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David Aldridge, NBA.com: Probably most balanced write up on Raps renaissance yet

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  • David Aldridge, NBA.com: Probably most balanced write up on Raps renaissance yet

    This is a long piece but for those craving national US media attention it doesn't get much bigger than this on a Monday.

    http://www.nba.com/2014/news/feature...lis/index.html

    Tidbits:

    Winning stretch raises an NBA quandary (of sorts) for Raptors


    Posted Jan 6, 2014 10:30 AM

    There's a phrase used in sports: "Fool's Gold." I prefer to think of it as The Ledell Eackles Quandary.

    Back in the late 1980s and early '90s, the (then-) Washington Bullets had a guard named Ledell Eackles. He was 6-foot-5, about 220-225 when he was in shape (he was listed at 231), and could basically do anything on offense. (For Eackles, not unlike many other players, defense was merely the interval that had to be endured before he got the ball again.)

    Eackles could shoot 3-pointers with ease. He could get to the cup effortlessly in two dribbles and finish through contact. He could post up most two guards, and he could rebound his position. The problem for the Bullets was, he didn't do these things consistently. Part of the problem was it usually took him about three months to finally get in NBA shape, by which time the Bullets were often hopelessly out of the playoff race.

    But in March and April, there wasn't a better two guard in the league.

    In one three-game stretch in March of 1990, Eackles replaced an injured Jeff Malone in the Bullets' starting lineup. He scored 31 on Michael Jordan and the Bulls, a career-high 40 on the Nets and 33 against Philly and the always-solid Hersey Hawkins. The following season, he averaged almost 18 a game over the Bullets' final 20 games of the season. And it wasn't a fluke.

    But it didn't mean anything in the big picture. The Bullets were awful, and Eackles didn't do much to change when he could have made a difference. Yet for several seasons, Washington wondered if the March-April Eackles would ever show in November and December. That's Fool's Gold.

    This is the dilemma the Toronto Raptors face this morning.
    But few teams in recent memory have been as much on the knife's edge as Toronto is today. The franchise has to answer a series of questions: How good is its core of center Jonas Valanciunas, guard Terrence Ross and DeRozan? Can you build a contending team around it?

    What to do with point guard Kyle Lowry? He's been on the trading block the past few weeks, but he's also been playing his best basketball in Toronto during that span. If you keep him, what do you pay him? (He's a free agent at season's end.) And if you trade him, with whom do you replace him?

    What to do with Casey, in his third season with the Raps since coming from Rick Carlisle's staff in Dallas, and whose contract is up at season's end?

    And, to the point, should Toronto keep this team together and see how far it can go, or start selling off as many parts as possible to give the Raptors both maximum cap flexibility next summer and the best chance to pick a potential franchise player in the Draft -- maybe a certain college freshman who happens to be Canadian and whom everyone in the nation (not following the Maple Leafs, Canucks, Jets, Canadiens or Flames) desperately wants to play for the country's only NBA team?
    The long-suffering and understandably cynical Canadian fan base isn't sure whether to believe, lest its faith be crushed again, or go all in. The team has already made its decision.

  • #2
    good article
    "Masai WILL win us a championship"
    - Tim Leiweke

    Ujiri: "One thing I can say for sure is that we will not be stuck in the middle."

    Reporter: "How can you say that?"

    Ujiri: "Because I can say that."

    Comment


    • #3
      Great read
      "Both teams played hard my man" - Sheed

      Comment


      • #4
        Whoa, anyone notice he said Jonas is 7'2''? Did he have a growth spurt no one knew about?

        Comment


        • #5
          Good find...but I am a bit confused on that last cut n paste comment about "team already made its decision".

          Comment


          • #6
            white men can't jump wrote: View Post
            Whoa, anyone notice he said Jonas is 7'2''? Did he have a growth spurt no one knew about?
            Don't think so.

            Probably result of a knowledgeable NBA guy writing off the cuff/top of his head and not checking a trivial yet relevant point.

            Comment


            • #7
              Bendit wrote: View Post
              Good find...but I am a bit confused on that last cut n paste comment about "team already made its decision".
              Aldridge left it open to be right no matter what happens.

              I interpreted it to mean he is another one who does not believe the Raptors are going to continue to aim high in the draft via their own pick.

              But you could make a good case he is saying it doesn't matter what the Raps are doing on the court because they've already decided to aim low in the standings.

              *shrugs*

              Whatever.

              Comment


              • #8
                I almost didn't bother reading past the "Fool's Gold" intro., though I see the OP gave more space to it than anything else. It's gotta be one of the silliest analogies I've ever seen. He's talking about an individual player, not a team, but speaks to the fool's gold stemming from a player consistently not coming into the season in shape and not producing to his abilities until he got in shape a couple of months later.

                How is that remotely comparable to the Raptors' situation? Player vs team aside, he using a veteran player being too effing lazy (though that was more the norm in those days) to be at the top of his game from the start, as a comparison to a very young team, that works their tails off, starting (still have a ways to go, doh) to get it after unloading a TO prone blackhole, that was killing them, and improving the bench. This analogy is totally wack. Otherwise, not a bad piece.

                Comment


                • #9
                  It's premature for a GM to make any major decisions at this point. It's been a stretch of 14 games. People are acting like they are 27-5. It's like no one has a memory that spans more than 7 days or watches any other team in the NBA.

                  Look, it's been a great stretch. They are playing stellar defense and efficient offense. It's fantastic to watch. But it's been 14 games. You don't determine a 5-year course for a franchise based on 14 games.

                  The positive aspect is that if this team can play like this the rest of the way, Ujiri is can build from a position of strength. If he makes the correct decisions, you are moving the rebuild ahead by years. That would be unanticipated, great news.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Bendit wrote: View Post
                    Good find...but I am a bit confused on that last cut n paste comment about "team already made its decision".
                    He was referring to the team as the players and the coach. By saying the team 'already made its decision', he meant, basically, that they've 'decided' to not be bad.

                    Not the greatest line; I'll chalk it up to him being on a deadline . Decent article though.
                    "Stop eating your sushi."
                    "I do actually have a pair of Uggs."
                    "I've had three cups of green tea tonight. I'm wired. I'm absolutely wired."
                    - Jack Armstrong

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      slaw wrote: View Post
                      It's premature for a GM to make any major decisions at this point. It's been a stretch of 14 games. People are acting like they are 27-5. It's like no one has a memory that spans more than 7 days or watches any other team in the NBA.

                      Look, it's been a great stretch. They are playing stellar defense and efficient offense. It's fantastic to watch. But it's been 14 games. You don't determine a 5-year course for a franchise based on 14 games.

                      The positive aspect is that if this team can play like this the rest of the way, Ujiri is can build from a position of strength. If he makes the correct decisions, you are moving the rebuild ahead by years. That would be unanticipated, great news.
                      Isn't 14 games 1 game longer than Bargnani's infamous 13 game stretch? Remember how he had finally turned the corner?

                      I completely agree with your perspective. At the same time I don't blame fans for being....fans, and going a bit over the top. Far better to have excitability around here than to be lame ass Heat fans who don't even show up for games or leave Finals games early to beat the rush. Bastards.
                      "We're playing in a building." -- Kawhi Leonard

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        JimiCliff wrote: View Post
                        He was referring to the team as the players and the coach. By saying the team 'already made its decision', he meant, basically, that they've 'decided' to not be bad.

                        Not the greatest line; I'll chalk it up to him being on a deadline . Decent article though.
                        Oh I dont know...I have always been of the opinion that innately teams (players) do not purposely "try to be bad" unless of course if they want to get the coach fired. I couldnt tell whether the writer was referring to the org. (team) or players (team) re the making up of mind. It is clear that the players are going all out. It is not entirely clear in my mind if MU has made up his mind other than to be absolutely vague about his intentions publicly. As Matt and others have said Lowry poses a big conundrum regarding loss of asset if he prices himself too high for MU and walks after the season or if MU trades him. It seems like bad asset management to me to have a degraded draft position (in an important draft) plus get nothing for what has now become a valuable player. Not a MU mo.

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                        • #13
                          Good article. Reasonably well balanced and he is familiar with the issues.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            p00ka wrote: View Post
                            I almost didn't bother reading past the "Fool's Gold" intro., though I see the OP gave more space to it than anything else. It's gotta be one of the silliest analogies I've ever seen. He's talking about an individual player, not a team, but speaks to the fool's gold stemming from a player consistently not coming into the season in shape and not producing to his abilities until he got in shape a couple of months later.

                            How is that remotely comparable to the Raptors' situation? Player vs team aside, he using a veteran player being too effing lazy (though that was more the norm in those days) to be at the top of his game from the start, as a comparison to a very young team, that works their tails off, starting (still have a ways to go, doh) to get it after unloading a TO prone blackhole, that was killing them, and improving the bench. This analogy is totally wack. Otherwise, not a bad piece.
                            completely agree.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              He forgot about the Oilers....

                              Comment

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