I'm just gonna throw this out there.... Am I the only one hoping the Raptors don't make the playoffs? We clearly aren't a team thats ready to make any significant strides in terms of building a winner for years to come. Of course it is a tempting time in the East, alot of teams look awful and it looks like anyone can get in. But...... We did get the first Pick in last years draft and we decided to roll the dice. Bargnani is a great risk and the dividends won't be know for some time. So what if he turns out to be a dud? We have a great young allstar in Bosh, a young PG in Ford who the jury is still out on, and a bunch of vets who still haven't established themselves in the NBA...and maybe Peterson walks. Seeing as that this years draft is being compared to 03, I am actually hoping for a lotto pick. Of course its not good to tank a season and most of the time winning breeds more winning and it would be better for the franchise in the long run. Plus, we don't want a disenchanted/disheartened Bosh, we can all see that losing is taking its toll on him. Best case senario.....Bosh goes down with an injury that sacks him for the year, but is no real long term threat....(hard to think of one). We have an excuse for bosh, of course he would be disappointed but not as much as being on the floor for another losing season. We have an excuse for the fans...can't win without are only all star. And we have all the time in the would to play bargs, plus we can land Oden/Durant....or countless others. Whats the point of making it to the dance with no hope for the future? We would just be missing out on a great crop of young players. Making the playoffs this year can really hurt us......
how is not making playoffs and bosh getting hurt the best case scenario? first off- drafting a highly touted player is highly speculative, i.e. darko. secondly, another losing season only disenchants fans. thirdly, free agents who we conceivably need cause we would be a non-playoff team probably wouldn't entertain the notion of playing north of the border. lastly, winning in pro sports is about consistency and it just doesn't make pragmatic sense for a scrub to suddenly enjoy a reversal of fortunes with a draft pick, unless his name is lebron james.
<div class="quote_poster">deception Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">how is not making playoffs and bosh getting hurt the best case scenario? first off- drafting a highly touted player is highly speculative, i.e. darko. secondly, another losing season only disenchants fans. thirdly, free agents who we conceivably need cause we would be a non-playoff team probably wouldn't entertain the notion of playing north of the border. lastly, winning in pro sports is about consistency and it just doesn't make pragmatic sense for a scrub to suddenly enjoy a reversal of fortunes with a draft pick, unless his name is lebron james.</div> His name isn't Lebron James, its Greg Oden, and if you can't see that he could almost have the same impact you are blind.
^It's been proven time after time that big men take longer to make an impact than wings/guards. Oden has an injury too, so you know that he won't be playing much college ball, which means he might be rusty coming into the league. I'm not saying he won't be a monster, but it doesn't seem worth it to me, especially given our still reasonable chance of making t he playoffs.
Im not sure Bosh being injured could be part of any "best case scenerio". The last thing we want is for Bosh to be injured. We can tank the season with bosh healthy quite easily. hell, we will most likely miss the playoffs anyways a season ending injury at this point would have to be pretty significant. Lets look at the big picture here and not the draft...at this stage in bosh's development, im not sure a season ending injury is a good thing...those kind of injuries can be CAREER threatening but winning the draft two years in a row is VERY unlikely, and thats what we're going to need to do to get Oden. Thats a pretty big risk. the hawks and the clippers and grizz were all at one time the leagues worst teams a few years in a row, and only once did one of those teams win the draft. Raptor fans need to stop talking about drafting greg oden because it will not happen
<div class="quote_poster">bryce40ww Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">^It's been proven time after time that big men take longer to make an impact than wings/guards. Oden has an injury too, so you know that he won't be playing much college ball, which means he might be rusty coming into the league. I'm not saying he won't be a monster, but it doesn't seem worth it to me, especially given our still reasonable chance of making t he playoffs.</div> yeah apparently oden has yet to play and valid point, big men take longer to develop. in the case of oden- his offensive game is very raw, and for norespect's edification there have been many can't miss big men who haven't done much in the nba. e.g. sam bowie, joe smith and brad daugherty (sp.) to a lesser extent.
^ Olowokandi. I'm not a big fan of tanking for a draft, especially this early in the season. The draft is so unpredictable. I mean at this time last season, Rudy Gay was the can't-miss prospect that every scout was drooling over. The great thing of having a draft like the 2003 one is that you can find great players at almost any spot, as long you do some good scouting. Even if we end up with a late lottery pick, there'll be some great impact players left.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">^ Olowokandi. </div> forgot about the kandi man, let me add adonyle foyle (sp.) to that list.
I think Oden shouldn't be mentioned with the Kandi man....It seems a little different to me. Bigs do take more time to develop, thats why I'm terrified about what will happen with Bargs....I'm not a hater and I hope he turns into a great player, but I don't know if I see it happening...I sure hope so. I think he may be "too european" if that makes sense. If he turn Dirkish or something like that...I'll be happy
In terms of being "Dirkish," I would argue that Bargnani's already ahead of the curve. He's certainly playing better than Nowitzki did in his first season, but he's far exceeded my expectations so far. I figured we'd have to give him minutes in good situations and by the end of the season he'd be able to contribute consistently off the bench. Even though its only been 4 games, Bargnani's already showing signs of being a dependable contributor. Last night was a perfect example: he started off poorly and I figured it'd be a letdown after a good stretch (common for rookies). However, he kept aggressive and really turned it around in the next 3 quarters. Anyways back on topic, the point we're trying to express is not that Oden will be a bust, but that its way too early to start tanking. There's no knowing what a player might do (play poorly, get injured, commit to another year of college, etc.) and, even if we're not a playoff team, you're sacrificing a lot in chemistry and team environment for a single pick. Plus, this will be a very strong draft, as I said before. There are players at the 5th or 6th pick that will probably be better than any of the players from the 2006 draft. If we scout properly, we can still find an impact player in the late lottery.
Agreed. All i'm saying is that I don't think we have enough young talent to build a winner for years to come if bargnani doesn't pan out. While he does show signs, it certainly still, and will be for a while, up in the air. I just think that adding one more good/great young player will do amazing things in the future, and if it has to come at the expense of this year...So be it
