Just Enjoy The Ride...

[MACK11]

i actually watched the knicks game and just sat there slack jawed at the knicks play by play guys questioning why we weren't using JV vs Amundson more.

Were 70 games in, it's clear this team will not use JV in any manner. It doesn't matter if 5'9" Isaiah Thomas was guarding him

[mcHAPPY]

My confession.

I am just another schlepp fan on a forum who has watched/followed the game for awhile...so what do I know.

I shall just say with all the promise the same group (with a couple of positive additions I thought) have started to play a pretty disorganized and inconsistent style as compared to end of last season/playoffs. My own view is that this is on the coaching staff. They seem to be either unable to dissuade this style of play or abet in it's continuance. Can they tell that the opposition are in on their methods? This is the offense mostly but it probably affects the defense as well. I also suspect that there may be an over reliance on some advanced stats (eg. affecting JV's usage and too many 3s hoisting). This would have to be an organizational thing/responsibility....so MU/Weltman would have to be in on this. All to say the team seems to be forcing things rather than last year when it seemed much more in flow.

In anycase I am now left hoping there is some purposeful reasoning to continuing with the coaching methods used and/or a light will go on suddenly and they play with the intensity they did in the last playoffs. Rationally, I would consider these hopes in the "grabbing at straws" category. But lightning strikes....right?

I am a Raptors fan after all.

I can only pray Masai went to Casey after last season and said "tell me what you want...how do you want to play? What type of players do you want?"

Based on the success of last years team and the relatively short term contracts given or taken on to everyone involved (1 year Lou lou, 2 years - Casey, Vasquez, JJ, 3 years - PP) it doesn't seem far fetched.

Given how unsuccessful the last 3/5 of the season has been, hopefully MU says enough and makes a team in his own philosophy.


I am totally talking out of my ass here which hopefully didn't need to be said but I will just in case. The reason I hope this is because if it is not accurate then the franchise continues to be fucked.....royally.

[ceez]

i actually watched the knicks game and just sat there slack jawed at the knicks play by play guys questioning why we weren't using JV vs Amundson more.

[Bandit]

Great post. What happened to all that promises ?
Is it that t.Ross really did not develop and actually regressed ?
Is it that J.V. did not become a dominate force inside like some people thought he would be?
Is it that Amir Johnson is clearly hurt and not able to contribute as much as he used to ?
Is that GV and 2Pat are not the same guy as last year?
Maybe it is the fact the Bruno and Bebe , the main addition of this summer are not where close to contributing ?

Is it ALL on Casey ?
Could MU see this coming ?

Every part of me wants to believe that MU did indeed see this coming and has been working behind the scenes ready to pull a string and have everything fall into place... That everything happening has been planned in the back of his head and he has a fix for it.

This summer will hopefully reveal some light on the whole situation. If it doesn't? Well maybe I'll start watching curling or amateur golf or something next year. I couldn't find that any more dull than watching this, could I?

[ceez]

i'm completely emotionally unattached to this season at this point. i've watched so few games lately it's kind of sad.

the effort on D is dismal at best and watching JV's progress suffer at the hands of such an inept coach makes me furious. i can't handle it.

[white men can't jump]

I thought Hubie Brown was going to have an aneurysm out of sheer disgust when he called our game.

Now, even Leo and Jack have started to get in on it, and they're paid to be homers.

Leo especially. Jack would always criticize at times. He gets away with it because with his voice everything sounds ridiculous. Recently though, Leo's been more critical of the team than I think he's ever been in their entire history. He was always very reluctant to say anything bad before...but I guess we're playing so badly even Leo can't stand it.

[Bendit]

Great post. What happened to all that promises ?
Is it that t.Ross really did not develop and actually regressed ?
Is it that J.V. did not become a dominate force inside like some people thought he would be?
Is it that Amir Johnson is clearly hurt and not able to contribute as much as he used to ?
Is that GV and 2Pat are not the same guy as last year?
Maybe it is the fact the Bruno and Bebe , the main addition of this summer are not where close to contributing ?

Is it ALL on Casey ?
Could MU see this coming ?

My confession.

I am just another schlepp fan on a forum who has watched/followed the game for awhile...so what do I know.

I shall just say with all the promise the same group (with a couple of positive additions I thought) have started to play a pretty disorganized and inconsistent style as compared to end of last season/playoffs. My own view is that this is on the coaching staff. They seem to be either unable to dissuade this style of play or abet in it's continuance. Can they tell that the opposition are in on their methods? This is the offense mostly but it probably affects the defense as well. I also suspect that there may be an over reliance on some advanced stats (eg. affecting JV's usage and too many 3s hoisting). This would have to be an organizational thing/responsibility....so MU/Weltman would have to be in on this. All to say the team seems to be forcing things rather than last year when it seemed much more in flow.

In anycase I am now left hoping there is some purposeful reasoning to continuing with the coaching methods used and/or a light will go on suddenly and they play with the intensity they did in the last playoffs. Rationally, I would consider these hopes in the "grabbing at straws" category. But lightning strikes....right?

I am a Raptors fan after all.

[SamMitchells]

Just Enjoy The Ride...

I don't even watch games anymore.
Just wiaiting for the playoffs.

I must say , I really enjoy the bickering that goes on here, more entertaining than the raptors games themselves.

[iblastoff]

There's no good pick coming in next season and we're going nowhere in playoffs. Treadmill existence. Our only hope is that Masai does something AMAZING in off season which is unlikely. We're looking at maybe one more year of pointless playoffs before bottom dwelling East teams overtake us.

wtf is 'pointless playoffs' even mean????? are you on some championship or bust kick or something? we've been to the playoffs ONCE in a long time and all of a sudden people's expectations become WAY higher than they should be. lol @ "pointless playoffs". ever heard of playoff experience??

remember last year when a single nets player had more playoff minutes than our entire team? yeah that shit matters.

[KHD]

Listen to the opposing broadcasting team incredulously imply "WTF are they doing?!?!?" Game after game and you'll realize the situation is likely not as inviting as a 42-28 record and 3rd seeding might appear.

Masai does have assets and cap space to work with....more than ever before really. I hope he makes some big changes.

I thought Hubie Brown was going to have an aneurysm out of sheer disgust when he called our game.

Now, even Leo and Jack have started to get in on it, and they're paid to be homers.

[mcHAPPY]

The bottom line is this; everyone needs to take a deep breath. We are a very young, better than average team in the NBA. We have an abundance of cap space and a core to build around. These things take time to develop and don't happen overnight. Lets give these guys a chance to make something happen in the playoffs before we write them off. We sill have a long way to go and thanks to MU, we are in a great position going into the off season given that we have expiring contracts, cap space and a winning culture to attract high end players.

Listen to the opposing broadcasting team incredulously imply "WTF are they doing?!?!?" Game after game and you'll realize the situation is likely not as inviting as a 42-28 record and 3rd seeding might appear.

Masai does have assets and cap space to work with....more than ever before really. I hope he makes some big changes.

[raptor_dave<>]

The bottom line is this; everyone needs to take a deep breath. We are a very young, better than average team in the NBA. We have an abundance of cap space and a core to build around. These things take time to develop and don't happen overnight. Lets give these guys a chance to make something happen in the playoffs before we write them off. We sill have a long way to go and thanks to MU, we are in a great position going into the off season given that we have expiring contracts, cap space and a winning culture to attract high end players.

[MixxAOR]

There's no good pick coming in next season and we're going nowhere in playoffs. Treadmill existence. Our only hope is that Masai does something AMAZING in off season which is unlikely. We're looking at maybe one more year of pointless playoffs before bottom dwelling East teams overtake us.

[mcHAPPY]

This is ugly, uninspiring, unintelligent basketball.

Sadly there is very little to enjoy this season, at least for me.

There is always one constant for a raptor fan: maybe next year.

Sorry for bringing the gloom.

[Bonus Jonas]

Great post. What happened to all that promises ?
Is it that t.Ross really did not develop and actually regressed ?
Is it that J.V. did not become a dominate force inside like some people thought he would be?
Is it that Amir Johnson is clearly hurt and not able to contribute as much as he used to ?
Is that GV and 2Pat are not the same guy as last year?
Maybe it is the fact the Bruno and Bebe , the main addition of this summer are not where close to contributing ?

Is it ALL on Casey ?
Could MU see this coming ?

Find out next week on Dragon Ball Z