The Raptors Struggles

33-49. Not very impressive. This was supposed to be the year we could win the division over the almighty Celtics, the year we would have home court advantage deep into the playoffs. Let me take a page out of Jim Mora’s book…. playoffs? We no longer had a problem at the PG spot, and we found our apparent presence in the paint. Sam Mitchell getting canned early in the year was a good thing at the time, but Triano wasn’t much of a replacement. Picking up Pops Mensah-Bonsu was good, he plays with intensity and is a hustle player. We brought him in due to a lack of depth up front, after Humphries went down for the majority of the year. Oh, and the trade. Essentially, we gave up T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert, Maceo Baston, and a first rounder for an expiring Shawn Marion, Marcus Banks, and cash. I’m not a fan. While it did improve the team overall, I think J.O. (and T.J. in the first place) could have fetched us more. Kapono, the team’s 6 million dollar “sharpshooter”, finished with 42.8% from downtown, on just over 20 minutes a game. 6 million a year? He’s riding the pine most of the game! Roko Ukic, the rookie from Croatia, had a rookie-like season. He did have a brilliant game vs. San Antonio, taking over the game late, but I don’t know if he’ll get much better. He needs to improve his court vision, often taking difficult, contested shots late in the shot clock. Bosh is Bosh. Averaged a double double. Parker, one of my favorites, is getting old, and regressing. Rumor has it that he’ll go overseas next year. Joey Graham! I love watching this guy play. His monster dunks, hustle, athleticism, strength, all make him a fun player to watch. He just needs to improve his overall basketball IQ, shot selection, and shooting. Marcus Banks, wow. Terrible. I remember one game where he had 2 airballs. 2! 42 points in a summer league game means nothing. Andrea Bargnani, my personal favorite, had a solid season. He’s finally starting to look like that number 1 pick that everyone expected. Douby? Meh, he can shoot, thats cool. Jose had an injury riddled season, but he looked pretty good. With the leagues highest FT% at 98.1%, and a AST/TO rate of 4.2, he still can play. Voskuhl, that guy made me laugh. He would pick up more fouls than anything on his stat sheet, and always be pulled due to that. O’Bryant can go fly a kite. He’s lazy, and has no desire to be a Raptor. He had so much potential coming out of college, but the guy is just a benchwarmer. Shawn Marion I wouldn’t mind signing for the right price, but I think he’ll bolt for a contender. The most like scenario will be a sign and trade. Jawai, I waited long and hard until his first game. I watched his one and only NBA field goal with a smile on my face. This team doesn’t need a re-build just yet, just some additions and subtractions (O’Bryant, Banks, Kapono), I look forward to the upcoming season, and the (hopefully) busy summer for Bryan Colangelo and the Toronto Raptors.

Jordan