TANK vs ANTI TANK - SUPER THREAD - The Because I Can't Keep Track Edition

[Westvleteren]

We are only 3 games out of 1st place in the tank race with a full roster & no injuries thus far. Now, trade Lowry for nothing (maybe a future pick or something like that) & have D.J. Augustine be the starting point guard with Dwight Buycks & Julyan Stone as back-ups .... let's see what happens.

Also, there are 65 games left.

Exactly what I keep thinking. Wait until we get a rash of injuries and see how bad things look. I still think there won't be a conscious effort to tank, though. Close to the trade deadline, MU will just look to see if Novak, Hansbrough or Lowry can be turned into picks or prospects.

Still, people fret too much. Massai knows Rudy is going nowhere because no GM will risk having him picking up that option for next year. He also knows that Rudy won't want to stick around here for rebuilding when the Lakers or some other desperate team will throw money at him. There's a good chance he bolts this summer. We also only have one more year of Field's terrible contract. By the summer of 2015 BC's damage will be undone, we''ll have a bit of cap room and hopefully a few picks/prospects in addition to our 2014 pick. We should all feel confident that MU will do at least as well as he did in Denver at collecting assets. Only the ownership here says they will spend to win. I think the dark days are almost over. (And I'm not a new fan, nor am I young) Cheers!

[yukhan1980]

Exactly what I keep thinking. Wait until we get a rash of injuries and see how bad things look. I still think there won't be a conscious effort to tank, though. Close to the trade deadline, MU will just look to see if Novak, Hansbrough or Lowry can be turned into picks or prospects.

Still, people fret too much. Massai knows Rudy is going nowhere because no GM will risk having him picking up that option for next year. He also knows that Rudy won't want to stick around here for rebuilding when the Lakers or some other desperate team will throw money at him. There's a good chance he bolts this summer. We also only have one more year of Field's terrible contract. By the summer of 2015 BC's damage will be undone, we''ll have a bit of cap room and hopefully a few picks/prospects in addition to our 2014 pick. We should all feel confident that MU will do at least as well as he did in Denver at collecting assets. Only the ownership here says they will spend to win. I think the dark days are almost over. (And I'm not a new fan, nor am I young) Cheers!

Hopefully MU feels and thinks the same way

[Fully]

Grange: Rebuild on it's way

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/n...g-for-rebuild/

No folks, the rebuild is underway.

For all of Leiweke’s championship-or-bust evangelicalism, he’s wise enough to know that title-contending franchises are build on a foundation of multiple productive drafts and years of salary-cap flexibility. He didn’t give Ujiri a five-year contract with instructions to rush the job.

Ironically it has never been more tempting or potentially rewarding for the Raptors to think short-term and try to augment their current roster with an eye toward breaking their playoff drought down the road. But if there’s one bit of good news in the current gloom is that there have been assurances from Leiweke on down that the mistakes of the recent past won’t be repeated.

Playoffs or bust isn’t the mantra. The goal is a long-term solution to years of on-court woes. There is an awareness that there is no quick fix. That clarity is perhaps the only thing Raptors fans will have to cheer about for some time to come.

[Rapstor4Life]

Lieweke said so? I read this last night, but its Grange saying so not actually Ujiri or Lieweke saying it right?

We all know Tim's thoughts on this he was thinking blow up right away but trusted his GM.

[Nilanka]

Looks like Grange has been reading RR too

[phez]

i never like grange's reporting

[Nilanka]

i never like grange's reporting

I actually think he's been one of the more rational writers covering the Raptors, even going back to his days at the G&M.

[slaw]

Say what you want about Grange but he does have connections at MLSE.

In any case, despite the musings of some people on this site, in particular certain podcast hosts, there is no quick fix for this team. Fixing the disaster BC left is going to take years. It's why he should have been fired in 2009 and not 2013. You not only lost those years, you lose the next 3 years which will be spent cleaning up the mess.

The front office got swept clean last offseason. I suspect the roster will be swept clean, as much as possible, over this year and the next while management scrambles to acquire as many assets as possible. It sucks that more losing is on the way but these people presenting or believing in all these 1-hour, instamatic, quick-fix solutions are selling snake oil. BC tried that approach for years and failed. More of the same is an exercise in madness.

[torch19]

I'll watch as many games as I possibly can, just make it interesting. That's all I ask. Play the right way on both ends, work your ass off & be the "young & exciting" team that doesn't win close games -- & I'll be alright.

Sent from my C6506 using Tapatalk

[stooley]

Colangelo should have been fired before he had the chance to extend Bargnani, but the real problem was the ignorance of his bosses at MLSE. Working for people that stupid means you've got to work overtime trying to explain things to them. Colangelo would have been fine working for Marky Mark Cuban or someone like that.

off-topic? check
opinionated? check
backed up? um....

[Bendit]

Sometimes I wonder if there should be a mandatory reading list of threads before people are allowed to post on this topic lol. Same arguments and counter arguments for months.

Honestly, I wonder sometimes if the ADD (attention deficit disorder) malady has not infected this site.

[Nilanka]

Do the anti-tankers realize that if we finish with the 3rd worst record, we have a 100% chance at a top 6 pick?

None of us concerned about "winning the lottery".

[KazanTheMan]

Ujiri on TSN1050

I took this "Summary" from a poster on REALGM, and it basically sums up what happened in the interview.

Summary:
- Had his first child
- Attended Syracuse vs. Indiana game rather than watching Warriors vs. Raptors game.
- Have to fix the collapse that happened in the 4th quarter
- Warriors are unbelievable (trying to cover up Raptors' mistake with Warriors' talent?)
- Job is 82 games, job is to evaluate the team
- Toronto is in a lot of conversations around the league.
- Currently evaluating team, will continue to make calls and communicate with others to figure out how to make the team better or which direction to go.
- WE WILL NOT BE CAUGHT IN NO MAN'S LAND IN NBA (referring to treadmill?)
- One issue he's evaluating is the fact that we have same kind of players in the roster.
- Does not think that there is selfishness in the team, just that the style of the players is causing lack of ball movement.

[Axel]

Do the anti-tankers realize that if we finish with the 3rd worst record, we have a 100% chance at a top 6 pick?

None of us concerned about "winning the lottery".

I saw a tweet saying something to the affect of: The New York Knicks are a 3 game change (W/L) from being either a 1/2 game out of the division lead or being 0-16.

[Bendit]

Good grief, it is depressing to see your understanding of the state of the franchise all put in print cogently. It does seem like Grange wrote the piece with some inside-knowledge of conditions which makes the "tepid interest" in Lowry kind of disappointing.