(Jose Garcia)
By: Greg Payne
When I heard Toronto stole Hedo Turkoglu away from Portland, I immediately thought: 'Hey, maybe we'll actually have some competition in the division this season'. I mean, you take a guy like Turkoglu, put him in place next to your All-Star in Chris Bosh and suddenly you have a very formidable inside - outside punch. Factor Jose Calderon at point guard into the equation and the Raptors finally have something of a head turning nucleus. And we can't forget about Andrea Bargnani, who's finally transforming into a real NBA player. We at least have to take them seriously, right?
I was looking over their roster though, and I still can't decide how I feel about it.
On the one hand, you have steady role players in Jarrett Jack, Rasho Nesterovic and Antoine Wright - guys you can actually rely on.
But mixed in with those players is a steady crop of guys who simply haven't lived up to the hype yet: Marco Belinelli (king of summer league), Quincy Douby (Rutgers' college scoring machine) and Patrick O'Bryant (need I say more?) - guys you can't actually rely on.
Will the Raptors' downfall sit in the arms of those three players just mentioned? Will they even see the court? Sports Illustrated chooses to focus on another addition the Raptors made this offseason:
The Raptors spent to get Hedo Turkoglu and Jarrett Jack and traded for Antoine Wright and Reggie Evans, moves that should put them back in the playoffs. That step forward, with Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon still in house, makes it a productive offseason. But the real payoff probably won't be known for a couple of years. If DeMar DeRozan makes it big, the way some executives think he might, the No. 9 pick in the draft will be the critical transaction, not Turkoglu. It's just the consensus is that DeRozan, an elite athlete lacking experience and a jump shot after one season at USC, will need time. The other summer moves, as well as speculation about Bosh's future, will shift the spotlight away from the rookie.
The Celtics won the Atlantic by 25 games back in the '08 season, and by 21 games last season. So I guess if the Raptors can be within 20 games this year, they'll consider that a victory?
Stay Tuned.
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12 comments:
As a Raps fan myself I do agree with your assesment of Raps vs. Celtics. Unless the Celts go through some serious injuries they have the division locked up. But I think the division will be more competitive than it has been in a while.
However, when you were mentioning guys like O'Bryant, Douby and to some degree Bellineli... we are talking guys that won't get off the bench anyways (except garbage time ofcourse). Every team has them and really shouldn't be factored into any equation. (ex. Sheldon Williams, Scalabrine)
"Andrew" Bargnani.... Jose "Calderone".... Um, you might want to be a little more thorough in your research of a team before you post. It's not like those two are bench warmers or something -- you should know their names....
Anyhoo, totally agree with the first poster. Why are you even mentioning Douby and O'Bryant??
No, the Raps probably won't seriously challenge the Celts, but Boston is damn old and it would not shock me to see them make it close. The Raps have a great young nucleus and because their roster is so different this year, it's hard to know just exactly how good they will be until we see some games.
However, the Celtics could be poised for a huge drop off this year -- KG's knee will be a factor -- if he's 100% then he'll dominate Bosh when they play each other and make him cry like a schoolgirl -- but if he's injured or less than 100%, that's a big loss.... Ray Allen is wildly inconsistent and is on the downside -- it's a mystery how many good years he has left -- it wouldn't surprise me if he was a borderline all-star again this year or terrible; Pierce is solid; Rasheed is a head case (and old) and your starting PG was being inexplicably shopped this summer, so I'm sure he's not too happy with Ainge & Co. right now.
Should be a fun year in the Atlantic -- I'd say the Raps will finish above Philly though and NJ will probably surprise a few, but the Knicks are a train wreck.
I'm personally hoping KG misses some of the Raps/C's games... when he plays he totally dominates Bosh -- without KG the Raps may be the better team....
I'm looking for good things from Andrew Bargnani, Damon DeRozan and Harold Turkoglu. I think Jerry Jack could be the best signing of the year as a 6th-man and backup PG/SG. I expect Kris Bosh to be Kris Bosh.
The Celtics pulled off their big move a couple of years ago, bringing in older, injury prone veterans for the chance to win it all, and it worked. Kudos to Celtics management for not be afraid to succeed.
As the team gets older, the risks increase and at some point another one or more of the vets will go down with injuries again. But if they don't - the Celtics should be the favorites to go back to the finals - not just win the Atlantic.
Have fun with Sheed - he managed to beat the Pistons when they played Cleveland in the Conference finals. Old, hot tempered, and not always rational - he can help you win, or lose.
Hmmmm...it seems the second a player gets moved or drafted to the team north of the border (it's spelled "Raptors" for those who may not be able to spell such a foreign word), their names/abilities/reputation get stolen or messed up at customs...it's sad really, because I'm sure if the roles were reversed, a review of the Boston Celtics would not revolve around end of the bench towel waivers or misspelling key players names (that Raymond Rondo sure is special! Maybe that Russel Wallace will be the veteran to push em back into the finals this year!).
Beyond all this, I agree with the main point of your article, but for completely different reasons! The main breakdown of this match up simply, and always will revolve around the talent of each starting 5. Bosh will never be able to handle/ beat KG in any form of match up until KG is essentially too old to play, Rondo brings more to the table in terms of stats and is more athletic than Calderon, and all the pieces in between fall under a similar assessment. As for the actual bench of the Raptors, the first 4 off would likely be Wright/Jack/Evans/Rasho. The only guy beyond that who you touched on that would actually get some play is potentially Belinelli, but Douby and POB?!?!? That's like wasting time talking about the likes of Bill Walker and Brian Scalabrine and how they will affect the chances of Boston winning or losing a game. When names like this enter a game, chances are the game is already out of hand...
dude ... its Andrea Bargnani, not Andrew and Jose Calderon. If you're going to pretend to be a journalist of sorts, at the very least get your f*ckin names right!
Wow everyone, my sincerest apologies for those spelling errors. I honestly can't believe I did that. I suppose that's the price I pay for editing my own work and passing over names I do in fact know, under the assumption that I have spelled them correctly, since I do in fact know them.
I agree with the majority of the analysis between all of you, although I do have a slightly different opinion on Rasheed Wallace.
Back in '04 when the Pistons won the title, I believe 'Sheed was at his best, because he was in a terrific situation. Great coach, great teammates, great team.
Last year we saw a shaky side of him, but between Chauncey Billups being shipped out, the Allen Iverson situation blowing up and the lack of leadership Michael Curry implemented, he simply lost his desire. Now, I'm not saying that's acceptable, but now that he's in Boston, under circumstances similar to the '04 season, we'll all see a much more productive Rasheed Wallace.
I think playing alongside Kevin Garnett will bring out a side of him we really haven't seen yet and I attribute that to their similarities in personality and on-court demeanor and their close friendship off the court.
Again, sorry for the lack of attention I paid to Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon.
I think the Celtics will be a 65-70 win team, while the Raptors will be down around .500.
So, no, I don't think the Raptors will challenge for the division title.
I do like the Bosh-Hedo-Calderon trio though. If they traded Bargnani for a player, they could improve in a hurry. A solid 50 win team in the making. Better than that if DeRozan comes good, and their bench continues to improve. But of the time being, I think they're stuck at .500.
As far as memory serves Dave, didn't the Raptors just sign Bargnani to some sort of serious contract? Would he be difficult to trade because of that, especially with next summer looming?
It'd be interesting to see what type of player they would go after in general, no matter who they shop. They have their point guard, big man and wing man, what else do they need? Do they need more scoring? Better defense? Do you think Bosh is capable of anchoring an entire defense the way Kevin Garnett is?
The Bargnani contract is actually a bargain when you look at his age, talent and upside when you compare with other centers -- especially Eastern Conference Centers.
What about the Amir Johnson trade now for the Raps in exchange for essentially nothing in Ukic and Delfino whom they simply held Bird rights for?
Look out Boston, that would be the Raps comin' up in your rear view mirror!
I agree the Celts should still win this division and probably easily, but things could get veeeery interesting if Toronto plays as well as they look on paper -- they have a very young team overall, a young core (outside of Turk) and suddenly are more deep than Boston.
Let's face it -- a competitive division helps us all and will make the season fun -- even Celtics fans don't want to see them run away with it again.
Colangelo's monster offseason has probably set him up for a third Exec of the Year award....
Dave, I agree with you that Toronto has more depth at point guard than Boston, but beyond that, I'm not sure. Keep in mind, Marquis Daniels is still coming to the Celtics, so we have a significant amount of depth at each position, with the exception of PG.
Over the last two seasons, I've come to learn one thing: It doesn't matter how you win, as long as you win. So if we win the division by 30 games, or 1 game, I don't care...as long as we win haha.
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