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Can all this tank talk seroiusly hurt Toronto Raptor's fanbase and attendance?

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  • #16
    Maybe temporarily.

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    • #17
      I'm willing to bet that the declining fanbase has less to do with "tanking" discussions, and more to do with sucking for the past 6 years.

      And some fans actually want to continue the "let's just try and squeeze into the 8th seed" plan that is directly responsible for the past 6 years. Unreal.

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      • #18
        Nilanka wrote: View Post
        I'm willing to bet that the declining fanbase has less to do with "tanking" discussions, and more to do with sucking for the past 6 years.

        And some fans actually want to continue the "let's just try and squeeze into the 8th seed" plan that is directly responsible for the past 6 years. Unreal.
        Reminds me of the great Simpsons quote from Kang

        "We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom."

        Heir, Prince of Cambridge

        If you see KeonClark in the wasteland, please share your food and water with him.

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        • #19
          Axel wrote: View Post
          Reminds me of the great Simpsons quote from Kang

          "We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom."
          lol

          "We are merely exchanging long protein strings. If you can think of a simpler way, I'd like to hear it."

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          • #20
            I think what's been pretty bad this year are the tv numbers. I read something somewhere but more people are watching figure skating and curling over basketball. It has been really bad.

            Bryan was great at getting the casual fan base excited by the moves he made (getting Jay Triano, Euro ball, going after Nash, signing Hedo, trading for Gay, etc).. however he also never created a team that was any good for the long haul.

            As MU keeps saying in his interviews.. it's easy to put together a playoff team. It's easy to get short term success. That's great for viewership for that year but it's not sustaining. I personally would love the Raptors to be relevant again, but I also see that it needs to finally go through a proper rebuild. Once the rebuild is done well I think the Raptors will become a team that most people will be talking about on a regular basis.

            MLSE has enough in the bank to keep the Raptors a float while the rebuild is happening. TL seems to be on board and he's the guy running the show in the background. If MLSE didn't like the tv numbers or the number of tickets sold, then I'm sure we'd be seeing different moves from MU by now.

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            • #21
              Raptorfanatic wrote: View Post
              I have been a die hard Raptor's fan since the beginning.
              I follow Raptors Republic daily and enjoy much of the discussion.
              However all this tank talk is starting to wear on me..... to the point ...that Raptor's management intends to weaken the team to afford a chance for a top lottery pick.


              My family and I make a trip to Toronto as often as humanly possible often paying in excess of a $1000. on tickets for the best seats that are available. However, honestly I do not intend to spend this money this year with the idea that Toronto is in it to lose !
              I am afraid my interest in the team is rapidly declining. I have stopped watching games on TV for the first time that I can recall.

              The sad part is I am probably not the only one that feels this way.
              I haven't read the replies here yet, so sorry if I am reddundant (see that I did there?)in my reply. Let me explain it as simply as I can Mr. Fanatic.

              If you're around professional sports long enough, and you start, as you grow in your own life as a man or woman, into a professional yourself, to see the clear patterns in ways professional sports teams operate in order to stay viable over the long haul. The long haul for them being 10-20-30-40 years. Professional franchises are built cyclically as the main product is produced by employees that have turbulent reliabilities. They age, they lose (rather than gain as in most other business categories) their acute skills, and they at times simply want to move on.

              The good owners are best at recognizing the precise moment that its time to stop chasing the prize for a few years, so they can break it all down, and re-start the growth cycle. Fans get a bit angry, but then start to really follow the developing youth, creating a bond that fans create with their heros. It works, has worked for years, and will always work. Where there is an issue, is when you have a team that doesn't want to commit 100% to that process. Toronto is a prime example. If you don't break it all the way down, you don't take advantage of the policies in place to help weak teams get better. Its pretty widely accepted that even if you land a high pick, that pick won't work out, but thats the way it goes. The issue for teams that don't compete, is that they don't put themselves in a position to hit the jackpot nearly enough.

              Toronto has people in place that seen willing to do it the proper way. A new ownership, new President who has some serious rep following here to Toronto, a new GM that seems to be pretty serious about doing things the long, hard way. This all points towards a proper rebuild. So maybe, Fans in Toronto might get a bit pissy, they have a right to, but that will be a short lived dip once you see the fruits of the new managements efforts. Should this management succeed, and turn this franchise into a competitive one, you will see the same process play out over the next 20-30 years as you watch the game.

              Hang in there Mr. Fanantic, it will get better.

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              • #22
                CalgaryRapsFan wrote: View Post
                Hardcore fans understand the truth about this team and the realities of the NBA, so are likely more willing to embrace a true rebuild (which the team should have done from the moment Bosh didn't re-sign before his final season and only did for a single season before being unnecessarily accelerated in an attempt to save BC's job).
                Something I wish people would get their head around is that the GM, in this case, Bryan Colangelo, has a job to do, and that job, is mandated by the ownership's wishes. You have a shitty Ownership group, one that meddles, makes Basketball decisions they aren't qualified to make, and demand you try to win games, you get what you got with Colangelo. Why else do you think there was such a wild array of moves, failures and escapes

                I would think a lot of you might be fascinated to spend a weekend at a cottage shooting the shit with BC, it might really open your eyes to what the guy went through. He made mistakes, most do, but he had reasons for some of them, I am sure of it.

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                • #23
                  I am not sure it is really possible to damage the Raptor brand any more than it has been damaged the last 10 years or so. The Raps have good attendance numbers despite years of futility and their tv numbers are fine (given that it is almost an entirely regional audience - about 23 people outside of Toronto care about this team).

                  Firstly, there's a reason Masai and Leiweke want Wiggins so bad. It's not just about his being a potential superstar: it's about ticket sales and TV ratings. Andrew Wiggins on the Toronto Raptors means a season of sellout games. It means tripling TV ratings overnight. If the team gets BETTER with Wiggins playing (and it should), you're looking at the Vince Carter effect all over again, except this time so much more important and special. The casual fanbase gets excited about Jamaal Magloire being a consultant, that's how much being Canadian matters to Canadians.
                  I honestly don't think this can be overstated. In my demographic, I know lots of casual sports fans who rarely watch basketball. Each and every one of them has watched the Kansas Jayhawks this year. If Wiggins turns into a star in Toronto, it will make the Raptors as important as the Jays nationally.

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                  • #24
                    Craig wrote: View Post
                    Something I wish people would get their head around is that the GM, in this case, Bryan Colangelo, has a job to do, and that job, is mandated by the ownership's wishes. You have a shitty Ownership group, one that meddles, makes Basketball decisions they aren't qualified to make, and demand you try to win games, you get what you got with Colangelo. Why else do you think there was such a wild array of moves, failures and escapes

                    I would think a lot of you might be fascinated to spend a weekend at a cottage shooting the shit with BC, it might really open your eyes to what the guy went through. He made mistakes, most do, but he had reasons for some of them, I am sure of it.
                    Not convinced this is the case. One could just as easily say that management hired Colangelo because they trusted him, and were willing to step aside and allow Colangelo to undo Babcock's mess as he sees fit. It's just as plausible that Colangelo convinced ownership this his plan was the right one, not necessarily the other way around.

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                    • #25
                      Craig wrote: View Post
                      Something I wish people would get their head around is that the GM, in this case, Bryan Colangelo, has a job to do, and that job, is mandated by the ownership's wishes. You have a shitty Ownership group, one that meddles, makes Basketball decisions they aren't qualified to make, and demand you try to win games, you get what you got with Colangelo. Why else do you think there was such a wild array of moves, failures and escapes
                      I have it on fairly good authority that this was not the case. Colangelo had the reins to himself right until the end. I agree only to the extent that the old ownership group was awful. If they had known what they were doing, they would have fired Colangelo years earlier.

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                      • #26
                        I'd love to hear from that authority. He may have had full reigns for the actual moves, but he didn't make the call on the direction. It became more and more apparent as the years went on.

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                        • #27
                          I stated this before. All the teams that are tanking have given their fanbase a few playoff games over the years. Plussss. They have 1 or 2 young studs. Raptors have none. DD and JV should be getting a taste of playoffs this year. As a hardcore fan I know the importance of a great team. But we are looking at another 3 or 4 years of this. More years of Toronto being the laughing stock of the league. On the flip side. Tank this year take a gamble on a great prospect and splash some cash and we could be a contender in 2 years. That's what I believe the plan is.

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                          • #28
                            the other half of the fans haven't noticed the tank
                            What they got to say now? Nothing they can say now. Mobbin' on the low. Winnin' on the low
                            The city embraced me, made me feel at home. The only difference [between Compton and Toronto] for me is the cold. -DeMar
                            No Where Near the South Side #WeTheNorth

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