2010-2011 NBA Season Preview: Toronto Raptors
Why so serious?
Toronto Raptors
Last year’s record: 40-42
Head Coach:Jay Triano
Projected Starters:Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Andrea Bargnani, Amir Johnson
Outlook:
Having no clear-cut best player can either be great or miserable. In the Raptors’ case, I promise, it’s a very bad sign. The Raptors will go as far as Linas Kleiza, Leandro Barbosa, DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani take them. In other words, they’ll be in the lottery with room to spare.
X-Factor:
(*Looks down roster.* Marcus Banks? Hah. David Anderson? Definitely not. Solomon Alabi? Who? Ahh, Linas Kleiza.)
Kleiza can score, we know that. He became an inside-outside duel threat in Europe, we hear. And though he is nowhere near equipped to be a go-to guy on an NBA team, Kleiza might be the Raptors’ closest thing to it. Sucks to be a Raptors fan, huh?
Biggest Question Mark:
Can DeMar DeRozan take a big step forward? The Raptors don’t just need DeRozan to improve: they need him to become a star overnight. While the Raptors spent the summer stripping down their roster and beginning a rebuilding process, DeRozan spent his impressing. He averaged 20.6 points in only 23.0 minutes per game at the Las Vegas summer league, then lit up LA’s legendary Drew League for 46 loud points. It’s probably too much to expect DeRozan to seize the go-to role, but the Raptors could really use it.
Most important newcomer:
Kleiza. But since I’ve already talked about him, let’s discuss Leandro Barbosa. Barbosa, as weird as it seems considering he wasn’t even a starter in Phoenix, is Toronto’s most accomplished player. He’s also coming off a down year in which his averages fell across the board. Is Barbosa still the Brazilian Blur, or was last season’s decline the start of a trend?
Key loss:
I’ll give you one hint: he’s not Patrick O’Bryant. Another hint: he’s in Miami trying to piggyback his way to a few titles. One last hint: he didn’t exactly make friends on his way out of Toronto.
Most compelling storyline:
I thought that no team could possibly be softer than the Raptors were last season. Then they traded for Leandro Barbosa, signed Amir Johnson and drafted Ed Davis. Now, I’m pretty sure this year’s version is even softer. Just call them Charmin.
Player to watch:
Andrea Bargnani. The Italian posted some pretty impressive stats: 17.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last year. But it’s the way he compiles said stats that’s disturbing. Play with some heart, Andrea. Stop somebody from scoring. Box out. Throw your body around. Get tough. Otherwise, your Raptors are really going to suck.
Descriptive movie quote:
“Slowly, a sound started to build in Lard-ass’ stomach. A strange and scary sound, like a log truck coming at you at a hundred miles-an-hour. Suddenly, Lard-ass opened his mouth, and before Bill Travis knew it he was covered with five pies worth of used blueberries. The women in the audience screamed. Bossman Bob Cormier took one look at Bill Travis and barfed on Principal Wiggins, who barfed on the lumberjack that was sitting next to him. Mayor Grundy barfed on his wife’s tits. But when the smell hit the crowd, that’s when Lard-ass’ plan really started to work. Girlfriends barfed on boyfriends. Kids barfed on their parents. A fat lady barfed in her purse. The Donnelley twins barfed on each other, and the Women’s Auxiliary barfed all over the Benevolent Order of Antelopes. And Lard-ass just sat back and enjoyed what he’d created — a complete and total barf-o-rama!” – Gordie, Stand By Me
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010-2011 Toronto Raptors: a complete and total barf-o-rama.
Projected Record: 15-67. I know I said I was going to start at the bottom and work my way up, but somehow my drafted rankings left out the Raptors. I may be the first, but I won’t be the only one who tries to forget about them this season.
Related posts:
Around the NBA, Featured | Jay King | September 21, 2010
Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Jose Calderon, Linas Kleiza, Toronto Raptors
Amir Johnson and Ed Davis are the polar opposite of soft, dumbass. Otherwise, good article.
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Do you really think they have the strength to bang with the best big men?
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@Jim
Do you think Johnson and Davis are really the keys to changing Toronto’s frontcourt weakness?
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You’re full of it, man. There are other teams that will have major problems. Anyways, you couldn’t come out with something original, so you had to borrow from everyone else’s position that the Raptors are going to suck.
I certainly don’t think they’re going to be the worst team of the East, but we’ll see.
Anyways, enjoy watching the grandpas on their last world tour this year.
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@Joaquim
Who did I borrow from? These are all my original thoughts. Who’s worse in the East, do you think?
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Amir Johnson has proven to be a very scrappy, defensive minded player. He runs the floor hard and rarely takes a jumpshot. He has the size, quickness and bounce to defend and rebound at the PF spot effectively. Ed Davis looks to be of a similar mold. Again, these two are true PFs. They would be undersized at C unless they bulked up substantially. Far from soft, however.
If we want to talk soft, it starts with Bargnani and ends with Jose Calderon. The rest of the team looks scrappy, but that’s really all they have going for them.
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Let’s see…many “experts” are picking the Raptors to suck this year. Just spend sometime on ESPN, Slam or other websites to hear the common babble about how the loss of CB4 will kill the raptors.
As far as other teams that will struggle, here is a list:
Charlotte, Detroit, Indiana, Washington, New Jersey & New York plus Cleveland.
i do realize that the Raptors will most likely lose more games this year, but a drop off of 26 games?? I don’t think we’re in the Minnesota or Golden State Warrior pathetic group just yet.
Anyhow, enjoy your Boston Grandpas. This will be their last year before they implode.
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When you lose Hedo Turkoglu (as bad as he was last year, he was still pretty good) and Chris Bosh, you’re going to take your lumps. The Raptors’ go-to guy is Andrea Bargnani, and they don’t have a single wing that would start for any contender. The Raptors won’t just be bad; they’ll be atrocious.
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Maybe you’re right. Maybe Raptors fans are. But I’m personally excited to have a Raptors team where most of the players on the roster (Jack, Derozan, Weems, Kleiza, Johnson, Davis, Bargnani, Alabi) haven’t entered their primes yet, as opposed to trying to recapture past glory. Turkoglu, Marion and O’Neal were gambles. Building with youth is the way to go. Either they pan out and grow together, or get shipped off while they’re cheap to reload. I just wish they had a more accomplished coach to guide the team through their inevitable growing pains.
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The future looks better than the present, that’s for sure. They’re rebuilding the right way. Getting rid of all big contracts and trying to build with youth.
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Not saying I agree or disagree with anything written here. But just wanted to point out that Vegas has placed the over/under on Raptors’ wins this season at 28.5. That’s a long way off from Jay’s 15-win projection
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