Craptors: What's wrong with them?

I can't believe they lost tonight. I thought for sure playing the Thunder would be tonic for this sinking team.

Calling ChrisBosh (the forum member). What's your call on the Raptors as a team? What's your call on JO now? Colangelo really needs to go ahead and pull the trigger on something. I didn't expect much from the Raptors this season but tonight was crazy.

 

Have you seen Bosh launching 3s 10s into the shot clock? This is the softest team in the league. Ford did bring some feistiness. The previous coach ran into trouble for refusing to play guys who wouldnt play D. Firing him definitely sent the wrong message.

I'm not sure why people are so high on Calderon. He fills up the fantasy stat sheet tho.

 

I think the trade made in the off-season is not so good as media said, O'Neal is a injure-prone man with high salary, the winner was Pacers. Addition, Raptors changed their coach before, so this is acceptable.

 

I haven't seen Bosh launch hardly any 3s. I've never been on the Calderon bandwagon. He's somewhere between decent and good. Regarding softness, the Raptors should change their name to the "Barneys". In fact, that's what I'm going to call them from now on.

 

I'm really really tired so I'm going to make spelling mistakes but here's my best shot:

Frankly, the team which Bryan Colangelo assembled in the past couple of seasons, and which made some regular season noise, was not as good as it seemed. Colangelo may not be the best basketball mind, but he's a good businessman and master of generating publicity/fan interest in his team. That is why he won exec of the year twice. But then you realize that over his eleven years in charge of Phoenix, the talent he assembled advanced in the playoffs twice.

So far I can point to four factors as to why they're struggling:

1) Point guard. Last year, they were considered to have the best rotation at this position of anyone. This year, they lose Ford and while you can't see it statistically, Jose Calderon is playing much less aggressively. He is not taking risks, instead padding his stats by dominating the ball and dumping it into Bosh. He has become an "east-west" point-guard instead of a "north-south" one who drives to the basket. That is why he has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios, but who cares? Ford was their best slasher, and his dribble penetration improved the Raptors' spacing on offense and gave them a go-to guy in close games.

To make matters worse, Calderon plays matador defense....

2) Swingmen. Due to a hole in the team's rotation that's persisted for years, some terrible, washed up players are forced to log major minutes at the two/three spots. Their lack of athleticism makes the whole team vulnerable to young teams like the ex-Sonics.

3) The front-court. Obviously, the team has too many jump-shooting big men. Without reliable scoring in the paint the Raptors are prone to embarrassing offensive stretches. While Jermaine O'Neal has been one of the few Raptors to evince a degree of professionalism his style of play is not what the team needed. Couple interior softness with one of the three worst defensive backcourts in the NBA and you're asking for trouble.

4) Bosh has not stepped up or shown leadership. He rips his teammates (he did this tonight to Moon after the latter bit on a pump-fake) and yet his atrocious play on both ends makes him un-entitled to do so. (You can't ask your teammates to do something that you yourself are unwilling or unable to do). He's even struggling to shoot free throws--which, as Raptors fans saw with Vince Carter, is often a sign of lack of effort. And who does he blame? The Toronto fans for not supporting him enough. Still a nice guy though.

 

Chris "The biggest vagina in the NBA" Bosh is on their team.

 

Um, dude....

 

Told ya so, they sucks. Still play no defense. I dont really care whatever numbers CB or JC get. also, Chemistry is no good with O'neal. The only dude that plays harder and a little bit defense, Anthony Parker, is out.

The most common pattern of a Raptors game is: Raptors have a close game or double digit lead in 1st half; in 3rd quarter, the opponent team tightens up its defense, gets some stops and takes over the game from there.

I am sure the Bobcats (9 games under 500) will finish ahead of the Raptors (6 games under 500) at the end of season.

 

I don't know about that. JO has actually been a glue guy this season, for all of the flak he's taken in the past (and recently from Larry Bird, who called him a poor team leader). My respect for him has increased.

 

I think I didnt say it clear. I meant the chemistry on court between O'neal and Bosh is no good. Both players are basically 4s. I was not referring to any locker room problem.

 

If JO would stay healthy for, say, 20-30 straight games, I think they would have great chemistry. Both are smart guys. Bosh would be the superstar while JO is the tough, veteran, better-than-average support player. But any team depending on JO to consistently contribute will be disappointed. His body just isn't up to the task. When this trade was made, I warned Barneys fans of this exact scenario.

 

Loosing Rasho hurts them!

 

Losing Ford hurt them a lot. Ford and Calderon would try and out-do each other last year and they were incredibly efficient while trying to accomplish that task. Also they kind of took the league a bit by storm last year. Things like this happen all the time in sports. A team has a nice breakout year and then goes back to mediocrity.

 

It's obvious that Ford leaving hurt them a lot, he brought a aspect to their squad that they no longer have, an aggressive slasher, he plays with heart, obviously JO is a shell of what he used to be. This season is far from over, so let's see what happens from here.