Is this season a success if we make the play offs?

[Jamshid]

Was wondering what the hard core fans think about this. We are most likely going to make the play offs this year so regardless of what happens in the next 20+ games, is this season a successful one for MU and his team ?

[charlesnba23]

Yes

[MixxAOR]

Financially yeah. They are gonna make a lot of money off of playoffs.

[blackjitsu]

The primary goals before the season were:

1/ Move Bargs
2/ See if Gay and DD work well together, if not, move one
3/ Develop Ross and Val

I'd say the season is already a success. Playoffs is a bonus.

[sam_paul77]

yeaa!!

[2kfeen]

Coming into this season, a realistic expectation was 7th seed (at best) to 10th seed (at worst).
We exceeded our own expectations and have a pretty financially flexible roster that has many oppourtunities now.
Our players are basically all trade-able and are fairly young.

We did some addition by subtraction (Kleiza, Bargnani, Gay, Anderson, Lucas)
We don't have any locker room cancers
We got a couple of young pieces that we can build upon for the future (Derozan, Patterson, JV, Ross)

[Dino4life]

Like blackjitsu & Masai said, don't judge the season in wins or playoffs, we still only have a .545 winning %

[Scraptor]

I will judge the success of this season based on what happens with Kyle Lowry.

If he leaves, we basically squandered a great opportunity to add a great young prospect in the draft to Val and Ross while also giving them much more minutes to develop.

Each season is either a step towards winning a championship or a step away (and remaining in place is a step away given the opportunity cost).

If Lowry walks, playoffs won't mean a thing because he was the biggest factor in getting us there. And all this "patience, Masai is evaluating" will be revealed as fatal indecisiveness.

I trust the guy but man is he walking the razor's edge.

[magoon]

I'll be the downer here and say that simply making the playoffs does not make this a successful season from a long-term standpoint. People can talk about "winning culture" all they like, but the important part of that phrase is "winning" - all of the important development goals could have been reached in a tank season as well, so really, all we're looking at is "how to best benefit the team going forward."

In a playoffs season where we don't have a serious chance of winning it all - and despite whatever the current Hollinger odds are, we don't, because we have to beat the Heat, the Pacers and the best team out of the west (probably the Thunder) and that will be basically impossible, like the 2004 Pistons season but squared in terms of improbability - then the goal is to make us more attractive as a destination to players who will want to be traded here or sign here. We will not manage that with a first-round exit: that will confirm to the league that we were just another fluke of a historically bad Eastern Conference.

In other words: we need to make second round. And we need to make at least a good showing against the Pacers or Heat, whoever we end up facing in the second round (probably the Heat).

[octothorp]

This is a different team now than what we started the season with. I don't see why expectations shouldn't change. While at the beginning of the season I might have said that playoffs alone would be a successful season, based on the current group and the state of the eastern conference, I would say that getting to the second round should be the measure for on-court success.

Roster/asset-wise, yes this season is already a big success (although depending on Lowry's offseason, it's not a success that's carved in stone yet). Players are showing enormous development in terms of performance, leadership, and chemistry. Cap flexibility has been created (not necessarily for this offseason but for 2015).

[007]

Is this thread an excuse for people to drive their tanks in and bitch and moan about not getting a top five draft pick?

[Balls of Steel]

For me, the team is already a success (pre-playoffs). No one expected this. And moving forward, even if Lowry re-signs and Casey comes back, I feel they can sustain this provided they don't tune out Casey and the coaching staff. Ross and Valanciunas as part of the starting 5 is proof that they are already successful as a team.

[caccia]

Yes, so long as the Raptors also win the Atlantic Division and finish with a winning record. So far, so good.

In terms of successful player development, this has been a very good season! It will be an excellent season in that regard if they make the playoffs, because that is where the game gets tough: forty-eight minutes of tough. None of this "turn it on in the fourth quarter" business you often see from teams that are coasting.

[mcHAPPY]

Is this thread an excuse for people to drive their tanks in and bitch and moan about not getting a top five draft pick?

Nope but good way to divert the thread!

Haven't you heard? Tanks are rusting on the beach. Might be a new order for 2015 though lol

[Jamshid]

The primary goals before the season were:

1/ Move Bargs
2/ See if Gay and DD work well together, if not, move one
3/ Develop Ross and Val

I'd say the season is already a success. Playoffs is a bonus.

If these were the goals, then I agree this is successful season and confirms why MU did not make a move to improve the team further for the play offs.

However, I wonder why collecting more assets was not one of the primary goals for this season as well ??