Kelly: Raptors fans need to find a balance on their emotional see-saw

[DanH]

But see-saws are fun. Ask any three year old.

[planetmars]

My expectations were in check.. but when the Raptors play bad basketball, they play "BAAAAADDDDD" basketball. Just fugly. And that is what gets me upset. I have no problems if they lose but are playing the right way. And this fugly basketball is what lead to the #FireCasey tirade.

When a team is young and is just developing prospects, the bad basketball is taken with a grain of salt because everyone is basically new to the game.. but when you have a team of veterans that don't know how to play its irritating.

The Triano era was hard to watch and there were veterans, but I could put the blame squarely on Bargnani's shoulders because he was the worst basketball player ever, and I'm not exaggerating. Hard to put the blame on a single player this time around, but there is definitely blame to be had even if this team is winning more then losing.

[KeonClark]

Don't tell me how to cheer muthafuckas!!!!


oh dear, I'm so sorry. I get a little emotional with the Raptors.


.....But don't tell me how to cheer you sonsofbeeotches!!!!


Ooops, I did it again.

This post made me happy. Then upset. Then happy again.

[golden]

Emotional see-saw = passion
Emotional Balance = apathy

Pop nails it, as usual. This is special. Cathal Kelly flubs it, as usual.

[Puffer]

Nice article and good advice. Sooooo easy to shoot way way up and then just crash.

[mcHAPPY]

Don't tell me how to cheer muthafuckas!!!!


oh dear, I'm so sorry. I get a little emotional with the Raptors.


.....But don't tell me how to cheer you sonsofbeeotches!!!!


Ooops, I did it again.

[mcHAPPY]

Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri formally addresses his team three times a year. The start of the season, the eve of the playoffs and when it’s all over.

He’s two weeks from delivering his next message. What will it be?

“I don’t know yet,” Ujiri says, sitting in his office at 50 Bay St.

“We believe in them. We honestly believe in them. Even in the down times. When we’re losing games …” – Ujiri goes through the first names of every one of his regulars – “… they’re hurting. That’s a good start. That’s a really good start.”

Before it all gets frantic, this might be the time to consider that that’s the key word when it comes to the Toronto Raptors – “start.” The past two years have been the beginning of something.

“As a city, as a country, we have to learn how to win, too,” Ujiri says. “I know [the fans] are starved for something. I understand that. But be a fan of the game, be a fan of the team and the culture, and grow with it. Don’t put it up at a level it’s not …” – Ujiri indicates a point high above his head – “and don’t kill us at a level it’s also not …” – and Ujiri holds his hand down to the floor.

The atmosphere that emotional see-saw creates may be unmatched in the NBA. After a game in Toronto this year, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich found Ujiri and told him, “I hope you understand how special this is. Enjoy it.”

It’s good advice for the rest of us as well, because history suggests getting beyond the current stage is going to take a while. The arc of the NBA is long, and it often bends away from success.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle23756362/