Here's John Hollinger's preview of the Raptors. Can't post the entire article for obvious reasons, but he goes on the say that our biggest strength is shooting and our biggest weakness is frontcourt defense. No surprises there.
Source - ESPN Insider - Raptors Preview
Outlook
Toronto was the league's worst defensive team and no player on its roster finished in the top 75 in PER last season. Other than that, everything should be great.
While the Raptors have several players who can score at a respectable clip, they're likely to struggle again on the defensive end. One hopes the effort will be less pathetic than it was a season ago, but with the same coaching staff and many of the same players, there isn't any compelling reason to suspect that will happen.
Instead, I expect Toronto to be on the tail end of numerous 128-110 shellackings. The Raptors have some shooters but lack star talent on offense, so minus Bosh it will be difficult for them to rank above the league average at that end. Meanwhile, they'll again place 29th or 30th in defensive efficiency.
Add it all up and it should be a long, bitter winter in Toronto. Raps fans straining for good news will note that Toronto has more rebuilding pieces in place than most teams in this situation, as the roster is fairly young, there's cap space in the future and the draft will begin pushing it forward in coming seasons.
But for 2010-11? This is going to be ugly; in fact, Toronto may finish with the league's worst record. I'd be shocked if the Raptors so much as challenged for the playoffs, let alone qualified for them.
Prediction: 22-60, 5th in Atlantic Division, 15th in Eastern Conference
Toronto was the league's worst defensive team and no player on its roster finished in the top 75 in PER last season. Other than that, everything should be great.
While the Raptors have several players who can score at a respectable clip, they're likely to struggle again on the defensive end. One hopes the effort will be less pathetic than it was a season ago, but with the same coaching staff and many of the same players, there isn't any compelling reason to suspect that will happen.
Instead, I expect Toronto to be on the tail end of numerous 128-110 shellackings. The Raptors have some shooters but lack star talent on offense, so minus Bosh it will be difficult for them to rank above the league average at that end. Meanwhile, they'll again place 29th or 30th in defensive efficiency.
Add it all up and it should be a long, bitter winter in Toronto. Raps fans straining for good news will note that Toronto has more rebuilding pieces in place than most teams in this situation, as the roster is fairly young, there's cap space in the future and the draft will begin pushing it forward in coming seasons.
But for 2010-11? This is going to be ugly; in fact, Toronto may finish with the league's worst record. I'd be shocked if the Raptors so much as challenged for the playoffs, let alone qualified for them.
Prediction: 22-60, 5th in Atlantic Division, 15th in Eastern Conference
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