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As you all know (or should know), the Thunder are heading into Toronto today to take on the Raptors. Not a particularly imposing matchup, but it's always nice to get some insight as to how their season is going. For those of you who don't know, the Raptors came into this season with very high hopes and then completely crashed, hitting an all-time low when they lost to the 3-Win Thunder in December. It's been a while since then, and while the Thunder seem to have been on the upswing of things, the Raptors are, unfortunately, still pretty down. Jeff Wong of PeteMarasmitch.com approached me about a Q and A, so I figured, why not return the favour? So I reciprocated the offer, and the result of that is what you see below. Much thanks to Jeff for doing this, and you can view my answers to his questions here.
-The Raptors started out the season with Chris Bosh and Jermaine O'Neal as a 1-2 punch. I honestly really thought that at this point in the season, they'd be competing with the Pistons and Celtics for the #1 seed in the East. What happened? Were those guys really overrated from playing on bad teams, or was there just some bad chemistry?
Many Toronto fans thought, too, that the Raptors would be at least top-five in the East. But Bosh and J.O. never got on the same page, plus J.O. was still trying to get his knees back into game shape. And then Calderon started to have hamstring problems.
With two of the Big Three (Bosh, Calderon, O'Neal) out of the lineup for a considerable time, our lack of depth was exposed. Add in bad chemistry, and you get a sub-.500 record.
-How fun was it watching the Raptors try to trainwreck their way into the playoffs (as opposed to our team, who had no hope from the start)? Was it fun because you could have still been considered a competitive team, or was it frustrating because you'd just keep losing?
Bitter Pete says: It's craptacular!
The long answer: It wasn't fun at all. You can see there's talent there, but it won't all get into a groove at the same time. Very frustrating.
On the other hand, there are some positives from this year. There's the dropjaw athleticism of PF Pops Mensah-Bonsu, the resurrection of C Andrea Bargnani, and the flashes of brilliance from PG Roko Ukic (the official Pete Marasmitch mascot, donchaknow). I also nurture the comforting thought that this team isn't that far off. I compare this season to that of the San Antonio Spurs, when David Robinson was injured. The Spurs ended up drafting Tim Duncan, and look where they are now. Yes, an eternal optimist, I am.
-Back in December, how was it to become only the 3rd team to lose to the Thunder, a distinction only held by the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves at the time? I would have been pretty depressed.
See Bitter Pete comment above.
-If you could bring Sam Mitchell back, would you? From the outside looking in, it looked like an unjust firing, given that he had been coach of the year not too much earlier and that the Raptors haven't done well since.
Nah, I think it was time for a change, COY or no COY.
One of our local beat writers, Doug Smith, keeps saying that the firing was too early in the season, but the implication is that the firing was necessary at some point this season.
-Throughout the past year or so, I've heard very very light rumours that the Raptors are one of the teams that is looking to move to another city. Is there any truth to this, or is it all a bunch of hogwash?
Huh? Never heard this myself. The Raptors have a loyal, passionate following, a pretty wealthy ownership group, and perhaps the strongest online fan presence in the league (shoutout to my bruthahs!).
-Do you like your main logo, or do you think it bursts with 90s cheesiness and needs to be changed? Personally, I love it, one of my NBA favs.
You mean the red dino? I'm not a fan of it.
I love the claw. I love that Mark Haven Britt put that into my new banner. I didn't even ask for it!
-Pops Mensah-Bonsu or Patrick O'Bryant: Who has a better chance of being a Raptor in 2-3 years?
O'Bryant is as good as gone. The unguaranteed part of his contract is in the shredder. Book it.
Bryan Colangelo is expected to put in a good offer for Pops. It just depends on how much of a bidding war there will be for him.
-Lastly, with the team having completely given up on the season, what do you try to get from watching these last few games?
Apart from that, I'm just waiting for the Draft Lottery.
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