Official Toronto Raptors Thread.

[kinokong]

51.4%...... that's crazy..... shit that's like shaq's field goal percentage from 2ft away the basket

[McDwyane]

yeah that's crazy.i wish that he should stay to miami...

[cyanide]

xbox360: Next time, post a source and please don't start a new thread on an article that can be used in this thread. Thanks.

[Ckidd--]

yeah that's crazy.i wish that he should stay to miami...

xbox360 is human!

[Axel]

Raps are lucky to have picked up Kapono.

As a Miami fan..... ugh. I'm disguted. This means James Posey will be the starter again next year.

Looks like the Heat have had their last run with this squad

[Dan's Brain]

As a Miami fan..... ugh. I'm disguted. This means James Posey will be the starter again next year.

There's always Dorell Wright. He could have been an MIP candidate before Riley stopped playing him.

As a Bulls fan, I'm annoyed to see Posey starting as well.

[Dean]

Axel i thought you were a Suns man?

[JT_55]

Raps sign Jamario Moon for two years. Who the heck is this guy, anyway?

Story:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/article.jsp?content=20070710_153827_388

[NovU]

moon? is mars next followed by mercury?

[cyanide]

I think it's a non-guaranteed contract for Moon. There's a limit where he might not even make the final roster cut before the season begins.

In other news, Raptors offer a contract to Maceo Baston. It seems unlikely that Indiana's gonna match. Awesome!

[kzero123]

lol..recently raptors have signed or going to sign players i've never heard off..lol
any youtube videos of them would be nice...
but man...i haven't got excitied about raptors basketball for a long time.
the last time i got excitied was when i saw chris bosh knock down a 3 to tie a game..
and i don't know how long that was....
but i defintely wanna thank BC for bringing basketball back to Canada...
finally, something worth watching AND cheering for(Y)
wouldn't you guys agree?? lol..^^

[cyanide]

The Raptors moves for the 2007 draft:

Jul 13 2007 -- On the Wall -- The Raptors Draft

Bryan Colangelo and the Toronto Raptors didn't have a draft pick in the recent NBA draft, but that didn't mean Colangelo was a bystander. He had agreed in prinicple on a trade with the Heat to aquire the 20th pick in the NBA draft. The condition on the deal was that the player the Raps targeted at the pick was available. That player was Italian international Marco Belinelli. When the Belinelli went to the Warriors at #18, the Raps pulled out of the deal.

Colangelo was also working hard to aquire pick #11 from the Atlanta Hawks. The pick was going to be used on Kansas product Julian Wright. However, the asking price was backup point guard Jose Calderon. The deal never materialized.

The Bucks offered the Raps pick #6 in exchange for Andrea Bargnani. Colangelo rejected the offer without hesitation.

The night wasn't a complete bust for the Raps as they landed Greek forward Giorgos Printezis with pick #58 via a trade with the Spurs. Printezis is a 22 year old who plays for Olimpia Laresa in Greece.

Damn! Two picks away from Marco Belinelli

[Indy]

In other news, Raptors offer a contract to Maceo Baston. It seems unlikely that Indiana's gonna match. Awesome!

Yeah I'd be shocked if we tried to keep Mace. I really enjoyed the little bit we got to see of him last year. Incredible athlete, will definitley posterize some people.

[Clock]

The Raps get a pretty good shot blocker too in Baston. A good addition.

Damn it must feel fine being a Raptors fan nowdays..

[Indy]

The Raps get a pretty good shot blocker too in Baston. A good addition.

No they didn't. Not yet at least.

[Its_asdf]

I don't really see anything special with Baston. He can run and jump, but he's undersized (6'9 right?) and with no real offensive polish to his game. He's also fairly old, I think he's in his thirties.

Then again, Baston is a very Colanelo-esque player. Perhaps he can work his magic once more with this signing.

[cyanide]

The thing is, Baston played with Anthony Parker back in Maccabi, so there's good chemistry with those two. Should be interesting to see how they all mesh as a team.

[_marsal]

Even though I'm a Pacers fan, I hope Indiana doesn't match the offer. Simply because he was underrated in Indiana and didn't get much playing time. Which is wrong. He deserves at least 10-15min per game. And I see him doing well in Toronto. He is fast, very athletic and can block shots. He should be their backup PF/C. Which probably means Rasho is gone too?

[Its_asdf]

Nope, the way I see it, Rasho is fairly useful when the Raptors are playing in a more halfcourt tempo since he's fairly slow but he's had some games where he could alter a lot of shots inside. He's not worth the money he's getting right now, that's for sure, but I'm pretty happy with what he brings to the table and the chemistry that he has with the team.

[cyanide]

Yep, Rasho will be backing up Bargs, which is great, because the Raptors have a very strong team from the starting lineup to the bench.

[Ckidd--]

Starters:

C* Il Mago
PF* Bosh
SF* Kapono
SG* A. Parker
PG* Ford

2nd Unit:

C* Nesterovic
PF* Garbajosa
SF* Graham
SG* Delfino or Dixon
PG* Calderon

hm.. i like our lineups a lot. good job colangelo.

[TheMC5]

Well, I'm pretty bored right now, so I figured I might as well post a really long ramble about the Raptors. Enjoy.

Anyway, I've been thinking quite a lot about the Raptors this off-season, and there are few questions I keep coming back to:

How much of the Raptors success last season was the result of playing in a poor division, perhaps the worst division in the NBA last year?
And conversely, how much will playing in a suddenly quite competitive division impact the team's performance?
Did the Raptors get significantly better with Colangelo's off-season acquisitions?
What to do about Forderon (Ford+Calderon for the semi-literate)?

Well, I for one was rather surprised by Toronto's record last season. I watched about 60 Raptor games last year, and they really did not look like a very good team, only an above average team. I also feel that they were able to take full advantage of being above average by playing in the crappiest division in the league. If there was true parity between divisions, I'd say the Raps would have been about a .500 team. So, with the Atlantic all of a sudden looking like perhaps the strongest in the East, it wouldn't surprise me if the Raps do fall to around .500.

However, all that being said, I don't think you can overlook the addition of Jason Kapono to this team. His 3-point shooting will help everyone get better looks. Picture this offensive set, which is apparently what the Raps plan on mostly running this season: Kapono and Parker in the corners, Bargnani at the top of the arc, with Ford and Bosh running a high pick and roll. How are you going to defend that play? Bosh and Ford are both quick enough to blow by most guys at their respective positions, and then if you double, you leave an extremely deadly shooter open for 3. It might seem too simple to work, but this almost exactly what Phoenix does when they can't get points on the break. It works fantastically, and also allows getting a shot off early in the clock. So, there is a distinct possibility as well that Raps actually improve their record if this all pans out.

As for Forderon, Colangelo has all but stated that TJ is the point guard of now and the future for Toronto, and I happen to agree with him. As much as I like Calderon, Ford just has the phisical gifts that you cannot teach or learn. Calderon is good point guard, but his only advantages over Ford are defense and decision making (sometimes), both of which Ford can certainly improve with. Defense usually starts with desire, which TJ has, and decision-making usually comes with experience, which TJ is getting. So, ideally I think you re-sign Calderon if you can get him for a reasonable price, otherwise you trade him.

So in summation, the Raps seem like a bit of wild card this season. You don't really know what to expect of them. If Kapono fits and isn't too much of a defensive liability, and if Il Mago is ready for starting duties, the Raps could easily improve their record. However, if they merely tread water, the improvement of other Atlantic teams could knock Toronto down to battling for a playoff spot.

[cyanide]

Good post. I admit that when watching them, they did play above average as opposed to being a very good team. With the addition of Kapono and Delfino, I believe they're underrated. Kapono is a smart player and what I've read, a good team defender. He reminds me of a poor man's Chris Mullin, and Delfino has been doing very well in the international play for Argentina this summer. With more playing time for both of them, the Raptors are deep from center to point guard. If they have the chemistry, they will improve despite the bulking up of the Atlantic division.

I don't believe playing in a weak division last year has to do with anything. They did play a lot of games in the west coast, and won. They played a lot of road games, and won. They executed down the stretch better than previous seasons, and really, with good team play and chemistry, they'll do well in the season.

Of course, the young guys are inching closer to their prime every year, so players improve individually every year. I'm excited about this team this season. Here's how I see the roster, 10-man deep:

C: Bargnani/Nesterovic/Humphries
PF: Bosh/Garbajosa/Baston
SF: Kapono/Delfino/Moon*
SG: Parker/Graham/Jackson
PG: Ford/Calderon/Martin*

* If they're guaranteed a roster spot

The backup 5 could be starters on some NBA teams, and even the last 5 can be a backup player on any NBA team. That's how deep the Raptors are. I don't know how the rating system in NBA Live 08 works, but having them 28th overall sounds stupid.

With the unselfish play of all the players, and every one of them having a role to fill, they're gonna be a force to be reckoned with.

[Abctest123]

Joey Graham WILL NOT and CANNOT play shooting guard. Perhaps you should switch the spots of backup Delfino, with Delfino as backup SG, Graham as backup SF.

[cyanide]

^ Delfino can't play shooting guard either, but yeah, didn't know where to put Graham