Are the Raptors really that bad ?

[Nilanka]

I don't think they are comparable at all. I think the 2006 team was incredibly soft.

So is the current team (mentally soft, that is)...who also happens to be a jump-shooting team.

[BasketballCrush]

I don't think this bunch is a jump shooting team, we get good production out of our big men. Lots of dunks and garbage cleanup by the likes Acy and Fields, Davis and Amir.

I see good players getting locked down. I saw Carter struggle for the first time at the ACC under this squad.


As far as basketball is concerned, I am entertained at both ends of the floor. The 2006 team was horrible when it came to grit, it took us 5 years just to shed the soft label that other players stuck us with. Not to mention how finicky those supposed core players were and how fast they jumped ship. How quickly they pissed on this franchise so that they could feel some NT glory.

[Nilanka]

I don't think this bunch is a jump shooting team, we get good production out of our big men. Lots of dunks and garbage cleanup by the likes Acy and Fields, Davis and Amir.

I see good players getting locked down. I saw Carter struggle for the first time at the ACC under this squad.


As far as basketball is concerned, I am entertained at both ends of the floor. The 2006 team was horrible when it came to grit, it took us 5 years just to shed the soft label that other players stuck us with.

I understand that you didn't like the way the 2006-07 team played (I prefer a defense-first approach myself), but there's no mistaking that they were the better team (compared to the current squad).

Other than Bargnani, there weren't any "young players hoping to reach their potential". Every rotation player were proven/consistent/veteran players who knew how to get the job done. The current squad, on the other hand, has trouble finding consistency in a dictionary.

[BasketballCrush]

I disagree. Think this team would kill the Garbo team, with their eyes closed. I don't even think it would be much of a contest.

[Nilanka]

I disagree. Think this team would kill the Garbo team, with their eyes closed. I don't even think it would be much of a contest.

At the end of the day, you can't argue with the results. A .573 winning percentage led by a 20/10 Allstar in Bosh, versus the current .366 led by Calderon.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

At the end of the day, you can't argue with the results. A .573 winning percentage led by a 20/10 Allstar in Bosh, versus the current .366 led by Calderon.

That '06-07 team had ball movement and team play that the current team can only dream about! The current team would be destroyed without a doubt. That team let the stigma of playing Carter get in their head; they should have easily coasted into the 2nd round of the playoffs (at least).

[BasketballCrush]

At the end of the day, you can't argue with the results. A .573 winning percentage led by a 20/10 Allstar in Bosh, versus the current .366 led by Calderon.

You can focus on the record all you want, but that team overachieved and it was obvious to all, they just weren't as good as their record indicated. This team is the opposite. Somewhere they have to meet in the middle.

Carter did not stop the Raptors that year, Miki Moore did. He shut down our franchise player when it counted. That is all we had, none of the other guys could step up when it counted.

IMO the 2006 team was so overrated (should of been a 41-41 team, if they were in the West they would have been 37-45). That team also hid the fact that we had a horrible GM.

[BasketballCrush]

To compare just the wins is silly. The Okley Carter team, did not win as much as the Garbajosa team, who do you think would come out on top? Records don't always tell the whole story, ask the Lattrell Sprewell Knicks.

[Nilanka]

You can focus on the record all you want, but that team overachieved and it was obvious to all, they just weren't as good as their record indicated. This team is the opposite. Somewhere they have to meet in the middle.

Carter did not stop the Raptors that year, Miki Moore did. He shut down our franchise player when it counted. That is all we had, none of the other guys could step up when it counted.

IMO the 2006 team was so overrated (should of been a 41-41 team, if they were in the West they would have been 37-45). That team also hid the fact that we had a horrible GM.

Even if they were really a .500 club masquerading as a division champion, that's still faaaaar better than the current team.

Highlighting the fact that Bosh was easy to neutralize, doesn't say anything about how bad the current team is. The current team neutralizes themselves on most nights.

As for the Carter/Oakley team, they won 47 games too.

[BasketballCrush]

Again, I disagree. Think the match up here is the real challenge for the 2006 roster. That team relied on the 3pt shot, no one was doing any work inside. Rasho was as slow as molasses.


Against this squad, they would be toast every time. I would bet my mortgage on it. Garbajosa's cigarette smoking ass would twist an ankle. Rasho would we so exposed against our young big guys. It would not even be close. Ford would be on the floor with a spine contusion, trying to do everything himself around the basket.


I cant see the 2006 team even getting 2 games out of a possible 7. I really can't.

[Nilanka]

Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[BasketballCrush]

I could actually see Jack, saying "Well you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot". We would shrug our shoulders and say its just another one of those 2006 games, where our SHATS are not falling. (everyone being totally oblivious to good D)


I know you guys think otherwise, and we will have to disagree, but I don't even think it would be close. I honestly think the game would be over in the 3rd quarter, with Acy seeing major minutes in the 4th.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I could actually see Jack, saying "Well you live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot". We would shrug our shoulders and say its just another one of those 2006 games, where are SHATS are not falling. (everyone being totally oblivious to good D)

What I don't understand about your argument, is how you seem to be avoiding the fact that living/dying by the jump shot has been this year's team's MO. This team has horrible ball movement offensively and when the 3pt shots aren't dropping, they struggle to stay competitive. Yes, Davis and Amir have had a good run as of late, but they are still primarily a jump-shooting team. The quality of shooters on the '06-07 team is head-and-shoulders above this year's team.

[BasketballCrush]

I think we have great ball movement, depending on the point guard that starts. I honestly do not think of this team as a jump shooting team, they play both sides of the ball and the bigs are not trying to hit 3 point shots. The 2006 Andrea could not even get on that starting roster with this squad, he just did not rebound.


As for the jump shooters of 2006, didn't we end the season 2-8, with our 47 wins? We were a really bad team heading into the playoffs. We had some runs during that season against some bad teams, but once they figured out how to play us, we were toast, and we all saw it coming.


EDIT: if my memory serves me correctly, the only player that stepped up in the PO and played on both sides of the ball that year was Morris Petterson. (In fact, I think our overachievement in 2006 screwed up our team for years to come. We should of seen it for the illusion that it was, but we did not.)

[BasketballCrush]

BTW,

The main reason we are not a jump shooting team, like 2006, is that even when our shots are not falling and we are shooting below 400 we are still finding ways to keep up with our opponents. There has only been 1 or 2 games were I knew we were done. We always are in it, even when our players are struggling. Granted we have come up short, but we always seem to make game out of it down to a possession or two.