And We Bid You Goodnight: The Toronto Raptors Know Themselves | Hardwood Paroxysm
In the beginning, it didn’t look like this – a premature end that creates an uncertain future – was the Raptors’ destiny. Early on, the Raptors were a good basketball team, or at least were semblance of one, and started 24-7, albeit against a poor schedule. It came on the heels of the Raptors accidently getting better after trading Rudy Gay halfway through last season, which sort of caused the team to go somewhat in this season in the first place. Lowry, for a time, was arguably the best point guard in the East-and ultimately started in the All-Star game. Some of the problems that would later doom the Raptors – poor defensive rotations, a sometimes lack of spacing, etc. – were there but Toronto hid them and tried to make room for the youngsters who needed time to figure themselves. Conversely, the strong start to the season gave Toronto a chance to evaluate what it had and figure out what this roster didn’t have. That time is now gone. Exactly when it all came apart is a hard moment to define, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. Whatever went wrong with Toronto – whether it was DeRozan missing a long stretch of the season, Lowry being hurt/worn out or some combination of the two – the Raptors as we know them right now are extinct.
Ranking Toronto Raptors’ Biggest Priorities for 2015 NBA Offseason | Bleacher Report
Experience brings confidence. Confidence breeds character. There’s more to acquiring a veteran than just finding the first “old guy” on the waiver wire. It has to be someone with something of value, whether it’s as a leader in the locker room or that missing ingredient on the floor. David West, an unrestricted free agent for the Indiana Pacers, is a perfect example of someone Ujiri should be targeting. He’s a savvy post player who can knock down mid-range jumpers, work for rebounds and get physical on the defensive end. West is also battle-tested in the postseason with 73 appearances. That’s the type of player guys like Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas can look to for guidance and leadership. That’s not to say they couldn’t find that from someone already on the team, but the respect West has earned over the course of his 12-year career can’t be ignored.
Details murky on where Raptors-affiliated team would fit in NBA D-League | Toronto Star
“We have had ongoing dialogue with the team and we will continue to explore those possibilities,” NBA Development League president Malcolm Turner said in an emailed statement Wednesday to the Star. The D-League, as it’s referred to, kicked off in 2001 and just completed its 14th season. The league has grown from eight teams to 18 competing this season, divided into four divisions: Atlantic, Central, Southwest and West. More than 30 per cent of current NBA players have spent time in the lower tier circuit, according to the D-League. Seventeen D-League teams are either owned by an NBA club or exclusively linked with one. The 18th minor league team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, is the sole independent operation, meaning it doesn’t have to make decisions based on the interests of a single NBA team and are more catered to on-court success than player development. The Mad Ants have 13 NBA affiliates including the Raptors.
Toronto Raptors announce D-League team in plans | Raptors Rapture
Let’s assume the Buffalo Bombers (I dunno – suggest a name! Buffalo as a location is a relatively easy choice, but maybe Syracuse or Rochester make more sense) begin play next season. The Raptors would have emergency help close to hand in case of a rash of injuries, which is something we’re overdue for. Masai would be able to assess not only young players, but promising coaches, and even trainers and dieticians (no, I’m not kidding – you can’t talk about great organizations without factoring in these people. You need a starting place for aspiring capologists, analytics gurus, and advance scouts to boot).
What’s Next for the Toronto Raptors? | Basketball Insiders
In a world where teams change coaches as often as players change their sneakers, patience is a virtue that has worn thin, particularly in the contemporary NBA. As the Raptors ponder what went wrong in a season that seems to have ended far earlier than they thought it would back in December, it will be extremely interesting to see whether Ujiri opts to double down on his core by re-signing his key free agents, or whether he will channel his inner Danny Ainge and start a proactive demolition project, believing that the current cast of characters he has assembled in Toronto has already peaked and played to their ceiling. By the looks of it, especially in today’s NBA, nobody should be caught off guard if it ends up being that these current cast of Raptors soon find themselves broken and extinct.
Playoff Problems: The Regression of Kyle Lowry | Raptors Rapture
Lowry averaged 17.8 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game throughout the season. He shot 41% from the field and 34% from long distance. He was the team’s leader in assists and their second highest scorer after DeMar DeRozan. During the playoffs, he averaged an ugly 12.3 points, 4.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. He shot 31% from the field and 21% from 3-point range. His very presence on the court for the Raptors was negative, since his defence wasn’t much better than his offence. Perhaps the most telling statistic is his PER value, which measures per-minute production, standardized so that the league average is 15. During the regular season, Lowry earned a 19.3, only to plummet all the way down to 7.9 during the playoffs.
Trouble In Toronto: Analyzing The Wizards’ Domination Of The Raptors | The Sports Quotient
Fast-forward just one year later and the Toronto Raptors are a dysfunctional mess. Once again, they were a one-and-done in the playoffs, but at least last year they were competitive. This year, they were pushed around and shredded by a hapless Wizards offense (103.7 offensive rating, 22nd in the league) that had been stagnating since theAll-Star break. During the four-game sweep, Toronto’s defense gave up point totals of 93, 117, 106 and 125 points per game (an average of 110.25 for those of you keeping score at home) to a team that scored 98.5 per game during the regular season. Toronto’s struggles on the defensive end of the floor wasn’t just a fluke, they were actually one of the worst defensive teams in the league this season. Their defensive rating as a unit was 107.7 (25th out of 30 teams), and they gave up 2.1 more points per 100 possessions relative to the rest of the league. During the Washington series, Toronto was unable to contain John Wall in any way, shape, or form. A gimpy Kyle Lowry was no match for his quickness, and he did a wonderful job driving into the lane and kicking out to open shooters.
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