Official Toronto Raptors Thread.

Financially the Raptors wouldn't be able to take in the contract without dealing a lot of major pieces anyway.

Raps looking good against the cavs. Wonder how Shaq feels about Bosh now.

Bosh seemed to force a lot of the shots and went back to hold habits on a few possessions, but he seemed a lot more comfortable guarding the post and denying position on two very big but lethargic big men. Bargnani, Belinelli and Wright definitely deserved a ton of praise for the defense that they played that game.

Overall I can't say I'm too unhappy about the Raptors' overall performance, but Jay Triano's inability to get his team to mentally focus and keep a big lead intact still has me worried. This game against the Grizzlies tonight should be a telling game about the improved "mental toughness" of this Raptors team.

They switched to threes in the third. And the preseason showed raps have trouble with defending that.

Randolph and Gasol feasted on the soft frontcourt of Bosh and Bargs.

I really like Bargnani but he is their PF of the future, not their Center. I have more faith in this team than Ben does, but I think they are still only a .500 team. Really like Jarrett Jack, but he has been terrible so far. Been following his career since he was a Blazer.

Hopefully my second favorite team makes the playoffs.

Watching the Cleveland game made me really worry when they were gonna play the Magic, or any team that shoots the 3 well in general (or practically any team if you allow enough open looks from 3; their bound to make them sooner or later). Cleveland came storming back due to horrible closing out of outside shooters by Toronto's defense. After 3 games, I'm not surprised at their record of 1-2. Just expected it to come in a different order (the lone win was expected to be against Memphis as opposed to Cleveland).

The question mark in my opinion of this team was never if they can score. It's if they can defend at all. I know it's only been 3 games but the poor defense and poor closeouts mentioned earlier do irk me.

I'll begin to worry if this team is not performing, not clicking, or not looking like they give a good effort at around mid-to-late December.

It's mid-to-late December, and they're 13-17. :S

From what was expected of them in the offseason, they should be doing better. A LOT better. The defense has been horrendus. Although, it has shown a big improvement in their last two games against New Orleans and New Jersey. I also think the chemistry is finally starting to come together. Only a continuation of their defensive intensity will tell though.

I had a hard time even watching the raps, but the last few games have been pretty enjoyable. Could they play new jersey 82 times in a season perhaps?

marcus banks hasn't been terrible the past few games as backup playing defense, but he is just too expensive.

also amir johnson is a nice pickup.

I don't want to pin the blame on Jay Triano for the team's crappy play since I think the onus is on the players to play with a consistent effort level, but the problems that Triano were known for last year (poor third quarters, ineffective offense/defense as the game wears on) are consistently showing from game to game. It's pretty disheartening and I really want Jay to succeed, but something tells me that he lacks the ability to get on a guy's ass like a real head coach should.

Also, Sonny Weems and Demar Derozan are forming a nice athletic combo to bring some energy to the wings. I'm so glad that Weems has outplayed Wright and I'm happy to see Antoine Wright sticking to his most effective role - Picking splinters out of his ass while handing out gatorade.

I had to do a double take when I heard Matt Devlin yell "Punjabi!" when Peja hit a 3.

For those who don't know, there have been some Raptors games when its broadcasted on one of the networks where it's simulcasted in Punjabi. But I don't have a clue why he yelled it here:

http://raptorsplayer.com/matt-devlin-yells-punjabi-after-peja-knocks-the-three

Good to see them beat NOH, though CP3 with a gimpy ankle sure helped the Raptors out. What did piss me off was the numerous offensive rebounds the Hornets got. The Raptors would play good defense and force a bad shot by the Hornets, only to completely stop and not box out, and let the Hornets get the board. Seemed like Okafor would get an offensive board whenever he pleased.

Anyways, some comments on some of the players thus far:

- It's been good to see Weems bringing some energy along with some alright defense as of late.

- Wright not playing has been good which means he hasn't had the chance to pull off some of his "Wtf are you doing" moments where it's like he's the first option on offense. Part of me wonders if this has anything to do with that one huge move he pulled off on LeBron back in the very 1st game of the season. His one positive attribute which was his not bad defense is not even there from the last game I remember playing against the Bulls or whoever it was. If he's not even able to provide some defense, he's completely useless.

- Jack has been good in the starting lineup with Calderon out with injury. Defensively there's also a substantial difference; as we're not watching someone blow past the PG play after play.

- There's really no need to comment on Bosh as he's been bringing it night in night out. He isn't GREAT on defense, but what exactly can he do anchoring a horrible defense (albeit the team's defense has somewhat picked up lately).

- Johnson gives a full effort every time he's on the court and it's great to see, he's definitely one of my favourites on this team.

- Derozan has been somewhat up and down, but I'm glad he's not forcing the issue on things and disrupting the offense. His jumpshot needs quite some work though for the most part he does take it hard at the rim. A work in progress but he's been alright.

- Bargnani...what can I say about this guy...he's inconsistent. His offense is good, though he's pretty streaky. His rebounding along with defense do get my nerves though, which on some nights mean if he's not contributing on offense he's a liability.

I replayed it too. Punjabi! Peja Punjabi Stojakovic does have a nice ring to it.

Bargnani needs to go inside first, then do the jumpers. He's 7 feeth. Come on. People won't bite on your "up" fake, if all you do is shoot.

Or how about shot...no! What?, we went back into time and he decided not to shoot it instead?

Get you used to Amir Johnson Raptor fans. He's the replacement if Bosh ever decides to bolt out of Toronto.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amir bolted too after this season considering it's his last year on his contract. He gave me the impression earlier on during a couple of training camp interviews that he's pretty much just trying to make himself as attractive as possible for the free agent market.

is he unrestriceted or restricted FA?

Unrestricted according to RealGM's list.

thanks.. makes sense for Johnson to be "selfish"

watching the raps-pistons game, did you guys see the two consecutive half court shots? bynum makes one but doesn't beat the shot clock, belinelli answers with another but doesn't beat the game clock

Yeah that was crazy, especially Beli's shot. Bynum's wasn't really half court though was it? From deep yeah..

I wouldn't be surprised if Amir bolted too after this season considering it's his last year on his contract. He gave me the impression earlier on during a couple of training camp interviews that he's pretty much just trying to make himself as attractive as possible for the free agent market.

translation: he's just trying to make a career in the NBA. he's just trying to survive, nothing wrong with that.

I wouldn't be surprised if Amir bolted too after this season considering it's his last year on his contract. He gave me the impression earlier on during a couple of training camp interviews that he's pretty much just trying to make himself as attractive as possible for the free agent market.

translation: he's just trying to make a career in the NBA. he's just trying to survive, nothing wrong with that.

Not at all. A guy that hustles like that and actually backs up his play should be getting a pay raise.

I really hope that the chemistry that he's developing with DeMar, Sonny and Jack (much to his expense with the Granpa jokes ) will influence him to stay for a couple of more years though. A soft team like the Raptors have been missing a player that gets dirty for a while now.

Sure he'd like a pay raise. Who doesn't? If he can get a good contract elsewhere good for him but I don't think he has an idea where he'd be playing next year. If BC was to offer him an extension now (could he? being over the cap, idk if he had bird rights or would need to) maybe he'd go for it. It's a two way street anyway. Raptors would probably love to keep him, but perhaps not if something better comes along. Same goes for him.

bad loss against the celts. the jack/banks combo at backcourt is horrible as ray allen and eddie house had a shootout. also i learned that if you stand beside kendrick perkins or even breath on him you will get a foul like how andrea bargnani did it. hedo is overpaid, and has overrated ball-handling skills combined with below average foot speed.

now i don't know what kind of center bosh should be paired with. paired him with bargnani and it just doesn't work. paired him with o'neal and one of them is redundant. i wonder how he'll look like with someone like Erick Dampier or Kendrick Perkins.

Bargnani isn't a Center while Jermaine O'Neal was a shadow of his former self. In a perfect world, they would trade Turk for a Center in the mold of Dampier or Perkins like you said. Even Jeff Foster would do. That moves Bargnani to the SF position, where is best suited and a matchup nightmare.