Written by Bill Ingram and not regular Raptor scribe Stephen Brotherston. Worth the click. I only too Colangelo's quotes. Ingram seems pretty optimistic on the Raptors - that or it was a condition of the interview... "Spin me positively, Billy!"
http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-rap...rade-bargnani?
Really? Shit man, I've seen this movie before and the ending always sucks. As an eternal optimist for years on Toronto, I might be the best contrarian indicator going. I feel absolutely little to no optimism when it comes to anything associated with Toronto outside of Valanciuanas. Maybe they'll turn it around next year after all.
Boozer for Bargnani and a pick.... make it happen Bryan.
“We really struggled out of the gate, going 4-19,” Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo explains to HOOPSWORLD. “You can probably pinpoint many reasons for the bad start…schedule, injuries, inexperience, a few league-acknowledged bad calls, but lack of execution was a primary cause. Since then we have gone 28-29, which is a pretty dramatic swing, but the hole we dug early was a little too deep. You add to that a significant in-season trade that completely changed the dynamic of the team and you are practically asking for inconsistency. A lot was thrown at this team and this staff this year, but they never stopped fighting.”
“Even better than expected,” says Colangelo of his rookie. “He began the year coming off a two-and-a-half-year stretch without even a day off. He was likely a little overwhelmed at first with his new surroundings, unfamiliar basketball terminology and ideals, but his injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He was able to take a breath and see things from a different perspective. He came back more poised, more deliberate. The game really seemed to slow down for him and he seems much more comfortable on the court. His Rookie of the Month award for March speaks to his rapid development and progress as the year has passed. He’s a wonderful young man, a tremendously hard worker and a budding future star. If I were a stock analyst I would definitely rate him a BUY.”
“We obviously had some frank discussions with Andrea and his agent that a change of scenery might benefit everyone, but his two random and unrelated elbow injuries dismissed whatever trade scenarios were being contemplated,” Colangelo explains. “With the timing of his injuries, we simply just ran out of runway prior to the trade deadline. As far as value, I would disagree [that his is low], good size-to-skill ratio is a commodity in this league, especially the way the game is trending. If Andrea stays, however, I’m hoping [head coach Dwane] Case[y] can find a way to duplicate his tremendous start to the 11-12 campaign, where he was performing at an All-Star level on both ends of the floor.”
“We gave up a protected first (1-3) for Kyle Lowry and our second in the Rudy Gay trade, so realistically we may have to sit this one out,” says Colangelo. “Given the underwhelming depth and strength of this draft and the fact that we are currently developing three promising rookies in Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross and Quincy Acy, we are not overly concerned about that. If there was ever a year to not have a pick, this is the one. Having said that, if we move up in the lottery and end up with a top pick, we do like a few guys on the board.”
“Very clearly, veteran presence and leadership will go a long way in rounding out our very young nucleus,” says Colangelo. “We can certainly add some mental and physical toughness to our mix too. A full training camp will obviously help everyone, but I do really like the talent level of the young core we have in place. Of course, we need to add a piece or two to the mix, but we should get appreciably better with our efforts of growing organically.”
The core group in Toronto is impressive, even more impressive than the one that had most of us believing the team would make the playoffs this season. Despite their struggles of late, there’s every reason to believe that with a couple of tweaks this team should be right back in the playoff chase next season.
Really? Shit man, I've seen this movie before and the ending always sucks. As an eternal optimist for years on Toronto, I might be the best contrarian indicator going. I feel absolutely little to no optimism when it comes to anything associated with Toronto outside of Valanciuanas. Maybe they'll turn it around next year after all.
Boozer for Bargnani and a pick.... make it happen Bryan.
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