Carlisle on Raptors: "For my money, I think they’ll be in the hunt for the playoffs in the east.”

[Built Ford Tough]

But that effort was definitely present again and Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle definitely took notice, adding this post-game:

 

“Last year at this time, they beat us here in this game at the AAC. That was a really tough night for us. It’s a skilled team. Now, as you can see, they’re gaining a defensive mentality. Watching their scores, they’re holding teams in the low 40s in field goal percentage, and they’re doing it playing a playoff style. I give Dwane [Casey] a lot of credit for the approach that he’s taken with that team. It’s the right approach for a young team that’s in a position to make some quantum leaps. For my money, I think they’ll be in the hunt for the playoffs in the east.”

 

http://blog.raptors.com/carlisle-with-some-early-praise-for-raptors/

 

I certainly don't hope so.

 

As much as I hate to see the Raptors lose night in and night out (and believe me, despite my posts on here about tanking I hate seeing them lose while watching the game), this team needs a high draft pick in this years draft. There have been some very positive things so far this season, but at the end of the day, this team needs a star player and the only way they are going to get it is through the draft.

 

It is nice to see some positive comments about the Raptors, though. Frank Vogel had some very nice things to say about the Raptors after the Pacer game and now Carlisle is giving them solid praise.

[Check my Stats]

Everyone just keeps pumping Casey's tires.. I love it... defensively we are so much better, but we are really far away offensively.. Demar hasn't taken the leaps I had hoped/expected, but then again it is still early... I am losing faith in Bayless' willingness to be a pointguard each passing game.

 

Bring over Barnes and Val next year, and I think we are looking like a pretty nice team moving forward.

[headliner]

This team is not talented enough to doing anything in the league. They lack offensive toughness an execution. They turnover the ball a lot and in my opinion they haven’t looked like the same offensively team that we saw last season. The team is working hard defensively but I would like to see them have that same toughness on the other end or else it won’t be a competitive game to watch. The SF position is where this team needs to improve. Butler and Johnson haven’t been productive and right now the PG position isn’t great with the exception of Calderon.