Pound the Rock

Such a flat game to watch. Even though Raptors were hanging around with the Bulls by half it really looked like the Raps were trying hard to score while the Bulls were just playing extremely relaxed (compared to what i saw Friday vs Boston). Expected the Bulls to turn it on near the end of the game just enough to close it out. With the circumstances I can't blame the Raps though, they battled.

There's a couple of positives with Andrea being out: - We have an 'excuse' to lose some more games, which will mean higher lottery pick chance and fans not going as crazy with the loses stacking - Although I'm not impressed in the games played so far, this may be Demar's chance to get his damn head on straight and ball - I think everyone's pretty confident that Bargnani has taken a great stride forward in his play and is close to being a potential all-star. That being said, letting him take his time to heal, up especially during this rapid fire lockout season, will only be good for us (especially since we're tanking). So I don't mind Bargnani missing a week or two. (although it hurts the eyes to watch the Raps now)

Mm I hope I can handle the gore, my aunt tells me you get used to it.

I think it'd be better for him, instead of him rotting on our bench he should get some PT and possibly be good enough to play for us down the road? He still needs to put on a couple dozen pounds and develop many aspects of his game.

Hey Basketball fans, please ignore the cheesey title. I've just recently registered thanks to the invite by Built Ford Tough and from what I've seen in this forum so far, expect to be sticking around. :glasses: A little bit about myself; I live in Toronto and currently 17. I hope to go to Ryerson for Nursing after this year. I'm a die hard Raptors fan and will remain one forever. I love Basketball , I play it every chance I get, especially in the summer. I can hoop a 'bit' I love to analyze and discuss everything NBA and especially the Raptors. I love players who are humble and hard working. I'm usually an optimist when it comes to the Raptors future but I'm not an idiot. my favorite basketball player of all time is probably Kobe just due to his intelligence on the floor , all those amazing moves (most of which don't solely require athleticism) and his amazing clutch shot. I just posted this on another thread so I'll re-post it again here, it's my generalized thoughts on the Raptors: - New developing attitude/culture under Dwayne Casey - Bargnani coming into his own as a consistent score (at least for the first 3 Q's) - Derozan, being inconsistent right now but we know what he can do offensively, hopefully will round out and find his niche in Casey's new defensive system - Calderon playing some of his best basketball right now, hoping it will continue? (Possible J Kidd V2?) - Amir Johnson is a great role player and has amazing chemistry with Jose. He dosn't try to do to much and does his role nicely. - Ed Davis. He NEEDS to develop an offensive game, that same left handed hook shot doesn't cut it for me. - Bayless, we have seen the past 2 games with him out how much his offensive punch means to us. We can still hope that he can take on some of Calderons passing/play making ability. - James Johnson, We've already seen some amazing blocks from this guy. He is a hard worker. Obviously needs to work on his decision making and shot on the offensive end. Luckily for us he's young. - Jonas V, this guy has alot of potential, as of now probably just as much as Derozan. Our possible starting C. - If we choose to tank for the rest of the year (which i think we should do If we can't manage a 6th seed) I can see us getting somewhere around the 5th pick again in a DEEP draft. And with our success in picking up good players with low picks I'll trust BC to get us a good if not great player (SF or PG). Anyways I hope to stick around for as long as possible. I see good things in this forum already. Ciao. (im not Italian)

Everything he says there makes perfect sense to me and I believe it all to be true. I remember recently this off-season Sam Mitchell was one of the analysis for NBA.com and they talked about the New Orleans future without Chris Paul. He talked about his time in the Raptors and said that the worse position to be in the NBA is at the 7-9 spot, because you get a low lottery pick and you're a burn out in the playoffs, exactly how the raptors were for most of the Bosh era. Secondly, a winning environment and attitude is very important to succeed and it creates a culture. So far this season under Casey I have seen all players giving their all day in and day out, especially on the defensive end. This is what I love to see, a culture/attitude of toughness and the having the will to win, and not being labeled a 'soft team', so far the Raptors have shown me this attitude and I love it. So, let's see what we've gotten these past 2 years and how bright our future can possible be: - New developing attitude/culture under Dwayne Casey - Bargnani coming into his own as a consistent score (at least for the first 3 Q's) - Derozan, being inconsistent right now but we know what he can do offensively, hopefully will round out and find his niche in Casey's new defensive system - Calderon playing some of his best basketball right now, hoping it will continue? (Possible J Kidd V2?) - Amir Johnson is a great role player and has amazing chemistry with Jose. He dosn't try to do to much and does his role nicely. - Ed Davis. He NEEDS to develop an offensive game, that same left handed hook shot doesn't cut it for me. - Bayless, we have seen the past 2 games with him out how much his offensive punch means to us. We can still hope that he can take on some of Calderons passing/play making ability. - James Johnson, We've already seen some amazing blocks from this guy. He is a hard worker. Obviously needs to work on his decision making and shot on the offensive end. Luckily for us he's young. - Jonas V, this guy has alot of potential, as of now probably just as much as Derozan. Our possible starting C. - If we choose to tank for the rest of the year (which i think we should do If we can't manage a 6th seed) I can see us getting somewhere around the 5th pick again in a DEEP draft. And with our success in picking up good players with low picks I'll trust BC to get us a good if not great player (SF or PG). So yeah, I think so far we're moving in the right direction.

Year You Became a Fan: Around the 2004 - 2005 Why You Became a Fan: Primarily because I live in Toronto. I also see the Raptors as always have a chip on their shoulder being the non-American team. Favorite Raptors Player, All-Time: In the short time I've watched them, I have to say, I loved Chris Bosh's game and attitude as a Raptor. I also love Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani's humble attitudes and devotion to Toronto. Favorite Raptors Coach, All-Time: I loved Sam Mitchell's emotion on the sidelines but from what I'm seeing Dwayne Casey seems to know his stuff on coaching and specifically on the defensive end. Favorite Raptors Moment: They were many, all a haze to me now. I do remember Toronto's playoff game verses Orlando where our crowd was going CRAZY. I love Toronto's arena (when we're competitive) Amount of Raptors Games Attended: I've pestered my Dad about going to a game but he only wants to go if it's Miami Boston or the Lakers. (which we know the tickets are expensive and its hard to get good ones). With that being said I expect to watch more than my fair share of Raptors games when I finally head to University in the coming years. Thanks to Built Ford Tough for recruiting me to this forum. I'm already liking what I'm seeing and I plan to stick around for a while. :glasses: