Colangelo the Chemist

[slowandeasy]

What an off season for our Raptors, and excitement for the fans of Toronto...

First Colangelo wins the Lottery..... drafts a tall Italian kid and a feisty guard.. finds a guy to play Center.....next he trades a promising rookie for lightening fast guard.....picks up 2 time player of the year (Euro League) an international player for $4 mil/year (Parker)..... trades a 2nd round pick for a swingman at almost $5mil/year (6' 6" with 7.5ppg . 2.7rpg and 2.7apg in 25.1 minutes... Finally he wants to bring in Garbajosa a 6' 7 player from Spain...

Add to the mix.. Bosh, Petersen, Graham and Calderone shoes, and our crazy coach Sam Mitchell.... I like it, it's exciting.... great to have some guys coming to town who are excited about playing.... Parker seems NBA ready, and has a good attitude.... Nesterovic should be able to contribute, Barganini had a couple of good games in summer league, And Salmons offered solid minutes in Philly.....

But how are they going to gel in Toronto??? Are we going to get off to another 0 - 10 start?? God I hope not... but I am looking forward to the start of the season...

 

[slowandeasy]

Well, I guess we'll see whether Mitchell can actually coach in this league or not. He certainly doesn't have any more excuses about a lack of talent. Colangelo put together the orchestra, now can Mitchell conduct?

I don't know... Colangelo has put together an orchestra... a pretty intereting one... but hardly a guaranteed winner or one that is necessarily suited to his coach.... I am a fan of Mitchell, but losing faith.... His first year was a complete wash out with the Wince Carter Fiasco.... But last year, they often looked like they did not have game plans for each game.. Sam seems to be "We give them everything they need to know in practice and then I let them play the game... does not seem to really adjust to the flow of the game the way I saw Avery Johnson or Riley did.....

Still I wish them the best of luck....

 

[xdog]

I might even go to a game this year. I can see them winning around 35 games. It's nice to see someone who's not afaid to make a deal.

x

 

[elegantangel113]

It's nice to see someone who's not afaid to make a deal.

x

Why? Babcock knew how to make them too. Just not good ones.

 

[wonkyknee]

without seeing the games...

I'm a bit worried already about Bargnani.....2-4 boards/game.......very few blocked shots???

what's the point of being 7'2"??????


When the season starts, I think we're doing alright with 12points, 7 boards and 2BS from Bargnani

as long as Rasho does the same and Bosh does what he's supposed to do.

 

[vick187]

I think a realistic expectation out of this team would be a finish from 5-9th in the conference standings.

i think that's wut theyre realistically looking for to possible contending for a lower seed and they have a shot at doing that with the moves that colangelo has made in the week eastern conference!!! besides the bulls and celtics all teh other teams in the east are probably gonna be weaker!! so raps do have a shot!!!

 

[spiff]

So is the question then, how long will Bryan give Sam to get the team to gel, before he makes a coaching change?

20 games perhaps

 

[Choron]

Ugh Rasho can rebound pretty damn well?

 

[johnmcclanexxx]

The nice thing about all this is that we also dumped all the egos and cry babies. This is a team of hard working guys who are happy to be playing in the NBA and who want to prove themselves. The comments Mike James made about the Toronto media was bullshit. The funny thing is he was quoted as saying that Garnett called him and said he needed Mike James in Minnesota. Garnett may not even be a T-Wolve by the time the season starts. There's been talks about Garnett going to Chicago all offseason. That's part of the reason Big Ben agreed to sign in Chicago.

 

[spiff]

Did they....

The nice thing about all this is that we also dumped all the egos and cry babies. This is a team of hard working guys who are happy to be playing in the NBA and who want to prove themselves. The comments Mike James made about the Toronto media was bullshit. The funny thing is he was quoted as saying that Garnett called him and said he needed Mike James in Minnesota. Garnett may not even be a T-Wolve by the time the season starts. There's been talks about Garnett going to Chicago all offseason. That's part of the reason Big Ben agreed to sign in Chicago.

I don't believe the Raptors had any intention of signing James other than a sign and trade... As for his media comments, your a pro athlete, it's part of the job, deal with it...

 

[Choron]

Kevin McHale GM of the Wolves said he won't trade KG this year...He wants to give it one last chance...

 

[johnmcclanexxx]

Rasho is there to free up space down low for Bosh. I'm really hoping Graham is able to step it up this year. The Raps should be an exciting team this season even if they don't make the playoffs. Although with teams like New York and a rebuilding Philadelphia in the East... that 8th playoff spot isn't impossible.

 

[iluvquarks]

I think the Raps will surprise a lot of people this year. Colangelo and company, which includes Embry and Mitchell, have a vision of the type of team they want and they're bringing in players that have roles in their concept. So yes, maybe there were point guards with better stats than TJ, but for the kind of team they want to build, TJ is the best fit. Are we losing out on the stat sheet with the CV/Ford trade? Yes, but stats aren't everything. Think of the failure of Team USA in the Olympics. They had the biggest pool of talent, chose a collection of stars to represent them and failed. Why? Aside from countries catching up, they weren't a team and there was no vision whatsoever when they built it. The Raps seem to have one. Will it work? We'll see when the season starts.

 

[slk55amg]

Yup

First Colangelo wins the Lottery..... drafts a tall Italian kid and a feisty guard.. finds a guy to play Center.....next he trades a promising rookie for lightening fast guard.....picks up 2 time player of the year (Euro League) an international player for $4 mil/year (Parker)..... trades a 2nd round pick for a swingman at almost $5mil/year (6' 6" with 7.5ppg . 2.7rpg and 2.7apg in 25.1 minutes... Finally he wants to bring in Garbajosa a 6' 7 player from Spain...

Add to the mix.. Bosh, Petersen, Graham and Calderone shoes, and our crazy coach Sam Mitchell.... I like it, it's exciting.... great to have some guys coming to town who are excited about playing.... Parker seems NBA ready, and has a good attitude.... Nesterovic should be able to contribute, Barganini had a couple of good games in summer league, And Salmons offered solid minutes in Philly.....

Exactly! Kinda gets me all giddy inside...

Enough wishin, second guessin, analysin, number crunchin, comparin, and scenario playin...time to take a stand...the 06-07 Raps are the Suns of the East and I'm going down saying, (gulp!)...47 wins.

 

[Choron]

47 wins? Wow...We don't have an Amare, a Marion, or a Steve Nash so there is no way 47 is happening...

33-40 wins is the range we are searching...

 

[slowandeasy]

Exactly! Kinda gets me all giddy inside...

Enough wishin, second guessin, analysin, number crunchin, comparin, and scenario playin...time to take a stand...the 06-07 Raps are the Suns of the East and I'm going down saying, (gulp!)...47 wins.

I am excited too... but lets get a grip.. you are very giddy.... 47 wins is expecting way too much... if they win as many as they lose, Mitchell takes some big steps as a coach, Rasho shows that he can rebound well, Barganini does not lose confidence in his shot and proves that he can guard someone, TJ Ford makes some shots, shows that he an run the offence effectively and gets 6-7apg, Parker proves that he belongs in the NBA... we might get over 500...

But that's a lot to put together...

 

[Choron]

I am excited too... but lets get a grip.. you are very giddy.... 47 wins is expecting way too much... if they win as many as they lose, Mitchell takes some big steps as a coach, Rasho shows that he can rebound well, Barganini does not lose confidence in his shot and proves that he can guard someone, TJ Ford makes some shots, shows that he an run the offence effectively and gets 6-7apg, Parker proves that he belongs in the NBA... we might get over 500...

But that's a lot to put together...

so true...but pieces like Mo'Pete and Chris Bosh will remain steady and I personally won't be surprised if you see Ford huvering around the top of the league in assists...Calderon should be steady off the bench as leader of the second unit and Grahamme should provide some good finishes this year with hopefully much improved defense..

 

[slk55amg]

47 wins? Wow...We don't have an Amare, a Marion, or a Steve Nash so there is no way 47 is happening...

33-40 wins is the range we are searching...

C'mon now...never said we had those caliber of players, besides, Phoenix is a 60+ team not 47. I'm saying Suns of the East in that BC is building us to be a run and gun, high offence, 3-point shooting team.

33-40 wins is underachieving in my books considering 1) that is only 5-13 games better than last season, 2) we lost 10-some games by 5 points or less last season, and 3) the Nets were a 49 win team last year and I would say we are up there with them.

But like I said, enough comparin and guessin, I'm taking a stand...as far out there as it may be.

 

[slk55amg]

... we might get over 500...

But that's a lot to put together...

So you agree with me (somewhat)...I'm saying that we DO put it together and thus get over .500...6 games over .500.

And yes, I'm giddy...probably a lot more than I will be in November or December

Still, I'm putting the stake in the ground.

 

[wrong hole]

So you agree with me (somewhat)...I'm saying that we DO put it together and thus get over .500...6 games over .500.

And yes, I'm giddy...probably a lot more than I will be in November or December

Still, I'm putting the stake in the ground.

How in the world can you even think that we would get 47 wins?

I'd be suprise if we win as much as last year. Who is going to score besides Bosh...we lost mike james 20pts per game and CV's 16 pts (avg when he started games)...and all we got back was TJ and his 41% shooting average (12pts).

All the other new guys are basically scrubs...seabass avg 7 pts for philly...Parker and Garbage might not even be able to play in the NBA...they are two unknowns - I mean if those guys could play...you got to wonder why no team has picked up Parker before (he's 31)...same with Garbage.

So our starting line up would be

Bosh - he's a star stats-wise but he has never shown any ability to carry the team to victory

Mo-Pete had his best yr last year...will he have another

TJ - bad shooter, can't defend and average 1.4 more assist then mike james...but doesn't hog the ball

Rasho - the marshmellow man...softest centre in the NBA..he's a scrub

Parker...unknow gut who avg 15 pts in the Israel team...whoa that is our saviour

bench

Seabass - 7pts per game and 2 assist...

Bargs - avging 13pts, 2rebounds, 5 turnovers and 8 fouls per game and in summer league...he's got a long ways to go

Joey Graham - useless tit...nuff said

Calderon can't shoot for shit

Garbage and Tucker...these are the Domni's of Basketball

This is a 47 win team????

Last year Philly had Iverson, Iggy and Webber and they couldn't get 40 wins