The Goat Pen

"strength" of position has to be put into relative terms. The only position that had true strength on this roster was the PG position but right now, our front court is decimated that the SF position was the least of our worries if the goal is to win NOW and in the future. Dealing Davis basically says we don't want to win now and I am not sure how much it says about winning in the future.

Right now, DeRoz is every bit as good as Gay. Gay gets a couple more rebounds, shoots a worse percentage on a team that had a solid inside game (not a good sign at all), and can't defend his position despite his athleticism. and you get to pay him twice as much as DeMar. I don't see anyone's love affair with this guy. His contract is every bit as bad as Fields but he dunks more often so people somehow think he's a good player. I honestly don't get it.

So, we move one of them to SG and we now have two less than 45% shooters on the court, two below avg 3 pt shooters, and two less than stellar defensive players. If you think scoring is this team's problem, then go and look at the stats of the team's record when they hold teams under 100 points vs. the record when they don't. Defense is the problem. So we essentially traded from a position of strength to improve our offense and weaken our defense. Different... not better. It's a fair trade relative to what we gave up but I don't see it making us any better. I would have preferred to stay the course.

as for the draft, I would prefer not to ever give up a pick in the lottery which should have been BC's goal when he put that criteria on the pick. Instead this trade probably just ensures we do give one up.

ESPN offers their analysis.... apparently they feel how I do.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-o ... e-rudy-gay

Since I'm in Raptorville, I'm wondering if you guys are as annoyed as I am with that optical illusion that the Raptors added to the baselines last year. I hate that thing.

it's annoying when you see it live at the ACC... because it looks like some fucked up trapezoid, are we still the only team doing that?

when it rolled out last year they were using us as the testing ground & i thought the plan was to go league wide by next year

anyway, on TV it's not so bad, I got used to it about 20 games into the season

I hate it. Draws my attention away from the game.

how many times have you seen it though?

I've probably watched about 5 or 6 Raptors games. I keep trying to see it 2 dimensionally, that's what eats up so much of my attention.

"who won this deal? "

Maybe it's a win-win! Or, since it was a 3 team deal, a win-win-win. Everybody wins!

I thought the 3D billboard was cool at first (from a technology standpoint) but it does look silly at games. As for the telecasts, you get used to them that you rarely pay attention to it. I thought they were just going to use it for a month or two but they seem married to it now.

Lionel Hollins on Rudy Gay trade: ‘When you have champagne taste, you can’t be on a beer budget’

Lionel Hollins made a not so subtle threat to leave after this season if they move more players

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ba ... --nba.html

strange behaviour for the coach who's team just won a trade by a mile

re - strange behaviour for the coach who's team just won a trade by a mile

I don't recall anyone saying they won it "by a mile" BUT it's not strange behaviour for ANY coach who just took a short term hit to his roster and doesn't have the reputation of say Phil Jackson or Jerry Sloan. If the team struggles, it's on him. He is the one that gets canned that he could care crap about luxury tax payments or future potential of players. He cares about RIGHT NOW. I don't think Memphis is better RIGHT NOW but I think they made a very smart business and talent trade. I don't think they are much worse than they were but they save themselves a ton of money this off season and they unload a very nasty contract while getting a very promising prospect in Davis. Business wise, for a small market team, I do think they won it by a mile. Talent wise, RIGHT NOW, they are even at best. If I am that coach, I don't like that scenario since it means I have more work teaching new players the system and the risk that the new guys might take some time to find their way (which leads to losses). I don't want the losses with my livelihood on the line.

There have already been rumblings that the presence of Davis makes it easier to move Randolph in the off season as Memphis re-tools. No coach likes to hear "rebuilding" or "retooling" when the team is doing well on the court but the finances dictate change.

defined roles

Lowery looks a million times better now that he is the official #1 starter

I think the real loss for Memphis was chemistry. These guys all liked each other, and Z-Bo thrives where the chemistry is good...and I'm not use "chemistry" as a euphemism for weed.

They all loved Rudy, so there is a fear there.

Well, we gained chemistry

Kyle played in Memphis 3 years, Rudy is his kid's godfather

sounds like Rudy makes alot of friends

Ed Davis has had a breakout season but a very promising prospect? A tad bit exaggerating, no?

And not sure how Raptors would be losing more games now as opposed to before, yes, our front court is extremely short-handed now but they also got people coming back very shortly and our SF spot has been pitiful forever. Also while you can't really be sure of anything until it happens, you think Colangelo is done trading now that he's got it going now? He already declared Bargnani as being available to the world and he's probably taking a long hard look at DeRozan, although that might be more in regret of signing him to that extension. Trading DeRozan probably depends on how ready they think Ross is.

No, the roster as it stands doesn't fit perfectly but I also don't think they are done trading.

obviously its a small sample size, but I dont see how anyone can argue DeMar does not benefit from having Gay on the floor

we'll see how this plays out, but I dont think Demar's contract is that bad, I hope we move Bargnani & Allan Anderson

I think DD/Gay/Ross make a solid wing rotation

Bklyn wrote:I've probably watched about 5 or 6 Raptors games. I keep trying to see it 2 dimensionally, that's what eats up so much of my attention.

Same here.

Bklyn wrote:I think the real loss for Memphis was chemistry. These guys all liked each other, and Z-Bo thrives where the chemistry is good...and I'm not use "chemistry" as a euphemism for weed.

They all loved Rudy, so there is a fear there.

Tay is a glue guy who seems to do his best as the 3rd or 4th guy in the pecking order so I think they'll appreciate having him around. The only thing they might not like is he tends to bog down an offense at times. He can be very methodical with the ball.

As for someDaye, who cares? If he becomes a Steve Novak-type, then it's a bonus for them. I think he was just a throw-in. Tay and Davis were the pieces that they probably care about.

re - Ed Davis has had a breakout season but a very promising prospect? A tad bit exaggerating, no?

ummm... no, not at all. He is far better this year than I even thought was possible. He has a reputation, based on what the coaches say, of being a hard worker and extremely coachable. Since Bargnani got injured, he has averaged more than 13 pts, and just under 8 rebs a game. He is 23 and still hasn't physically matured for his size. When he puts on some muscle (which his frame shows is very likely), he could very well be the best player in the deal as one of the ESPN analysts pointed out. His shot has improved dramatically and he either has great vision... or just had great chemistry with Amir because he made some wonderful passes. In either case, they picked up a darn good player for a team that NEEDED to get rid of Gay's contract. We got popcorn chicken, a massage, and a 2 for 1 pass to the movies for VC (who was a far better player than Gay).

I hope I am wrong about Gay but I think we took 2 steps back on this deal since we have zero flexibility for trades now..... unless they decide to move DeMar or one of the wonderful rookie duo. and if they decide to move DeMar.... they should have just traded DD to Memphis rather than Davis.

Bargnani will be traded to some team that has an overpaid PG or he won't be moved at all.... and yet the line up as constructed, has absolutely no place for him now. Calderone made Bargnani better in the pick and pop. Lowry will kill Bargnani's effectiveness. and with 30M+ remaining on his deal, I can't see any trade netting us anything useful for a guy that misses long periods of time for deep bruises.

and thankfully no one said last night's game showed the improvement of the team.... the Clippers played the worst game I have seen from a "contender" in an awfully long time. Not one guy showed up to play for the Clips last night..... they were brutal.

like I said, I hope I am wrong about Gay but I really liked the improvement that the young kids showed that I will miss Davis, and I will dislike it if Ross gets less minutes as a result. Ross has far more potential than any player on the Raps roster to become an all star.

and one last thing....

I REALLY want Amir Johnson to finish his career as a Toronto Raptor. This guy is fantastic in terms of his competitive fire. Every year he has gotten better, and gotten smarter. He had an amazing stats night on a day where he had the flu. He has played through injuries almost all season and he will routinely do all the dirty work that no one likes to do.

Earlier I viewed his role as redundant but I am retracting it. I really hope they don't move him because I think he's probably one of the most underrated players in the league.... at least for the size of his contract. (which many thought was overpaying).