Raptorspace

Washington at Toronto

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:57:59 PST

Battle of the Titans. Washington already took round one on their home court so it is time for the Raptors to pay them back.

The Raptors are horrible so I have no idea who will win this game. Its probably the only game all season that I would have the Raptors as a favorite, yet with Bargs out and the Wiz having gotten a bit of lift from their coaching change, this is probably a coin flip.

Match up to watch is Nick Young and Demar Derozan.

Looking forward to what the raptors will do...

feeds@kickapps.com (dmega) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:48:50 PST

This season is all about change. Defence first, new coach, new team leader etc. The more I don't watch games is the more I realize the limitation of our youth. Starting with Derozan. I'm a fan, and I think he's a nice kid. He has skills that can help any team, but he still looks like hes years from putting it all together. I look at a guy at college like Lamb and I think he will come into the NBA next year and light up Derozan. I look at our point guard's and I can't help but to hope Jose is still around this year only to help land a top draft pick. I'm not made up about Bayless and I rather like his aggressiveness. If only we could combine Bayless with Demar we might have a player worth hyping. That said, the draft does not have any point guards to speak of, so I guess BC will have to address this weakness via free agency. The small forward spot has been hopeless this year but Linas looks like he can still be...

Raps at Celtics

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:06:40 PST

Predictably ugly, so there isn't much to be said. I would like to note that our starting backcourt is just killing the team. Easily the worst in the NBA. Derozan is awful, every bit as bad as Calderon has ever been.

Hawks at Raps

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:30:20 PST

Here comes the usual bad matchup Hawks. Not only are they the bigger team, they are also more athletic. The Raptors have rarely had any answers for this team in recent years. Best hope is that Josh Smith and Marvin Williams have one of their stupid nights. A cerebral team they aren't.

It will be interesting see what kind of game Derozan follows up with. It won't be as easy getting his shots against J. Johnson, M. Williams and the shot blocking of Smith.

Raptors at Nets, Jan. 29/12, on TSN2

feeds@kickapps.com (Kobe81) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:47:00 PST

Casey trying something completely different with starting line up tonight to stop the poor starts. C - A. Johnson PF - J. Johnson SF - DeRozan SG - Bayless PG - Calderon No idea what to expect from this line up, let's see if playing small helps get Raptors off to strong start.

Raps at Jazz

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:32:21 PST

Tied at the half. They look ok with Kleiza giving them some good minutes.

Bayless really needs to get his shot back though. He's one of the few players that has the tools to be a scorer.

Raps at Suns (9 PM on TSN)

feeds@kickapps.com (2010raptors) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:06:59 PST

The Raps will look to end their 8 game losing streak tonight vs the Suns.

Key players for PHX:

Nash - I think we all know and are scared him exploding tonight with 20 points or more but of greater importance, maybe a 15- 20 assist game.
Gortat - will be key in this game and it will be interesting to see how the raps bigs will deal with him.
G.Hill - let's hope he doesn't have an amazing night against JJ,LKZ and RB
Dudley - a nice utility player for the suns. Wonder how he will matchup against the raps wings.

Key players for Raps:

DD - He needs to step up.
Jose - Let's hope he doesn't get embarassed too badly by Nash.
Bargs - Let's hope he's healthy and isn't rushed back.
Amir - I wonder if he'll get some rest this game.
Barbeiza - Barbosa and Kleiza are the raps' scoring punch off the bench. They have now combined to make Barbeiza.
Bayless - hopefully he has a huge night in his...

Raptors at Clippers

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:52:58 PST

Paninful to watch, but what else do is there to do on a Sunday afternoon?

Nice to see Bayless back in the lineup. He didn't play particularly well, but you can see the extra quickness he has over our other backup PGs. Actually even on a bum ankle he had more than Calderon.
It's funny watching Calderon because through his entire career his play has indicated a million times that he would be a really good backup or perhaps a starter who could play with a ball dominant SG. Instead we don't replace him as a starter, and play him with a SG who cant do anything with the ball. I'd laugh if it didn't hurt so much.
Amir is kind of going through the same thing. He isn't a starting center. He's a really good backup at both front court positions. If I had to start him it would be at PF, not center.

It's tough having absolutely no offense in the starting lineup. Derozan and Calderon are the least creative, least dynamic pair in the entire NBA. Their inability to...

What happened to Julian Wright

feeds@kickapps.com (thatreallysmells) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:13:52 PST

I loved this guy's game, he beat Dallas last yr with his defense! Resign him and use him, can't be any worse than whats on the floor now! Also, use to produce some nice assists, was the greatest scorer, but neither are any other raptor's!

Raptors at Celtics Wed 7:30pm

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:49:13 PST

Might as well have someplace to post our regrets. Boston has lost 5 in a row and no way they are going to lose at home to a Raptors team that they are used to kicking around.
Our best hope is that the Raptors don't fold up and cry, but instead go down throwing haymakers.

Are we stuck as we are?

feeds@kickapps.com (torontoman) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:50:50 PST

unlike other Fans expectation for Raptor this year,i don't like the standing we are and i don't think the tank situation would put us in any better position next season.

passing quarter of season ,and if you look at east now there are 5 teams behind us even we are having 4-10 awful record ,it will safely to say that we are not going to get top 5 pick in draft so what's the point we are going to tank this year?

more importantly we need better record to attract free agent in the coming season especially for the PG position and if we are not in the playoff this year how can you get big fish in the free agent market(don't forget we are not knicks)

East is still wide open and Knicks is sitting at 8 even with 6-7 record,if we make a push anything can happen...

DD is Struggling and AB won't be the saver when he coming back...why shouldn't BC making a trade for the SG...

Raps at Hawks Monday at 4pm

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:49:51 PST

This is mid day game because of the US holiday. I might be able to get home in time for the second half but I'm not certain I'll be rushing. I expect a blowout. The only good news is that their usual Raptor killers aren't there. Al Horford is injured and they no longer have Crawford.

Pacers at Raptors

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:23:46 PST

Well it's a good start for Derozan and the Raptors. They seem to have a lot of energy and got to a big lead in the first quarter. The second quarter has been a little physical (which I actually like to see).
I have no idea why Derozan is playing with more energy or why he has beaten a few guys off the dribble. He hasn't all season but he has tonight.
Ed Davis has a pretty good matchup going with West. They of similar size and i think Davis has had a quiet but nice first half.
Interesting to see Forbes get PG minutes. I think Carter has done a decent job, but with the team playing so poorly recently, it's nice to see that Casey is able to be creative.

Still a long way to go in this one and I'm most worried about the Pacers three point shooting. They barely took any in the first half but I'm sure they will be chucking them up to try and get back in the game.

Sonny Weems airlines...

feeds@kickapps.com (Newmar04) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:32:48 PST

Best wishes from Lithuania...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRI5N-FcFEc&feature=youtu.be

Wasted Seasons?

feeds@kickapps.com (Haisan) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:33:08 PST

So, looking at how much better the Raptors have been on defense this year, is anyone else wondering how the Raptors of the past few years might have been, if we had had someone like Dwane Casey coaching back then?

I'm not saying we would have been a championship contender, but I get we could have played well enough to keep Bosh interested, maybe gotten us into the low-50s in wins. Which I guess is just another treadmill, albeit slightly more respectable. But if Bargnani and the Raptors keep up their defense for the year, I'll be annoyed that the Raptors were so bad for so long.

(I would also look forward to Doug Smith retracting some of his effusive praise for Triano ... but I know that will never happen. The Doug never admits to being wrong).

Kings @ Raptors - Jan. 11/12 on SNET at 7PM

feeds@kickapps.com (Kobe81) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:29:55 PST

3rd game of a back to back to back and Raptors must be tired, though good thing is that this is a home game against a very bad Kings team.

Linas Kleiza is active tonight and expected to play. There might be some rust, though the Raptors wings have been awful offensively and this should give them a much needed boost.

Raptors @ Wizards - Jan. 10/12 at 7PM on TSN

feeds@kickapps.com (Kobe81) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:17:34 PST

Second game of a back to back to back on the road against a winless Washington team that is desperate to win. It would be pretty embarrassing for the Raps to give the Wizards their first win, so here's to hoping they play with intensity on the defensive end again. Bargnani and Calderon have been playing big minutes all season especially last night, gonna need others to step up tonight. They can really hurt the tank tonight by winning and getting back to .500 and 8th seed.

Timberwolves @ Raptors - Jan. 9/12, 7pm on TSN2

feeds@kickapps.com (Kobe81) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:11:28 PST

Gotta feeling Love may go off for 20 rebounds tonight. Calderon knows Rubio very well so not sure if he'll have a big game. Will be interesting to see how the guy some Raptors fans were hoping to get in draft, Derrick Williams, will perform. Wolves haven't won in TO since 2004 and Raptors desperate after two losses, so predicting win tonight.

Nets at Raps Jan 6 at 7pm

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:58:22 PST

The Nets have lost 6 in a row and Williams and Hump will be game time decisions. If they cant play then this should be a win. I'd like to say an easy win, but the Raps haven't earned that kind of respect. The Nets are so thin right now that there isn't even one player to gameplan for if Williams doesn't play. Casey may have work hard to keep our players focused.

For the Raps, the SF watch will continue. Can Butler hit a wide open shot? Can Johnson figure out what to do with the ball that doesn't result in a turnover? One of these guys is going to find himself with zero minutes when Kleiza comes back and there will be no one to blame but himself.

Cavs at Raps Jan 4 at 7pm

feeds@kickapps.com (Freewheel) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:56:10 PST

The games are coming fast and furious. Cavs come into town playing a lot better than they did on opening night. They now have a better record than the Raps.
Key to the game will probably be how we defend Jamison. He sucked against the Raps a week ago but has beat us up in the past.
Another good shooting game from Butler would be welcome.