Raptors Ranked Dead Last In Eastern Conference Standings

According to ESPN, Raptors are 15th in Eastern Conference in 10-11. In my opinion its hard to disagree. Thoughts?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...-EastStandings

Quote:

---

Toronto Raptors: After the ugly departures of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, the Raptors are basically starting over with a roster more random than designed. Given the significant dollars tied up in the likes of Jose Calderon, Andrea Bargnani, Leandro Barbosa and Amir Johnson, don't expect a lot of defense -- or a lot of wins anytime soon, either.

---

That's not going to happens, and there is no way all those bad teams will have that many wins.

no man it looks like it very well could be a reality, the raptors always think they need to be a shooting team, it took a sophomore player to say "no, we are a run and gun team" they look a little lost, but i think the raptors have potential to surprise alot of people, though making the playoffs is a dream at this point

I think the Cavs are a lesser team. I think the Raptors will be the 13th or 14th team in the east.

27 wins and the bottom of the conference what is this the west?

Quote:

---

Apollo wrote:

I think the Cavs are a lesser team. I think the Raptors will be the 13th or 14th team in the east.

---

You are probably hoping for better luck with this prognostication than you Orton one. heh?:):)

It's a good thing the season hasn't started, otherwise we'd have real reason to worry!

Does anyone remember last season, when the Washington Wizards were competing for the fourth seed with Atlanta? No? Oh that's right, it was predicted but never happened. Let's leave the standings to wins and losses please.

Quote:

---

Marz wrote:

It's a good thing the season hasn't started, otherwise we'd have real reason to worry!

Does anyone remember last season, when the Washington Wizards were competing for the fourth seed with Atlanta? No? Oh that's right, it was predicted but never happened. Let's leave the standings to wins and losses please.

---

Posters just wanting to have some fun during the "boring" days of August.

Quote:

---

Marz wrote:

It's a good thing the season hasn't started, otherwise we'd have real reason to worry!

Does anyone remember last season, when the Washington Wizards were competing for the fourth seed with Atlanta? No? Oh that's right, it was predicted but never happened. Let's leave the standings to wins and losses please.

---

Posters just wanting to have some fun during the "boring" days of August.

Quote:

---

Apollo wrote:

I think the Cavs are a lesser team. I think the Raptors will be the 13th or 14th team in the east.

---

I agree. I think Cavs are a lesser team followed by the Raptors.

They will not be as bad as the American based publications say because all they know about is Chris Bosh. Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think Bosh had as much as an impact on this team as they think. His stats showed his game and rarely did he do the "little things" that don't show up on stat lines, but help teams win. As for Turk, his impact was a negative one. I hope the "wins and losses" don't correct me. As well, Colangelo is not finished yet IMO. If I am right, they will be competing for 8th, just as they had been with Bosh.

Quote:

---

Buddahfan wrote:

You are probably hoping for better luck with this prognostication than you Orton one. heh?:):)

---

I can miss every now and then. You'll also note that when I get things right I feel no need to stroke my ego. It speaks for itself.

Based on current roster it may be hard to disagree. In the end who cares if you're 13th, 14th or 15th? Yeah, we suck but not as much as that other team - lol. Seriously though, do you think this is the roster we are going to start the season with? If it is, I'd be shocked.

If you are going to be a losing team, it is better to be awful than just plain bad. I don't see how Indy is going to do anything without a backcourt and Charlotte lost two of thier premier players with their other two due for a major decline. I will be surprised every time the Cavs win a game, they are a lost team with no hope for the future. Detroit is a mess with no direction and the Wiz have studs who have no idea how to win ball games.

Looking at this objectively I find it hard to put them in the cellar. The raps lost thier best player, but replaced him adequately for the short term and likely more so in the long term and replaced the LVP of the league with the Euroleague MVP, drafted well and project to see significant improvement from thier young talent.

It leads me to believe that a lot of the media didn't watch raptor games last year to see how truly awful Turk was. His performance last year was one of the worst I have ever seen over a whole season and he cost the raptors at least a half dozen games with his lethargic play, failed 4th quarter opportunities and cancerous presence.

Having said that ESPN isn't usually this wrong and I think they should end up just out of the playoffs in or around the 10th seed. This season isn't about wins though, its about determining roles for the future and finding out whose ceiling is where and who is the present and future leader of this team.

Everybody needs to remember that talent alone isn't enough to be a success. That talent needs to complement each other, then it needs to gel or meld together. If you get past the first hurdle the second hurdle is much more difficult. Last season the Raptors had more talent and didn't get over either hurdle. The talent alone was almost enough to take them to the playoffs but they fell short. This year with less talent, more new players and less experience on the court leads me to question anyone who feels this team will compete for a playoff spot this season. The great talent they have is raw, Jay needs to process it before he can get a consistent product out of it.

Amir3000 weighs in on the debate via Twitter

Quote:

---

IamAmirJohnson

RT @bsewell5: Espn has the Raps as the worst team in the east this upcoming year. #haters @IamAmirJohnson we gon prove them wrong!! about 1 hour ago via Echofon

* Reply
* Retweet

---

http://twitter.com/IamAmirJohnson

I don't get how we are worse than Indiana, Detroit, Nets, or Cavs.

New York Knicks 8th seed?? why? Because of Amare and Felton...give me a break!!
Ahh... this is because the biased American media wishing New York actually had a good team.

The top 6 teams in the ranking make sense.
The only other thing that makes sense is that there will be very few
wins of difference between 7th and 15th spot;

In my opinion the bottom 4 are Nets, Raptors , Knicks and Cavs;
and I think the Raps will better than all these teams, so that' d make them the 11th seed;

The Jays were predicted to lose 100 games this season and finish near the bottom with Baltimore.
Definitely no reason to overreact, especially to ESPN's drivel.

It's a toss up but I think the Raptors will compete for worst team in the conference. Does anyone know where Arsenalist's Colangelo's 10 Biggest Mistakes article went? I read it this morning and it wasnt on the site when I got to work.