Colangelo’s not happy
Posted by Arsenalist on April 11, 2008
We can fill an encyclopedia with the problems of this team but Bryan Colangelo is correct in pointing out that that that kind of talk is best left for the summer. We got some meaningful basketball games coming up and the media, players and fans should be focused on that instead of pure speculation. Of course this won’t stop anyone from questioning things like the Kapono signing after he registers another 1-3FG. Colangelo sees the issues and will apply a fix, we might disagree with the fix but he’ll definitely be applying one:
“Are we disappointed? Yes, I think that’s the safest way to say it and we will make the necessary adjustments at the appropriate time. With four games to go in preparation for a playoff, we can speculate all we want on what needs to be done. But, right now, we would rather focus on what needs to be done to win beginning tonight.”
He’s not a fool and can’t miss the defensive and offensive issues with this team. Summertime is cleanup time. I like the swipe he took at Mitchell by saying that he’s underutilized some of the players (Kapono!!) this season:
“We have arguably a more talented team than last year, we have arguably under-utilized some of that talent to some extent this year at various points throughout the year.”
Wonder how Sam feels about that?
So Chris Bosh comes out with a video to offset some of the stir he caused by saying that the ACC was like a “funeral”. He’s saying how he wants the fans to be loud and the ACC to be the hardest place for opponents to play. The fans have always been loud, he picks out the stretch where the team is playing like shit and decides to call out the fans because they’re not pumped up and excited about losing to NJ, Atlanta, Charlotte and just finished seeing CV blow up. You can question a lot of things about Raptor fans but they do a damn good job of being loud in the arena. Bosh and his mates needs to step up first and then ask the fans to do their part, it doesn’t work the other way around.
Colangelo’s claiming that Andrea Bargnani is the source of interest of every trade call he receives. That’s because teams think they’ll be getting him for 20 cents on the dollar, not because he’s a great talent. There might be many teams who are probably low-balling Colangelo with draft pick and fringe player offers for Bargnani hoping that this season is nothing but an anomaly. This is exactly what was happening to Joe Dumars when Darko was struggling. It’s hardly an endorsement of Bargnani as a player but an acknowledgment that hidden deep down in his Italian heart, there might be a spark that might be able to channel his ability into basketball greatness.
Vince Carter’s apparently playing in the game tonight which should always help the noise level that Bosh has been complaining about. (Check out the pic of the girl guy girl tranny VC is with at Dinosty). For what its worth the season series is also on the line here and its always nice to win them against divisional teams. The Nets are coming off a woeful 1-20 fourth quarter against Cleveland which made Devin Harris finally realize that he’s on a team that’s a far cry from the Dallas Mavericks.
Michael Grange is revisiting the Charlie V for TJ Ford trade. Perhaps prematurely? As I said after the Bucks game, both have strengths, both have weaknesses and they’re pretty much even. At the time we needed a starting point guard and already had a PF in Chris Bosh. Charlie V’s defense at the SF position was brutal and that was the only position he could play in Toronto and was the reason he was shipped out.
Go Raps.
April 11, 2008 at 11:54 am
“I like the swipe he took at Mitchell by saying that he’s underutilized some of the players (Kapono!!) this season”
I chuckled when I read BC’s comment as well. Not only has Sam failed to utilize Kapono but since the all-star break he sure failed in utilizing our so called depth. Among other things, when Chris came back from injury Sam ‘over-utilized’ and tried to ride Bosh in some 3rd quarters and into the 4th when it was clear that in the 4th quarter, he (Bosh) was totally gassed. And quit our team to the other teams strengths, make them play to ours (whatever they are).
I am more excited about what’s going to happen this off-season. I am really hoping that a major roster change (probably) and coaching changes (maybe) happen. I want to read and see the reports where I can say, “Holy sh**!!!” but in a good way.
Don’t get me wrong; I do want the Raps to pull the rags out of their asses and win some games this playoffs and maybe, MAYBE steal a series. Their is always hope.
By the way, going to the game tonight and my wife and I will be loud.
Thanks again for the blog Arsenalist.
Go Raps! Go Colangelo!
April 11, 2008 at 12:59 pm
LETS GO RAPTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 11, 2008 at 12:59 pm
BC is a genius and whatever issues that need to be dealt with will be in the offseason. I dont think that Mitchell is the right guy for the job, but his resume does have a COY in it which makes him look awesome. the grizz are rumoured to be fireing Ivoroni (spell?)and we all know he has ties to BC from their Suns days. maybe he’s the man for the job.
I look at Bosh’s “calling out the fans” as a good sign. you could look at it in a negative way, but having your fans loud and into the game is almost a 6th man on the court (cliche i know but it’s true). Bosh is doing his best and is taking his team on his shoulders, the fans should react positively like they did for Dave Winfield in 92 with the Jays. “Winfield wants noise” if our franchise wants the ACC booming, then lets make it BOOM!!
as for Bargs, the guys only in his 2nd season and even though he isnt putting up huge #’s, he still shows signs of flash. To put it in perspective here are Dirks #’s in the first 2 seasons. 17.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg in 35 +mpg; Bargs #’s 10.2 ppg 3.7 rpg in 24 mpg. Not all players develope so fast, but if Bargs keeps at it he’ll be more Dirk than Darko…maybe a coaching change will do that
April 11, 2008 at 2:43 pm
masterjuddi,
Not to pick on you, specifically, but this is the type of statement …
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re: BC is a genius and whatever issues that need to be dealt with will be in the offseason.
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that makes me cringe.
http://khandorssportsblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/you-make-the-call/
Credit where credit’s due … not where it isn’t.
Right now … this is a (partial?) list of GM’s in the NBA who are as good or than better than Bryan Colangelo:
Ainge, Danny (Boston) - this is a serious title contending team
Bower, Jeff (New Orleans) - under the radar, so far
Buford, RC (San Antonio) - 4 NBA titles, nuff said
Dumars, Joe (Detroit) - 1 NBA title, multiple trips to the EC Final, just re-loads
Grunfeld, Ernie (Washington) - first, built the Knicks, now the Wizards
Kerr, Steve (Phoenix) - an intriguing start to his reign
Kupchak, Mitch (LA Lakers) - when Bynum & Ariza get healthy, LOOK OUT
Nelson, Donnie (Dallas) - a better run than Colangelo’s Suns, 1 trip to the NBA Finals
O’Connor, Kevin (Utah) - maybe ‘the best’ in the League
Thorn, Rod (New Jersey) - 2 trips to the NBA Finals, re-loaded with D-Harris & 2 1st-Rd Draft Picks
The simple fact is … Colangelo’s team’s have yet to reach the NBA Finals.
April 11, 2008 at 3:52 pm
From his interview with Chuck on the fan 590 he said basically the same thing but he also took a pretty big shot a T.J. Said he wanted players that play for the betterment of the team and winning. Also guaranteed that Jose would be back next year so it looks like T.J will likely be gone this summer.
April 11, 2008 at 7:17 pm
With the way tonight’s game is starting, the Raptors are going to lose to the Nets, again.
1/Harris v Ford
2/Carter v Parker
3/Jefferson v Moon
4/Krstic v Nesterovic
5/Diop v Bosh
are too tough, physically for Toronto.
Raps have come back to lead by 15 pts (81-66) with 1 min left in the 3rdQ.
Marcus Williams, Swift and Nachbar look terrible for the Nets, who are playing without Josh Boone tonight, with no appearance yet by Steven Williams … when the Nets go to the bench, they’re in a deep waters.
April 11, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Sometimes people move their mouth to make air
April 11, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Solid win tonight for the Raptors.
After the Nets first 5, there was nothing else in their tank tonight.
April 12, 2008 at 1:00 am
fire mitchell …he is trash…garbage coach with no plays and bad use of players
someone make a http://www.FireSamMitchell.com website please
April 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Keep Mitchell. He got the team into the playoffs again. The guys play hard every night, they have beat the best teams at least once this year and they look ready now for the post season.
Besides Bargs and Kapono eveyone else is doing good. Bosh is an Allstar again, Moon been pretty good as a rook, Rasho has been awesome, TJ Hose have been solid. Show me another team that doesn’t have the same or similar issues.
This team is where they should be, 6th or 7th in the East. Anything else would be overachieving.
Put the blame on the players preformances. You think Doc Rivers would do a better job? How about Riley, Jackson, Nellie and others? There’s only 1 allstar and a bunch of shooters with 2 good pg’s.
Mitchell is definitly a good coach and should remain as the Raps head coach for a long time.
April 13, 2008 at 11:18 am
I love how critical fans can be. Only 2 seasons ago the raps were one of the worst teams in the nba and basically a laughing stock. In comes BC and he trades for Rasho and TJ, signs Parker and sets his plan in to motion.
the raps win the Altantic and set franchise record for wins, Mitchell gets coach of the year, but because of a former raptor Gm move (Babcock trading a superstar in Carter to your DIVISION rivals for a rack of balls) the raps lose to the Nets in the first round.
now the raps make the playoffs for the second straight year and will most likely finish with a winning record, but the critics are still so negative.
khandor makes the comment of BC “Credit where credit’s due … not where it isn’t” .taking a piece of crap team and making it into a divison champ and leading it to back to back playoff years is impressive, especially when the previous GM’s make terrible moves (how’s playing in Moscow Hoffa?).
they signed BC long term and everyone knows the NBA is the hardest league to rebuild a team in. Lack of talent and having to match contracts for trades is the reason for that.
I never said BC was the best Gm, but he makes the right moves and his genius will show in the future. as for the other GM’s being better than BC…
Ainge, Danny (Bos) - this is a serious title contending team, but they morgaged their future and are way over the cap,b ut will probably win a title.
Bower, Jeff (NO) - great draft for CP3, who makes averages guys allstars. I like their team and hope they do well.
Buford, RC (SA) - 4 NBA titles, but Timmy D isnt getting any younger and he doesnt have the luxury of a rising star the Admiral had.
Dumars, Joe (Det) - 1 NBA title, Great franchise
Grunfeld, Ernie (Wash) he’s in trouble with Gilbs and Antawn becoming UFA’s,b ut he hasnt really made any noise.
Kerr, Steve (Pho) - if Shaq doesnt pan out he could be fired.
Kupchak, Mitch (LAL) -great trade for Pau, but gave up a lot. they could win the Championship
Nelson, Donnie (Dal) - a better run than Colangelo’s Suns, 1 trip to the NBA Finals, but a bow out to the Warriors last season and now they’re battling for a playoff spot
O’Connor, Kevin (Utah) - maybe ‘the best’ in the League…cant aruge with this guy. Jerry Sloan, pick and roll, stockton to malone, williams to boozer
Thorn, Rod (NJ) - 2 trips to the NBA Finals, re-loaded with D-Harris & 2 1st-Rd Draft Picks. still miss the playoffs with the team he put together, cant really call that a win, but future looks good.
April 14, 2008 at 4:34 pm
masterjuddi,
There’s no way for you to tell this accurately but I’d be willing to bet that if the Raps would have retained Wayne Embry as their GM and hired someone like Michael Curry (former NBA player & player union rep) as their assistant GM, instead of hiring Bryan Colangelo in Feb/06:
- the Raptors would not have traded for TJ Ford
- the Raptors would not have drafted Andrea Bargnani, signed Anthony Parker, signed Jorge Garbajosa, and traded for Kris Humphries
- the Raptors would not have won 47 games last season
- the Raptors would not have made the playoffs last season
- the Raptors would not have re-signed Sam Mitchell as their head coach
- the Raptors would not have let Morris Peterson walk as an UFA, and signed Jason Kapono & Carlos Delfino
- the Raptors would not have won 41 games this season
- the Raptors would not have made the playoffs this season
BUT the Raptors would ACTUALLY be more of a legitimate threat to become a 1st-class NBA operation and win the NBA championship one day down-the-road, along the lines of the Spurs, Pistons, Lakers or Celtics.
Just because the Raptors have improved their W-L record these past two years, in comparison to the wretched job done by Rob Babcock, DOES NOT mean that someone else could not have done a far better job, if afforded the chance AND that this person could actually have moved the Raptors further toward winning the NBA championship since Feb/06 than they are today.
April 15, 2008 at 10:31 am
OK. I know this won’t do any actual good but I’ve been trolling the boards for a bit and figure I’ll take my turn having khandor tell me I’m an idiot.
Khandor, there is more than one way to build a championship franchise, as Detroit, LA, Boston and Phoenix (you can flame on that last one) demonstrate. Wallowing in the lottery does not necessarily do it - see Atlanta.
Also,to paraphrase altraps on his own board, we’re fans, maybe we should start acting like it. You seem to be cheering for mediocrity because then you’ve proven your strange point. Good luck with that.
April 15, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Sam,
First … I would never call you an idiot. That is not something that I do, i.e. call others idiots.
Second … I have never said that there is only 1 way to build a championship team in the NBA … except to acknowledge that without being able to generate a “plus Rebounding Differential per game average” any NBA team is kidding itself (and its fans) if it thinks that it is a legitimate contender to win the championship someday.
Third … Detroit, Boston, the Lakers and San Antonio are each taking a similar approach to building an NBA championship team, i.e. striking a balance between the three key phases of the game, which are Offense, Defense & Rebounding.
Until Steve Kerr became the GM for Phoenix, and traded Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal, the Suns were not taking a similar approach to Detroit, Boston, the Lakers and San Antonio. Now that Kerr is there the Suns are finally moving in this direction.
Until Dallas appointed Avery Johnson as their head coach, the Mavericks were not following this similar path to building a championship NBA team. Once they moved away from the type of basketball advocated by Don Nelson, the Mavs became a legitimate contender for the championship.
New Orleans, Utah and Houston are other top notch teams in the Western Conference today that are also following this approach to basketball; as are Cleveland, Orlando, Washington and Philadelphia, in the Eastern Conference.
Fourth … I have never said that ‘wallowing in the Lottery’ is the way to build a championship NBA team.
Fifth … I have never ‘cheered for mediocrity’ in my Life.
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In Peace, Victory & Excellence.