ESPN TrueHoop: Are Rising Raptors here to stay?

[mcHAPPY]

Last year, Toronto overtook Chicago in population, making it the third-largest city with an NBA team (and that doesn't account for the rest of Canada). It touts one of the most energized fan bases in the league. Drake hangs out there a lot. Plus, Kevin Durant is signing with the Raptors in 2016. Seriously. Ask Drake about it.

Under the best of circumstances, the Raptors’ path from good to great still probably stops a few kilometers short of a championship. But success is a process, and improving the future requires investing in it.

“People always put a ceiling on all of us, as players. 'You only can be this good' or 'when you get this age, you only can be this good.' I don't look at nothing like that,” DeRozan said. “There's always something you can get better at, and you can take that same approach in life. There's always something out there that you can work on. I never could be great at everything, but I'm gonna work at everything to be good at it."

Having a ceiling is nothing to be cynical about. It’s just a natural byproduct of getting off the floor.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/blog/trueho...s-here-to-stay


Good read. Click it.

I feel like DeMar is talking directly to me - lol

[chico]

Yup, good read. Thanks

[iblastoff]

gonna be really pissed once maple leaf / raptors square is officially named FORD square. ugh.

[Mack North]

gonna be really pissed once maple leaf / raptors square is officially named FORD square. ugh.

It's not.

http://www.cp24.com/news/maple-leaf-...-all-1.2031269

*edit: I don't care what the hell "they" wanna call it. It's Raptors Square/Jurrasic Park to me.

[Jclaw]

Not as much love from SI

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/10/20/nba...purs-cavaliers

First SI power rankings came out today. They rank us....15th overall but worse yet, 6th in the East. Cleveland and Chicago I see. We've been tossed back and forth with Washington. They've got us behind Miami (11) and Charlotte (12). Finally, someone to prove wrong. I was getting a bit too giddy with all the Raptor love going around. But I guess that's as high as you can expect to be ranked when your all star isn't even one of the best 60 players in the league.

[007]

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/10/20/nba...purs-cavaliers

First SI power rankings came out today. They rank us....15th overall but worse yet, 6th in the East. Cleveland and Chicago I see. We've been tossed back and forth with Washington. They've got us behind Miami (11) and Charlotte (12). Finally, someone to prove wrong. I was getting a bit too giddy with all the Raptor love going around. But I guess that's as high as you can expect to be ranked when your all star isn't even one of the best 60 players in the league.

Well, even if we have a worse record then Miami, Charlotte, Cleveland, Chicago and Washington we'll still get the 4th seed because I don't think we're going to get passed by the Knicks, Nets, Celtics or 76ers (lol).

[Heatdreamer]

Only way if Nets, find the fountain of youth, dont think that is happening.

[Shirokin]

Demar mentioning Landry like Landry going to be getting some pt lol.

[Shirokin]

Only way if Nets, find the fountain of youth, dont think that is happening.

Brook Lopez, Bogdanovic, Karasev, Jefferson... but I agree with you. Not sure if Karasev and Jefferson will get any minutes (as in don't think they are good enough to get minutes lol) and I think Lopez recently had an injury too.

[007]

lol, Lopez will never be effective, injuries killed and will continue to kill his career.

[Shirokin]

Idk about that. He's really only missed two seasons (which is a lot I admit) and play 74 games + post season just two years ago. Hopefully his body gets back on track, he's a really good center.

[Superjudge]

hahaha Cnn has always hated Toronto... NBA and NHL. Its funny

[knowledgep]

Idk about that. He's really only missed two seasons (which is a lot I admit) and play 74 games + post season just two years ago. Hopefully his body gets back on track, he's a really good center.

He already has issues this year, he's going to join Yao in retirement.

[psrs1]

Well, even if we have a worse record then Miami, Charlotte, Cleveland, Chicago and Washington we'll still get the 4th seed because I don't think we're going to get passed by the Knicks, Nets, Celtics or 76ers (lol).

Seeding matters less than who we play in the first round.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Seeding matters less than who we play in the first round.

If your mentality is to look beyond just the 1st round, then seeding is far more important, to ensure you have home-court advantage as long as possible. Whether it's seeding or using roster spots to matchup against a specific player, a true culture change would be to start thinking about winning in the grand scheme of things, not just focusing on getting to the playoffs or out of the first round.