Rappin' on the Raptors

It would be feasible to say that nothing that has, or hasn’t, happened to the Raptors franchise up to this point in their existence has been particularly surprising. As a franchise, they’ve seen some highs: making it to the Eastern Conference Semis in 2001. They’ve also seen their fair share of lows with only 3 playoff births in their first nine years. The lowest point in the franchise’s history would be the Vince Carter trade not simply because it meant trading a franchise player for nothing, but because it meant that a relatively young franchise was forced into rebuilding mode prematurely. Now in their tenth season in Toronto, it seems that the Raptors either have to figure out how to win with some semblance of the squad they are now grooming or basketball north of the border may vanish as quickly as Vince Carter does when his team is down by twenty.

In 2001 everything seemed so promising. The Raptors had two All-Stars, in Carter and Antonio Davis and were headed in the right direction. Their roster had a nice mixture of veterans like Charles Oakley, Dell Curry and Mark Jackson. But it wasn’t just a roster made for the day, there were young players that gave Raptors fans hope for the future. Morris Peterson, Alvin Williams and Keon Clark made fans think that the team’s success might extend past this team of mostly veteran players. This was a Raptors squad on the way up rather than on the way out. Though they took a step back in 2002 this was expected because many times when a team enjoys its first success, it steps back before it steps forward. The team had added vet Hakeem Olajuwon and some of their less experienced talent, Clark, Peterson and Jerome Williams, stepped into more prominent roles. While the Raptors were not practicing fiscally sound basketball, they still had Davis, Carter, Peterson, Clark and both Williams’ and that should have been enough for them to be a playoff team for a few years. Then 2003 happened. Vince Carter and Keon Clark checked out (albeit in different ways) and largely Peterson and Vashon Lenard, both of whom were in over their heads, led the team. In 2004 a brief ray of hope shone through in the form of Chris Bosh, Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall. That ray of hope vanished just as quickly as the team meshed unbelievably poorly. It cost Kevin O’Neill his job as coach and led to the darkest moment in Raptors history. 2005 saw the coming of the unthinkable in the trading of the franchise cornerstone, Vince Carter. The Raps received almost nothing for Carter except piece of mind that those years, of bad management and poor attitudes were hopefully in the past.

The current Raptors squad, albeit terrible in many ways, can give fans in Toronto hope for the future. While it certainly doesn’t have the “upside” of the Raps teams of the late 90’s that featured young versions of Marcus Camby, Tracy McGrady and Damon Stoudamire, it does seem to have some answers. Chris Bosh, Charlie Villanueva, Mike James, Joey Graham and Jose Calderon seem to have tremendous potential for the future, but with a solid core of young players like that, it is the job of management to take this roster of “upside” and convert it into one that can be a perennial playoff contender. Toronto must learn from its mistakes of the past and make moves that are responsible. It is imperative, for the future of Canadian basketball that the Raptors take advantage of their tradable assets and create a team that can win.

It is time for the Raptors to be aggressive on the trading market. Before Kevin McHale can even consider picking up $25 million worth of expiring contracts from the Knicks, Rob Babcock, Raptors GM, must make a trade. Although there are two scenarios for a Raptors-Knicks trade that make sense, one is the better of the two. The Raptors should wait until December 15th, the time when teams can trade players acquired in the off-season, and offer Jalen Rose, Aaron Williams and Rafael Araujo to the Knicks for Antonio Davis and Jamal Crawford. While this will be a difficult sell, as Davis is a Larry Brown guy and Crawford is just starting to buy into Brown’s concepts, Rose already knows what Brown preaches and, as a vet, buying into the system should be relatively easy for him. The added incentive of Araujo, a player who has looked largely like a bust, but still holds some upside, and Carter, a tenacious defender in the last year of his contract, should be enough to sweeten the deal for the Knicks. Should the Knicks require a slightly sweeter deal, the Raptors shouldn’t hesitate to offer a second round pick as well. This trade makes sense for the Raptors because it returns Antonio Davis to a place where he was a major leader. His locker room presence would go a long way in helping the development of Bosh and Villanueva. He would also give the Raptors frontcourt depth, something they could use, at least for one season until Davis’ contract expires. This too would be a benefit as it would take roughly $13 million off their books and with shrewd financial management would create space for the Raptors to play in the summer’s open market. Jamal Crawford would provide the team with another backcourt scoring option to pair with James. A derivation of this trade that the Raptors could offer, should the Knicks not want to part with Davis, is to ask for Penny Hardaway’s contract instead. Although this would provide them with the same salary relief, as Hardaway’s contract is also up at the end of the year, it would not provide them with the frontcourt prowess that Davis provides making it a less appealing option. Acquiring Davis should be something that the Raptors strongly consider as he would be the perfect mentor for their two budding frontcourt stars.

Between trades like this and smart off-season acquisitions and draft moves, the Raptors could be poised to return to the playoffs as soon as next year. It is absolutely necessary that they invest in their future rather than trying to win this season. A smart year is all the Raptors need to become something every team would like to be: something of a factor in the league. The time is ripe for the Raptors to realize that dream and if they don’t do it now, they may never do it in Toronto. One more failed rebuilding attempt could send this team to Louisville, Kansas City or one of the other potential NBA markets salivating over the chance to grab a team. The Raptors have left their future in the hands of Rob Babcock, which is a brave move considering his track record thus far, it’s up to him to make equally brave moves to propel this team to significance once again.

Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In

There’s an old saying that goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well several teams around the NBA look to be broken and there do seem to be a few plausible, albeit unconventional solutions to fixing them. Here’s a look at a few of them and some solutions for fixing them.

→Miami- Shaq-less but also lacking unity

While it’s tough to call a team that is 6-3 broken, it’s important to note that that winning ratio is for only nine games. It’s also important to note that over those nine games Dwyane Wade has been averaging 24.3ppg, 7.9apg, 7.6 rpg and 2 steals a game. While those are incredible numbers, Wade is shooting only 44%, down from last years 47%, from two and 7% from 3. That means Wade is doing way too much for his team. Putting the team on your back for a few games is commendable but Wade needs to back off and let Antoine Walker and Jason Williams work into things a bit too. Both Walker and Williams have been forcing shots at times as they look like they’re having trouble understanding their role in the offense. Williams is also playing point and is averaging fewer assists than Wade, who is playing the two. This stat is again indicative of Wade shouldering too much of the offensive load. The easiest solution to this problem is to convince Larry Brown that his dream job is really in Miami, but since that isn’t particularly likely, since he won’t likely leave until Zeke at least attempts a few trades, the answer will have to come from somewhere else. While Stan Van Gundy is certainly a very good coach, now might be the time for Pat Riley to step down from his pedestal and take the reigns of the beast. Riley is able to manage talent and offense through defense, like he did with the Showtime Lakers. Given that Shaq is out for the next several months, the Heat could use this time to learn to play Riley’s ways and then just drop the “MDE” into the starting lineup.
→Knicks- Apparently they really don’t have a point-guard

It’s always nice when you can kill two birds with one stone; especially if one of those birds is Stephon Marbury. The Knicks have been helping the Bulls kill birds for the last several years, signing and trading for Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry. It might be time though, to call on their friendly trading partners in Chicago one last time. The Knicks are obviously in need of a point guard salary cap relief. Chicago is obviously in need of a scorer. While they are able to stay in the games defensively, the Bulls are shooting themselves out of games. Stephon Marbury obviously wants to be a shooting guard and in Chicago, the Bulls have a roster capable of indulging him. The Knicks should offer the Bulls Stephon Marbury, Trevor Ariza and Channing Frye for Kirk Hinrich and Tim Thomas. Sure they just got rid of Thomas, but between his, Penny Hardaway’s and Antonio Davis’ expiring contracts, the Knicks could actually dream of reaching the salary cap sometime in the near future. It is a lot to give up Ariza and Frye, but they would be getting Kirk Hinrich, someone who posses all the tools necessary to be Larry Browns dream point-guard. The Bulls might do the trade because they get a proven scorer, in Marbury, some frontcourt help, in Fry, and a guy who could certainly become a lockdown defender in Ariza. This would also give Isaiah Thomas the chance to trade an expiring contract for Jalen Rose to almost completely resurrect the Bulls roster of two years ago, sans Tyson Chandler. This is apparently Thomas’ way of sticking his tongue out a Jerry Reinsdorf and the rest of the Bulls management who felt that John Paxon was a better choice for GM than Thomas when Jerry Krause resigned. While it sounds a little bit crazy for both sides involved, it just might be crazy enough to work. Especially since Brown can take a good team and make them great if he has a great point-guard like Hinrich. The Bulls could make it work with Chris Duhon and Marbury as the starting guards with Ben Gordon off the bench. Talk about a high-powered backcourt. By fixing the Bulls scoring issues, and the Knicks point-guard issues, this trade would kill two birds with the same stone.

→Lakers- Kobe shoots too much

Michael Jordan once said that he could score 32 a game by putting up only 8 points every quarter. While that’s still a lot of points, his idea was to do it efficiently and over time. Kobe Bryant could take a lesson from that. Over the years the Bulls won their championships Jordan averaged roughly 23 field goal attempts per game. That’s it, just 23 per game. Jordan’s secret wasn’t that he was a much better shooter than Bryant, in fact there aren’t very many people ever who are a better shooter than Bryant, Jordan just took smarter shots. He also penetrated more than Kobe is doing, especially earlier in his career. Already this season Bryant is averaging 28 field goal attempts per game. He’s also averaging only 31 points. Jordan never averaged that many FG attempts per game, he came close in 1987 putting up 27.8, but translated that into 37.1 ppg. Jordan simply wasn’t simply a great shooter; he was an obscenely efficient shooter. Bryant needs to limit his field goal attempts to shots that he knows are good. At this point in his career Bryant knows what shots are good and what shots are not. In games this year he has shot extremely poorly in the first half only to come back and dominate the second. Phil Jackson needs to keep Bryant within the offense during the first part of the game. If he were shooting 1-8 in the first quarter, a second quarter benching would certainly send a message to Bryant. While he’s a very good defender, the team can make up for that missing defense by not running plays for a player who’s going to miss seven shots. After a few games of riding the pine for inefficient shooting, Bryant would certainly get the message. He can be brilliant on the floor, its not Phil Jackson’s job to force him to be it by limiting his shot attempts and forcing him to shot more efficiently. Taking 5 fewer shots a game is certainly a good way to force a player to be smarter with his shots. Bryant also needs to revisit the types of shots he is taking. Instead of indiscriminately hoisting up lots of mid-range jump shots, he could hoist half those and take his game inside for the other half. Bryant has the ability to be an effective tool inside as a post up guard or a dunk option. It’s Jackson’s job to explain this to him. Maybe Phil could even have Jordan call Bryant to explain this concept. Just for the record, Allen Iverson is scoring 32 points a game on 24 attempts per game and the Sixers are surprising everyone and winning. Also for the record, Lebron James is putting up 26.7ppg and taking only 19 field goals a game. He too, is winning.

Although there happen to be many other problems around the league that need fixing, these are a few that could be done relatively easily. Look for Page4 to attempt to help the still winless Raptors and Hawks later this week.

1st Edition of Season Team Rankings

1) Detroit- The Pistons are off to the hottest start in the NBA. They look great on both ends of the floor and have been able to take care of some hard teams. As the only undefeated team the top spot on the rankings is mandatory.
2) San Antonio- The Champs only loss was to Dallas. They lost by 19 but that still stands as their only loss, though they did play an awfully close game with the Bulls. Still, the champs look good and the bench is deep. The Pistons and Spurs are just a step ahead of everyone in the NBA.
3) Indiana- The Pacers are only a half step behind the top two teams. Ron Artest has looked brilliant at times. Although the players are having a little trouble defining their role’s still, the Pacers are looking like they’re good enough to keep winning.
4) LA Clippers- Sam-I-Am knew it was coming. Elton Brand wasn’t surprised. The Clippers are winning and those two are the biggest reasons why. Suddenly they look like a deep team. Without a doubt the best team in California.
5) Washington- The Post-Hughes era has begun and the Wizards are no worse for it. Caron Butler has stepped up big, despite coming off the bench but should move into a starting role as soon as Eddie Jordan is comfortable with him in the rotation.
6) Milwaukee- This team can flat out play. Ford looks like the best point-guard in the game. Bogut and Maglore are starting to fit in and Bobby Simmons looks as natural as butter on bread. They’ll keep winning the more they play.
7) Golden State- Warriors have one some close ones and lost some close ones. They’re 4-2 right now but could just as easily be 6-0 or 3-3. This shows that they’re learning how to win. If they keep it up they could break that playoff drought.
8) Dallas- It’s tough to say the Mavs are disappointing, but they have been. Avery Johnson’s defensive approach seems to be clicking with half the roster. The other half doesn’t seem interested and that half includes a 7 foot tall German. Though he frequently outscores his match-up, Dirk is doing so with great offense, not stifling defense. If Nowitzki doesn’t buy into playing defense, the Mavs will run into trouble in the playoffs. Fortunately that’s a long way off so he has plenty of time to learn, but will he?

9) Utah- Boozer-less Jazz have looked very good. Memo is really coming into his own and even Ostertag has a few highlights. If the Jazz can work Carlos Boozer in when he comes back healthy, they could be scary.
10) Cleveland- Lebron looks great. Shooters look streaky. Defense looks bad. The Cavs have had a relatively easy schedule up to this point and have won all the games they should, but they’ve lost the ones they should have too. Still have only won a third of their road games, which is worrisome for a team that fancies themselves championship contenders.
11) Minnesota- Everybody is playing as expected except Wally. Shooting only 36% from 2 and 7% from 3 isn’t the kind of production you want to see from your deadeye. Maybe his eye is actually dead, or maybe he just hasn’t found a rhythm yet. Either way, don’t expect him to keep missing shots; he’s too good a player for that. As soon as Wally lights up, the Wolves are going to look better.
12) New Jersey- If they can find some help in the front watch out. If they can’t, watch out. Vinsanity has been vinsane, Jefferson has been consistent but Kidd hasn’t been great. If the Nets are going to win based on the strength of their big three, Kidd is going to have to step up.
13) Miami- No Shaq hurts but Zo has been making up for his absence. Dwayne Wade looks spectacular, but the rest of the team looks lost. Van Gundy looks like a man who nobody is listening to. Is it time for the Riley era to begin yet? Almost…
14) LA Lakers- If Kobe doesn’t go 7-27 the Lakers would have won last night against the Sixers (more on that later). Beyond that game, he’s looked like the best player in the league. Lamar Odom is starting to learn to run the triangle, but he seems to be catching on. The biggest surprise in LA has been Smush Parker. He’s come out of nowhere and is a great fit in the triangle and looks very good on defense as well.

15) Chicago- The Bulls are learning. They’re learning how to live without Curry, learning how to win close games and learning how to mesh as a team. Ben Gordon needs to learn how to start and Mike Sweetney needs to learn what to eat. If those two can learn that, the Bulls will be winning a lot more close games than they’ll be loosing, and they’ll be playing a lot fewer close games.
16) Memphis- Pau has been Kung-Pau, except for on the glass… When it comes to the boards, he’s been Kung-Painful. He’s seven feet tall and averages 6.8 a game; that’s less than 1 rebound-per-foot. Gasol needs to clean the glass if the Grizzlies are going to be successful this season.
17) Philadelphia- Cwebb-Iverson looks decent. They’ll look a lot better when the Haitian-Sensation returns to the lineup. Their biggest weakness has been depth inside and Dalembert’s return will remedy that situation. Their biggest strength has been Andre Iguodala’s defense. He shut down Kobe Bryant and has looked like one of the best defenders in the league. If he ever finds a jumper he’ll be the missing piece to this puzzle.
18) Phoenix- There’s just not much to say here. Nash looks like an MVP but without a serious force down low, the Suns will continue to struggle to win games. All they need to do is be .500 when Amare returns.
19) Boston- The Celtics haven’t looked bad, but they haven’t looked good either. This is a team that looks very average. They seem to be playing exactly how you would expect them to play.

20) Portland- Darius Miles is stepping his game to another level. That’s all the Blazers need right now. If he, Zack Randolph and Sebastian Telfair can learn to play together the rest of the pieces will fall into place in the future. JP’s looked pretty good and says he wants to stay in Portland next year; we’ll see if he’s saying that when teams are throwing some serious money at him in the off season.
21) Orlando- It’s almost unfair to put the Magic this low but besides Franchise and Howard, they don’t have much of a roster. Those two have looked very good, even showing the potential to be great, but nobody else on this roster is going to be around when that time comes. Actually Turkey and Stevenson might still be around but they certainly won’t be filling their current roles.
22) NO/OK- The Hornets have not looked good, but they’ve found a way to win a few games. They’ve looked gritty, like sandpaper. Expect further roster moves to shake things up. Speedy Claxton has been brilliant so he might be the first to leave.
23) Denver- No Nene, no shooting guard and not many wins. This is not what Nuggets fans were hoping for. They could still pull themselves up, and they’ll have to, but if they continue to put themselves in a whole it won’t be easy. Here’s an interesting rumor: The Nuggets have applied for an injured player exception to recoup some of Nene’s salary. This could open the door for Sprewell.
24) Houston- The Rockets have fought hard to stay in games, but just can’t keep up without McGrady. He’ll be back this week and that will change things a lot.
25) Sacramento- It looks as though the Rick Adelman era is coming to an end. The Kings still seem to be laboring under the misconception that you don’t have to play defense in the NBA. Not having a bench isn’t really helping them win either.
26) Charlotte- Two wins, four losses. The Cats are looking young but are showing they have what it takes to make it in the future. If they can get somebody like Antoine Wright or Zoran Planinic from the Nets for Melvin Ely they could have a more complete roster for the future.
27) Seattle- What the heck happened here? Were Nate McMillan and Antonio Daniels really that important? The Sonics are going to need to figure out some answers quick or they’re in for a really long season.

28) New York- This is the strangest thing of the season. New York is 0-5 but several of those could have gone the other way in the fourth. Their shooters have been pretty bad and their new centerpiece Eddy Curry has been questionable at times. That being said, they are showing some glimpses of what Larry Brown does to a team. Now that Jamal Crawford is starting he’s playing with as much control as he’s ever had; and this is a guy who frequently throws himself passes off the backboard for dunks and while in Chicago challenged the Globe Trotters to a dribble off. Crawford has even been playing a little defense. Even Curry looked good on defense some of the time. Trade rumors are centered on the Knicks picking up Jalen Rose for either Marbury or Penny Hardaway. While reuniting the former Bulls team seems like a bad idea keep in mind, this would all be done under Larry Brown. Rose is a Brown guy and spent the best years of his career buying into Brown’s system. Reuniting him with former Pacers enforcer Antonio Davis would also recapture some of that toughness that the Pacers took to the NBA Finals against the Lakers. The Knicks need toughness and if that’s a way they can acquire it, then its time to make a trade.
29) Atlanta- The experiment isn’t working although Al Harrington is quietly having a very decent season. If the Hawks want to make things interesting they should give a roster spot to T. O. Rumor has it that he wants to play some ball now that he's not catching them, what better place than in Atlanta? It can't hurt, Owens has to be at least as good as some of the players that have made their way through the city over the past few years plus he's a huge name. Everyone would love to watch him play to see if he could hang. This is the only winning situation for the Hawks.

30) Toronto- The best course of action for Rob Babcock to take at this point is to just make crazy trades that will be fun to write about. How about Vince Carter for Eric Williams, Alonzo Mourning and Aaron Williams… Oh wait; he’s already done that. Is there a reason Babcock still has his job? Some would say its because of his brilliant drafting while others would say its because Raptors ownership has simply forgotten that they own a team. The point is Babcock is probably on his way out so he should try to shake things up as much as he can on his way out the door. Scott Layden was an earthquake on his way out of the garden bringing in Keith Van Horn. Is this something Babcock could top? Penny Hardaway is available. What if they trade Chris Bosh for Clippers backup center Boniface Ndong and future considerations? It's obvious that Babcock is on his way out, its time for him to do it in style. Watch out Toronto; Ndong could be coming your way.

This Is How It Starts...

Brand and Cassell- Clips Whip Sonics
Guess who’s relevant again? If Sammy keeps having big games like this the Clips are going to keep winning. This was easily one of his best games, ever. Cassell was brought into this young team to provide leadership and that’s exactly what he did for them against the Sonics. The game was also a coming out party for James “I went to college in Kentucky” Singleton who put up a double-double (10 boards, 14 points). Singleton will be able to get some major minutes this season as a backup 2-3 behind Magette and Mobley. Look for him to be a real surprise as the season progresses. The Clips win, the Lakes win; this is going to be an interesting year in LA.

Steve Nash- Transcendence to Greatness
Steve Nash led a Suns team to within a few shots of beating the Mavs in a double overtime thriller… Without Amare… Without Marion’s shot falling… In fact, besides Nash and Raja Bell, nobody on the Suns roster was shooting well. And still Nash took them to the edge. Sure they lost the game, but you can’t win every one and if you get the ball in the hands of your star when it matters, you can’t hope to do any better. Nash could have hit a few extra big shots, but that will come with time. He’s still learning what it takes to be the MVP.

Chicago Bulls- Team Resiliency
Nothing says crushing defeat like falling down 25 points to a team in its second year of existence. That’s the prospect the Bulls faced Wednesday night. It’s the third quarter, you’re down by a lot and your best player just went down. Last season the Bulls defined themselves as a group of warriors that, despite all odds being against them, persevered to win. If ever a team needed that mentality it was the Bulls and they needed right then, stuck in the third quarter with almost nowhere to go. With the prospect of facing the Nets, Spurs and Warriors in the next three games, this was a game the Bulls could not afford to loose. This was a moment they could not afford to let slip away. And so, like all of last season, the Bulls came clawing their way back, fighting hard and establishing a new member of their team as an important piece of the puzzle that will be their season. With Darius “Big Shot” Songaila earning a place for himself in the hearts of Chicago fans that night, the Bulls were able to fight back and win, in overtime. When you fall, get back up; the Bulls mantra from last season seems to have carried over to this season. Now, rather than a crushing defeat, they have a victory under their belt and are ready to face the Nets and the Champs. They are a truly resilient team.

Milwaukee Bucks- A team with something to Prove
Everyone hates the Bucks. Bogut’s too young. Simmons isn’t enough. Ford’s been out too long. Redd isn’t a big enough player to be “The Man.” There were just too many questions for a team in the toughest conference in the NBA. Then the trade happens and everyone loves the Bucks. Maglore is what they need. He’ll free it up inside. He’ll make everyone better. And now the Bucks are up 2-0. They have the best record in the best division: the only division where nobody lost their opener. People are still sleeping on the Bucks but they won’t be for long. This team is going to be better than the darlings of the NBA; that is Lebron and the Cavs. They might be better than the Bulls and they’re certainly going to be better than every Eastern Conference team outside the central division except Miami. Bogut looks like the Bucks best big since a guy named Lew. Ford looks like the best point guard in the East. Simmons and Redd? Well, they’re killing it. Absolutely killing it. This is a team with something to prove, and soon, they’re going to be proving they’re right to a lot of teams around the league.

Kobe and Phil- They’re Back
Kobe and Phil know how to win. Kobe and Phil want to win. Kobe and Phil win. Despite the best efforts of Lamar Odom’s shot and Kwame Brown’s concentration, the Lakers edge the Nuggets in a last second victory. Smush Parker emerges as a relevant point guard putting up 20 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. This is going to be an interesting year in LA.

Iverson Looses... Melo Looses.... Peja Looses... These guys were supposed to be really good, right? Looks like they're falling hard on thier backs.