Raptors Discussion: v97 Raptor's 2024-2025 - Training camp begins Oct. 1
- Thread starter The Nemesis
- Start date
Sorry, I should have responded to this sooner.
A rebuilding team coach is a difficult role, but it is possible for him to turn this into a long-term gig. It comes down to him.
The short term goal has to be to find combinations that work together. This is what Dwayne Casey did extremely well in Toronto and poorly in Detroit (part of the problem in Detroit might be related to the fact that the players that don't work well together were high draft picks where the same guys had to play together to avoid making the front office look bad even if they didn't belong together).
Two things will determine how long Darko is here. The first is how good this team is this year. If he can figure out a 5th guy to play with the starters and get something resembling effective minutes and some level of team success while developing youth, he will do wonders for making the argument that he should be here.
The second thing is development. Under Nurse, Toronto either had guys that were good or had to trade for pieces. Under Darko, we need our pieces to come from within (we don't need all 5 of our picks in the last two years to become rotation players, but we need 3 or 4 plus a surprise or two if all 5 don't).
Beyond that, it comes down to implementation. Casey got a lot of rope in Toronto because he built from a very dark place to a perennial contender.
There are three scenarios for this year.
The first is that Toronto is a frustrating team to watch and nothing clicks. In this scenario, everyone from Masai to Darko is gone.
The second is that Toronto shows good things, but are a piece or two away from taking that next step (either injuries at a bad time or some bad luck losses). In this scenario, Darko is almost certainly safe, but ownership will look close at Masai's work and determine whether or not it is still heading in the direction that they want.
The third scenario (and the one that I am hoping for) is that the team is using the term rebuild now because they've already done all of the bad parts of a rebuild. This is the scenario where the team figures out some kind of workable 5 man unit, trades Brown as part of a deal to get a young piece that instantly enters the rotation, makes the playoffs (or play-in) and shows signs of growth that adding one more year to the core will be a positive.
thewave
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- Jun 17, 2011
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Suntouchable13
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It sounded like to me Masai wants to build through the draft so I doubt he expects the third scenario. Sounds like he expects to be bad.
I don't think they expect anything.
This team could be a play-in team even with playing the crap out of the young guys. What they won't be is a top 4 team in the East this year.
At the end of the day, this season being enjoyable to watch is going to be important because the things that wrecked that two years ago also compromised the long term viability of the team as a group.
saska sault
Registered User
I really wish Brown was off the team prior to the start of the season... I don't see a future for him and he's in a contract year and will want to boost his value. Otherwise for trade chips, mainly I would guess Boucher? They are going to let the young guys grow and Poeltl is a nice calming veteran presence on a cheap deal going forward, no rush to move him.
I have high hopes in the sense they will be entertaining and lose enough to get a great pick. Very curious to see if Barnes has another level or two, and if Barrett and Quickley can continue to grow just enough to be the guys we will need. Both are young enough still.
I have high hopes in the sense they will be entertaining and lose enough to get a great pick. Very curious to see if Barnes has another level or two, and if Barrett and Quickley can continue to grow just enough to be the guys we will need. Both are young enough still.
LeafsNet
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Going into last season I wasn't excited at all. This season is different. I don't have high hopes for them to finish with a good record but the team should be entertaining. When they were healthy last year it was fun to watch them. Hopefully, Dick will take another step as well. Will be interesting to see how how the young guys do.
They used to do that, then Shanahan came in and said that the Leafs should do what every other team does and actually retire the numbers, so now the Leafs have a bunch of unwearable numbers.
I guess it could be worse, we could be Montreal...
Fun game so far. Dick and RJ have looked good. Shead has been a positive since coming in.
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If Shead develops a 3 point shot he will be very good.
If Poetl gets injured the team is really screwed. The backup bigs suck.
If Poetl gets injured the team is really screwed. The backup bigs suck.
Didn’t watch but that shooting tonight.
Chris Boucher looks like he’s showcasing himself.
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Dick started to hit them in the second. I think they are going to need to play him more than maybe they want to.
Dr.Funk
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- Jul 2, 2004
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saska sault
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Sam Mitchell is a mess on live television pretty often... at least when I see him anyways.
Dr.Funk
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- Jul 2, 2004
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saska sault
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Its just preseason but the warning signs are there. This team will struggle.
Yup. Lack of depth at C, struggling with 3-point shots, and the defense yesterday in the first half was bad.
If the starting 5 stay healthy for the majority of the year, I do like their chances at a play-in game.
Edey was taken 9th. FYI, Raps lost their 8th overall pick to Spurs.
This guy once challenged Vince to a fight in the lockerrom when he was coach. Apparently he was irritating vince and mocking him and then vince ended up body slamming him on a massage table
Raps shooting so well from 3. What a difference first quarter compared to Sunday.
Agbaji has looked good in preseason. He looked awful in the summer league.
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