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2015-2016 Toronto Raptors Thread: We Have "It"!

hockeyfan1

hockeyfan1

New member
The Raptors will be playing some pre-season games all across the country, in the popular Canada Series, from Vancouver to Ottawa beginning October 4th.


http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-wiggins-headline-2015-nba-canada-series/


                                                    -------


Also, (no official schedule released yet by the NBA yet), the Raptors will play a regular season game at the O2 Arena in London, England against the Orlando Magic, on January 14th, 2016.


http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-will-play-regular-season-game-in-london/
 
It's July. Why in the world start a Raptors season thread with virtually no information about the coming season?
 
Why not?  There's pre-season games upcoming, a season schedule yet to be released, etc. 

Yes, it's July.  So?  As I said, we'll eventually post team info, upcoming schedule, roster, etcetera.

Relax.
 
hockeyfan1 said:
Yes, it's July.  So?
Click to expand...

So there's nothing to talk about which, for those of us who actually follow and discuss basketball here, is sort of central to the idea of the thread.
 
In it's 65 year history, the 2016 NBA All-Star Game will be played in Toronto at the Air Canada Cengre.

It will be the first time that an NBA All-Star event will be played outside of the U.S.  The game itself will take place on February 14th.

Here is the official logo:

2016-NBA-All-Star-Game-Logo-big_zps4dyfbdsd.png



Source:  Sportsnet, NBA.com
 
Lou Lamoriello, who became a part of the MLSE organization when he was hired as Leafs GM recently, has strong basketball roots:

Adrian Wojnarowski  @WojYahooNBA
Lou Lamoriello has two great basketball legacies: Hiring Pitino at Providence and pushing ownership to let Rod Thorn make Marbury-Kidd trade.

Adrian Wojnarowski  @WojYahooNBA
Lamoriello influenced a lot of young basketball coaches, including Jeff Van Gundy on Providence staff and Lawrence Frank with Nets.


http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/lou-lamoriello-has-strong-basketball-legacy/
 
Raptors official 2015-2016 schedule released.

Some important notes:

- first 11 of 14 games will be on the road
- there will be 17 back-to-back games
- four games in five nights will be played only once
- All-Star Game events  Feb.12-14
- a performance at the O2 Arena in London against the Orlando Magic  Jan.14 (counts as regular season game)           
- Vince Carter Celebration Night  Feb.21
- home opener versus the Indiana Pacers  Oct.28
- several games on national U.S. television

Check these out:
http://www.nba.com/raptors/schedule/2015

http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/breaking-down-the-raptors-2015-16-schedule/
 
Valanciunas was called from the Lithuanian national team to complete a medical in Toronto.  The Raptors are close to signing him to a contract extension.

4 years/60 million.  Pretty solid deal.  Especially with the cap going up next year where 15 million is essentially the old 8-10 million.
 
Patrick said:
What happened to this guy?

I remember a lot of hype around him.
Click to expand...

He went into his rookie season hurt and overweight and never really found his game. He was always a bit of a tweener, not really big enough for the 4 or quick enough to guard 3's, and so he's struggled to find a niche even as a bench player.

I wouldn't completely give up on him yet but he's definitely a long shot project right now.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Patrick said:
What happened to this guy?

I remember a lot of hype around him.
Click to expand...

He went into his rookie season hurt and overweight and never really found his game. He was always a bit of a tweener, not really big enough for the 4 or quick enough to guard 3's, and so he's struggled to find a niche even as a bench player.

I wouldn't completely give up on him yet but he's definitely a long shot project right now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update Nik, would be great if the could turn it around being closer to home.

Isn't he 6 ft 8 in?

Does he play small?

It's a little shocking to see that a first overall guy fell so far.
 
Patrick said:
Thanks for the update Nik, would be great if the could turn it around being closer to home.

Isn't he 6 ft 8 in?
Click to expand...

He is, which is a little small for a PF and at 240lbs, it's a little heavy to be guarding quicker wings.

Patrick said:
Does he play small?
Click to expand...

He certainly doesn't have a traditional back to the basket game and he hasn't shown much evidence of the sort of physicality you want from a low post player.

Patrick said:
It's a little shocking to see that a first overall guy fell so far.
Click to expand...

Maybe but the two important things to remember are that he was a complete surprise as a #1 pick and the entire draft class was just awful. The guys drafted 3rd, 4th and 5th have all struggled to make much of an impact as well.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Patrick said:
Thanks for the update Nik, would be great if the could turn it around being closer to home.

Isn't he 6 ft 8 in?
Click to expand...

He is, which is a little small for a PF and at 240lbs, it's a little heavy to be guarding quicker wings.

Patrick said:
Does he play small?
Click to expand...

He certainly doesn't have a traditional back to the basket game and he hasn't shown much evidence of the sort of physicality you want from a low post player.

Patrick said:
It's a little shocking to see that a first overall guy fell so far.
Click to expand...

Maybe but the two important things to remember are that he was a complete surprise as a #1 pick and the entire draft class was just awful. The guys drafted 3rd, 4th and 5th have all struggled to make much of an impact as well.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, I did not know that.

Thanks again.
 
Some facts about Bennett:

- improved his game playing for Team Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games (15.6 pts./9.4 rebounds per game on average)
- best game at FIBA 2015 in victory over the U.S. (15 pts/18 rebounds)
- also at FIBA 2015 scored 7.6 pts/5.6 rebounds per game average and 50% field shooting percentage
- displayed improved conditioning

Just where Bennett will fit in with the Raptors is anyone's guess, what with a lineup that already consists of Scola, Biyombo, Patterson, Carroll.  Of course, Bennett can't hurt the cause if he shows some usefulness and regains some of the momentum he showed while playing fir Team Canada at both the Pan Am Games & at FIBA

Steve Nash believes in Bennett and in his value to whomever he signs with.

We'll just have to wait and  see about that.


Source:  Sportsnet
 
The logjam in the TWolves front court made Bennett expendable, even with his strong play for Canada this summer. After the buyout, it was really reasonable for any team to sign him for the league minimum. Not too much risk involved.
 
"Rusty?"  More like sloppy, nevermind.  Wednesday's home opener for the Raptors ended with a 106-99 win over the Indiana Pacers, but not before some sloppy, disorganized first half by a Raptors team that looked to be on their way to a loss.  Luckily, the Raps reorganized themselves in the second half enroute to the win.

Too many missed goals, too many falls.  What gave? 

?We were timid, we just didn?t know what we were doing,? said Kyle Lowry. ?We knew what we were doing, we just didn?t execute the right way.?

DeMar DeRozan led the way with 25 points, followed by Lowry's 23, and Valenciunas 21.  DeMarre Carroll, after a nasty fall, came back strong in the second half playing a high of 41 minutes and contributing 14 pts. and plenty of hustle in-between.

So far, so fair.

More here:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/rusty-raptors-show-signs-of-progress-in-season-opener/
 
A fun thing to remember this year is that we're rooting for both the Nuggets and Knick to fail as the Raptors get the worse of the two 1st round picks as a result of the Bargnani trade. Luckily, the worse of those two picks could easily be a top 10 pick as both teams look pretty bad. 
 
It's early but I really like what Carroll brings to the roster.  Having Ross off the bench doesn't hurt either.  2-0 to start the year but a big stretch of road games coming up.
 
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