Jonas Valanciunas in T.O means Raptors 2012 season almost here .

[wonkyknee]

Congrats to Jonas and Ed Davis . These young guns put on a show ... Bargs stinks again . Holly shit Bargs you aren't a rookie anymore . Get your act going and set a good example .

Yeah Ed Davis is looking better, more confident this year. Jonas is definitely a hustler. He's going to be a bigger version of Amir Johnson. Lucas the III seems to be a great pickup to solidify the point guard position. I think the reason Bargnani hasn't had a big game is cause we're clogging up the middle now instead of clearing out for him to work. I don't think you need to worry about Barngani.

Bottom line this is a team of good players with some hopeful better players. Not sure we have any all-stars. You gotta figure we need at least 2 all-stars to be a contender??? The top teams have 3 all-stars these days. How are we going to compete with that?

 

[JamesDouglas]

Yeah Ed Davis is looking better, more confident this year. Jonas is definitely a hustler. He's going to be a bigger version of Amir Johnson. Lucas the III seems to be a great pickup to solidify the point guard position. I think the reason Bargnani hasn't had a big game is cause we're clogging up the middle now instead of clearing out for him to work. I don't think you need to worry about Barngani.

Bottom line this is a team of good players with some hopeful better players. Not sure we have any all-stars. You gotta figure we need at least 2 all-stars to be a contender??? The top teams have 3 all-stars these days. How are we going to compete with that?

Correction, the top teams have 4 superstars/all-stars these days. Nash, Kobe, Dwight, and Gasol..... Lebron, Wade, Bosh, and Allen.

 

[Dawgger]

Valanciunas is playing really well, this guy has a lot of potential and he's only 20. I don't understand why the Raptors re-signed Jamaal Magloire, this guy literally spends the entire game on the bench, he probably gets the veteran minimum which is 1.2 million just to cheer on the team and warm the bench, not a bad gig.

Magloire's contract is not guaranteed this year, he has to earn a spot. To my knowledge he hasn't played in any of the 3 games. He doesn't have much left in the tank but he can take and give a pounding when called on. He gets veteran's minimum so he doesn't eat up a lot of cap. I think he is a pretty good team guy. Whether they will keep him on for those reasons or they see something else, is anybody's guess.

 

[thewalker]

Valanciunas is playing really well, this guy has a lot of potential and he's only 20. I don't understand why the Raptors re-signed Jamaal Magloire, this guy literally spends the entire game on the bench, he probably gets the veteran minimum which is 1.2 million just to cheer on the team and warm the bench, not a bad gig.

I guess I'm the exception because I love seeing the Big Cat on the bench giving death stares to the opposition.

He knows his minutes are gonna be limited to garbage time and to pick up 6 fouls on centers like Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, Marc Gasol, etc.

He's a good team player and can give a lot of good advice about being a pro to the young guys.

 

[wonkyknee]

I guess I'm the exception because I love seeing the Big Cat on the bench giving death stares to the opposition.

He knows his minutes are gonna be limited to garbage time and to pick up 6 fouls on centers like Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, Marc Gasol, etc.

He's a good team player and can give a lot of good advice about being a pro to the young guys.

Yeah, I'm sure he's worthing having around for the league miniumum.

 

[Bargnani_]

Andrea Bargnani has not looked right in Toronto’s first two pre-season contests and he blames fatigue . That is a pretty way of saying that I came into camp out of shape .

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/11/raptors-bargnani-blames-struggles-on-fatique

 

[JamesDouglas]

Magloire's contract is not guaranteed this year, he has to earn a spot. To my knowledge he hasn't played in any of the 3 games. He doesn't have much left in the tank but he can take and give a pounding when called on. He gets veteran's minimum so he doesn't eat up a lot of cap. I think he is a pretty good team guy. Whether they will keep him on for those reasons or they see something else, is anybody's guess.

I don't think they're going to be keeping Magloire, he's not listed under their 2012-2013 roster on the Raptors website, and not even listed as a player on the main NBA page, my guess is that if he doesn't make the Raptors this year he'll be out of the league since no other team will likely sign him. If nobody wants to sign T-Mac and he has to go play in China, I doubt anyone will sign Magloire. He had a decent career with 1 all-star appearance, so he should be proud as a guy coming out of Toronto.

Anyways, here's who I think the final 15 will be:
4 Quincy Acy F 6-7 225 10/06/1990 Baylor/USA R
6 Alan Anderson F-G 6-6 220 10/16/1982 Michigan State/USA 3
7 Andrea Bargnani F-C 7-0 256 10/26/1985 Benetton Treviso/Italy 6
8 Jose Calderon G 6-3 211 09/28/1981 Tau Ceramica/Spain 7
32 Ed Davis F 6-10 232 06/05/1989 North Carolina/USA 2
10 DeMar DeRozan G 6-7 216 08/07/1989 USC/USA 3
2 Landry Fields G 6-7 215 06/27/1988 Stanford/USA 2
34 Aaron Gray C 7-0 270 12/07/1984 Pittsburgh/USA 5
15 Amir Johnson C-F 6-9 210 05/01/1987 Westchester HS (Los Angeles, CA)/USA 7
11 Linas Kleiza F-G 6-8 234 01/03/1985 Missouri/Lithuania 6
3 Kyle Lowry G 6-0 205 03/25/1986 Villanova/USA 6
5 John Lucas III G 5-11 165 11/21/1982 Oklahoma State/USA 4
1 Dominic McGuire F 6-9 235 10/20/1985 Fresno State/USA 5
31 Terrence Ross G 6-6 195 02/05/1991 Washington/USA R
17 Jonas Valanciunas

 

[Dawgger]

I think you pretty much have it. Magliore will only be there if they need an enforcer and with the team you selected, they should be OK without him.
Gray and Jonas should supply the muscle if they need it. Need Amir to be more physical but be smart about it.

Any word when we get to see Lowry?

 

[Bargnani_]

I think you pretty much have it. Magliore will only be there if they need an enforcer and with the team you selected, they should be OK without him.
Gray and Jonas should supply the muscle if they need it. Need Amir to be more physical but be smart about it.

Any word when we get to see Lowry?

Here you go .

Kyle Lowry is back practising.


Barring something completely unexpected, Lowry, held back through the first week of pre-season games with a strained adductor muscle in his left leg, assumes control of the Raptors offence beginning Wednesday.

 

[Bargnani_]

Leandro Barbosa remains unsigned . Something tells me he has over priced himself . The fact he remains unsigned may also tell us why all we got was a second round pic for the guy .

 

[Bargnani_]

http://www.nba.com/raptors/video/game-highlights-oct-17-2012

Highlights of last night .. Jonas wow what a dunk ..

 

[Dawgger]

Leandro Barbosa remains unsigned . Something tells me he has over priced himself . The fact he remains unsigned may also tell us why all we got was a second round pic for the guy .

signed with the Celtics on Wednesday. My guess is Boston read your post!

 

[thewalker]

Sherman Hamilton is doing the color work for the preseason.

Anyone know if this is gonna continue into the regular season? I hope not.

Seems like a nice guy, but come on, I want my Jack Armstrong "Hellloo!!" or even Leo Rautins. Sherm is just too boring.

 

[Bargnani_]

Sherman Hamilton is doing the color work for the preseason.

Anyone know if this is gonna continue into the regular season? I hope not.

Seems like a nice guy, but come on, I want my Jack Armstrong "Hellloo!!" or even Leo Rautins. Sherm is just too boring.

He always does pre-season cause all preseason games are on Raptors TV . When games go to the main stations the guys who work for TSN etc will be doing the colour games.

 

[wonkyknee]

http://www.nba.com/raptors/video/game-highlights-oct-17-2012

Highlights of last night .. Jonas wow what a dunk ..

I think the team this year could be be greater than the sum of its parts. More high percentage points from Landry Fields who likes to cut to the basket, Lowry will get to the basket, as does Valuncunas and Derozan. Looks like we have a variety of high percentage options this year on offense. If we improve at all on defense it could get interesting.

 

[Bargnani_]

I think the team this year could be be greater than the sum of its parts. More high percentage points from Landry Fields who likes to cut to the basket, Lowry will get to the basket, as does Valuncunas and Derozan. Looks like we have a variety of high percentage options this year on offense. If we improve at all on defense it could get interesting.

The defense seems to be not at the level of last year yet .

 

[Ironhead]

Do not want to get too excited or anything, but looking good so far.

Dare I say it, the possibility of 'P' word ... playoffs ... there I said it.

 

[richaceg]

This team shouldn't be build around barg any more. Gone are those (Nowitzki days). Afterall, he's a poorman's dirk nowitzki. barg doesn't have the post up offense (unless he's guarded by really small guys). He's drives to the hoop way too far (from 3 pt area usually) and is prone to offensive fouls. He will score if left open but let's be realistic. he is not a 1 on 1 prolific scorer and far from that.

 

[wonkyknee]

The defense seems to be not at the level of last year yet .

Lowry does look pretty good on the defensive end, but you're right, at this point the defense doesn't look intimidating by any means, but hey if they can strive to improve the defense over last year and the offense improves over last year then that is a GIANT step. If we knock off 3 points against and add 3 points of offense that will get us a whole lot more wins this year. By the way getting better on the boards will help this team a whole lot as well. Ed Davis looks like someone lit a fire under his @ss this year. Lowry, Fields and Valunciunas should all add to our boards as well.

 

[blackrock13]

I see a middle of the pack finish on the cusp, all things being equal. The pre seasons games i've seen have shown the Raptors in the game right to the end of them.