Sorry for the lack of recent updates; a vacation (to Vegas, where I did not bet on the Raptors) combined with the usual lackluster results from the Raptors haven’t left me the time or motivation to write. (It’s especially hard to analyze when 2 out of every 3 is on TSNFU. I’d love to know how that’s working out for them; I’m guessing they’re really pleased they backloaded the schedule. I assume they did that because they were expecting a playoff run, not the most disappointing season in Raptors history. No one’s pressuring Rogers now ‘cause no one gives a shit! So the joke’s on you, fuckers!)
Anyway, at least the past two losses, both of which I did not see a second of, appear to have been entertaining, close affairs, and that’s good - it’s a shame I missed them. The fact that they played a couple good teams fairly closely, combined with having a little break from following the team, was good for me - I am looking forward to watching the game tonight, even though I can’t imagine the Raps winning, simply because I haven’t seen a game in over a week and am jonesing a bit. Oh wait, I forgot… it’s on TSNFU. Sigh.
Philly is having a disappointing season of their own, though certainly nothing like Toronto’s - they’re at least in playoff contention and have been stayed around .500 all year. Still, they were expected to do better after signing Elton Brand last summer. Instead, they started slowly, fired the coach, and only picked up a little momentum when Brand got hurt. But they couldn’t even sustain that, and are 3-7 in their last 10.
Of course, as bad as that all sounds, I’m a Raptors fan, and can only wish the Raptors were having a similar season. Instead what we’ve got is so much worse.
As for the Raps, well, it’s clear that it’s time to give the young guys some serious burn. I’m talking specifically about Roko Ukic and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Heck, maybe even Patrick O’Bryant. Now, I’m not advocating “shutting anyone down” or giving guys days off like Don Nelson. And honestly, that doesn’t even make sense because, for example, Roko’s never going to be a starter, so why would you start him? But, you do want him to be your primary backup in the future, so why not give these him a consistent 15-20 minutes a night now, let him play through his mistakes and see how he responds? Same with PMB and O’Bryant. You need to determine if these guys have the tools to be contributors, and now is the time to do it. Are these guys good enough to be the 6-8th men on the bench, or are they forever destined to be 9-12 material? And you don’t want another Roger Mason situation, where you never give the guy a chance (even though you had nothing else to play for) and you end up losing a prospect who goes on to become a quality starter.
Not only that, but, let’s see, we’re 23-41 playing Bosh, Bargnani, Jose and AP big minutes… putting some new player combos out there can’t possibly produce any worse results, can it?
I like what PMB has brought. 8.5 boards in 13 minutes? I’ll take that any day. Roko has proven he’s the only Raptor other than Joey that will consistently get to the rim; he needs to learn to finish there, but at least he’s not settling. And O’Bryant, well, he’s big, and he’s got enough potential to have been a #10 overall pick; he hasn’t shown anything in the pros yet, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to do so.
And, if these guys can, in fact, play, maybe that gives fans some optimism for the remaining month of play? Maybe it gives us a reason to care, or even be hopeful about the future?
Tags: Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors
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