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I thought it might be interesting to explore why the Raptors might, or might not be a better team this year by having all of the substantive differences listed in one place. Which ones are important, which ones don't matter, which ones are positive, which ones are negative and which ones are not being talked about but should be.
Off the top of my head and in no particular order ( I'd be interested in other people's thoughts and rankings of the importance) I can think of:
1. Scola gone and replaced by a better rebounder and offensive force in Sullinger
2. Biyombo gone and rebounding missing from the second unit
3. JV hit a higher gear in the playoffs before his injury. He might be able to reproduce his effort and results during the regular season
4. Carroll is back and in condition to play like the guy we were expecting to see.
5. DeMar got paid, got respect, made the all star team a second time and has a gold medal to show for this summers work.
6. Lowry got respect, made the all star team and has a gold medal to show for this summers work.
7. Lowry in a contract year.
8. Norman is starting the season in a different place in Casey's mind, in terms of understanding what he has to offer.
9. Casey has two rookies who look he believes can actually contribute this year.
10. Sullinger in on a "prove em" contract after watching scrubs get multi million dollar contracts.
11. Some assistant coaches moved on and a couple of new guys are in.
12. Casey saw a few different things last season. He may be better able to make in game adjustments, and may have learned to trust younger players a little bit.
13. Two seven game series exposed specific flaws in the Raptors system and sequences. The coaching staff has had months to go over the videos and to come up with solutions for essentially the same players. This should lead to improved usage of personnel.
14. The core has been together for three years and has gone through some tough times and seen some success. There should be a high level of trust and a very solid knowledge of their individual capabilities and roles. This should lead to overall improvement.
15. DeMar has had ample opportunity to identify the flaws in his game. He seems to be dedicated to improvement. He has spent three years with the US national team and seen their system and should recognize the advantages of improving his "facilitation" game, since that has been his role with the national team. Maybe it translates.
16. Cojo has played the biggest team role in his professional basketball life. He must have learned some things about his game and his role on the Raptors that allowed him to target some specific areas to improve over the summer.
17. Masai has seen the result of his "stick with the core" philosophy. He should have been able to make an assessment of where it is likely to lead this team. I suspect he has made his mind up what to do about it...either go with the flow to continue to milk the current roster for steady profit, or make some kind of a move to try and kick it up to a higher level.
That's my two cents.
What do you think is different?
Off the top of my head and in no particular order ( I'd be interested in other people's thoughts and rankings of the importance) I can think of:
1. Scola gone and replaced by a better rebounder and offensive force in Sullinger
2. Biyombo gone and rebounding missing from the second unit
3. JV hit a higher gear in the playoffs before his injury. He might be able to reproduce his effort and results during the regular season
4. Carroll is back and in condition to play like the guy we were expecting to see.
5. DeMar got paid, got respect, made the all star team a second time and has a gold medal to show for this summers work.
6. Lowry got respect, made the all star team and has a gold medal to show for this summers work.
7. Lowry in a contract year.
8. Norman is starting the season in a different place in Casey's mind, in terms of understanding what he has to offer.
9. Casey has two rookies who look he believes can actually contribute this year.
10. Sullinger in on a "prove em" contract after watching scrubs get multi million dollar contracts.
11. Some assistant coaches moved on and a couple of new guys are in.
12. Casey saw a few different things last season. He may be better able to make in game adjustments, and may have learned to trust younger players a little bit.
13. Two seven game series exposed specific flaws in the Raptors system and sequences. The coaching staff has had months to go over the videos and to come up with solutions for essentially the same players. This should lead to improved usage of personnel.
14. The core has been together for three years and has gone through some tough times and seen some success. There should be a high level of trust and a very solid knowledge of their individual capabilities and roles. This should lead to overall improvement.
15. DeMar has had ample opportunity to identify the flaws in his game. He seems to be dedicated to improvement. He has spent three years with the US national team and seen their system and should recognize the advantages of improving his "facilitation" game, since that has been his role with the national team. Maybe it translates.
16. Cojo has played the biggest team role in his professional basketball life. He must have learned some things about his game and his role on the Raptors that allowed him to target some specific areas to improve over the summer.
17. Masai has seen the result of his "stick with the core" philosophy. He should have been able to make an assessment of where it is likely to lead this team. I suspect he has made his mind up what to do about it...either go with the flow to continue to milk the current roster for steady profit, or make some kind of a move to try and kick it up to a higher level.
That's my two cents.
What do you think is different?
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