It’s about mid-season in the NBA. Let’s take some stock of the awards races.
Tag: Basketball
The Raptors’ 2014 Draft
The Raptors surprised everyone this year by drafting a seemingly unknown Brazilian player, Bruno Caboclo, 20th overall. And as much as I would like to give Ujiri the benefit of the doubt, I think we can object to this decision even without invoking the sports xenophobia that idiotic Raptors “fans” have already invoked to criticize …
Your 2013-14 Toronto Raptors
A little while ago I wondered aloud whether or not this Raptors team would rank among the best ever. [Editor’s note: Post since deleted because a) it was just a listicle of good Raptors teams and b) 2019 happened.] Now that they have been eliminated by the Nets, I think we can say that they …
Your 2012-13 Toronto Raptors
I think this year has to be viewed as a major disappointment for Raptor fans. Though I didn’t watch nearly enough games to properly judge this team I will do so anyway. [Note: the real title of this piece should be “Riley cannot evaluate basketball talent.]
On Your Way, Jose: Raptors Trade Calderon
You may wonder why I haven’t yet started a “Campaign to fire Bryan Colangelo” in this space. Well, there are two main reasons. To this day, I do not know basketball like I know hockey. At this moment, without cable and without league pass, I watch way more college basketball than NBA basketball, and I …
Dwight Howard Trade August 2012
Putting Howard’s ridiculous, childish behaviour – which perhaps only seems so childish because it has been amplified by our new “social media” technology – which caused this trade, I want to try to think about it from a purely practical perspective. Denver gets: Andre Iguodala (from Philly) Iguodala: 28, SG/SF: 37.7 MPG; 14.6 PP36, 5.6 …
Raptors’ 2012 NBA Draft
This year the Raptors clearly drafted by need and I can’t say I’m happy about it. In my recent review of the Leafs’ 2012 draft I examined the reasons to draft by talent and by need (and why, if you can determine who is the most talented, it makes sense to draft by talent and …
2012 NBA Champions
Here is my utterly irrational post about a basketball series I watched probably 15 (basketball) minutes of:
Fuck you, NCAA
I really mean it: fuck you.
The NBA still needs to adopt the CFL crossover rule in order to be fair
A quarter of the way through the season, it is already apparent, as it seems to be every season, that some decent western conference teams will be left out of the playoffs for yet another year. Here are the standings of the top 20 teams by winning percentage:
Why the Heat Should be Worried they Squandered This Opportunity
Though it may seem obvious to some the Heat will have another chance at a title, I’m not sure it’s so certain. For a variety of reasons. Wade’s fragile body: LeBron has been quite healthy since he came into the league. And Bosh has been reasonably healthy. But Wade – their best player if the …
Media Bias in the 2011 NBA Finals
So maybe I’m just a homer, and I can’t be objective about my second favourite basketball team (I certainly couldn’t be in 2006), but it seemed like everything was “Miami is doing this well” / “Miami isn’t doing this well” and very little was about Dallas. Worse, it seemed like Jackson had already decided Miami …
Raptors 2010-2011 Review
So the dismal season is finally over. It was an interesting one. Before it began, I was worried they would win 20 games.
Point Forwards and Shooting Forwards
The concept of the point forward was introduced some time ago – in the ’80s I think – but it is still resisted in many quarters. There are a few people on the TSN boards who constantly get upset when anyone uses the term “point forward,” especially back when Turkoglu was on the Raptors. The …
Raptors 2010 Offseason Gameplan
Losing Bosh is huge. He was the only all-star on this team (regardless whether you think he was a franchise player or not). Who will replace him? There are so many holes to fill it’s hard to know where to begin. As it stands, here is next year’s starting lineup
Raptors – April 3, 2010
I think the Raptors are fucked. If they lose today, I’m ready to call the season. I think if they lose to the Sixers then the chances of them making the playoffs get significantly worse, with Chicago winning games and getting healthier.
Raptors Draft History
Good game last night. Actually saw some D. That was great. Yeah, they still can’t rebound. Oh well.
2009 Toronto Drafts
So I figured I’d share my opinions about the Drafts but suddenly it was early July and I hadn’t done anything yet. Oops. Maple Leafs: It could have been better and it could have been worse. Burke should have kept his mouth shut. I still believe he could have maneuvered to get a top 3 …
Playoff reform, seriously
Once again I renew my call (which no one answers) for playoff reform in the NHL and in the NBA. In the NHL: No points for losses already. This is so stupid. No other professional league does this, that I know of. It is retarded. There is no rationalization for it. It skews the standings. …