Raptors vs Suns

I don’t think the Suns will miss Amare that much. They look good so far.

For the Raps I don’t see a clear-cut first option. I think Derozen and Andre will share the bill…

 It may only be pre-season but I’ll take a 50 point win any time. Good start to what will probably be a really long season. 

I did not see the game, so maybe I should not comment, but all I know is that when you lose by 51 points, to the Raptors, even if it is the pre-season, that is not a good sign. Have a feeling Amare will be missed at least a little there, as much as Amare may not be the best rebounding 4/5 combo out there, they have no one close to him snagging boards. Same thing applies for post defense, they have Robin Lopez and nobody else unless Gani Lawal makes the team, but even that is not going to be a huge factor. I think any fantasy owner will kill to play the Suns this year, especially if you have a PF. It is pre-season, I know, but to say they will not miss Amare was something I know I did not believe long before this. They lost Amare and Louis Amundson, and are basically decimated at the 4 spot. When Turkoglu is your second rebounder, and you do not have Dwight Howard, than you are in trouble.

only preseason but great first result for the raps. a few thing which stood out to me..

-Kleiza looked great, he was right when he said in an in-game interview that he’s benefitting from being in game shape already (from the FIBA’s this summer). He was a first option with his national team and should get a tonne of touches with the raps.

-Andrea looked rusty on the offensive end but he anchored the d decently in the short time he played (something which will prove vital to any raptor success with our lack of bigs).

-Reggie showed that intensity we sorley lacked last year, hopefully he can stay healthy and light a fire under the young guys for the full 82.

-Sonny and Demar were aggressive on the offensive end. Sonny must continue to use his (above average) mid-range game while Demar has to continue to develop his. (Will either develop a long range stroke?)

-The new up-tempo D looked good. More full court pressure then i’ve seen in the last few seasons combined. With our lack of O the D has to provide some points which the added pressure might be able to provide. Still up in the air if they can keep up the intensity and energy for the full 82.

And for the Suns…

Nash was his usual creative self. Dragic will be recognized as one of the better backup 1’s this year. Hedo is a bum, glad to hear the Van City locals boo him al la Carter, hope it continues in T.o for the rest of his career, he deserves every bit of it. Still up in the air as to how they will fare in the west without a legit 4 or backup 5 for Lopez. Lack of size could hurt them, but with Nash at the helm anything is possible.

Comments?

I live in Toronto, and a friend of a friend who works with Brian Colangelo says that he fumes anytime someone brings up Hedo Turkoglu. It is like in Lion King where Scar makes the name "Mufasa" off limits, that bad, just gets really angry. So, as much as Colangelo may dislike Chris Bosh’s handling of things and of course the comments he made about Bosh giving up on the team, I do not even think he probably has to contain himself to not totally explode about Turkoglu’s stint in Toronto. I have seen a lot of players kind of put on the brakes after a contract year, but I can honestly say, Turkoglu was by far the worst I have seen yet. He was out of shape, played with no passion and as much as you would like to blame the offense for his poor numbers, I do not think that was even close to the biggest thing holding back his success. He was hurt, which is one thing, but to me, as long as you are playing, even if injured, you should be giving your full effort, which he clearly was not. Also, as a player who made so many clutch shots over his time in Orlando, he never really came up big in the clutch for the Raps. The Raptors signed him thinking they signed the near All-Star he had been in Orlando the past two years, but got the underachiever he has been for pretty much the entire rest of his career. The first time I had ever heard of him was during the 2000 draft, where I was like "Who the hell is he and what was Sacramento thinking?", only to finally see him play and think, "Man, he could even be the best player in this whole draft class (It is 2000 after all)". But, as great a player as he is, he never achieved close to the level of success I thought he might achieve until his last two seasons in Orlando. I had always been waiting for him to blow up, and when he finally did, I thought he might be there to stay. Instead, he goes back to being an underachiever. He has always been a volume shooter, and I am sure his numbers will go up on the Suns, and he will love playing with Steve Nash. But, if people think Turkoglu and Childress are enough to make up for losing Stoudemire and Amundson, well, that is your perogative. All I know is that those guys are wing players, something Phoenix already had in pretty decent numbers and that they both do not pull down a lot of boards.

Phoenix has some great shooters, and will make a ton of treys like always, but the only Sun who is a good OVERALL (not just 3 pointers) % shooter is Steve Nash. That means guys like Richardson, Frye and Turkoglu are missing a lot of shots, and it kills to have only one person out there with a reasonable chance to get those misses (Robin Lopez). Than, who other than Robin is going to box out much bigger players? To me, the Suns have become a better version of the Warriors. They will be better than the Warriors, but even the Warriors at least have a couple guys to grab boards in David Lee and Andris Biedrins (Ivan Drago). The Suns have a deeper team and much more skill on the perimeter which gives them the advantage, but I do not know why they are considered a play-off team anymore. If someone has a different view on this, than I would really want to hear it, because I can not figure it out. They are old to boot, and full of guys with injury concerns. Grant Hill and Robin Lopez both D up, but is that enough to make up for having Nash, J-Rich and Turkoglu? Childress is a great 6th man, Dragic is obviously a solid scoring threat, so this team will get buckets, but who will they stop? I might be a little harsh on these guys, as Hakim Warrick and Jared Dudley should fit in well also, and Frye of course became a great 3 spot threat, but again, who will they stop? Hakim Warrick never became the low post defensive threat people thought he might be in college, and he will definitely not replace Amare Stoudemire. I think I predict them to finish 9-10th in the West, which may not be bad, but certainly is nowhere near the expectations most seem to have of them not losing a step without Amare.

 Man, the refs were going to town with those T’s, lol. Robin Lopez got T’ed out, Grant Hill smacked Reggie Evans on the ass, who smacked Grant back, only for Grant to do it again harder (ugh, weird). Well, obviously this game was crazy, but nonetheless, my thought on the Suns remain. Raptors concerns still remain as well, but this game goes well with my theory of DeRozan improving greatly in his second year.