Raptor players want tried-and-true routine – thestar.com
There is a staccato rhythm to the NBA season: practice, shootaround, game, practice, shootaround, game, lather, rinse, repeat. It is a schedule that has withstood the test of time and the whims of coaches who would alter it; a schedule that suits the players.
Raptors hit the lanes to strike team chemistry | Basketball | Sports | Toronto Sun
Coach Jay Triano surprised (and probably delighted) his players by announcing that practice was to be replaced by a day of bowling at a local alley. "I would have liked to have done something a little more (intense), like paintball or something," the coach said. "But we can't afford to do any silly stuff."
Raptors fill the lane ? the bowling lane – Posted Sports
Beyond the bowling adventure, there was good news that Antoine Wright was able to participate after putting his injured knee through a tough workout on Monday. ?He was great today,? said Triano. ?His knee looked good. When we came back here, he went up to the gym to get a workout in, and there were no effects after a tough workout yesterday. He will be raring to go and we?ll moderate it accordingly.?
Twitter nation, ask yourself one question. Are you following 13POB13?
Raptors Digest > Blog Archive > Former Raptor Jawai Traded to the T-Wolves
After injury to front court stars Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves made a move to acquire former Raptor Nathan Jawai (aka Aussie Shaq) for a future 2nd round pick.
What have I learned in the preseason > New Leisure Blog
The only 6th man of the year award Marco Belinelli has a chance of winning will be in the WNBA. Ok, maybe the NBDL. Anyway, he hasn?t impressed anyone so far. He is way too trigger happy and streaky to be effective and his defense isn?t very good.
Ten Bold Predictions For the 2009-10 Toronto Raptors | Bleacher Report
Weems, who has arguably had the best preseason of any Raptor thus far, is young, aggressive, and supremely athletic. Just take a look at his NCAA slam dunk championship on YouTube. Weems has benefited from an injury to Antoine Wright, and so far has shown he deserves to back up Hedo Turkoglu. Not only is Weems very active on the floor, but?as a boon for the defensively challenged Raptors?he seems willing to work on becoming a better defender. All might change once regular season starts, but so far Weems has done his part to be in the mix.
khandor?s sports blog > Blog Archive > Toronto Raptors Season Preview: Game 20
The individual match-up advantages favour Atlanta ? which will probably mean another road loss for the Raptors, in this back-2-back.
Raptors expected W-L Record: L, 7-13
The results, so far, have been disastrous. While the offence has generated a very good 108.35 points per 100 possessions (Offensive Rating), the defence has gone to hell. The Defensive Rating has ballooned to 131.16. Obviously, this is unsustainable (it will improve some), but the signs of a terrible defensive core are there for all to see.
NBA Power Rankings: Dwight Howard Ready To Take the Magic To the Top | Bleacher Report
After last season?s disaster, GM Bryan Colangelo stressed the need for the Raptors to get better at rebounding to be tougher this season. Then he went out and signed the defensively challenged Hedo Turkoglu to a monster contract. Reggie Evans might add some toughness, but how much can he contribute if he only plays 15 minutes a night. Rookie DeMar DeRozan and Marco Bellinelli give Raptors fans hope, but any more than 42 wins will be a surprise.
Metro – Toronto : Blog : Weekend Rap : 1-on-1 with Jay Triano
I briefly spoke with Raptors coach Jay Triano last month, and while we didn't touch much on the upcoming season, he did reveal some interesting facts about coaching at the NBA and national level, as well as the current state of Canadian basketball. He was promoting the Campbell's Chunky MVC ? Most Valuable Coach ? program, which recognizes amateur coaches from all sports across Canada. And for a guy who went from coaching the Simon Fraser University men's team to becoming the first Canadian head coach in NBA history, he's probably one of the right guys to talk to.
Dino Nation Blog: The Raptor New Number 15 In DNB
ShareThere is no mistaking Amir Johnson for Vince Carter. They don’t look alike and they play the game of basketball in a totally different way. Had a chance to have a brief conversation with Amir prior to the game on Sunday. Never did ask him about wearing the infamous number 15 for the Raptors. He seems to be enjoying his new situation here in Toronto though. I asked him how things were going in terms of getting to know all his new teammates?
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22 Raps
I think that we will be able to get to 42, and no, it won’t be much of a surprise. This team is still coming together and we can’t think negative now that we’ve come to far. Stay positive, 42+ is our goal.
I disagree. 42+ wins is definitely NOT our goal. Our goal is to end up in 5th place or better in the East, win the first series, and take the second series to a 7th game, where anything can happen. Win or lose that one, at least Bosh will know that this team belongs in the competition with the Magic, Celtics & Cavaliers, and will have a tough decision to make (if he isn’t either signed to a contract extention by the trading deadline, or traded at the trading deadline). Either way, the Raptor goal remains the same.
Agreed, you have to shoot high. Playoffs and a solid showing is the goal this year. Have to keep Bosh.
Bryan Colangelo stated himself that he is aiming for 50 wins this season. So I’m pretty sure that’s our goal. Whether we can achieve that or not – in my opinion – is in the hands of our franchise player, Chris Bosh. Let’s hope he can tear it apart this season. I hope CB4 stays.
Agreed, 5th place or better in the East is the goal [regardless of wins]
Links are messed up, you have ” target=” appended to the end of each link. If you’re not getting to the article you want, just delete that from your address bar.
Sorry guys, Wordpress threw up this morning. It’s fixed now.
What?s with a?? the ?uestion marks?????
I cant reset my pass word for the forums and i have already forgotten it…please assist…i have tried to link but it goes to a dead end
Ok Boko, thats a good prediction but to get to the 4th or 5th seed will require 42 wins, will it not? We have to have cofirmation that we’re actually going to make it in the middle seeds. You have to believe to achieve :P
It will require at least 44-45 wins. 42 may not even get you into the playoffs if you lose the tie-breaker.
Amir Johnson
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Never has an end of rotation mutiple CD/DNP foul machine recieved so much unwarranted attention and coverage.
Of course I doubt that the Johnson mania in Toronto will ever come near approaching the ridiculous level it was in Detroit, where everytime he entered a game half of the fans in the Palace had the “Chris Matthews – Obama” affect.
But look at how long and athletic he is! We should resign him now!
…
In all fairness, when you see what he can do (like those insane put-back slams), you wonder why he can’t use his athleticism to develop some nice post moves. You can’t help but pay attention because it might happen. Unfortunately there’s this non-quantifiable thing called “talent”, and I don’t think Amir Johnson is talented enough to become the type of player several fans are envisioning.
But being a rotation energy player is not a bad thing, and there certainly is a niche for it in the NBA. I think that’s Amir’s ceiling.
his low-post game is seriously deficient…he seems to suffer from the ‘fear-of-being-blocked’ syndrome that plagues a lot of young bigs. on the few occasions he does get the rock down low, he tends to hunch (protecting the ball?), and very rarely uses his length/athleticism to elevate over his check, preferring instead to move away from his defender & put up a tougher to block – but tougher to make – scoop/baby hook-type shot. her certainly hasn’t demonstrated any post moves. he makes VL’s low-post game look refined. not sure hopla can help there, he needs big-man coaching, or to be locked in a room with hakeem highlights running on a loop for hours on-end, or he’ll be a perennial energy/garbage-man type scratching for 15 mpg.
it’s a shame that the raps don’t have a single big with a legit NBA-quality back to the basket post game as their forte.
He never even had the hook shot until Dave Cowens worked with him on it in Detroit.
Johnson is just not a back to basket post up guy.
Like I posted before he stared in long and short distance running in high school. He has a runners body which means lean around the hips with not a lot core strength in the areas necessary to play back to the basket.
He is a #3 with medicore handles or a #4 without a low post up game. In any case he has no post up game.
He was a great prospect but his game has just never developed on the offensive end and on defense he can only be effective when he is aggressive and commits a lot of fouls.
In my opinion Weems will have a more productive career than Johnson.
he does seem to suffer from ‘fear of being blocked syndrome’. i think it is better diagnosed as ‘i came into the league at 19 years old, playing behind a piston front court that intimidated most of the league’ syndrome. maybe with some time to breathe, should easily be able to do this here, hell stand a better chance of developing something beyond energy man.
On the topic of W/L:
I am worried about defence. We can’t run the seven seconds or less offence. We know this. It will take a lot to recreate the Suns – including getting rid of Bosh and Calderon, and picking up Amare.
So what are we stuck with? We are stuck with a bunch of players that can’t play defence, but need to when defences clamp down.
I thought last year that Bosh and Bargnani could play effectively together, if Bosh focussed on his rebounding, and Bargnani focussed on his team defence. This year, I am skeptical, having now come this far, that this will happen. I am hoping otherwise, but I don’t see it right now.
How I wish we had Howard right now instead of Bosh! We would then be unstoppable. Bargnani and Howard is a tandem that I think would be deadly. Bosh and Bargnani – I am not sold. Here’s hoping I am wrong.
Raps W prediction if these two do not work out their team defence and rebounding: 41 wins (yes I pulled this number out of an orifice – but it seems right to me)
Raps W predictions if these two learn how to rotate, and we get some good rebounding out of Bosh: 48 wins (yes, same orifice).
On a side note: I don’t know why everyone is writing off the Rockets. I think they are slated for a 7th seed. Adelman is the man, Pops is going to a have a breakout year. Their defence will be solid, even without Yao, and T-Mac will play decently in the New Year when he comes back.
In regards to Colangelo signing Turkoglu, it’s not as if he didn’t TRY to sign tough, defensive guys. Both Marion and Ariza turned down contract offers from the Raptors. It was either go after Turkoglu, or wait another year, which Colangelo felt would have been the kiss of death for trying to keep Bosh.
Cool, thanks for the link man.
The “10 Bold Predictions for your 2009-10 Raptors” article at the end states Bosh will leave to the Thunder next year….is he serious!!!
The Thunder!…bosh! lol at that
Actually, I hadn’t thought of Bosh going to Oklahoma, but it’s not all that farfetched. They’ve got a very good young base, a superstar in the making, and a well respected GM. Plus, Bosh would be looked up to on the squad for his leadership, unlike if he went to Cleveland or Miami. There, he might be seen as riding the coattails of better players, but in Oklahoma, he could be looked at as the piece of the puzzle that gets the Thunder in the playoffs.
I still think Bosh is going to re-sign with the Raptors, though. Economic factors, as well as the potential of this squad to grow should prove too enticing for Bosh in the end, I believe.
While 42 wins is likely a very safe playoff seed in the East.
The Raptors should be shooting for a 47 win season like they accomplished in 2006-07.
The 2 teams went through nearly identical changes – 9 new players in the off season. And this year’s version has better and more experienced players than Colangelo cobbled together the last time.
I even like the coach better!
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