khandor’s sports blog

During Wednesday’s television broadcast of the Orlando/Toronto game, Jack Armstrong, Toronto’s analyst, made the following observation about the perceived talent level for this year’s Raptors team:  

Then, on Thursday evening , during the FAN590’s ”Hoops” broadcast, Eric Smith, Toronto’s radio analyst, tried to re-iterated this same point of view, when a caller suggested that the Charlotte Bobcats should actually be considered as “a better team with more NBA talent than the Raptors” … along with, at least, 4 other teams in the Estern Conference, i.e. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland and Atlanta.

After hearing Eric’s response to that caller, this is the exact comment [including errors] which was submitted by yours truly to his FAN590 blog, The Rap, on Friday, Dec 18 2009, at 2:17 PM:

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Hi, Eric.

I heard you on speak with a caller on last night’s show, just prior to 8:00 PM, concerning your belief that the Raptors [11-17/.393] are a better team than the Bobcats [10-14/.417]. According to what you said, your opinion was based on conversations you have had with various NBA insiders who you have encountered across the league and what their impression of Toronto and Charlotte has been to this point in the season.

Respectfully, it is my contention that you … and these NBA insiders who you happened to have communicated with regarding the relative strength of these two teams … happen to be incorrect in this assessment, and will eventually be proven wrong are the season plays itself out.

After starting the season poorly, without Stephen Jackson on their roster, the Bobcats have begun to climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference, and are now ahead of the Raptors. Although the Raptors [#4] have played a more difficult schedule than the Bobcats [#15], to this point, IMO, Charlotte has more “NBA talent” on its current roster, and should probably be expected to close out the current season by finishing ahead of Toronto in the final standings.

Calderon [+1] > Felton
DeRozan < Jackson [+1]
Turkoglu < Wallace [+2]
Bosh [+2] > Diaw
Bargnani < Chandler [+3]
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Jack = Augustin
Belinelli < Henderson [+4]
Wright < Brown [+5]
Johnson = Mohammed
Nesterovic [+3] > Diop
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Banks < Murray [+6]
Seems [+4] > Law
 Mensah-Bonsu = Graham
Evans [+5] ?
O’Bryant = Ajinca
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Triano < Brown [+7]

PS. Hopefully, the fanbase should now be able to see that we’ve been saying for a while now, re: Jose Calderon’s relative lack of individual defensive prowess not being the major catalyst for the team’s many short-comings on that side of the ball, has been a highly accurate assessment.

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As you can clearly see there are several typos and what appear to be “publication errors” contained in that specific comment, which was submitted rather hurriedly and is still awaiting moderation/publication at The Rap.

In an effort to clear up any mis-understanding which Eric Smith - or other visitors to his blog - might have … 

Here is a more “in-depth” analysis of the rosters for the Raptors and the Bobcats, with a few adjustments to the initial ratings that more accurately reflect the current state of affairs with these two teams, from the perspective of this coner:

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Visitors here are invited to elaborate further on their own answer to this question in the comments section.

Earlier in November, Bryan Colangelo was quoted in an interview with Eric Smith [FAN590], as saying:

“ … we’ll know what we’ve got by the end of the month.”

For the benefit of those now looking ahead in the schedule:

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Use the comments section to elaborate on your answer.

Related:

Raptors Face Major Decisions About Bosh and the Future

In the interview Bryan Colangelo did with Eric Smith [FAN590], prior to the Raptors’ win vs the Bulls [Nov 11 2009], he said the following words:

“We’ll know what we’ve got by the end of the month.”

The Bosh Factor: Bryan Colangelo Won’t Be Patient With Early Losses

At the time, Toronto’s W-L Record was 3-4/.429.

11 days later, it is now 6-7/.462, good enough for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division and 9th place in the Eastern Conference.

Beginning with this afternoon’s home game vs Orlando, the Raptors will play 7 games over the next 11 days:

Game 14 Sun Nov 22 vs Orl [10-3/.769; 1st Southeast, 2nd EC]

Game 15 Tue Nov 24 vs Ind [5-5/.500; 4th Central, 8th EC]
Game 16 Wed Nov 25 @ CHA [3-9/.250; 4th (tie) Southeast, 10th (tie) EC]

Game 17 Fri Nov 27 @ BOS [9-4/.692; 1st Atlantic, 4th EC]

Game 18 Sun Nov 29 vs Pho [10-3/.769; 1st Pacific, 1st (tie) WC]

Game 19 Tue Dec 01 vs Was [3-9/.250; 4th (tie) Southeast, 12th (tie) EC]
Game 20 Wed Dec 02 @ ATL [11-3/.786; 1st Southeast, 1st EC]

which will take the team to the 1/4 pole of the regular season schedule.

This is the specific stretch of games that will reveal exactly what type of team the Raptors have, at the moment, and what can be expected from this group for the remainder of the season should there be no further major player personnel and/or coaching changes going forward.

While some voices in Raptorville believe the team’s performance during this stretch will turn out to be a source of tremendous optimism, and preceed a gradual upswing in the standings, as the season progresses …

45 Wins, and How the Raptors Will Get There [5-2, Nov 22 to Dec 02]

looking ahead, in September, from the vantage point of an astute NBA observer, this corner did not share that same perspective:

Raptors half-way through their first 20 games

According to his record, as a General Manager, Bryan Colangelo has a well-documented history of making an assessment of his team’s situation sometime in the first two weeks of December.

Tic toc, tic toc, tic toc … [Apr 11 2008]

If he likes what he has seen to that point, he continues moving forward, as is.

If, however, he does NOT like what he “thinks” he sees from his team … then, the fanbase best be prepared for a seismic shift, in terms of either player personnel and/or the head coach position.

Of scorpions, frogs, GMs & coaches [Apr 30 2008]

Wait a second … what’s really going on here [Dec 04 2008]

What is really going on here: Part II [Dec 05 2008]

Of scorpions, frogs, GMs & faces of the franchise [Mar 25 2009]

The next 2 weeks should prove to be a most interesting time in the 15 year history of the Toronto Raptors franchise. 

Related:

VC Declines Honour

It seems as though a certain segment within Raptorville is, once again, suffering from grotesque “delusions of grandeur”, regarding the actual ability and hoped for improvement of Andrea Bargnani [C, 7-0, 250, 2006 No. 1 Overall Selection] this off-season.

i.e. According to Doug Smith, in a segment on PrimeTime Sports [FAN590] yesterday, a legitimate case can be made that Bargnani might qualify as the 2nd Best Center in the Eastern Conference [EC] over the course of the 2009-2010 season.

The following list contains the names of the 15 Centers expected to play this position for their current teams, in the EC next season:

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers [1]
Kendric Perkins, Boston Celtics [2]
Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic [3]
Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks [4]
Jermaine O’Neal, Miami Heat [5]
Samuel Dalembert, Philadelphia 76ers [6]
Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls [7]
Rasheed Wallace, Detroit Pistons [8]
Jeff Foster, Indiana Pacers [9]
Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats [10]
Brook Lopez, New Jersey Nets [11]
Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee Bucks [12]
Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors [13]
David Lee, New York Knicks [14]
Brendan Haywood, Washington [15]

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Although yours truly usually finds very little to agree upon with host Bob McCown that is not the case in this instance.

According to these eyes, whoever happens to agree with Doug Smith, in this regard, is quite likely to be suffering from a form of Post-Concussion Syndrome … as there are, at least, 7 players who should be listed ahead of Il Mago on a depth chart of this sort looking forward just 1 season.

As was said yesterday in this space, there are Those who understand how The Game works and those who do not.

According to yours truly … in general … Dave Feschuk [Toronto Star columnist] is someone who fits into the former category.

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Dealing O’Neal could prevent Raptor implosion
How did it go so wrong, so quickly? Clearly the summertime trade that brought O’Neal to Toronto for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and a first-round draft pick, panned in this corner as it happened, is a failure. Colangelo spoke before the season of his belief that O’Neal would fill a hole in the club’s defence and rebounding corps – but they’re as bad as they’ve ever been in both categories. Colangelo figured O’Neal would complement Chris Bosh, the resident all-star, but O’Neal, when healthy, has largely been an older, slower duplicate to Bosh.

And though O’Neal is a public-relations genius who unfurls a yarn with the skill of 100 spin doctors, you can’t help but think that his unwillingness to play through pain and his diva-esque demeanour have been at least partly responsible for the palpable lack of chemistry on this season’s squad.

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There are very few authentic visionaries in this world, and those who are DO NOT operate best via consensus … which is the stated M.O. of the Raptors’ President/GM.

Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C & Exhibit D

“The answer to the riddle is found in the original source material.”
- khandor

As a Raptors fan, you need to Listen to the whole thing.

[audio=http://qml.quiettouch.com/files/radio/fan590/hotaudio/bc-pt-20081208.mp3]

Of Scorpions, frogs, GM’s and coaches [April 30, 2008]

Nothing more and nothing less than THAT.

According to a report on FAN590 radio, this is how things are shaping up during the early stages of training camp for the Toronto Raptors:

STARTING UNIT: Calderon, Parker, Moon, O’Neal & Bosh

2nd Unit: Ukic, Kapono, Graham, Humphries & Bargnani

Reserves: Solomon or Adams & Jawai or Sampson

As straight-forward, conventional line-ups go, in the NBA … if the Raptors eventually decide to stick with this one - i.e. using Kapono & Graham as the primary back-ups for Parker & Moon, at the 2 & 3 positions, respectively - they are going to find themselves in a solid position to compete night-in and night-out with the other 2nd tier group of teams in the Eastern Conference, on the heels of Detroit and Boston … so long as there are no major injuries to Bosh, O’Neal or Calderon.

As is … the major problem with this team is the overall Lack of Quality Depth … but, there’s no denying the fact that the squad has 10 pieces to the puzzle of a 15-piece Playoff Contender Set, in the Eastern Conference, this season.

If Raptors fans everywhere do their best to avoid (i) crossing paths with Black Cats, (ii) walking underneath ladders, and (iii) breaking mirrors, etc., who knows … maybe just this one time, this team can roll the dice, in this way, and gingerly side-step the injury bugaboo that almost always rears its head and derails the best laid plans of mice & men who try to play the game with a short stack.

Although, in general … high risk, low reward propositions seldom produce a winning combination, in the NBA, over the long grind of an 82-game season.

For the benefit of Raptors fans everywhere …

Sam Mitchell speaks on the FAN590 [Fri Sep 12 2008]

[audio=http://qml.quiettouch.com/files/radio/fan590/hotaudio/sammitchell2-gp-20080912.mp3|bgcolor=#0000ff|leftbg=#ff0000|slider=#00ff00]

… about the arrival of Jermaine O’Neal, the play of Chris Bosh & Jose Calderon at the Olympics, the quality of his wardrobe, the expected improvement of Andrea Bargnani, what builds good character, which players are going to get the most playing time this season and at what positions, plus what’s needed for the Raptors to advance in the NBA Playoffs.

Pay particular attention to the final half of the interview … from the 7:15 mark on …

“We’ve got to rebound the basketball. I think we’ve proven, since I’ve been here, that we’ve been able to score the basketball fairly well … but our Defense & Rebounding, it starts with the Defense and you finish it off [on the] on the Defensive Boards. We got to play D and Rebound the basketball … you’re not going to win, you’re not going to win … being 29th in the league in Rebounding.”

and, then, what he has to say in his closing comments:

“We’re not going to change a lot of things. A lot of the stuff we run Chris & Jermaine can do. We run a lot of Double-High Post-ups, which is great for those guys … and the difference is … you know, also … we can put both Chris and Jermaine down on that Low Post, at times, [and] and command the basketball … we’re excited with the team, I like our basketball team, on paper … if we can stay healthy … but, again, it’s all going to be decided once we get on the floor.”

It is going to be a most interesting season in Raptorville.

For the benefit of Raptors fans everywhere … 

Bryan Colangelo speaks on FAN590/PrimeTime [Tue Sep 09 2008]

[audio=http://qml.quiettouch.com/files/radio/fan590/hotaudio/bryancolangelofull-pt-20080909.mp3|bgcolor=#0000ff|leftbg=#ff0000|slider=#00ff00]

Pay particular attention to the final segment … beginning approximately @ the 25:00 mark … during which the Raptors’ GM discusses: (i) Ball-stoppers in the Low Post; (ii) having enough talented play-makers to gain the trust of said Ball-stoppers; and, (iii) a realistic picture of where he sees this team stacking up this season in the Eastern Conference with the likes of Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Washington, etc.

As is … there’s a lot to like about this team, this season … but, also, a healthy dose of trepidation, as far as the actual amount of improvement which is likely to occur in the immediate future.

The Eastern Conference is improving, on the whole … and the Raptors could well be treading water for several seasons to come.