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  • More Good News!

    Just got this from ESN Insider

    Toronto Raptors: Unlike the five previous teams on this list, Toronto will not be in the playoffs. Nonetheless, the Raptors' reign as the league's most permissive defense appears to be over. Operating with basically the same players who finished last in defensive efficiency a season ago, new coach Dwane Casey has them in the middle of the pack at 15th. Yes, the early schedule has been soft, but for the Raptors to show any spine at all on D is hugely newsworthy -- and obviously speaks well for Casey.



    The Raps have one other big surprise for us: the 3-point shooting of DeMar DeRozan. He made five triples all last season; he matched that total Wednesday night alone. For the season, he's 10-of-16 from long range, after going an abysmal 5-for-52 in 2010-11. Using the 3 to add some efficiency to his high-volume game increases his value dramatically; we'll be watching to see whether this is a fluke or something longer lived.

    As with Minnesota, there is a giant chink in the armor -- the fact Rasual Butler has started six games at small forward says all you need to know about that position in Toronto. Nonetheless, the Jose Calderon-Andrea Bargnani pick-and-roll combo is clicking and the Raps are a surprising 3-3 with a positive scoring margin. Consider this the first baby step on the road back to respectability.
    Source: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...et-investigate
    Last edited by mcHAPPY; Thu Jan 5, 2012, 05:08 PM. Reason: Referenced material quoted

  • #2
    Good suff and more recognition for our beloved Raps. I like DDs production this year...if he gets close to 20 ppg, who cares if he is slashing?? Bargs looks completely different his season. Calderon is back to his double double self. Gotta agree with the Butler thing though.

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    • #3
      I love that last line:

      "Consider this the first baby step on the road back to respectability."

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      • #4
        I bet Triano is feeling like a POS right about now.
        NBADoppelgangers.tumblr.com

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        • #5
          Nice article. Its nice to read some positive things about the Raps for a change.
          Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

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          • #6
            e2thed wrote: View Post
            I bet Triano is feeling like a POS right about now.

            HAHAHAHA!! I was thinking the same thing. Anytime I see something about Casey or the progression of the Raptors, I just see JT snapping clipboards all over the place!

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            • #7
              JT snapped 20 clipboard in a row. They should hire him to spar with JJ

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              • #8
                Last sentence in the first paragraph says "the early schedule has been soft". Really? OK, Cleveland twice(although they were 3-2 coming in here last night). But Dallas, Orlando and NYK on the road is considered easy? As well as the upstart Pacers? I decided to stop reading after that...

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                • #9
                  I thought that was a little crooked too

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                  • #10
                    EVEN MORE STUFF ON ESPN TODAY!!! Maybe a new thread needed but whatevs

                    4. Buy or Sell: Toronto Raptors (3-3)






                    Henry Abbott, ESPN.com: Sell. Remember all those teams that didn't hire Dwane Casey? He's making them look foolish right now, having reinvigorated players like Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon. But they have already been losing to the good teams, and at some point DeMar DeRozan will presumably stop making 63 percent of his 3s.

                    Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Sell. They can't keep playing the Cavs, can they? They look improved but I worry about what happens to them when the schedule gets tougher. This team could be dangerous in a year or two but they will definitely take a few bumps this season to knock them back down to earth.

                    Danny Nowell, Magic Basketball: Buy. The Raptors aren't a playoff team, or even a very pretty one, but Dwane Casey finally gave this team an identity and some defense. They're still paying actual currency to Amir Johnson and Linas Kleiza, but if Bargnani keeps getting buckets this year, they'll be more respectable and promising than they have been in years.

                    Jeremy Schmidt, Bucksetball: Sell. Two victories over the Cavaliers and one over the Knicks in disarray aren't all that impressive. The Raps are an average offensive team and an average defensive team right now, and while Dwane Casey is a great coach, it's probably going to take a talent overhaul for that defensive number not to plummet.

                    Royce Young, Daily Thunder: Sell. Dwane Casey's awesome motivational tactics aside (there's a 1,300-pound rock in their locker room!), the Raptors will come back to reality at some point. They aren't this good of a defensive team, and while DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani are a reason to believe a bit, there's just not enough depth and talent on the team to stay out of the high lottery.


                    source:http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...surprise-teams

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                    • #11
                      mikeyraps wrote: View Post
                      EVEN MORE STUFF ON ESPN TODAY!!! Maybe a new thread needed but whatevs

                      4. Buy or Sell: Toronto Raptors (3-3)
                      At the end of the day, everyone is saying, yes the Raps are playing well but its only 6-games into the season. Lets see there record after 30 games played.

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                      • #12
                        mikeyraps wrote: View Post
                        Good suff and more recognition for our beloved Raps. I like DDs production this year...if he gets close to 20 ppg, who cares if he is slashing?? Bargs looks completely different his season. Calderon is back to his double double self. Gotta agree with the Butler thing though.
                        same here. why not start j.j.

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                        • #13
                          Stahmenah_Vybz wrote: View Post
                          same here. why not start j.j.
                          Personally, I like JJ of the bench. It is a much needed energy boost.

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                          • #14
                            Not so sure I would classify Demar as a "volume shooter". But everything else seems about right. I agree with a lot of the post here too. Our schedule isn't as easy as the analysts think it was, but we're still only 6 games in so we will all just have to wait and see. I suppose this is why the league insists on every team playing a lot of games in a season ....duh.
                            Welp, that sucked.

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                            • #15
                              The news about the Raps get even better when you look at other team situations such as Sacramento (Cousins drama, new coach), New York (high expectations, low results), New Jersey (D-Will tuning out, potentially losing him), and the Washington Generals (selfish play, bad attitudes). Things are certainly brighter north of the border.
                              “The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

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