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Toronto Raptors - International and Improving
Sunday, October 29, 2006
OK, they did only win 27 games last year. And they did trade Vince Carter, the human highlight reel. But all in all, when it comes to developing a competitive team in the NBA, one that has playoff potential you have to like what the Toronto Raptors have done, literally almost over night.
Because let's face it, even with Carter the team managed just 33 wins in each of the prior two years and just 24 the year before that. Yes it has been four full years since the Raptors have been seen in the NBA postseason.
But that just may be about to change.
Start with the smooth left-hander Chris Bosh. This guy is an NBA talent and Toronto recognized that 6-10 guys that can really play don't come along every day. The management signed the big guy up for maximum money, ensuring he would be around long enough for the team to build around. Though no one who follows the NBA was surprised by the offer, some were surprised that Bosh took it. But there in lies the real key, the most talented player on the roster sees that the team's new management has an understanding as to how to build a basketball team.
In fact, General Manager Bryan Colangelo has retooled the team so quickly that many have not even contemplated where this team stands. But Bosh noticed, and he signed on for the long haul.
First off, the team has always had the talented shooter Morris Peterson. The forward has played in all 82 games for four years running and last year began to put up some serious numbers, averaging nearly seventeen points per game.
But the team has a number of new players including their top draft pick, rookie Andrea Bargnani, a new point guard in TJ Ford who came over in the Charlie Villeneuva trade and a new center in Rasho Nesterovic, though the slow footed former Spur might end up coming off the bench. The team also acquired the athletic Freddie Jones from Indiana and Darrick Martin is in just his second season with the team. But the other side of the story is who they unloaded, the underachieving (at least while in Toronto) Vince Carter and the talented but winless forward Jalen Rose.
Where the team now stands is an International beacon for new talent. The team began by drafting the smooth moving big man, Bargnani, one of three Raptor regulars that was playing in Europe a year ago. The team also brought in Anthony Parker, a defensive stopper who had played in Israel and Jorge Garbajosa, a savvy veteran who can flat out shoot. The native of Madrid played in Spain and was a member of Spain's title team at the World Championships in Japan last fall. Throw in Nesterovic, back up point guard Jose Calderon of Spain and reserve forward Pape Sow of Darkar, Senegal and the boys from across the border are loaded with International flavor.
The young talent meshed well during the preseason, when the Raptors went 7-1. The overall talent level is so much better that the team knocked off the Celtics in Boston, in the seventh game of the exhibition season, and did so while resting the team's best two players, Bosh and Ford.
But it is a young team and the NBA is generally not kind to teams that are young. And the Raptors are only one year removed from last year's start. Dare we state the team was 0-9 and 1-15 out of the gate.
But those numbers make the 27 wins all the more significant. Throw in the fact that the team competes in the Atlantic Division and you have to think this team might top forty wins. Since only New Jersey is seen as a legitimate playoff team from the division, the Raptors have an excellent chance of climbing into second spot in the division, perhaps even into the top eight and a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
If they do not make the postseason this year, they still should be one of the NBA's most improved teams.
5:51 PM
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