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

[sotola]

I will give ya credit on being right for one time... he does sort of look like Reggie.

As for going out on a limb and saying the comparison is ridiculous... all comparisons are ridiculous because they are based on "potential" and Reggie, who went undrafted, but was honorable Mention All-American in 2001 after his 2nd year, exceeded what EVERYONE believed (hence not being drafted) because he was undersized but had a huge heart. If he was to even come CLOSE to Reggie, it would be a HUGE accomplishment because he is actually starting with less relative to Reggie's college career. The comparison is based on work ethic and desire. Outcomes or results don't always follow.

re - Intriguing prospect.

Code for "I have no justification whatsoever for stating it except I picked his name out of a hat to be a guy that will be something out of the 2nd round". Everyone not drafted in the lottery is an intriguing prospect to someone. $1.45 and the intriguing prospect moniker can get you a cup of coffee.

ANYBODY that has ever played organized sports, or coached them, at a competitive level, will tell you the importance of bench players. They won't show up on the stat sheets but they can make practices (for non pros) and life (for pros), a pain in the butt. They become divisive from a chemistry standpoint. If you don't think that's important, then so be it.... but I can guarantee most guys that have had those types of teammates or players will tell ya that they would rather have an Acy than an ahole since everyone already has one of the latter.

I personally expect NOTHING from a 2nd rounder so could care less what happens with him. I only liked Jae Crowder who slipped but it's for much the same reason I liked the gamble on Acy... attitude. 6'10" forwards who average 4.9 rebounds a game, seem a dime a dozen. add in the torn ACL and I see much ado about nothing.... AGAIN.

[yossarian1234]

Let me guess, you are gonna go on a tirade about your all-great coaching pedigree now, aren't you? Routine getting a little tiresome, don't you think?

Look, chemistry, work ethic, cheerleading, or whatever you wanna call it is all well and good. But the draft is the wrong place to look for those qualities. There's plenty of other places to look and plenty of other players available that will have more impact than a 2nd round rookie although you've conveniently chosen to ignore this statement numerous times trying to put words in my mouth and argue against something that I've never even said. Meanwhile for a team like us, the ways to get talent is limited, draft is one of the few places where we can get it and sometimes you take that gamble. We are not talking about some known locker room cancer. Rather, this guy was at one time considered one of the top prospects in country just a year ago and he plays a position of need, a position that's long alluded us despite spending 100+ M trying to get someone that might fit. Kaponon, Turkoglu, Kleiza, and now Fields. Need I say more? Instead of blowing more FA moeny, where we are forced to grossly overpay, why not take a chance with little risk and high reward and finally develop someone from within? Even with his injury history, if he doesn't turn into something useful, you simply cut him, no loss.

2nd rounders rarely turn into anything but there are exceptions and a team like us needs to do everything it can to find one IMO and not waste it on someone who's gonna get buried on the bench and be out of the league in a couple of years. I mean if we were shorthanded at 4, then maybe Quincy Acy can help, but seriously that's one of our strengths and the deepest position on the roster. If you think going for the home run with the likes of Drummond with first round pick is too much gamble, then fine, but really no excuse not to do it with a 2nd round pick if an opportunity presents itself.

[sotola]

Lol...so 2nd rounders rarely become anything but we should not waste the pick on someone who will be out of the league in a couple years.

Ding, ding, ding.....that's the vast majority of 2nd rounders Einstein.

But because YOU like a 4.9 per game rebounder with a bumb knee, colangelo messed up...lol.

As for chemistry, has nothing to do with me as a coach, has everything to do with being on a ton of teams where I wished the lesser players had better attitudes.....except I had to wait for them to quit or next season when they didn't make the team again. They are a royal pain in the butt and distract teams.

[yossarian1234]

DeRozan about to sign for 4 years $40 M.

Too high in comaprison to what Curry and Lawson got and his own value. I think it's still better than having him play it out in his contract year then have some team go after him with some crazy deal where we are either forced to match or let him walk for nothing but just barely. Would've definitely preferred $8 M per year or less.

[T Dot O Dot]

Curry's ankle snaps everytime a breeze blows thru the bay area, if he stays healthy he would have got close to the max

Lawson is better than DeMar but I think he is closer approaching his ceiling while DeMar still has some more upside.

My feeling is this, if DeMar were someone else's free agent we would have to overpay WAY more than this to get him.

free agency has proven less than fruitful. Trades & extensions are our best tools. That same $10 mill won't get us this much traction on the open market.

Hopefully in 2 years we'll be calling this deal a bargain.

[Simitar]

It makes Harden's deal look like an absolute bargain.

Zach Harper:

That is a lot of money for a guy who hasn't really measured out statistically in his brief career. DeRozan was a high-volume scorer last season, pouring in 16.7 points per game on 14.3 shot attempts per contest. He shot just 42.2 percent from the field and just 26.1 percent from 3-point range.

And he doesn't really help you out much anywhere else.

He's a bad rebounder for his position, not known as a defender, and was 80th among guards in assist percentage. Pick any advanced statistic you want to analyze him, and it doesn't look good. He had a 12.4 PER, a 50.3 percent true shooting percentage, and his Win Shares/48 minutes registered at .056.

He's come into the preseason in the "best shape of his life," and apparently the Raptors believe his skill set will catch up to his athleticism because of it.

The Raptors are now paying out roughly $18 million over the next three years for Landry Fields and DeRozan $40 million over the next four years. And they just took Terrence Ross, a shooting guard from Washington, in the top 10 in the NBA draft. They're stockpiling shooting guards like the Orlando Magic are stockpiling lottery-protected first-round picks.

DeRozan is only 23 years old and may play into his contract, but at the moment it seems to be a hefty price tag for a guy who hasn't helped lead Toronto to many wins.

[Simitar]

My favorite player from last year's draft having a nice debut.

12 points, 10 rebounds and a block in 16 minutes so far....

[T Dot O Dot]

were staying with Indy with defense and hard play, if Bargnani & compaby could hit some perimeter we could have blown this open

[T Dot O Dot]

ed davis winning the tarheel matchup against psycho-T on 3 straight possessions

[Simitar]

Lowry having a hell of a game. 15 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals.

[T Dot O Dot]

and its all from steals, hustle plays & layups

a couple jumpshots fall and we can close this out

Indy definitely has a run in them

[yossarian1234]

A lot of encouraging stuff in today's game but the 4th quarter leaves a real bad taste in my mouth.

I think we started losing it around 9min mark in 4th when Casey refused to call timeout when John Lucas and Calderon were starting to lose their minds. At least I think it was them, a lot of sloppy plays that went unchecked. Then of course, you get some shitty officiating, West going off, putting Bargnani on West on single coverage, and that last nail in the coffin with out of bounds to Indiana call all round out a terrible loss.

I don't understand that last bit, even after video replay review, it's inconclusive who touched the ball last, why not let them jump ball or something?

[T Dot O Dot]

yup, that was called like a football play where the call on the play stands unless you have inconclusive evidence otherwise

the NBA has a solution for 50-50 plays that arent obvious where possession should remain, its called a jumpball

that said, late game offensive decisions lead to that downfall, on a cold night guys kept trying to throw up homerun balls and didn't stick to what got us the lead

[sotola]

unfortunately that game is gonna happen alot against the teams we are NOT supposed to beat. ignoring the obvious jump ball call there was two plays which gave Indy points which were clearly in error... 1) West running Bargnani over and not getting an offensive foul (then promptly hitting a jumper) and 2) the Calderon foul on, I believe, Augustin when he fouled him by the free throw line and Augustin threw it up as if he was in the act of shooting.

If we have a reputation as the better team, those calls (or non calls) don't happen... and they all happened in the last 5 minutes.

In any case, it was a decent showing for a first game and I will definitely become a big fan of Lowry and Valancius... those guys play hard all the time. The pressure that Lowry put on the passing lanes is incredible... we haven't had that type of defensive presence at the point since Alvin and I don't think Alvin was even as good as Lowry defensively.

This is the most upbeat I have been about this team since the Atlantic division championship season.

[yossarian1234]

I didn't see the whole game but officiating was disgusting for the second half especially. I kept thinking Raptors are supposed to be the home team and Indiana is getting all the calls.

But Raptors still lost that game. They didn't execute and that last play was pathetic.

[sotola]

This is a pretty good take on the DD extension. While I don't see 38M as a horrible amount, I also don't see DeRozan becoming anything exceptional. I think he would be an absolutely great bench player on a good team but there are better wings, by far, in the league.

This article highlights alot of the reasons for and against

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketbal ... idea-smith

[yossarian1234]

Disagree that they didn't have to do it. Looking at a lot of players in his class all signing extensions, I would say there might be teams with cap room that might go hard after what's left. The way RFA has gone lately with all these backloaded poison-pill contracts designed to prevent matching or with guys like Batum and Hibbert getting max or near-max money, I think there was a decent probability DeRozan improves enough in his contract year and gets offered more than what he got now.

Some might say it's better to let him walk in that case but he's still worth retaining for the right price. What he got is probably a bit too much but that deal's just touching the borderline IMO.

[yossarian1234]

BTW hope Ross and Fields play better cause I don't like 2 PG lineup long term.

[sotola]

And if he doesn't improve? It's a low risk signing but I don't think there is a huge probability that his play improves so much that he becomes a high profile target. Teams have to have cap space to offer him a huge contract (of which there are few). I don't think there was a lot of risk in waiting until next season. With that said, I do agree with the articles point of the impact of demonstrating that the team will take care of players. Not a bad contract but it Eliminates the small risk of competition for him next season. It means it is fair.

[T Dot O Dot]

the most bothersome was DeRozan not finishing at the rim and not geting the whistle, I hope it doesnt discourage him and turn him into a jumpshooter, he needs to keep attacking