No wrong way to build a team

[white men can't jump]

This is very common with the podcasts

Which is fine. This is, after all, basically a fan site. But it should be treated as such. The quality of analysis can vary heavily depending on who's writing and what they're writing about.

[OldSkoolCool]

Which is fine. This is, after all, basically a fan site. But it should be treated as such. The quality of analysis can vary heavily depending on who's writing and what they're writing about.

Exactly. I have used it as a differing opinion to check myself at times, but they are a far cry from being a source I would call a reliable in terms of basketball knowledge

[KHD]

must be the offseason if this thread is devolving to the point where the front page articles and podcast are being actually discussed as if they have any analytical value or insight (they don't).

[007]

must be the offseason if this thread is devolving to the point where the front page articles and podcast are being actually discussed as if they have any analytical value or insight (they don't).

From being eliminated from the playoffs (or not making them) until the draft is the worst waiting period for basketball.

[McRealistic]

I might be the only one here but I find some of the writers of the RR front page such as Zarar, Sam, PHDSteve and Tim W smarter, more educated and more informed than 95% of the posters here.

[KHD]

I might be the only one here but I find some of the writers of the RR front page such as Zarar, Sam, PHDSteve and Tim W smarter, more educated and more informed than 95% of the posters here.

to be realistic, they're definitely smarter than at least a few posters here. "more educated" is meaningless, we're talking basketball, not cosmology. "more informed"? nah. This is a fan site. I have no problem with any of these guys, but they don't provide anything more than the forums. In fact we get much better info on the forum IMO.

[MACK11]

I might be the only one here but I find some of the writers of the RR front page such as Zarar, Sam, PHDSteve and Tim W smarter, more educated and more informed than 95% of the posters here.

Good for you

[Scraptor]

I might be the only one here but I find some of the writers of the RR front page such as Zarar, Sam, PHDSteve and Tim W smarter, more educated and more informed than 95% of the posters here.

Because you agree with them, and disagree with most people here. It's fine to be a contrarian, but there isn't an inherent superiority to contrarian viewpoints; it just feels that way.

[McRealistic]

Because you agree with them, and disagree with most people here. It's fine to be a contrarian, but there isn't an inherent superiority to contrarian viewpoints; it just feels that way.

It has nothing to do with me agreeing with them or not ( at least not in my view).

I just find their opinions more balanced and much more similar to what I read in ESPN.com, NBA.com or from other professional BB writers or radio/TV BB programs.

I think while the RR writers are fans of the team, most of the time they are unbiased and subjective.

I don't think it has anything to do with being contrarian and more to do with appreciating a more balance and subjective views rather than fanatic , unrealistic opinions.

[The Great One]

JV projects to be at least as good as Al Horford. I'll build around that for now over anyone else we have.

Projected to be by who? by you?

I don't see any Al Horford in JV's game whatsoever. Well, they both play the C position. But that's about it.

[Puffer]

LOL, Oh, DanH, I think you and only handful of people here + Big Val and his agent can make these claims, ignore everything that happened during the season, ignore his shortcomings on defence, especially on help defence with straight face

For anyone else interested on more balance and unbiased assessment of where BigVal and his game is, listen to the podcast:

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/...that-wasnt-us/

Why am I not surprised to see this?

JV is probably the most efficient player on the team and a large % of "his" defensive mistakes come from completely blown assignments by one or two of his team mates.

[McRealistic]

a large % of "his" defensive mistakes come from completely blown assignments by one or two of his team mates.

LOL, Where did I read this before ?

When AB was playing along side Bosh , many "wishful thinkers" here used to claim that the reason AB does not grab enough rebound is because Bosh steals them from him and also how great AB is on one and one defence and the reason our team is bad defensively, is the mistakes of the Bosh.

Same story was repeated and the same "wishful thinkers" here attacked AB when DD came here and again we see the same trend ...

J.V. is a solid player who has shown potentials and also a lot of weaknesses. In no shape or form, this is knock on this guy but his potentials so far are not one of a main option guy, franchise player or a guy that a team can be build around.

You want to build your team around guys like, Davis, Curry, Cousin, Wiggins, Harden, Westbrooks, Durant, Lebron, K.Lenoard, Rose before injury and ... A real Super Star ...

Raptors should stop making the same mistake over and over again or until J.V. proves otherwise.

Thankfully, MU seems to be smarter than the average "Wishful thinker" here and does not think of J.V. as a type of player you can build a franchise around as your first option.

[consmap]

LOL, Where did I read this before ?

When AB was playing along side Bosh , many "wishful thinkers" here used to claim that the reason AB does not grab enough rebound is because Bosh steals them from him and also how great AB is on one and one defence and the reason our team is bad defensively, is the mistakes of the Bosh.

Same story was repeated and the same "wishful thinkers" here attacked AB when DD came here and again we see the same trend ...

J.V. is a solid player who has shown potentials and also a lot of weaknesses. In no shape or form, this is knock on this guy but his potentials so far are not one of a main option guy, franchise player or a guy that a team can be build around.

You want to build your team around guys like, Davis, Curry, Cousin, Wiggins, Harden, Westbrooks, Durant, Lebron, K.Lenoard, Rose before injury and ... A real Super Star ...

Raptors should stop making the same mistake over and over again or until J.V. proves otherwise.

Thankfully, MU seems to be smarter than the average "Wishful thinker" here and does not think of J.V. as a type of player you can build a franchise around as your first option.

I don't think anyone here wants to use him as a first option...

Unless first option means giving the ball to someone when they're in position to score instead of looking them off.

[distorsun]

DRAFT
DEVELOP
TRADE
FA
The only difference among teams IS Their RELATIVE IMPORTANCE; and it varies depending on the market you're in and the status of your franchise (LA vs TOR).
A team like LA or NY have ALL the options of how they want to build.
If you're OKC or Toronto, YOU DO NOT HAVE ALL THE OPTIONS. DRAFTING + DEVELOPMENT MUST BE no1 on your list. That is why it's so hard for small market teams. YOU HAVE TO draft and develop well and hope that translate into winning. You don't have to hit a home run on ALL drafts, you have to HIT the "right" homerun a couple of times.

That's why I don't blame small market GMs for swigging for the fences, getting a bunch of nice role players is not gonna cut it.

And once you start to win, YOU GOTTA TO KEEP WINNING to retain and bring talent.
LA is a mess right now, but yet, they are still legitimate destination for top players. Go figure.

[Puffer]

...You want to build your team around guys like, Davis, Curry, Cousin, Wiggins, Harden, Westbrooks, Durant, Lebron, K.Lenoard, Rose before injury and ... A real Super Star ...

...Thankfully, MU seems to be smarter than the average "Wishful thinker" here and does not think of J.V. as a type of player you can build a franchise around as your first option.

Christ, why didn't any of us think of that. GET A SUPERSTAR! Who would have thought it was so simple. McRealistic, man, you should be running an NBA team.

Oh, and actually here are a couple of quotes from Masai: "Jonas Valanciunas is 'a huge part of our team' going into the future, Ujiri said, expressing his belief that such big men are still valuable even in an era of small ball.."

"We can criticize Jonas all we want, and it’s a big discussion we’re going to have with coach and staff," Ujiri said. "How he was used and how he is used. Those guys are hard to find. You can scour around the world and try to find those Jonas, or big guys like that. It also takes time. We understand that. But we feel he got better and he got better at rim protecting, his feet got a little bit better. He got a little more confident in the post. He got better rebounding defensively. I think it’s gradual with big guys. It takes time and he’s going to be a big part of our building."

Neither of those indicate that JV is about to become the Raps first option, but then, that is a straw man you erected so that you could then knock it down. I never said he was going to become a first option to build around. However, Dan and Axel both have given some solid reasons why JV could and should be the Raps center of the future.

But whatever. I should know better than to argue with someone who has your understanding of basketball in the NBA.