Top 25 All Time Raptor Players

[Quirk]

Damon is way too high, so is Bargnani, Marc is way too low, FVV too low, and where is Gabajosa?

[guyroch]

List is pretty good. I would have found a way to add Bargnani and Marshall. Don't think I would have included Rose or Lou. Lou won 6MOY but again only one season and we got swept by the Wizards that year. Danny and Marc are different since we won a chip with them. So they have to be in here.

Bargnani had his moments as a Raptor even though we sucked and he was a big part of that. But he helped us score buckets when that was really our only calling card.

Here is my ranking:

25. Marshall
24. Oakley
23. Parker
22. TJ Ford
21. Marc
20. Danny
19. Bargnani
18. TMac
17. Christie
16. JYD
15. Serge
14. Boogie
13. FVV
12. Amir
11. A. Davis
10. MoPete
9. Jose
8. JV
7. Pascal
6. Damon
5. Bosh
4. DeMar
3. Vince
2. Kawhi
1. Kyle

Can we erase Chris Bosh from any all time Raptors list ? It seems to me in his mind he has erased any memories of his time with the Raptors . Heck you can add Davis with Chris Bosh ..

[G__Deane]

My favourite part of the whole experience was the psychological assessment that pegged him as a cold blooded killer when in fact the nonchalance was due to him not giving a shit. Whoops.

(Unfortunately?) you often have to draft kids with a bit of azzhole in their DNA to be successful. Laid back just disguises a lack of hyper competitiveness that so many elite athletes have.

[G__Deane]

Yes, and the music kids listen to these days is awful. Back in my day...

At least we're agreed there

[S.R.]

Bargs biggest problem was he had no heart.

Being grabbed and bodied or not, the dude never got mad and said "enough" Not even once.
I kept yelling at him to remember he's Italian and show some intensity. Always thought he was just taking more time to come into his own. Instead he looked sleepy most of the time, it's no wonder they beat him up in the school yard.

A 7' linguine noodle

My favourite part of the whole experience was the psychological assessment that pegged him as a cold blooded killer when in fact the nonchalance was due to him not giving a shit. Whoops.

[chris]

congrats former raptors assistant coach nate bjorkgren. he was the coach i was most worried a potential contender like philly/LAC would hire.

pacers will be good but not sure they have the top shelf talent to rise above the 4-6 spots next year. smart hire though.

[LJ2]

Playing no D, rampant phantom fouls with constant trips to the line, jacking up 3's at record rates may be moving forward but that doesn't mean in the right direction. The athletes are better, the game isn't necessarily so than a decade or two ago.

Yes, and the music kids listen to these days is awful. Back in my day...

[G__Deane]

That's just an old school guy complaining about why his brand of basketball is fading away. Same as coach Pop complaining about the game because it's so 3 point shot focused and saying it's not real basketball anymore. The game moves forward whether you like it or not.

Playing no D, rampant phantom fouls with constant trips to the line, jacking up 3's at record rates may be moving forward but that doesn't mean in the right direction. The athletes are better, the game isn't necessarily so than a decade or two ago.

[LJ2]

Because "this era plays no defense" is really popular stance these days. Listen to what D. West is saying. "They let us beat them up." He's trying to say a scrub like Bargs could be All-Star in this era. Because this era is soft. That's all

That's just an old school guy complaining about why his brand of basketball is fading away. Same as coach Pop complaining about the game because it's so 3 point shot focused and saying it's not real basketball anymore. The game moves forward whether you like it or not.

[G__Deane]

Bargs biggest problem was he had no heart.

Being grabbed and bodied or not, the dude never got mad and said "enough" Not even once.
I kept yelling at him to remember he's Italian and show some intensity. Always thought he was just taking more time to come into his own. Instead he looked sleepy most of the time, it's no wonder they beat him up in the school yard.

A 7' linguine noodle

[MixxAOR]

That's really the key part. Not sure why D. West is even bringing up Bargs name like he would have been great in today's NBA. If JV, who busted his ass on every possession, both on defense and offense, couldn't stay on the floor what chance does Andrea "defense is easy" Bargniani have? Click bait I believe they call it.

Because "this era plays no defense" is really popular stance these days. Listen to what D. West is saying. "They let us beat them up." He's trying to say a scrub like Bargs could be All-Star in this era. Because this era is soft. That's all

[LJ2]

It's a good point, but still guys like Kelly Olynyk & Frank Kaminsky are career backups, and Meyers Leonard is a 3rd string big, so big men still need to bring enough defense (post, PnR, help) to stay on the court. It's the last line of defense and coaches get fired because of that.

But yeah, some big men who could hit 3's who are out of the league now: Brian Cook, Vlad Radmonovic, Byron Mullens, Spencer Hawes, Robert Horry, Channing Frye,......

The reality is that Bargnani was never an elite 3-point shooter. He was a decent shooter with a sweet stroke, but Bargs just looked so much better because "that's a 7-footer out there, Chuck". And while Bargs was a serviceable post defender, he was clueless when it came to team defense, help and rotations.

That's really the key part. Not sure why D. West is even bringing up Bargs name like he would have been great in today's NBA. If JV, who busted his ass on every possession, both on defense and offense, couldn't stay on the floor what chance does Andrea "defense is easy" Bargniani have? Click bait I believe they call it.

[S.R.]

Andrei Kirilenko! If he could have stayed healthy. Man was a fantasy team cheat code before he got hit by injuries. Imagine him in today's game.

Then there are bigs who were great but were still asked to mostly post up, guys like Chris Webber and Bosh, they had skills their eras didn't take full advantage of (Bosh was getting there at the end in Miami). They could take you off the bounce, move the ball (especially C-Webb), and shoot 3's - today's game could make much better use of their skill set, I think they'd be even better now. There's a bunch of bigs like that historically.

This part of the evolution of the game is good. You figure out how to maximize the skills of your skilled players. Big bodies just out there to knock people around and grab rebounds are mostly out of the league. There's more room for everybody else.

[Axel]

It's a good point, but still guys like Kelly Olynyk & Frank Kaminsky are career backups, and Meyers Leonard is a 3rd string big, so big men still need to bring enough defense (post, PnR, help) to stay on the court. It's the last line of defense and coaches get fired because of that.

But yeah, some big men who could hit 3's who are out of the league now: Brian Cook, Vlad Radmonovic, Byron Mullens, Spencer Hawes, Robert Horry, Channing Frye,......

The reality is that Bargnani was never an elite 3-point shooter. He was a decent shooter with a sweet stroke, but Bargs just looked so much better because "that's a 7-footer out there, Chuck". And while Bargs was a serviceable post defender, he was clueless when it came to team defense, help and rotations.

Agreed, but there is also the coaching towards developing the right complementary skills might have helped those guys. Guys 10 years ago who could shoot but not big time players (again, Al Harrington is always the guy I think of) were constantly being derided for their inability to cover post ups of guys like West. If instead they had been coached more in ways modern guys are (think Pascal under Nurse), you have to wonder where they would have ended up. In the end, talent and drive will account for a lot, so for every guy that might be better in the modern era, there is probably another 10 who wouldn't have any tangible difference (see Myers Leonard). I doubt Bargs is part of the minority there but he'd certainly have a better chance today than he did.

[Apollo]

It's a good point, but still guys like Kelly Olynyk & Frank Kaminsky are career backups, and Meyers Leonard is a 3rd string big, so big men still need to bring enough defense (post, PnR, help) to stay on the court. It's the last line of defense and coaches get fired because of that.

But yeah, some big men who could hit 3's who are out of the league now: Brian Cook, Vlad Radmonovic, Byron Mullens, Spencer Hawes, Robert Horry, Channing Frye,......

The reality is that Bargnani was never an elite 3-point shooter. He was a decent shooter with a sweet stroke, but Bargs just looked so much better because "that's a 7-footer out there, Chuck". And while Bargs was a serviceable post defender, he was clueless when it came to team defense, help and rotations.

I think Bargnani was a better three-point shooter than his stats indicate. He wasn't coached by anyone who deserved to be a head coach in the NBA. That had an impact.