Now, before you get all bent out of shape, if you so happen to fit into this category, which at first-glance might seem to you as being one of derision … stop, look, listen; then, think, again … cause there is nothing which I’ve written there that puts you down at all, as it is by no means a crime, or a sin, or a deficiency of some sort, to fit into this specific category of NBA fan, at all, i.e. since the vast, majority of NBA fans everywhere actually do, you are far from being alone, and should be able to take some comfort in that, not feel insulted. : )

————————————-

Going forward with this Raptors team, as is …

Here’s the specific line-up which is needed to realize this goal this season:

STARTERS
1 Calderon
2 Moon
3 Graham
4 Humphries
5 Bosh
——————
BENCH
1/2 Parker
3/2 Kapono
4 Bargnani
5/4 O’Neal
——————
RESERVES
1 Ukic
1/2 Solomon
5/4 Jawai [or Austin Croshere, if Nathan is not cleared to play]
——————
EXTRAS
2/3 Adams

If the Raptors use THAT rotation, right there … and can remain injury-free … and are coached properly … and are GM’d properly … this team, this season, is capable of winning 50+ games this season and winning a 1st Round Playoff Series, depending on what specific opponent it draws in the post-season tournament.

QUESTION: Now … Is it likely to happen this year?

ANSWER: Not a snowballs chance in h*ll. : (

like i said before, i’m a fan, i really thought he’d be something special (and i guess there’s a chance that he could)…just not in TO. as dubya said, ‘fool me once…shame on…shame on you. fool me – ya can’t get fooled again.’

i assume the plan is to continue to let him develop, and then when JO leaves in ‘10, he’ll supposedly be ready to step into the starting 5 role (or maybe that’ll happen next year – or even this year – if JO is as done as he’s appearing now). still, i simply don’t get the impression he’ll ever develop the level of consistency that’s required out of a purported go-to guy (let alone a lottery pick).

I love the AI trade for one simple reason – I get to watch AI several times a year now! I don’t even care if he destroys the Raps every time (and we know he will). It’s fun and AI is great.

I really believe trading Billups shook up that group and woke them up. That may be why they have been playing they way they have. (new challenge/success without CBills being doubted) AI, IMO, is only going to contribute to this in a very positive way. The Pistons have been very accepting and welcoming to any player to their locker room and stay supportive of them when they leave. I don’t think AI was afforded the same luxury, by Melo and the other (selfish) cats, in Denver. Those guys have never played as a team, IMO, it’s always been a “hey, let’s make sure everyone gets theirs” type playing. Hardly a formula for success – as their playoff record has shown. How many 1st round exits does Melo have, regardless of successful regular season campaigns?

IMO … anyone who thinks that A.I. is going to play for the Pistons like he played in Philadelphia, and then in Denver, at a differnt stage in his life and his hoops career, is making a mistake in judgment.

One of the things which separates ‘Great Players’ from everyone else is their ability to adapt to the ‘imposed discipline’ of their new surroundings … which is imposed by ‘The Group’ … when they are now amongst ‘a group’ of other talented elite level players, who they happen to perceive as being ‘just as tough’ as they are themselves.

When you put this list of names together:

Bill Davidson
—————-
Joe Dumars
—————-
Michael Curry
Dave Cowens
Darrell Walker
Pat Sullivan
Harold Ellis
—————-
Allen Iverson
Rip Hamilton
Tay Prince
Amir Johnson
Rasheed Wallace
—————-
Rodney Stuckey
Arron Afflalo
Walter Herrmann
Jason Maxiell
Kwame Brown
—————-
Will Bynum
Alex Acker
Walter Sharpe

what you have is the type of organization that can get the Pistons past the Celtics, and the Cavs, and the Hawks, and the Magic, etc., this season and back to the NBA Finals.

I never thought the Pistons lacked hunger. Media and fans alike keep saying this …. I see a team that got beat four straight times by an opposing team that was better than they were.

Talent is the issue, they didn’t have enough. Still don’t. Cap space gives them the opportunity to fix that though.

And therein lies the rub in my eyes. Their payroll is $4mil higher than ours if memory serves and they are, in most eyes, deeper and better. I would agree with a theory of “luck”, but I think the Pistons were built with shrewd moves.

Raps – Points in Transition = 0

No fast break points = half-court offence

An important factor to keep in perspective is that we were down by 1 point with 4 min left and only down by 3 points in the final minute, with a bagel for Kaponomatic and a poor offensive game from JO. (And if you argue that AI could have started, than I say that JO could have had a great game – it’s redundant). Also, the final score was inflated because we were fouling at the end to lengthen the game.

IMO, we’re not yet a top-echelon team. But we are definitely close.

As you know already … actually, I thought there was a good chance the Raptors would be sitting at 1-3 right now.

@ Phi – L
v GS – W
@ Mil – L
v Det – L

Based on what I’ve seen, thus far, the Raptors are fortunate to have beaten

Phi … who looked just as out of sync as Toronto, fitting in a new guy
GS … as Maggette was fouled on his final drive into the lane [by Moon]
Mil … as the Bucks mangled their last few post-comeback possessions

and unfortunate to have not beaten

Det … who were forced to play with their Starting PG.

=========================================

Looking ahead, right now … it would not surprise in the least to see the Raptors:

* play well but Lose @ Atl
* play well and Win @ Cha, or play poorly and Lose @ Cha
* play poorly and Lose @ Bos

which would then bring them back home with either a 4-3 or 3-4 W-L record after their first seven games … is pretty much where I saw them being heading into this season and where I see them finishing in the spring, given the players on their current roster.

Unless one [or more] of Jose, CB4 or JO go down with a major injury … this team is going to be in playoff contention for the entire season, play a bunch of exciting games, lose a lot to the High End teams and win its fair share against the Middle-of-the-Pack and the Low End ones.

—————————————–

Which is pretty much where they would have been today if they would have chosen to go in any number of other directions with the organization’s leadership back in Feb/2006.

That’s the main thing which is disappointing to me, as a Raptors fan … just how good this team could have been … and, quite possibly, still be today, or in the not-too-distant future … if they would only have taken the ‘Road Less Travelled By’ back then, knowing what they had in the cupboard.

——————————————

Where they go from here … is the responsibility of MLSE and Mr. Bryan Colangelo.

That’s where the buck stops, IMO.

JO bugs me, yes. Everyone else, I can pretty much deal with. I am European myself, no issues there. Point was, there is a reason why those players are on the team, meaning the Raps organization does care to make their customers happy or at the very least appeal to them.

Give up my thunderstix?? NEVER!!! What kind of “true” fan would I be? : ) Just because I am not happy with the current state of affairs, it would take a lot more for me to hand in my Raps fancard in. I won’t lie, I’ve been on the brink, but cooler heads have prevailed.

Love, it’s a funny thing.

That was great, btw. Very well done.. made me laugh. If I ever attend a RaptorsFan Friday, I’ll be the one buying your drinks, Sir. (Assuming I don’t get assaulted by others, upon reveling I am the one from the land of flux.)

And then maybe, who knows, I know this other team, from Indiana. She’s had a rough time herself. But she’s good now. Seems to have a bit of spring in her step. She’s bought some new clothes. Really, she’s looking good and, hell, she’s available and not likely to turn anyone down. So why not give her a call. And if that doesn’t work out I’m sure there’s some team out their for you. You just need to keep you head up and keep looking.

I wonder how many other teams feel this way. I love how we still get no respect around the L. Sure, teams/players say nice things about Bosh and Jose, to be polite. But, let’s face it.. this team scares no one, in any way, for any reason. If teams lose against us, it’s not because they played their best and we crushed them. We win because the other team is not firing at all cylinders. Take em (or steal), we do, them wins but this team has all the make up of a 60 win Dallas team that gets bounced in the 1st round. So forgive me, DanH, for not taking pleasure in the regular season race, as the playoffs is what this is all about. And the way things are looking right now (and I doubt they will change) a 1st round exit is what it will be.

And for the record, I felt the same way before I knew they would be without AI, and even before the trade went down.

^That, there, is awesome. And I fully expect the Raps to win the next two games as well.

Look around guys! The Raptors are 3-1 and you are complaining! This is a GOOD SIGN! This is what fans of GREAT teams do! Right now, at this moment, a .750 winning percentage is UNDERACHIEVING in your eyes!

Face it people, every one of you, at some level, thinks this is a very good team.

Also, part of being in a fanbase, is the discussion of different points of view, seeing thing others don’t, etc. If we all saw things/players the same way and agreed, I think things would get pretty boring, fast.

Re: JO – I can talk up a good game too, I can say everything that needs to be said at the right times. Guess what? It means nothing. All players are great at the PR game. I simply care about the on court results. Knowing you need to play better and talking about it, then NOT doing it while looking for the refs as if its their fault, blaming the guards etc, wins no points with me. STFU and DELIVER – that’s my motto with this team. I have seen enough player/coach interviews in my lifetime to pretty much know what they are going to say.

And don’t forget the “love” factor in the bf/gf relationship or any other. Big factor, there. That may be the reason for coming back, not low self confidence or availability to others. There are plenty of other teams in the NBA, no?

y.d. – i know it sounds negative and yes, I am being cynical about this years version of the Raps. As hard as I try, perhaps due to my change in attitude/expectations with this team, all I see when they play is the thing that are not going well. Again, I take no console in the small victories and battles.. I am more concerned about the whole war. I am not intentionally pointing out the negative, it’s just what jumps out at me more, because of fore mentioned. Trust me, if anything, I am holding back.

I agree that Iverson does a lot of good things and in several ways will help the Pistons. But he also does a lot of negative things and that hurts his overall impact. I would disagree that his negatives are overplayed though, I think they’re understated.

I made a post on my website comparing the scoring/efficiency numbers of Chauncey and Iverson. I’ll run down a few of them here:

Shots per game – Billups 12.5 – Iverson 19
FG% – Billups 44.8% – Iverson 45.8%
eFG% – Billups 52.6% – Iverson 48.8%
TS% – Billups 61.9% – Iverson 56.7%
Points per shot (including FTs) – Billups 1.51 – Iverson 1.39
Points per shot (excluding FTs) – Billups 1.05 – Iverson 0.98

Iverson’s last season was unusual for his career, easily the most efficient of his career. Whether it’s a one-time thing or if he’s actually improved we won’t know for a while. But here’s another stat

TS% over previous three seasons (05-07)
Billups – 59.1% to 60.9%
Iverson – 53.2% to 54

If we go back further to Iverson’s days as the MVP of this league his TS% drops to 51.8%. Chauncey has been up around 60% consistently since establishing himself as one of the best point guards in the league.

There was a large difference last season in efficiency and a massive difference in years past. Worth stating this is Iverson’s best talent as an NBA player, and Chauncey contributes far more in other areas (like defense).

Indeed … there are so many contained in this one thread that it would take way more time than it’s worth to even try to effectively address them all …

e.g. Graham was a bum last night; Moon has no value to the team if he doesn’t shoot the ball better and get more rebounds per game; Bargnani had a solid game last night & is making good progress; JO is still rounding into form, and is responsible for the “swagger” this team has at the moment; the game was lost by Sam’s poor coaching; Sam doesn’t have a solid grasp of NBA plays to use with this team; Kapono isn’t be used properly, once again; Solomon shouldn’t have played ahead of Ukic; Bargnani + Kapono might be dealable for Harrington; no one from the Raptors organization is responsible for reading what’s written on this blog; the expectations of Raptors fans should all be the exact same; etc., etc., etc.

The Raptors are 3-1, right now.

There are 68 regular season games remaining … plus, a probable 1st Round Playoff exit.

Jose Calderon and Chris Bosh are both terrific NBA players.

There are plenty of other highly serviceable NBA players on this roster, right now … despite the fact that Bryan Colangelo has not done the best of job’s assembling a roster which has a Legit Chance of winning an NBA Championship anytime soon.

There are going to be plenty of great games played at the ACC this season, as well as when the Raptors go out on the road, principally, because of Jose & CB4, which should provide a lot of entertainment to Raptors fans everywhere.

The sun is out … fall is here … Change Has Come To America, after 232 years … and Black is still the new Green for MLSE. C’est la vie.

Carpe Diem! … one and all, it’s just great to be alive.

PS. FWIW … GAME REVIEW: Raptors vs Pistons [Nov 5] … cause I don’t like to waste everybody else’s time. : )