ESPN picks the Raps to finish last in the East

**Acie** · 08-09-2010, 11:32 AM

Quote:

After the ugly departures of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, the Raptors are basically starting over with a roster more random than designed. Given the significant dollars tied up in the likes of Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa and Amir Johnson, don't expect a lot of defense -- or a lot of wins anytime soon, either.

LINK- ESPN.com

thought · 08-09-2010, 11:36 AM

It's not that farfetched. In the Eastern conference I can't with confidence say we're definitively better than anyone. You could make a case that we might finish ahead of two teams like Indiana and New Jersey, but who knows how this team will shake down.

I will say that we're certainly better than Minnesota...and that's about as far as i'm willing to go.

archie63 · 08-09-2010, 11:36 AM

hope the players are reading all this stuffs, maybe they'll try to make someone bite his tongue. (if they're able to)

**Ball Don't Lie** · 08-09-2010, 11:37 AM

We're better than Minnesota but outside of them all bets are off.

F1nir_ · 08-09-2010, 11:38 AM

NY will not be doing better than Washington and Toronto... I pick is Pacers being last

Torontosaurus · 08-09-2010, 11:41 AM

They have Raptors tied with NJ at the bottom with 27 wins and 55 losses. I think they have no idea how the bottom 6 on their list will do, but put it in order of player name recognition for each team.

**Ball Don't Lie** · 08-09-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F1nir_

NY will not be doing better than Washington and Toronto..

Why not? They added a lot of solid pieces plus Amare. They have a lot more consistant rotation players than we do. If Randolph does stay healthy theyre 100% a playoff team

Someguy again · 08-09-2010, 11:43 AM

the talent is here though, alot of talent

thought · 08-09-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Someguy again

the talent is here though, alot of talent

i'm not convinced we have a ton of talent. there's a handful of guys who have solid rotation player written all over them, ed davis and sonny weems included. we'll see what happens with andrea this year, i'm not holding my hopes high, but outside of demar there really isn't any star potential on this team.

Yuksek · 08-09-2010, 11:47 AM

I have no problem with being ranked last but I have problems with the way they word it. Saying that losing Hedo is a reason is stupid.

ClingRap · 08-09-2010, 11:49 AM

I really think it's going to be an ugly season with more downs than ups, but I'm open to being pleasantly surprised. But ask yourself, is this team any better than what we fielded during the Babcock era. Bosh was a young guy with a lot of potential, we lacked any real veteran leadership, and outside of Jalen Rose, there wasn't anyone on the roster who'd been to the finals, or had any significant playoff experience to speak of.
Barbosa's been deep in the playoffs with the Suns, but he wasn't exactly a player who took a lot of responsibility for his play. He was always a wild card, which is something you love on a winning team, not necessarily one searching for an identity like this year's raps.
There's a lot of question marks, and so when you're making predictions, too many question marks means disaster.
The perfect scenario for me would be something like the Mavs that year when they upset the Jazz in the playoffs and people started to take notice. Nash, Finley, and Dirk all came into their own. They played loose and dangerous, much like their coach. The pieces and potential are there, but I'm not exactly sure about the PG situation and if I'm ready to lump Triano into a comparison with Don Nelson.
But, yeah, that'd be the best case scenario for me. Likelihood close to zilch, but surprise me mafuckas.

Sick, Wicked and Nasty! · 08-09-2010, 11:55 AM

I'm good with this. We start with very low expectations. Only one way to go from here

Windex · 08-09-2010, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F1nir_

NY will not be doing better than Washington and Toronto... I pick is Pacers being last

Pacers have been in the 30-35 win range for 5 years now, unless they give up real easy I dont see them in last
Washington has better players than us, Wall has the impact of DeRozan, Sonny and Ed combined
and NY got better and have a more complete team than last, an improvement will happen
Nets got better and have a good coach now, still in the 10-12 range though

N64 · 08-09-2010, 12:06 PM

damn 27 wins gets you last place...the Raptors won't be deadlast, just in the bottom. I think we'll be better then the Pacers and Timberwolves but the rest of the bottom feeders are hard to read.

As long as we get Irving or Barnes, I'm good

Btw cause we have our pick and Miami's pick, does that mean we'll probably have 2 pick in the top 10? Or did we just get back our top 5 pick from Miami?

Psi · 08-09-2010, 12:13 PM

I just find it funny they somehow think the Cavs can still pull 30 wins out of their asses.
At BEST it's 20.

Kirby · 08-09-2010, 12:16 PM

They still got Varejao locked up being paid Bargs money.

carp · 08-09-2010, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolimitz64

damn 27 wins gets you last place...the Raptors won't be deadlast, just in the bottom. I think we'll be better then the Pacers and Timberwolves but the rest of the bottom feeders are hard to read.

As long as we get Irving or Barnes, I'm good

Btw cause we have our pick and Miami's pick, does that mean we'll probably have 2 pick in the top 10? Or did we just get back our top 5 pick from Miami?

We get ours back which will be where ever we place in the lottery.... though had Miami kept it, it was lottery protected for several more years.

Miami's pick is unlikely a lottery pick.

Gurk · 08-09-2010, 12:50 PM

Meh, I don't mind. We prolly are gonna be last anyways. I just want some development from our players and I'll be good

Windex · 08-09-2010, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psi

I just find it funny they somehow think the Cavs can still pull 30 wins out of their asses.
At BEST it's 20.

They have a better coach than us

moremilk · 08-09-2010, 01:20 PM

the difference between as and the 7th spot is only 10 wins, that shows that many of the voters are not really sure what's happening after the top 6-7 teams. With 4 more wins we'd be 10th, so considering all these, and the natural bias against the raptors, I have no issues with the rankings.

Remember that last season we were pegged to finish with only 35 wins, and if not for the "bad luck" with Bosh's injury, we'd have had probably 10 more wins than that.

That being said, I think it's extremely unlikely that 27 wins only get you the 15th spot, or that NJN would more than double their win total, or that the cavs are better than us.

Williams + Parker + Moon + Jamison + Ryan Hollins with varejao, hickson and sessions off the bench is, on paper, a worse starting 5 imo. They are old, Jamison would probably want to leave at the 1st opportunity and they are lacking in almost every aspect of the game (shot creation, low post presence, speed, athleticism, energy). And they're coming off elite status, so their morale will be very low in all likelihood.

I think we will finish above the nets and the cavs, and there's a decent chance we overtake indiana, philadelphia and the Pistons. Depending how good wall is, and what happens with arenas and how well behaved will blatche be, we could win more than the wizards too.

As far as the knicks, I don't buy the much improved theory. They lost lee and harrington, who were key pieces for them last season. They've added amare, randolph, turiaf and azubuike, good players all, but they still don't have a point guard, or a low post presence. If turiaf, randolph and amare stay healthy, they will be improved. The think that intrigues me the most is how amare will perform. He's not a player capable of creating his own shot like Bosh is, he's a beast on the P&R and has a great jumper. But, on paper, he really needs a good point guard to set him up for those, and I don't think douglas is that guy. If they dump the ball to amare and ask him to make something, imo he'll just end up with a ton of turnovers and much lower FG%.

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08-09-2010, 11:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
thought is looking for clunge Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 4,020 Representing:	It's not that farfetched. In the Eastern conference I can't with confidence say we're definitively better than anyone. You could make a case that we might finish ahead of two teams like Indiana and New Jersey, but who knows how this team will shake down. I will say that we're certainly better than Minnesota...and that's about as far as i'm willing to go.

08-09-2010, 11:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
archie63 is far away Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Panama City Posts: 981 Representing:	hope the players are reading all this stuffs, maybe they'll try to make someone bite his tongue. (if they're able to)

08-09-2010, 11:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ball Don't Lie is praying Drummond doesnt haunt us forever. Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 8,867 Representing:	We're better than Minnesota but outside of them all bets are off.

08-09-2010, 11:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
F1nir_ is Put Comment Here- Maybe I will Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 512 Representing:	NY will not be doing better than Washington and Toronto... I pick is Pacers being last

08-09-2010, 11:41 AM	#6 (permalink)
Torontosaurus is watch out your bias is showing on ihateus Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Victoria, home of the Nash-ites Posts: 3,340 Representing:	They have Raptors tied with NJ at the bottom with 27 wins and 55 losses. I think they have no idea how the bottom 6 on their list will do, but put it in order of player name recognition for each team.

08-09-2010, 11:43 AM	#8 (permalink)
Someguy again is a boshaoplogetic member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 6,010 Representing:	the talent is here though, alot of talent

08-09-2010, 11:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
Yuksek is tired of shitty Toronto teams Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Toronto Posts: 571 Representing:	I have no problem with being ranked last but I have problems with the way they word it. Saying that losing Hedo is a reason is stupid.

08-09-2010, 11:49 AM	#11 (permalink)
ClingRap is enjoying having the keys to destiny perusing ancient database Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The far side of the Universe. Posts: 1,816 Representing:	I really think it's going to be an ugly season with more downs than ups, but I'm open to being pleasantly surprised. But ask yourself, is this team any better than what we fielded during the Babcock era. Bosh was a young guy with a lot of potential, we lacked any real veteran leadership, and outside of Jalen Rose, there wasn't anyone on the roster who'd been to the finals, or had any significant playoff experience to speak of. Barbosa's been deep in the playoffs with the Suns, but he wasn't exactly a player who took a lot of responsibility for his play. He was always a wild card, which is something you love on a winning team, not necessarily one searching for an identity like this year's raps. There's a lot of question marks, and so when you're making predictions, too many question marks means disaster. The perfect scenario for me would be something like the Mavs that year when they upset the Jazz in the playoffs and people started to take notice. Nash, Finley, and Dirk all came into their own. They played loose and dangerous, much like their coach. The pieces and potential are there, but I'm not exactly sure about the PG situation and if I'm ready to lump Triano into a comparison with Don Nelson. But, yeah, that'd be the best case scenario for me. Likelihood close to zilch, but surprise me mafuckas.

08-09-2010, 11:55 AM	#12 (permalink)
Sick, Wicked and Nasty! is adoring his baby girl. Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Canada eh? Posts: 3,288 Representing:	I'm good with this. We start with very low expectations. Only one way to go from here

08-09-2010, 12:06 PM	#14 (permalink)
N64 is only posting in gifs now Wildcard Bitches Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 7,058 Representing:	damn 27 wins gets you last place...the Raptors won't be deadlast, just in the bottom. I think we'll be better then the Pacers and Timberwolves but the rest of the bottom feeders are hard to read. As long as we get Irving or Barnes, I'm good Btw cause we have our pick and Miami's pick, does that mean we'll probably have 2 pick in the top 10? Or did we just get back our top 5 pick from Miami?

08-09-2010, 12:13 PM	#15 (permalink)
Psi is Only likes Hockey with 'Fantasy' infront of it Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Mississauga Posts: 1,659 Representing:	I just find it funny they somehow think the Cavs can still pull 30 wins out of their asses. At BEST it's 20.

08-09-2010, 12:16 PM	#16 (permalink)
Kirby is don't lurk me bro. Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 5,407 Representing:	They still got Varejao locked up being paid Bargs money.

08-09-2010, 12:50 PM	#18 (permalink)
Gurk is one sexy motherfucker you ain't bout that life Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa Posts: 19,681 Representing:	Meh, I don't mind. We prolly are gonna be last anyways. I just want some development from our players and I'll be good

08-09-2010, 01:20 PM	#20 (permalink)
moremilk is whatever Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: toronto Posts: 7,086 Representing:	the difference between as and the 7th spot is only 10 wins, that shows that many of the voters are not really sure what's happening after the top 6-7 teams. With 4 more wins we'd be 10th, so considering all these, and the natural bias against the raptors, I have no issues with the rankings. Remember that last season we were pegged to finish with only 35 wins, and if not for the "bad luck" with Bosh's injury, we'd have had probably 10 more wins than that. That being said, I think it's extremely unlikely that 27 wins only get you the 15th spot, or that NJN would more than double their win total, or that the cavs are better than us. Williams + Parker + Moon + Jamison + Ryan Hollins with varejao, hickson and sessions off the bench is, on paper, a worse starting 5 imo. They are old, Jamison would probably want to leave at the 1st opportunity and they are lacking in almost every aspect of the game (shot creation, low post presence, speed, athleticism, energy). And they're coming off elite status, so their morale will be very low in all likelihood. I think we will finish above the nets and the cavs, and there's a decent chance we overtake indiana, philadelphia and the Pistons. Depending how good wall is, and what happens with arenas and how well behaved will blatche be, we could win more than the wizards too. As far as the knicks, I don't buy the much improved theory. They lost lee and harrington, who were key pieces for them last season. They've added amare, randolph, turiaf and azubuike, good players all, but they still don't have a point guard, or a low post presence. If turiaf, randolph and amare stay healthy, they will be improved. The think that intrigues me the most is how amare will perform. He's not a player capable of creating his own shot like Bosh is, he's a beast on the P&R and has a great jumper. But, on paper, he really needs a good point guard to set him up for those, and I don't think douglas is that guy. If they dump the ball to amare and ask him to make something, imo he'll just end up with a ton of turnovers and much lower FG%.