khandor’s sports blog

The 5 teams in the Atlantic Division finished in the following order last season:

1. Boston Celtics, 62-20/.756, 2nd East, Lost 2nd Round 
2. Philadelphia 76ers, 41-41/.500, 6th East, Lost 1st Round  
3. New Jersey Nets, 34-48/.415, 3rd East, Missed Playoffs
4. Toronto Raptors, 33-49/.402, 13th East, Missed Playoffs
5. New York Knicks, 32-50/.390, 14th East, Missed Playoffs

At this point in the off season, the teams have made the following player personnel changes:

BOSTON CELTICS
Significant Losses
1. Leon Powe [PF], UFA
2. Mikki Moore [PF-C], UFA
3. Stephon Marbury [PG]
4. Gabe Pruitt [PG-OG]

Significant Adds
1. Lester Hudson/2nd Round Draft Pick [No. 58, overall]
2. Rasheed Wallace, UFA
3. Sheldon Williams, UFA
4. Marquis Daniels, UFA

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Significant Losses
1. Reggie Evans [PF], trade
2. Andre Miller [PG], UFA
3. Theo Ratliff [PF-C], UFA

Significant Adds
1. Elton Brand [PF], returns from injury
2. Jason Smith [PF-C], returns from injury
3. Jason Kapono [SF], trade
4. Jrue Holiday [PG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 19, overall]  
5. Rodney Carney [SF], UFA

NEW JERSEY NETS
Significant Losses
1. Vince Carter [SF-OG], trade
2. Ryan Anderson [PF], trade

Significant Adds
1. Terrence Williams [SF-OG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 11, overall]
2. Courtney Lee [OG], trade
3. Rafer Alston [PG], trade
4. Tony Battie [PF-C], trade

TORONTO RAPTORS
Significant Losses
1. Jason Kapono [SF], trade
2. Shawn Marion [PF-SF], UFA/Sign & trade
3. Kris Humphries [PF], trade
4. Nathan Jawai [PF-C], trade
5. Anthony Parker [OG-SF-PG], UFA
6. Joey Graham [SF], UFA
7. Roko Ukic [PG], trade
8. Carlos Delfino [SF-OG], trade

Significant Adds
1. Reggie Evans [PF], trade
2. DeMar DeRozan [OG-SF], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 9, overall]
3. Hedo Turkoglu [SF], Sign & trade
4. Antoine Wright [SF-OG], trade
5. Jarrett Jack [PG-OG], RFA
6. Marco Belinelli [OG-SF-PG], trade
7. Rasho Nesterovic [C-PF], UFA
8. Amir Johnson [PF], trade 

NEW YORK KNICKS
Significant Losses
1. Quentin Richardson [SF-OG], trade
2. Chris Wilcox, PF-C], UFA

Significant Adds
1. Danilo Gallinari [SF-PF], returns from injury
2. Jordan Hill [PF-C], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 8, overall]
3. Toney Douglas [PG-OG], 1st Round Draft Pick [No. 29, overall]
4. Darko Milicic [PF-C], trade
5. Sun Yue [PG], UFA

While several NBA observers seem to think the Raptors SHOULD be much improved this coming season, based on the wholesale changes made to their roster … this corner does not necessarily share that same opinion, when evaluated against the LOSSESS & ADDS of the other teams in their Division.

Q1. Have the Raptors improved, overall, from last season, relative to their competition?

A1. Maybe; maybe not … is the correct answer, at this point.

The Knicks and Nets are in re-building mode, and the Raptors SHOULD have been expected to finish this coming season in NO WORSE than 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Celtics and, possibly, the 76ers … even if they would have done “nothing” substantive to improve their team this summer.

However, given that doing “nothing” was in fact the OPPOSITE of what the Raptors decided to do this off season … i.e. see above … it SHOULD now be EXPECTED that this supposedly improved team SHOULD finish NO WORSE than in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division behind the Boston Celtics.

Once this expectation is established, what then becomes interesting is …

if the divisional standings eventually look something like this:

ATLANTIC
1 Boston
2 Toronto or Philadelphia
3 Philadelphia or Toronto
4 New York or New Jersey
5 New Jersey or New York

and the conference standings eventually look something like this:

SOUTHEAST
1 Orlando
2 Atlanta or Miami or Washington
3 Miami Atlanto or Washington
4 Washington or Atlanta or Miami
5 Charlotte

CENTRAL
1 Cleveland
2 Detroit or Chicago or Indiana
3 Chicago or Detroit or Indiana
4 Indiana or Detroit or Chicago
5 Milwaukee

and the playoff race eventually looks something like this:

Eastern Conference
1-2-3 Orlando - High End, Southeast
1-2-3 Cleveland - High End, Central
1-2-3 Boston - High End, Atlantic

4-5-6 Atlanta - Upper Middle, Southeast
4-5-6 Miami - Upper Middle, Southeast
4-5-6 Washington - Upper Middle, Southeast

7-8-9-10-11-12 Detroit - Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Chicago - Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Indiana - Middle, Central
7-8-9-10-11-12 Toronto - Middle, Atlantic
7-8-9-10-11-12 Philadelphia - Middle, Atlantic
7-8-9-10-11-12 Charlotte - Low End, Southwest

12-13-14-15 Milwaukee - Low End, Central
12-13-14-15 New York - Low End, Atlantic
12-13-14-15 New Jersey - Low End, Atlantic

indicating, perhaps, that the relative strength of each division may be shifting this season:

#1. Southeast
#2. Central
#3. Atlantic 

IF a scenario like this is eventually what plays out this season, then, how much will the Raptors really have improved this summer, relative to the other teams in their Division and the Eastern Conference, as a whole?

Watching a game like this one, last night, lays bare many of the problems with the Raptors’ organization, in comparison with an outfit like the Lakers.

The next BIG game on the NBA schedule happens this evening, in Boston, between the Lakers and the Celtics … and the Showtime.v2.crew was clearly in a Resting/Conservation State for last night’s encounter with the Raptors.

FINAL SCORE: RAPTORS 107, Lakers 115
Game Info

Despite the fact that Misters Gasol, Bryant and Odom played 44, 37 and 33 minutes, respectively, in no way were the Lakers’ three best players in last night’s game pushed to give their maximum effort. In reality, the Lakers cruised through much of this game, i.e. just doing enough to get buy … despite the absence of Andrew Bynum and the fact they were trailing on the scoreboard until well into the 4th quarter … with 11 players seeing action altogether, 10 of them for at least 8 minutes, and 9 of those for a minimum of 13:52 [i.e. Josh Powell].

When the game needed to be won, however … in the final 4 minutes of the 4th quarter … Kobe & Co. simply put their collective foot on the gas, and accelerated away from the Raptors.

Whoever thought that the Raptors’ player roster heading into this season would be good enough to compete with a LEGITIMATE CONTENDER for the NBA Title, like the LA Lakers:

was simply looking at the situation with their Eyes Wide Shut, including the Raptors’ President/GM, Bryan Colangelo.

The stark reality is that this Raptors’ team has only Andrea Bargnani [No. 1/2006] and Nathan Jawai [No. 41/2008] to show from the last 3 NBA Drafts [i.e. 2008, 2007 & 2006], and precious few tangible assets that are coveted by other organizations across the League upon which it can realistically hope to build a solid franchise for years to come.

After fielding a competitive roster a year ago which looked like this:

Sam Mitchell, Alex English, Mike Evans, Jay Triano
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Ford-TJ, Parker-A, Delfino-C, Moon-J & Bosh-C
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Calderon-J, Kapono-J, Graham-J, Bargnani-A & Nesterovic-R
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Martin-D, Garbajosa-J, Baston-M, Humphries-K, Brezic-P,

12 months later … the Raptors currently have a 19-32/.373 W-L record, are in last place in the Atlantic Division, are in 14th place overall in the Eastern Conference [out of 15 teams], and have an Interim Head Coach, Jay Triano, who has actually been a member of their coaching staff since the days of Lenny Wilkens.

Due to the way in which MLSE chooses to operate its pro sports franchises - please see the Toronto Maple Leafs, as a prime example - there is absolutely ZERO ["0"] chance that Raptors’ President/GM [Mr. Colangelo] will be the one who takes full responsibility [and the fall] for this sorry situation.

The best that Raptors fans everywhere can hope for now …

* With Jose Calderon on the shelf yet again with his recurring hamstring injury

* With Chris Bosh on the shelf now with a sprained right knee

* With Kris Humphries on the shelf with a broken fibula

and,

* With an oft-injured $21 Million per year player like Jermaine O’Neal on the books, in the first place, until the summer of 2010

… is that he [Mr. Colangelo] doesn’t panic and, instead, makes a worthwhile transaction or two during this next off-season, in and around the 2009 NBA Draft and the UFA signing period.

The current season for the Raptors is now officially a Lost Cause.

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FWIW …

know, as well, that the Raptors did, in fact, lose the battle in almost every meaningful statistical category for last night’s game.

To this point in his 4-yr NBA career, THIS is who Trevor Ariza is and exactly what he’s done.

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Q1. Where does he go from here?

A1. He becomes a clone of this player and wins his first NBA title this spring, riding shotgun for Black Mamba, this generation’s equivalent of His Airness.

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Scottie Pippen [6-7, 228, G-F] … as an All-NBA defender, a good passer, a very good rebounder, a competent ball-handler, and a solid secondary scorer … was a tremendous complementary player to Michael Jordan, playing for the Chicago Bulls [6-time Champs], under the direction of Phil Jackson.

A decade later, it says here & now that Trevor Ariza [6-8, 210, G-F] is composed of similar material, and ready to fulfil the same role [i.e. Robin] with the Los Angeles Lakers this season, in conjunction with Kobe Bryant [i.e. Batman] and the ZenMaster.

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More About these Statistics

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As a further point of comparison:

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What say you?