The consensus is that the Raptors should not sign a free-agent. Should not make any major trades. Should not try to gamble in any sense on the market. Should stay put, suck for another year, and get another high pick, and trudge slowly towards respectability. That plan might be rooted in some sense, but it sounds so pathetic that I wonder to myself what the point of supporting this team is. Is striving for contention this hard in the NBA? Or is it that the Raptors are in such a difficult place that the road to anything resembling respectability is arduous and full of games of chance?
I know, I know, I’m starting to sound like a complainer and you might point to the Baby Bulls and Grizz as examples of teams that went through horrid stages before becoming good. In fact, that’s what I tell myself, we, the Raptors, could be good just like those teams. That is the only hope that I retain in the morose landscape that is today’s NBA. As I was coming out of my depression, Gilbert Arenas dropped some harsh reality, which would make even an optimist adopt a defeatist attitude.
Hey now! That wasn’t how you open up a July post in a locked out NBA off-season with nothing to look forward to except wonder which European club Sonny Weems will sign with as he runs away with his tail between his legs after being stuffed by a nobody. Not so bad though, Rudy might do the same.
Jonas is tearing it up it Latvia. He had 15/9 in their 111-68 win over Canada. Actually, win isn’t the way to term this. Devastation is more like it, wait, not even that does justice to this one. What they did to Canada is what a Category 5 tornado does to lawn chair. Despite the embarrassing result, Basketball Canada’s Twitter account found a positive – some guy dunked on Jonas. I can relate to Basketball Canada here, whenever I crush A-Dub 7-1 in FIFA11, the little punk always manages to score his one goal on some insane bicycle kick. Annoying as hell.
Moving on to other randomness. Bargnani poll ended like this:
43% of people think he’s been given his chance in Toronto and has blown it for whatever reason. Laziness, lack of motivation, imperiousness to his coaches telling him to give a shit, whatever. This 43% want him out at all cost and are sick of his sight. These people throw out a carton of milk no more than a week after its expired.
Then you have a big number, 42% to be exact, that think he deserves yet another shot, this time at his “natural position” at power forward and that too in a starting role. They give Bargnani the benefit of the doubt and feel that his defects can be accounted for by compensating at other positions, and that he will eventually find his way. When these people meet a carton of milk that’s been expired for a week, they think storing it in a bowl will make it good for another month.
Then you have 8% who feel that Bargnani is not good enough to be an NBA starter, but recognize the positives he brings and don’t want to lose those positives. To them, the bench is a fair compromise. When they sniff milk that’s a little off, they won’t drink it but have no problem giving it to their pet.
Finally, we have the 7% that feel Bargnani should remain the starting center despite even his coach losing confidence in him at that role. If this lot find run into milk that’s turned yellow and is full of bacteria having wild orgies, they’ll deem it good enough to feed it to their newborn without hesitation.