ollyaaa

Is it just me, or do you think our squad is composed of 3 types of player (in descending order).

1) Players who are so desperate for a shot in the NBA, they have no alternative other than sign for the Raps (LK, MP, JL3, the list goes on and on).

2) Players who don't really mind being on a losing team at all, so long as the money is right (AB, DD, AJ, JC).

3) Players who are forced to be here through a trade (KL).

Not exactly what you want. All of this kinda explains why we suck season after season. Want to be a winner? Follow CB4's example (one of the guys I rate highest in the NBA).

jeffb

FLO

Saying they don't mind being on a losing team is disingenuous. Everyone wants to win games. Well, maybe everyone but Bargs. Take a guy like DD. He wants to win but he's on the Raptors. Would you rather he burn up the locker room and demand a trade publicly to prove he cares about winning?

xplode

agree

DD is the only bright spot out there

FLO

Not just DD. I think all our guys, minus maybe Bargs, care about winning. They're just limited. Not every player is Michael Jordan or Kobe. Even a guy like Jose wants to win and cares, he just sucks at being a quality NBA PG. You can't fault them for having a big contract on the Raptors. If Colangelo offered me 4x my market value to play on the Raptors I'd take it and play my ass off for my team, even if they don't win much.

ollyaaa

DD would 'like' to win games sure. But it's not the main consideration.

If DD wanted a ring, he'd have looked elsewhere as a free agent. Instead he decided to take losing for the majority of his early career in order to secure MEGA bucks.

Can't blame him, I like DD. But facts are facts.

FLO

I'm sure DD didn't sign his big contract knowing full well we'd be the 2nd worst team in the NBA this year. There was hope we'd compete for a playoff spot. lolhindsight...

It's better for the health of the league for young players like DD to sign with their draft teams than take tiny contracts and run to the championship contenders like Miami.

jeffb

Except they aren't facts, you're assuming.

carp

Follow CB4's example? Make friends with two of the most dominant players in the league? I'd rather our guys work on their basketball skills and not their social skills. They all want to win. Kyle isn't in some category on his own here.

raptor123

We have Me .....Myself.......and............... I...........guess who that is !!!!!!! clue he has the keys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol !!!!!! Houston we have car down !!!!!!!!!

jeffb

RF, we have a poster down.

ollyaaa

Yeh, sure, they'd like to win, but it isn't the main consideration.

CB4 was the most dominant PF in the league when he left, he decided a comfortable pay cheque on an awful team was no longer acceptable. That's why he had the balls to up and leave. He took a risk because he couldn't stand losing any longer.

Because we have no one with this mentality on our team, we suffer. Plain and simple.

BballWatcher

It's very telling that not once but twice this season have we inserted waver wire level guys (McGuire, Pietrus) directly into our starting lineup.

FLO

Don't forget Kleiza who goes from DNP-CD to first option insert into the starting lineup. Just moronic Casey bullshit.

carp

To be fair, Pietrus was in because of injuries.... and it's not hard to see that he's our best option there either.

DonMughal

You can tell every single one of them is trying hard to win.......except Bargs. And maybe Landry and Kleiza when they're healthy.

pzabby

landry is, so is kleiza. he's just sucking, and landy was injured. dunno what's up with kleiza really

Dario

Raptors1995

It's nice to see it from a rookie like Valanciunas. You can see the desire to win in him during late game situations, when a call goes our way or someone gets to the line.