Raptors Players Short of Preseason Expectations? Not Exactly

[obviouslywow]

Weems/Jack - clearly exceeded expectations

Bosh/Amir Johnson - somewhat exceeded expectations

Bargs/DD/Rasho*/Banks* - about what was expected(*when we've needed them, not much ill admit)

Calderon/Wright - somewhat below expectations

Hedo/Belinelli/Evans - well below expectations

Perhaps you had higher expectations for DD, a raw looking kid who isnt a huge factor many nights but provides a nice spark on others is what i expected. Starting him all year may have raised the bar for some.
I would say looking at it player by player, this team has been about even when comparing pleasant surprises to busts. Consider our luck with injury, outside of one fairly minor injury to Bosh and of course Reggie who is a pretty small piece of the puzzle, you wonder why this team is fighting for a playoff spot.

I think the finger needs to be pointed at the coaching staff. As a Canadian i was rooting for Triano but if we had a coach who could coax just mediocre defense out of this team and make any kind of in game adjustments as far as substitutions, we could be anywhere from 5-8 games ahead of our current pace.

You may be thinking, "but obviouslywow, that would put us in the 5th seed - precisely where we found ourselves under Trianos guidance up until Bosh went down!" This is true, but it sure felt like we were winning in spite of the coaching, not because of. More often than not his substitutions left you scratching your head, he pays no attention to what is working on a particular night. He also has done a terrible job with Hedo, waiting 70 games to send a message to the guy, after babying him all year(including camp). It really feels like ANYONE with a basic understanding of the game could do a better job simply by paying attention to what works and what doesnt.

[ScottBaird]

Whose expectations?

"Weems/Jack - clearly exceeded expectations"

Agreed.

Bosh/Amir Johnson - somewhat exceeded expectations

Also Agreed... although Bosh may belong in the above category. He really went nuts this year with going to the rim and rebounding, compared to previous years. I'd say he definitely exceeded expectations, if you forgive him the last month (where he still puts up his 20+, 10+)

Bargs/DD/Rasho*/Banks* - about what was expected(*when we've needed them, not much ill admit)

Rasho will always be in this category. I expected a bit more from Bargnani- he has these amazing games, and he just lags on others. I expected more consistency.

Calderon/Wright - somewhat below expectations

Why is Wright here? What did you expect him to do- lead the team? I admit that Calderon has been slightly disappointing this season, but aspects of his game have definitely improved (pushing the ball up the court, alley-oops, etc.) Defense still an issue- wish we'd hide him more on the worse 2-guards of the league.

Hedo/Belinelli/Evans - well below expectations

This is Hedo's home this year. And Belli's. Reggie deserves to be in the above group- he's coming off a very long absence, and you should forgive him that. He still hustles more in his five minutes of PT than Bosh and Bargnani do all game. And he's definitely had an impact with Amir, who has become the skinny brother he never had.

Scott.

[Tim W.]

Hey, I had the entire Raptors pegged at 45 wins, and that did not include an injury that probably knocked 3 or 4 wins off their total. As for players...

Jack was about where I expected him. Not sure why you guys were expecting less. I thought he was one of the better signings in the NBA for the MLE.

Weems was WAY above expectations, mostly because I never even expected him to stick with the team. A HUGE surprise for me.

Bosh is about where I thought he'd be this season. I predicted him to have a career year, although I thought he'd make a bigger impact on the defensive end.

Johnson is slightly better than I expected.

Bargnani, I wasn't too sure what to expect from him, but he's probably a little better than I had expected him to be. But just a little.

I said at the beginning of the season that if DeRozan averaged between 8-12 ppg, then it would be a success. I think it has been.

Calderon has not had the season I expected. I thought he would be where he was before he signed his contract.

Wright is about where I thought he'd be, but maybe a little bit better of a three point shooter than I was expecting, at least lately.

Turkoglu is obviously below expectations.

I expected bigger things from Belinelli, and still do. He's been hurt the most by Weems' improvement.

Evans is right about where I thought he'd be. I remember writing this right before Reggie returned from injury: "I give it a month before people start griping about his inability to pass and penchant for forcing shots." And that's what happened.

[ScottBaird]

I expected bigger things from Belinelli, and still do. He's been hurt the most by Weems' improvement.

Gotta say, I think Weems has benefitted the most by Belinelli's inconsistencies. At the start of the season, I would have played Belinelli before Weems in a heartbeat. But he threw his "off-the-bench-first" role away himself- not because Weems played so well, but because he played so poorly.

Scott.

[Bendit]

POB called and he is really really upset for not being mentioned.

[LBF]

POB called and he is really really upset for not being mentioned.

haha, you want to know what i called him the equivalent of one time pooh on bricks.

kind of funny but i thought it would get him going.

[Tim W.]

Gotta say, I think Weems has benefitted the most by Belinelli's inconsistencies. At the start of the season, I would have played Belinelli before Weems in a heartbeat. But he threw his "off-the-bench-first" role away himself- not because Weems played so well, but because he played so poorly.

Scott.

Ya, you could be right. I also think Belinelli's back injury helped a lot too. Not much has been written about it, but he has not had consistent minutes after missing time with it.