TORaptor4Ever

He would get worked too. Tyson Chandler is not one of those other guys (Cousins comes to mind as well).

JV fights hard but he doesn't have the body mass. The guys I want are 250lbs+ and solid.

DocHoliday99

Fair enough but JV is a solid 240 to 250 and 21. Another year or 2 and he'll probably be around 260 and I would think that would be tops without effecting his game. I see what your saying though but that size comes at a cost and that's typically speed. Maybe a match-up type player off the bench - what Miami is trying to do with Oden?

lankganglia

JV looks so much more physically mature this year than last
and from all accounts dude likes to work hard

Ball Don't Lie

So who do you propose then, as a big man who can defend 3 completely different players?

Honestly, the best defence against Randolph and Howard is quick defences with smart coaching behind them. With Randolph, quick double teams which disable him going to his left, and with Howard, if you double him early he tends to float the rest of the game, plus you get him in as many pick and rolls as possible to tire him from going to the offensive glass on the other end, and working hard for position.

JV can handle Drummond, and I think when he gets enough experience he'd do fine against DH. I think Amir can do a good job on Randolph if we had a solid team defensive plan around him.

The worst thing we could do is play a big prodding center over any of those 3 guys IMO. We'd take away our quickness and talent advantage, assuming we ever acquired Young.

TORaptor4Ever

MIA has arguably the most talent and the biggest quickness advantage in the game right now... and even THEY see the need for a big who can bang with opposing brute big men.

Sometimes you just need to be able to matchup with the other team. And I don't want to see our willowy bigs get smashed down low the way that Bosh used to for years when he was trying to guard Cs.

box92

Wow Sorry guys I have been away for a while and havent been able to update, but it finally has. WE are ALMOST THIRD!!! SO I guess its GO PLAYOFFS. I will start adding games that should peak our interest that could affect us standing wise

The Atlanta vs Nets game affects us today

Ball Don't Lie

The big prodding center has been replaced by the 6'10 PF at the center position off of the bench, and if your team plays good enough team defence and has wings that can rebound, players like Randolph and Howard will not break out and dominate against your team.

Plus, I see Val playing 35 minutes per game next season onward for many years to come, so I don't see big centers being an issue as long as Val keeps progressing as he is. I think we're much better off with two capable long 6'10 power forwards coming in off of the bench rather than one, with a 7 foot center who cant produce(a la Gray). There aren't a lot of 7 foot backup centers that fit your criteria anyway who can actually give you 15-20 good minutes on a consistent basis. If I'm Masai, I'm looking to sign Ed Davis in the off season as a backup center, and backup 4. He'd look great in our current defensive system, and he's already got great chemistry with Amir.

Bring back Ed!

LX

^That would be beautiful - along with Ed's defense and hustle, I loved his quick outlet passes.

niggles

YES!

box92

Patterson has also been productive for as well though. But I would like to see if we can move Hansborough at the deadline for a future second rounder or something. A contendor could really use him if they are short a big. Then Sign Ed in the summer and if possible get patterson on a team friendly contract.

JV/Ed
Amir/Ed/Patterson

Would be a a front court I would be pretty happy with going into next year.

I think our next need is a backup 2/3. I think Chandler would be a really good fit for this team.

box92

Also Atlanta lost so that helps us get closer to the third seed.

LET'S GO RAPTORS!!!!!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who wouldn't mind ED back.

TORaptor4Ever

That's what I was getting at before though.... those big guys DO give MIA problems... and they have the best D and best rebounding wings in the league. Size (like speed) can kill.



Another guy who would have fit my mold would have been Robin Lopez. Shame we couldn't have grabbed him. Brand, Blair and Mozgov would also fit the bill.

To be clear though I wouldn't mind Ed back at all. Good kid with some skills and another guy who doesn't have a prob. buying into the team concept.

box92

Games that sort of affect us today:

Cats (7) vs. Wizards (5)
Det (8) vs NYK (12)

Diamond Scorpion

Definitely hoping for a Charlotte and Detroit win. I've supported Charlotte since their Hornets days and I'm excited to see them change the name back and return to there old jersey colors next year. I have always hated NYK so I'm hoping for many more loses for them this season and many more in the future

box92

Im hoping the atlantic division teams start winning more, I still want to win the division but atleast our division won't look as bad

KoolAid

Brand is done, he's averaging something like 7 mpg iirc. Blair is short, close to 6'7, and Mozgov, eh I'd rather this team not be in the news only because somebody got dunked on.

Ed would be nice, but you gotta wonder if he caught feelings. Or if we even end up with enough money to sign him? Would he take the MLE?

TORaptor4Ever

That's actually a big problem with a lot of players today.... they'd rather concede the dunk and move out of the way "to save face" than give 100% effort and try to block the shot. Mozgov is a good, young big. Don't believe the hype.

moremilk

just thought I'll throw this out there, we're still only 5 games away from 4th place from the bottom

for all the improved play, the next stretch of 6-8 games could be the critical point of the season. Schedule is not very tough, but we're playing direct playoff competition and we need to tcb. If we don't, tanking still remains very much in the cards.

Rompeprop

After looking at the upcoming schedule I think Raptors best case scenario would be winning 17 of 22, worst 10 of 22, but most likely it will be like -13-14 wins , and it would bring Toronto record to 30 and 25.