The Goat Pen

The only upside Ross has got will be when somebody slaps him upside his 10 cent head if he doesn't produce this year...

Don't see this great potential Casey is talking about. And quite frankly, his words don't inspire any confidence cause he has been saying some dumb things last season, making some outrageous claims, and has had trouble following through on his words with action. Ross is athletic, yes, but he lacks certain skills to put those athleticism to work on the court, and even if it's all up in his head, some guys never get it. It's even more baffling cause he was one of the older rookies in terms of age and he was supposedly NBA-ready, which was clearly not the case.

His subpar performance in summer league don't inspire much confidence either. Not saying he should've dominated like Valanciunas but an older second-year guy with any talent and a full year's NBA experience should simply do better.

At this point, I don't have much hope beyond a decent 3+D guy and anything more I'll be pleasantly surprised, which would've been fine if he were a mid-to-late first rounder or worse. But relative to what else was available and what could've been with just a few more losses, he'll never live up to where he was picked.

pretty good...

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/961 ... tale-t-mac

(this could be in the a half dozen threads - at least - but it's most appropriate here, IMO)

How much money has T-Mac made playing basketball? If he wants to trade careers, I'm game.

Basically

Had he stayed in TO, the Raps would have been solid for quite sometime. The Raps were pretty decent when TMac was just a 2nd or 3rd fiddle on that team.... had he and VC continued to grow.... wow. I think both of their lives would have been drastically different if the 2nd cousins stayed together.

with that said, he did leave... and karma got him. was more upset when he left than Bosh. Bosh would have just kept this team in mediocrity as a max player. and with every game, he is starting to look more overpaid.

Tracy McGrady, reflecting on his career, says he wishes he would have stayed in Toronto

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... n-toronto/

Had Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady stayed together, I think their careers together could've turned out very different. Grunwald should've just given McGrady the offer of max extension, I thought he showed enough by that time that risk was worth it and if he declines that, well, then you get one year window to ship him out for best offer.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... -Star-Game

Raptors to host All-Star Game in 2016

All the more reason for them to go all-in on Wiggins.

And there will be a new look for your boys:

http://www.hoopsworld.com/toronto-rapto ... um=twitter

There were rumors that they would change the team name as well, which was ridiculous.

Change the name to what? The Toronto We Suck?

They prefer to be more subjective...like the Toronto Hoovers or Toronto Jamesons.

cmon guys.... we got Drake now.... we are hip, cool, a top of the line brand

sadly, he was the most significant addition this off season..... I just find it hilarious that MLSE seems more inclined with marketing this lousy team than they are with making it better. nothing sells like winning.

I actually like Drake, regardless of what Dot says. However, he keeps his Toronto affiliation an open secret. It's kinda funny. WTF is "ATF" anyway?

i dunno... "All things fresh" just sounds like a slogan for a grocery store imo

Drake was on ESPN this summer claiming the Heat as his team, he tried to get in their locker room after game 7

whatev, if he raises the teams profile, generates free agent interest and plays a great host at the all-star game in 2 years then i'm all for it

he reps Toronto... but he'll rep whoever & whatever whenever he feels the mood

so a new season begins with every expert saying we should contend for a low playoff spot in the best case (and a quick playoff exit) but not good enough to compete for the top prospects in the worst case. awesome.

sort of like hearing "you might get that ugly girl with no body down the street to go to the grad but if not, there is always your sister"

Ujiri supposedly in an evaluation period.... I don't know what the hell there is to evaluate but I sure hope it doesn't take too long for him to reach a decision that should've been crystal clear from the beginning. The longer this "evaluation period" lingers, the worse our chances for a top pick in 2014 draft becomes and we'll have another situation like 2012 draft. Of course, that's not even the worst case scenario, which is where we are heading unless Ujiri does something.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/basketbal ... eated.html

Besides Doug Smith's (who has lost a ton of respect with Raptors fans the last few years) terrible revisionist history about our young players (or is that Casey feeding him lines?) having a large role in last year's horrible start, it highlights another one of Ujiri's weird decisions and why it's not going to work. Talking about deicison to keep Casey while changing almost the entire front office and much of coaching staff. Right now, Casey's fighting for his survival as head coach and everything else becomes secondary including development of Valanciunas, which should be number one goal of this franchise. Kinda like how Colangelo got desperate and started making bad decisions after bad decisions starting with 2012. I'm not sure what Ujiri's thinking was but really, it should be clear that Casey isn't the right guy whatever you want to do: win or tank. He has proven that much during his time here.

Just frustrated at Ujiri's decisions and indecisions.

I dont believe he's evaluating anything, I'm convinced DeRozan & Gay will be gone by the deadline, possibly Lowry too... he's just waiting on the right offer