to Carolina. But even besides the 4 year run we had while he was there, which would put him on any alltime fan favorite list for any school that had a similar run in which he was one of the key players, I have a soft spot for him in my heart due to his well-known dislike for Dook, to say nothing of his 4-0 record in Cameron (6-2 overall, IIRC)...

[Bklyn]

Don't give me reasons to like him, please.

[hedge]

He is far from one my favorite Carolina player ever, although I know he is in that group for many other Carolina fans. But it's impossible (as a Carolina fan) not to appreciate his contributions to the team and the program. Just imagine if he had gone to UK and stayed 4 years and got player of the year, beat Florida at their place 4 years in a row and brought home an NC. Those racist hilljacks would've probably put up a bronze statue of him outside Rupp...

[hedge]

It's hard for me to imagine liking, say, Christian Laettner under any circumstances, but that's probably mostly due to the fact that he played for Dook and had such a great run there. But I can't help but think (hard as this is to imagine) that if he had played at Carolina and had a similar run, I would remember him very fondly as one of our great players during a great run. But of course, I hate his ass face, and I can imagine that's pretty much how most fans outside Carolina fans feel about Hansbrow. I can't blame them...

[sotola]

raptors success and bklyn -

absolutely i am surprised BUT not completely. I ALWAYS said Rudy Gay was the worst trade this team ever made. Uriji turned a lemon into lemonade. I also said that if you were embracing tank mode, you needed to trade Lowry immediately or NOT at all. They tried to trade him immediately and failed... and then stayed the course.

With Lowry, the team would have never competed for a top 5 position. Without him, they probably still wouldn't have because Ross, DeMar, and Val played exceptional after Gay's departure, and the bench was ridiculously surprising. I thought Patterson was a nice add but that guy can play way better than I gave him credit for.

It was(is) a nice year. Ross is going to be real special once he gets it. Defensively he can stop nearly anyone one on one. Now he just needs to learn how to play off the ball so that he doesn't always end up fighting over screens and coming from behind. Just glad that he met his ceiling of a top 8 player in a rotation..... geesh, i thought that comment would take at least a couple years to look stupid.... apparently not.

as for Hansborough - he has been what i expected. and frankly maybe a little better..... he hasn't been a goon and made me cringe when he almost ends someone's career. he plays sporadically but sometimes adds something to the team. i didn't expect much so I think he delivered.

[Jungle Rat]

Nice to see Casey getting another 3 years to right the ship.

[yossarian1234]

Haven't posted since there was little activity here so I just vent now and then on RealGM.

This team fell ass backwards into short-term playoffs success in a weak East but it does nothing for their long-term future cause now it's much harder to add any major talent that they desperately need. As it is, this team peaks as a second round treadmill team, the next Atlanta Hawks. And even that success is directly tied to fate of Kyle Lowry, whether we can keep him at reasonable contract and whether he can reasonably sustain the unbelievable success he had where everything clicked for him just at the right time during contract year. I have doubts on both of those things. Both of key acquisitions, Patterson and Vasquez, from Gay trade are also up for free agency. So it's going to take everything we have just to remain status quo let alone move up.

Masai made his intentions clear when he almost traded Lowry and he failed. No ifs and buts. I don't like how that fact is conveniently pushed aside while MLSE milks this short, meaningless playoffs run for all it's worth. IMO had Lowry been traded in a timely manner, it wouldn't have taken this team a whole lot to tank for top 5 since he was the guy that made things happen for this team. Also don't like that they resigned Casey...

As for Ross, he's progressed faster than I thought he would but so has Drummond and it doesn't raise his ceiling much higher especially after his pathetic playoff showing. Still a role player who's now forced to play out of position. I'd rather have him short-term under rookie contract and try to milk every ounce of potential out from him than rush to find some mediocre replacement at SF to add to the list of the team's SF failures. But he's not a long-term solution there as we'll get abused again and again by bigger players at the position.

[hedge]

You still have Hansbrow, so the future is bright...

[yossarian1234]

That was absolutely the most botched draft ever in Raptors history. And this is supposed to be this guy's specialty.

It's like Ujiri just hit the panic button after Ennis got drafted by the Suns and just gave up after reaching to pick his guy. Didn't even try with #37 and #59.

[T Dot O Dot]

Someone put it out there that the Spurs weren't going to pass him if he was still on the board.... could just be BS to cover up for what appears to be a huge reach

It's the 20th pick so I'm not melting down like the rest of the fanbase

what's the kid's name again?

gotta say though, drafting kids who are "2 years away from being 2 years away" is not a good look

[hedge]

Don't panic, you still have Hansbrow. He'll take you to the promised land...

[sotola]

ok, so has Masai ever shown that he doesn't know how to judge talent? He pulled off a heist in the Sacramento trade and he made possibly the best deal of a disgruntled superstar that has been made. I personally am going to trust him because he stated that HE personally went down to see him 3 times. He is accepting responsibility for the decision and having the balls to go out on a limb.

and i am with dot... did everyone think we were getting a bonafide all star at #20? I would rather gamble on a young kid that has been described as freakishly athletic than players that are described as average or having glaring deficiencies in their game. You can coach a player that wants to be coached. You can't coach a kid to be freakishly athletic.

If the Spurs rumour was true, would you not want to make sure you got the guy you wanted?.... the Spurs have found FUCKING GEMS at the bottom half of the draft. If I am Masai and know that they are interested.... i roll the dice if he truly was their 2nd option after Ennis based on future upside.

I think it's funny when people that watch tv or read other expert commentors continue to act like they know the game against the guys that spend FAR MORE time evaluating every aspect of every player in the league and abroad. The dudes in the front office know FAR MORE than the average fan. and Masai has a proven track record of finding talent.... no one on these boards has ever done anything remotely close to him.

I bet Masai ends out looking like a genius in the future. He can stash this kid on some Euro roster (similar to Val's situation although he was already under contract) while he develops and learns. My guess is they try and loan him to a team with a bonafide coach like the Italian guy - Ettore Messina - to help teach him the game.

as for me, wasn't too excited about the draft at all except for the possibility of getting Ennis.... it would have been nice to have a Canadian on the roster that could contribute (unlike Magloire). no one that was left at 20 was the least big intriguing for me relative to our roster. if Masai says this kid has the highest upside of anyone that was left.... who am i to argue? i know there wasn't any sure fire can't miss guys left when we stepped to the podium.... that i know

[sotola]

and oh yeah, assuming the roster is back, largely in tact without John Salmons.... there was NO ONE left at #20 that would see any court time in Toronto next year barring massive injuries. If someone isn't going to play next year, then drafting someone that might not play for 3 years isn't really much of a risk.

[yossarian1234]

Love that someone who vowed to never respond to my posts still can't help take an indirect pot shot. Talks a big talk about Ujiri stashing this guy in Europe and all except he came right out IMMEDIATELY and said Caboclo is coming over this upcoming season as he doesn't feel they'd develop him the way they should in Europe.

Raptors are doing all kinds of PR fluff BS on this Brazilian kid to calm the fans down. I'm not even as mad as there's a small part of me that still wants everything to work out for the Raptors and for this guy to be the next Nic Batum/Greek Freak for us but reading them is almost as funny as their midseason propaganda pieces on Vince Carter that was probably aimed at gauging fan interest and even possibly getting enough young naive fans with short memory excited about the prospect.

I do like the trade they made with Hawks so that softens the blow a bit. I thought they could've easily used Salmons to buy a pick to get Caboclo if they were so concerned about him not being available by #37 but they still get an interesting prospect in Nogueira, who was #16 last year. A fellow Brazilian Caboclo can interact with in his rookie season, assuming they can bring him over from Europe. I guess this is the rim protection that Ujiri has talked about. I wanted Clint Capela after Ennis so this is comparable, with only concern being his knees (heard he had tendinitis last year?). If they already had this in the works and it's why Raptors didn't buy a latter pick to get Caboclo (they were rumored to get Prince and #22 from Mem for Salmons and #37) then I can accept that.

My thing was that in a deep draft like this one, even with #20, you can get a guy that may not necessarily play right away to start but has enough to contribute positively when given a chance due to injury and whatnot with enough promise for the future. I thought Capela could've been that guy. Instead they get a guy who looks years away that you could've got later. I know they said that there was talk he'd still be picked up by other teams in first round but I'm skeptical how much of this is true although I can believe Ujiri certainly thought this was true. After Ennis was gone, it probably wouldn't have taken much to convince Ujiri that this is true no matter whether it actually was or not. But again, I can live with Lou Williams and Nogueira.

[sotola]

i wasn't talking to you at all.... I read the first line of your post.... go back into your hole. I trust in Masai.... he knows the game