First.

At no time have I ever said/written that my ideas are outlandish or revolutionary or way out on a limb or ridiculously absurd, etc. … to those with sound basketball acumen, e.g. like Dave & others. Instead, that type of characterization of my observations has been left to the ‘omniscient’ domain of the likes of ‘youretoodamcool’ [and certain others who perceive themselves to be of a similar mind].

If you analyze what I’ve had to say about the Raptors, or any other sports-related topic for that matter, what you’ll find is that my observations are, in fact, not ‘way out there’ at all, to those who are (i) looking through the lens of an open mind [yes, and I understand that it's a mixed metaphor : )] (ii) with a concrete foundation, (iii) a non ‘defensive’ posture, and (iv) a sound understanding of the NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB/etc. game, to begin with.

Second.

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re: You gotten better, at least, by adding IMO. Want to improve some more? You should add after IMO -”WHICH USUALLY HAS BEEN WRONG”.
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Doesn’t seem as though you have visited my site.

Nuff said. : )

Third.

re: Yertu – you have given up much too soon.

In that regard … it’s safe to say that, “You know not of what you speak” … when it comes to assessing accurately the temperment of that specific individual. : )

Fourth.

I think it’s YOU who is well on the road now to a better understanding of the NBA game.

Al the best to you, and …

Keep On Truck’n : )

http://raptorsrepublic.com/liveblog/raptors-vs-bobcats-live-blog-chat.html

Wow if Raptors fall under 500 in the first month and a half Sam’s job might be in jeopardy – what thoughtfull insight. A coach getting fired for his squad underperformance. JO might be tuning Sam out? Thats quite the statement, outlandish, but still a statement.

I will go with the “play Joey more” group. We have to learn what he can bring. If unsuccessfull, trade him immediately. This waiting game has to stop. Will he succeed or won’t he? I dunno – ask Khandor.

Yertu – you have given up much too soon. Proposing trading Kapono and Bargnani after 5 games for what appears to be considerably less talent just seems panicky.

Wow.

If ever there was an understatement….

There is NO way last year’s team was stronger than this year’s team. Last year’s starting 5 was:
pg: ford / calerdon
sg: parker
sf: moon
pf: bosh
c: rasho

this year’s starting 5 is:
pg: calderon
sg: parker
sf: moon
pf: bosh
c: o’neal

Our weak is argurably weaker because calerdon was on our bench last year, and he is starting this year. From what flashes I have seen this year, bargs is playing at a better clip than he was playing at last year and bosh is playing out of his mind this year. O’neal has improved our interior defense. If you are saying that 24 minutes of ford (becuase he split time with calderon) is better than o’neal for 35 minutes then i may have to respectfully disagree with you

RODNEY CARNEY!

- Rodney [but not Art, except, perhaps, to my closest friends] Carney : )

if only they’d see the light & let joey work his defensive magic. he’s super strong, has good quickness, and heck, can even shoot it. he’s simply not being used in a manner that best takes advantage of the physical advantage he provides over almost all of the league’s 3s. sigh. well, we can dream, i guess. man, i get a little teary thinking about that one possession against det. when he TOTALLY shut down prince. boy, was that sweet. if only they’d let him go 35, 40 minutes each & every game, he’d probably resolve 90% of their defensive problems…and just think of all those easy buckets they’d get, ’cause he’s simply too strong & too talented to be stopped once he gets going. and rebounding!! man, dude can jump outta the gym, and he’s quick, and did i mention how freakishly strong he is?!?! it’s incredible. like, totally like orlando woolridge back in the day. what was it they used to say about him…’best basketball body from the neck down.’ except joey’s the total package.
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“‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: …

as, all too frequently, the man who has both sight & hearing, but is simultaneously blind & deaf, has no idea at all what his current state is … and, therefore, deserves our sympathy, not our scorn. : )

jarred dudley

dude is gonna kill us.

if only they’d see the light & let joey work his defensive magic. he’s super strong, has good quickness, and heck, can even shoot it. he’s simply not being used in a manner that best takes advantage of the physical advantage he provides over almost all of the league’s 3s. sigh. well, we can dream, i guess. man, i get a little teary thinking about that one possession against det. when he TOTALLY shut down prince. boy, was that sweet. if only they’d let him go 35, 40 minutes each & every game, he’d probably resolve 90% of their defensive problems…and just think of all those easy buckets they’d get, ’cause he’s simply too strong & too talented to be stopped once he gets going. and rebounding!! man, dude can jump outta the gym, and he’s quick, and did i mention how freakishly strong he is?!?! it’s incredible. like, totally like orlando woolridge back in the day. what was it they used to say about him…’best basketball body from the neck down.’ except joey’s the total package.

There is only one player on this team right now who might … and it’s important to emphasize the word ‘might’ … be starting to ‘tune out’ the Raptors’ head coach and that’s Jermaine O’Neal, a 6-time former all-star who was only added to the squad this year.

Those who are seeing any other players ‘tune out’ Sam Mitchell are making a mistake in judgment, IMO.

Bosh and Calderon and Parker and Moon and Humphries and Graham and Kapono [playing the minutes he's getting at this point] and Bargnani … have in no way ‘begun to tune Sam out’.

IMO, at 3-2 on this current season … each of these Toronto Raptors has a strong belief in Sam Mitchell, as their head coach.

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Second.

IMO … if this year’s team gets to the the 2nd week of December and has LOST more games than it’s WON, then, there’s a much stronger likelihood that Bryan Colangelo will, at that point, look to make a coaching change for HIS team … which he has mistakenly perceived, to this point, as being ‘the most talented team we’ve had so far in Toronto, on paper’.

As Flux says … in the NBA, in general, and when it comes to Bryan Colangelo’s personal history as a GM in this League, specifically … when it gets to the 2nd week in December and HIS team is thought to be under-achieving, it is the head coach who will be identified as the person to blame for the short-comings of the present roster of players and a less-than-stellar WON-LOSS record.

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Third.

In this specific instance … this is NOT where the responsibility SHOULD fall, IMO.

We beat Boston last year with arguably a weaker team than we have now.

Lets all just sit back and enjoy the game today. Bobcats look better and any road game in the NBA is a tough one.

If you want to look at MLSE eating costs, just look at the Leafs overhaul last season. Colangelo wasn’t happy with Sam at the end of last season, and he has to show something, anything to be worth keeping around. I don’t know exactly how that goes down, but any sort of losing streak will not leave Sam hanging in good light. If Colangelo tells the board Sam’s gotta go and they have to eat the cost, I would bet that they fire Sam rather than risk letting Bosh think that Toronto has become a loser’s team again and then having him sign somewhere else when it’s his turn to walk. It looks like Sam has lost the attention of some of our key players already, so whether he gets it back in time is another question.

The key ATL player Bibby, was 5/7 3’s & 7/12 overall in the 2nd qtr, and the game.
Bibbys shooting % after the game is 39.6FG and 37.5FG3. Before the game it was much worse than that.
The defensive plan was to double Johnson, and was somewhat effective as he only scored 17 pts after avg 28 going in to the game. However they overplayed him and failed to get to the outside shooters who scored when open.

Raptors lost the game primarily because one player was open & HOT, and made his shots for 1 game for the first time this year, and no one on TO got hot to offset those points. He failed to score in the 2nd half also.
Without that it may have been a competitive game as Sam took his starters out with 6/7 mins to go.

The team defensive plan was not followed properly for one game, and they were dominated by an athletic team playing very well @ 4-0, and also beating Orlando and New Orleans, both thought to be better than TO.

They lost one game, for very understandable and corectable reasons and THE SKY IS NOT FALLING. They need a better defensive/offensive effort and they need scoring consistently from their 2’s and 3’s.

If they do not get it from these players then Colangelo will have to revise his assessment of these players talents, and take corrective action to replace them. The coaching staff can only coach the players they have, not improve the talent that they have, that is the players responsibility.