Jarrett Jack - Body Fat And Other Hang Time

[Raptor4Ever]

why are our young gunz

tor - derozan, weems, amir, jack, davis

any better than :

philly - holiday, turner, young, speights
sacramento - evans, cousins, thompson, green
nets - lopez, cousins, t will, c. lee, favours
warriors - curry, ellis, biedrins, r. williams
timberwolves - love, flynn, wes johnson, webster

many other non playoff teams ??

Nicely Said Vinnie

This all started with that Free Amir on twitter and the rest of the BS Hype after few dunks and ...
It is one thing to invest time and energy on the young player but it is another to waste on medium talents and just give BS hype to the team.

YOUNG GUNZ is marketing scheme for BC and will blow up in the fans face when the team is losing 8-9 on a row , playing no defense, not competing but having those unnecessarily and meaning less dunks when team is down 30.

[it is what it is]

The Raptors will finish ahead of all of those teams

The Raptors will not finish ahead of Philly and I will happily take any wager that suggests otherwise.

[Buddahfan]

probably, but i would still take evans and cousins over what we have, and even the nets yung players over what we have.

Lets revisit the discussion of this after the 10-11 season.

[Balls of Steel]

The absence of a "star" in Bosh will certainly make it interesting for the rest of the team. I think that...

1. My initial prediction of 35-40 is off. I'm sticking to 25-30 (not being negative, just realistic). There's still a lot of talk of the Raps' offensive potential and not much on the defensive end. BC have yet to add a Mbah A Moute or Sefolosha type player to anchor our defenses. Only improved defense will accommodate the loss of someone like Bosh (in terms of winning games).

2. The 2-headed monster in Calderon and Jack is more efficient and potent than one would think. I'm tired of bashing Calderon's "clap" defence. Instead, I would rather focus on his ability to steer the 2nd unit of this team. Would you rather have a pure starter and then the second PG tails off in performance, or would you rather have 2 exceptional back-ups for 48 minutes?

3. The lack of moves that BC has made as far as addressing the 3 position tells me that he's convinced that DeMar is built for this position in the coming season and beyond.

4. Bargs will improve marginally but will hit the ceiling at 20pts and 7reb / game.

5. Chemistry will be the most important aspect of this team. As a matter of fact, chemistry will lead to better defence overall. If they manage to give up 101 pts / game, we should take that as a massive improvement.

6. Calderon staying is 50/50. BC (who signed him to this awful extension) is now in a bind. If Jose is still here, will he choose to start him (for showcasing purposes with starters minutes) or as a back-up (where he may dissipate into oblivion)? Tough indeed.

[Buddahfan]

The absence of a "star" in Bosh will certainly make it interesting for the rest of the team. I think that...

1. My initial prediction of 35-40 is off. I'm sticking to 25-30 (not being negative, just realistic). There's still a lot of talk of the Raps' offensive potential and not much on the defensive end. BC have yet to add a Mbah A Moute or Sefolosha type player to anchor our defenses. Only improved defense will accommodate the loss of someone like Bosh (in terms of winning games).

2. The 2-headed monster in Calderon and Jack is more efficient and potent than one would think. I'm tired of bashing Calderon's "clap" defence. Instead, I would rather focus on his ability to steer the 2nd unit of this team. Would you rather have a pure starter and then the second PG tails off in performance, or would you rather have 2 exceptional back-ups for 48 minutes?

3. The lack of moves that BC has made as far as addressing the 3 position tells me that he's convinced that DeMar is built for this position in the coming season and beyond.

4. Bargs will improve marginally but will hit the ceiling at 20pts and 7reb / game.

5. Chemistry will be the most important aspect of this team. As a matter of fact, chemistry will lead to better defence overall. If they manage to give up 101 pts / game, we should take that as a massive improvement.

6. Calderon staying is 50/50. BC (who signed him to this awful extension) is now in a bind. If Jose is still here, will he choose to start him (for showcasing purposes with starters minutes) or as a back-up (where he may dissipate into oblivion)? Tough indeed.

See my post on RaptorsRepublic.com on the minimum number of wins that the Raptors will achieve in 10-11

http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/sh...11-Will-Exceed

[Balls of Steel]

Buddah, I did read it and I agree. I just hope that team defence improves as that is really the only way for this team to exceed the wins that I have predicted. I'm afraid that with all of the "Young Gunz" hype, the importance of defence is lost in the shuffle. I don't want the "Young Gunz" to turn into "Young Nunz" in the end...

[Buddahfan]

Buddah, I did read it and I agree. I just hope that team defence improves as that is really the only way for this team to exceed the wins that I have predicted. I'm afraid that with all of the "Young Gunz" hype, the importance of defence is lost in the shuffle. I don't want the "Young Gunz" to turn into "Young Nunz" in the end...

I almost hate to say this but the success of the Raptors in 10-11 will be significantly determined by Johnson's ability to stay on the court. Triano will gladly give him 30 plus minutes a game in 10-11 if Johnson can stay out of foul trouble. That to me is the biggest x factor in 10-11. If Johnson stay out of foul trouble for the most part and can somehow miraculously play close to or over 30 minutes a game then I think that the Raptors can be a very solid team in 10-11. On the other hand if his minutes per game are held to under 25 and even worse to under 20 because of foul problems than I think the lottery is good possibility.

I think we will know by the end of November at the latest.

I know a lot of people who are still reading my posts will wonder why after reading this or maybe even stop reading them, but this is how I see it.

The dude needs to stay on the court if the Raptors are to have a successful season in 10-11. That in my opinion is the most important unknown in 10-11.

Not necessarily because of his offense but because of his defense. When he was on the court last season he was the Raptors best defensive player. His aid to Bargnani is immense especially on the defensive side. The reason is that Johnson does so well that which Bargnani does so terribly and that is play team defense. So Johnson a lot more so than Bosh was able to negate a lot of Bargnani's liability with respect to team defense.

No reason that the young players shouldn't all get better on defense with the addition of Carlesimo. He has a very good track record in both college and the NBA of building better than average defensive teams through his coaching as an assistant coach.

[Balls of Steel]

Agreed Amir Johnson gets in foul trouble because he usually gets to the defensive gap (which is often a tough spot because you are more likely to get fouls called against you with the occasional charge from the offensive player). He gets in foul trouble much like Dwight Howard gets into foul trouble at time as well (and he's the league's best defender!!!) How many minutes did Howard spend on the pine during the playoffs?

PS> I'm not comparing Amir to Dwight btw.

[Buddahfan]

Agreed Amir Johnson gets in foul trouble because he usually gets to the defensive gap (which is often a tough spot because you are more likely to get fouls called against you with the occasional charge from the offensive player). He gets in foul trouble much like Dwight Howard gets into foul trouble at time as well (and he's the league's best defender!!!) How many minutes did Howard spend on the pine during the playoffs?

PS> I'm not comparing Amir to Dwight btw.

That is good observation about a significant reason for his high foul rate. He also commits more than his share of fouls because of his aggressiveness on defense, for example double teams, etc.

He also tends to commit too many fouls playing out out of position on the court. Some of this is due to his helping others and some of this problem will get better with experience and overall improved team defense.

[vinnie_paz]

The Raptors will finish ahead of all of those teams

the raps will not finish ahead of the nets...

[heinz57]

bc traded steve nash the first time... then 6 years later signed him and nash went off... if bc knew nash was so good he wouldnt have traded him the first time.

in 1998 NOBODY had any idea how good steve nash would be. he showed almost nothing those first few years in phoenix.. he really didnt show any growth.. his long range shooting was HORRIBLE.. there was no reason think he'd improve and no reason to worry about it because you had jason kidd & KJ in the pocket..

not holding onto nash that first time around wasn't BC's fault... nash was crap

it'd be like him holding onto roko ukic

[Buddahfan]

in 1998 NOBODY had any idea how good steve nash would be. he showed almost nothing those first few years in phoenix.. he really didnt show any growth.. his long range shooting was HORRIBLE.. there was no reason think he'd improve and no reason to worry about it because you had jason kidd & KJ in the pocket..

not holding onto nash that first time around wasn't BC's fault... nash was crap

it'd be like him holding onto roko ukic

I agree. I would like to see Calderon make the improvement in his game that Nash did.

Offensively it might not be that big a leap to get to Nash's level

Defensively Nash will never get voted to an all-defense team.

[vinnie_paz]

in 1998 NOBODY had any idea how good steve nash would be. he showed almost nothing those first few years in phoenix.. he really didnt show any growth.. his long range shooting was HORRIBLE.. there was no reason think he'd improve and no reason to worry about it because you had jason kidd & KJ in the pocket..

yea i know what you're saying... but at the same time nobody knew how good nash would be either... in his last year in dallas he averaged 15pt n 9assists... so if you cant blame bc for trading nash, then you shoould also not be able to give bc so much credit for nash's mvp years and phx's 60 win seasons.

therefore, just like amare and marion and diaw are a product of steve nash, so is BC...

[heinz57]

yea i know what you're saying... but at the same time nobody knew how good nash would be either... in his last year in dallas he averaged 15pt n 9assists... so if you cant blame bc for trading nash, then you shoould also not be able to give bc so much credit for nash's mvp years and phx's 60 win seasons.

therefore, just like amare and marion and diaw are a product of steve nash, so is BC...

im not saying you're completely wrong.. because you definitely aren't... but bc surrounded nash with the right pieces..

contrary to popular belief, nash cant make EVERY player better.. raef lafrentz and shawn bradley were still busts even with nash... hell, damon jones had one of his worst seasons in the league when he was on nash' mavericks... and he's the kind of player that should flourish playing with nash.. a spot up shooter..

and then there was shaq.............ugh

[vinnie_paz]

im not saying you're completely wrong.. because you definitely aren't... but bc surrounded nash with the right pieces..

contrary to popular belief, nash cant make EVERY player better.. raef lafrentz and shawn bradley were still busts even with nash... hell, damon jones had one of his worst seasons in the league when he was on nash' mavericks... and he's the kind of player that should flourish playing with nash.. a spot up shooter..

and then there was shaq.............ugh

fully agree...

the more i think about it though, the more i feel that BC is nothing more than the rich spoiled brat son of the former owner of the phx suns... and we can say oh he had the team winning 60 games and blah blah blah... at the end of the day, it was mostly due to nash's play...

if jerry colangelo doesnt own the suns, BC would never be a GM.

and like all rich people, BC wears a nice suit and can talk the talk, but really he is lost. how do we not make the playoffs in the eastern conference but teams like the bucks and bobcats and bulls do ?

the over paying for jose, amir, kapono, hedo, bargs, and trading away draft picks like they were candy... ex.. pacers are desperate to get under the cap and move j.o.... we not only take his $20 million contract but thrown in a 1st round pick.

or we take the banks contract from miami and also give them a 1st round pick ...

and you can say how he fixes his mistakes but really therez no turning back time, and a few fixed mistakes just cost us season after season after season...

dont be fooled by the nice suit..