Then there’s the bottom of the list, and I’m sad to report that the biggest anomaly is easy to find – my hometown Toronto Raptors. Of the 29 teams examined in the sample, they have the absolute fewest followers – which doesn’t really make sense due to market size, popularity, etc. As noted in the last post, their official account is a peculiar one – Raptors_web_guy – who’s bio is “Coding HTML, Creatin’ Graphics, Cutting Videos all with my finger on the pulse in Raptors Nation.” Let’s just say it doesn’t appear the team is into this twitter thing – even though their best player is all over it – and it shows.
No longer will Bosh have to put the Raptors on his back night in and night out as he now has legitimate help on the offensive end of the floor to lighten the load on him.
This will enable Bosh to play more aggressively on the offensive end, and more importantly, defensively as well. No longer will he have to be passive defensively because of the fear of getting into foul trouble. With the help that he now has at the offensive end of the floor, we just may see Bosh play with the tenacity on the defensive end of the floor that we saw him play with during the Olympics.
Coming up from the rear is the Toronto Raptors. Perhaps the off-season’s biggest mover and shaker, the Raps have done their best to improve the international flavour of the squad by bringing in Hedo Turkoglu, Marco Belinelli, and re-signing Rasho Nesterovic. In perhaps a bigger move than it first seemed, close buddy of Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack was also brought in. Reggie Evans, Amir Johnson and rookie DeMar DeRozan are all useful additions to a well-rounded roster. Will these changes bring the Raptors back from the disappointment of a 33 win season? This season will tell the story, a lineup that features José Calderon, Turkoglu, Bosh and Andrea Bargnani with solid depth at almost every position, surely could challenge the Hawks for that fourth slot.
