Offense: There's really not much to say here.........really. Over his career Reggie Evans has only been able to score 4.3 ppg, with a career high of 5.9 ppg! Now you can argue the fact that he only plays an average of 19.6 minutes a game is whats holding him back, but then you see his FG% (.468), and the even worse FT% (.525) and get scared when he even touches the ball. Now, maybe I can understand why Evans was un-drafted and flew under the radar for a year or so before being picked up by Seattle. But he isn't completely useless on the offensive end, actually he's pretty good at something....heck, he was the best in the league at something for 2 years in a row. One thing you can't knock about Evans' game is his energy, and toughness on the glass. And he grabs offensive rebounds like no other in the league! In both the 04-05 and the 05-06 seasons he led the league in offensive rebounds per 48 minutes with a ridiculous 6.45. A number that far surpassed the likes of Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace, Kevin Garnett, and his then team-mate Marcus Camby. He did better than all those players while playing only 23.8 minutes a game, compared to their average of 37.9! When he was on the court he would grab a 1/3 of all the rebounds on the offensive end. And there hasn't been one season he wasn't in the NBA's top ten in that category, so I think it's safe to say they Raps can expect that from him next season...there goes the rebounding issues.
Grade: C
Defense: Now, Ive noticed that everyone is being hard on this guys defense, but everyone including CB4 himself admits to dreading playing against him. The whole NBA knows that if you go near him you will walk away with an sore knee and a broken heart because he really will BODY you. He went as far as to grab Chris Kaman's balls once! You can argue that he is easy to drive by, he's not tall enough to put a hand up in most PFs faces and that he's not a great shot-blocker...but try posting up on him and see if you don't end up on the ground at the half-court line. Not that this means all that much but his "strength" ratings were the highest in NBA LIVE 04,05,06 and 07 so people do take note of what he bring to a team. His best Defensive attribute however is his rebounding. While he was only best in the league at it once in his career (as opposed to his offensive rebounding), he is anything but a slouch in the category. Only Ben Wallace ever recorded more rebounds per minute over his career...ONLY Ben Wallace. Nobody else. Here's a guy who is impossible to post up against, and he isn't even going to let you get your own rebounds...or anyone else's for that matter! What more can you ask for out of a back-up PF???
Grade: B+
Best: Rebounding (HANDS DOWN). He has been if not the best, the second or third most efficient rebounder over the course of his career. In 23.8 minutes he grabbed a total of 9.3 rebounds, then grabbed 8.7 two seasons later in 23.3 minutes, and was the only non-starter to finish Top Ten in rebounding in the NBA in both seasons. Think of this, Chris Bosh averaged 8.7 rebounds per game a year ago, and he played at least 12 or 14 more minutes than Reggie...and that's no knock on CB4, Evans is just that good. All the raps need to do is find him 20 minutes a game or so - and be happy with the 7 or 8 boards he'll grab them.
Worst: Simply put; just don't give him the ball on offence......please don't.
Thanks for reading!
-RaptorsGuy
Friday, September 4, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Not Quite Done Yet
Will he ever stop?
The mastermind of MLSE, Bryan Colangelo, is at it again. This time, he has done something that no GM has managed to do since the '05-'06 season: Deal Marcus Banks, without Shawn Marion.
The propsed deal would see highly paid benchwarmer, Marcus Banks dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Matt Carroll. Coincidentally, the deal would re-unite him with - you guessed it - Shawn Marion, in Dallas. Banks, the 27 year-old native of Las Vegas, Nevada, was acquired in February along with Shawn Marion from the Miami Heat, in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal, and fan favourite Jamario Moon. Banks, a 6'2" point guard, was suffering from a knee injury and only appeared in 6 games in a Toronto uniform, averaging 2.3 PPG, 1.0 APG, and 0.5 RPG in 6.7 MPG. His career highs in all of those categories came in teh '05-'06 season, while Marcus played big minutes for 40 games while with the lacklustre Minnesota Timberwolves. In 30.7 MPG, Banks put up and average of 12 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.9 RPG. It was those type of numbers that lead Phoenix to offer him a 5 year, 21 million dollar contract.
Why it was deemed Matt Carroll deserved his current contract, is yet to be seen. The 28 year old native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania went undrafted out of Notre Dame, and was cut by many NBA teams before finding a name for himself in the Development League (NBDL). After averaging over 20 points a game with the Roanoke Dazzle, he caught the attention of the newly-formed Charlotte Bobcats, and was signed to a contract. After proving he can be a quality depth player in the '05-'06 season, Carroll started 47 out of 80 games in the '06-'07 season, and put up 12.1 PPG, 1.3 APG, and 2.9 RPG in an average of 26.7 minutes. The Bobcats found those numbers worthy of a 6 year, $27 million contract. At the deadline this season, they shipped that contract along with over to Dallas in exchange for DeSagana Diop. Carroll is about to enter the 3rd year in that top heavy contract, and he is on the books for a guarnteed $4.7 million, as opposed to Bank's $4.53 mil. Carroll's contract ends in the summer of 2013, and his yearly salary will be decreasing by $400,000 each year until then, ultimately becoming $3.5 million.
Analysis on this trade and how it effects the Raptors and shapes up their roster, coming soon. Thanks for reading! - Mr. Jonny C. (Raptors Guy#2)
The mastermind of MLSE, Bryan Colangelo, is at it again. This time, he has done something that no GM has managed to do since the '05-'06 season: Deal Marcus Banks, without Shawn Marion.
The propsed deal would see highly paid benchwarmer, Marcus Banks dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Matt Carroll. Coincidentally, the deal would re-unite him with - you guessed it - Shawn Marion, in Dallas. Banks, the 27 year-old native of Las Vegas, Nevada, was acquired in February along with Shawn Marion from the Miami Heat, in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal, and fan favourite Jamario Moon. Banks, a 6'2" point guard, was suffering from a knee injury and only appeared in 6 games in a Toronto uniform, averaging 2.3 PPG, 1.0 APG, and 0.5 RPG in 6.7 MPG. His career highs in all of those categories came in teh '05-'06 season, while Marcus played big minutes for 40 games while with the lacklustre Minnesota Timberwolves. In 30.7 MPG, Banks put up and average of 12 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 2.9 RPG. It was those type of numbers that lead Phoenix to offer him a 5 year, 21 million dollar contract.
Why it was deemed Matt Carroll deserved his current contract, is yet to be seen. The 28 year old native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania went undrafted out of Notre Dame, and was cut by many NBA teams before finding a name for himself in the Development League (NBDL). After averaging over 20 points a game with the Roanoke Dazzle, he caught the attention of the newly-formed Charlotte Bobcats, and was signed to a contract. After proving he can be a quality depth player in the '05-'06 season, Carroll started 47 out of 80 games in the '06-'07 season, and put up 12.1 PPG, 1.3 APG, and 2.9 RPG in an average of 26.7 minutes. The Bobcats found those numbers worthy of a 6 year, $27 million contract. At the deadline this season, they shipped that contract along with over to Dallas in exchange for DeSagana Diop. Carroll is about to enter the 3rd year in that top heavy contract, and he is on the books for a guarnteed $4.7 million, as opposed to Bank's $4.53 mil. Carroll's contract ends in the summer of 2013, and his yearly salary will be decreasing by $400,000 each year until then, ultimately becoming $3.5 million.
Analysis on this trade and how it effects the Raptors and shapes up their roster, coming soon. Thanks for reading! - Mr. Jonny C. (Raptors Guy#2)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Another Trade......bye bye Carlos Delfino
It's been a boring few weeks in the basketball world, but it seems like the NBA GMs are still working their ass's off. Just when we thought Bryan Colangelo was done making all of his moves he pulls this one off. This is probably the first time you may learn of this but the Raptors have worked out a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks in which they will recieve PF/C-Amir Johnson, and SG/SF-Sunny Weems. In turn the Raptors would sign and trade Carlos Delfino and package him with the now expendable pointguard Roko Ukic. Both contracts the Raptors recieve will be up by the end of this season giving the Raps some extra cash for next years free agency period. As I mentioned earlier the Raps had to signed Carlos Delfino to a deal reported to be worth around 6.9M over 2 years ($3.45M per year) to make this deal work. I think the most interesting part of this deal however is that the roster is now full, and there is some speculation that fan-favorite Pops Mensah-Bonsu is headed to Houston now. With all that being said, I really like this deal because we got somebody who brings the same energy as Pops and a guard-forward that makes are team that much more athletic. Last season Pops averaged 5.1PPG, 5.4RPG and 0.2BPG in 14 minutes for the Raptors. Amir Johnson has recorded similar stats by averaging 5.9PPG, 4.6RPG, and 1.6BPG in 15.5 minutes for Detroit. He also shoots a cool .595% from the field compared to Pops Mensah-Bonsu's .354% from the field. I don't think we can say anyone can bring the same hustle as Pops but Amir Johnson is in my opinion as close as you can get and maybe even better given the fact that he averages 8 times the amount of blocks Pops does and he shoots tremendously better in the paint. Amir is 6'10" so he can possibly guard centres if necessary. Overall I feel like if you couldn't bring Pops back this is a great deal. And if you don't like it, at least the team will get an extra 5 mil. next year in free agency! Now, as for Sunny Weems, he hasn't done much of anything in his career or than drive and dunk.....which is good because he wont play many minutes. And with his athleticism you can expect him to be a decent defender at the least. The roster is full now.....so that was the last of the moves, and I think the big thing is we just got so much better defensively. We have enough scorers in the first and second line-up to take care of the offense we lost with Roko and potentially Delfino. Thanks for reading!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Player Card: Jose Calderon
Offense: When Joses career began he didn't have much range on his jumpshot, he couldn't break down his man and get the basket, nor did he posess the typical speed and quickness that the average Point Guard in the NBA had. But one thing he always had was his unheralded natural ability to control the game with his scarily consisten ball-handling, and his ability to distribute the ball at a great pace with ease. He also posessed something rare in a money driven business; he was an exceptional team-mate. Last season Jose solidified his status as a capable NBA starter, and set records with his shooting ability. His shooting percentages especially showed just how determined he was, and still is, to improve his game. He is elite in the NBA for his shooting (all-time freethrow percentage record holder), and his ball-handling skills, and is now in All-Star contention. For a player at Joses position he has matered all the right things offensively.
Grade: A
Defense: He came into the NBA as poor defensive player, and hasn't proved that wrong to this day. It was exposed the most last year when he suffered from a foot injury that made his presence on the defensive end even more of a liability. The thing is, he is so sound with his own talents thaat he would be the first to admit his D needs some work. He lacks overall speed but he is tall enough to switch to guarding the SG sometimes. You can blame most of his weaknesses on the fact that he grew up in the offense driven European game. All that said, when Jose says he is going to inprove his game - you can't help but beleive it.
Grade: C+
Best: His ability to feed the ball to players in easy scoring positions as well as his impecable ball-control skills.
Worst: Again, he has lackluster defensive ability but, he is determined to improve. Gotta love that.
Thanks for reading!
-RaptorsGuy
Grade: A
Defense: He came into the NBA as poor defensive player, and hasn't proved that wrong to this day. It was exposed the most last year when he suffered from a foot injury that made his presence on the defensive end even more of a liability. The thing is, he is so sound with his own talents thaat he would be the first to admit his D needs some work. He lacks overall speed but he is tall enough to switch to guarding the SG sometimes. You can blame most of his weaknesses on the fact that he grew up in the offense driven European game. All that said, when Jose says he is going to inprove his game - you can't help but beleive it.
Grade: C+
Best: His ability to feed the ball to players in easy scoring positions as well as his impecable ball-control skills.
Worst: Again, he has lackluster defensive ability but, he is determined to improve. Gotta love that.
Thanks for reading!
-RaptorsGuy
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Brand New Toronto Raptors
It's been another roller-coaster offseason in Raptors nation. There has been a series of trades and signings, all improving one aspect or another of the Raptors team. GM Bryan Colangelo really had his work cut out for him this offseason, but he sure did deliver a performance that reminded everyone why he won the Executive of the Year trophy twice now. He single-handedly orchestrated a 4 team deal that brought back one of the NBA's most clutch players, made a few key signings, and revamped the coaching staff by placing a Canadian at the Head Coach spot. There is no doubt all these transactions boosted the Raptors back into play-off talks, but how much better can they do compared the New Jersey, and Orlando series. Remember, the Raps didn't even make the play-offs last season....with a team we all though was at least "good". We had to improve the roster, take less chances with unproven players, make sure Bosh wanted to come back in 2010, and make sure fans weren't disappointed again. So how much better are we now that the off-season transactions have likely come to an end? Let's compare line-ups from the beginning of each respective season:
2008/09 <> 2009/10
G- Jose Calderon <> G- Jose Calderon
G- Anthony Parker <> G- Demar DeRozan
F- Jamario Moon <> F- Hedo Turkoglu
F- Chris Bosh <> F- Chris Bosh
C- Jermaine O'Neall <> C- Andrea Bargniani
G- Will Solomon <> G- Jarrett Jack
G- Jason Kapono <> G- Marco Belinelli
F- Jamario Moon <> F- Antoine Wright
F- Kris Humphris <> F- Reggie Evans
C- Andrea Bargniani <> C- Rasho Nesterovic
G- Roko Ukic <> G- Roko Ukic
G- Hassan Adams <> G- Marcus Banks
F- Joey Graham <> G- Quincy Douby
F- Nathan Jawai <> F- Pops Mensah-Bonsu
C- Jake Voskuhl <> C- Patrick O'Bryant
It looks to me like every line of players made an overall improvement, but the Raptors never really addressed their desperate need for very good defensive players, especially bigmen. Instead they settled for "alright" ones. Expect the Raptors to be in the top 5 in scoring however because we have talented shooters and slashers now, and a point guard that has no problem sharing the basketball. With CB4 bulking up this summer, and the addition of Evans as well as rediculously athletic guard DeRozan, rebounding should be one of the last of their problems. All around the Raptors have dramatically improved, and are now potentially one of the top 4 teams in the east. Let's just see if they can execute a successful season this time around. Thanks for reading!
-RaptorsGuy (mr.hunter)
2008/09 <> 2009/10
G- Jose Calderon <> G- Jose Calderon
G- Anthony Parker <> G- Demar DeRozan
F- Jamario Moon <> F- Hedo Turkoglu
F- Chris Bosh <> F- Chris Bosh
C- Jermaine O'Neall <> C- Andrea Bargniani
G- Will Solomon <> G- Jarrett Jack
G- Jason Kapono <> G- Marco Belinelli
F- Jamario Moon <> F- Antoine Wright
F- Kris Humphris <> F- Reggie Evans
C- Andrea Bargniani <> C- Rasho Nesterovic
G- Roko Ukic <> G- Roko Ukic
G- Hassan Adams <> G- Marcus Banks
F- Joey Graham <> G- Quincy Douby
F- Nathan Jawai <> F- Pops Mensah-Bonsu
C- Jake Voskuhl <> C- Patrick O'Bryant
It looks to me like every line of players made an overall improvement, but the Raptors never really addressed their desperate need for very good defensive players, especially bigmen. Instead they settled for "alright" ones. Expect the Raptors to be in the top 5 in scoring however because we have talented shooters and slashers now, and a point guard that has no problem sharing the basketball. With CB4 bulking up this summer, and the addition of Evans as well as rediculously athletic guard DeRozan, rebounding should be one of the last of their problems. All around the Raptors have dramatically improved, and are now potentially one of the top 4 teams in the east. Let's just see if they can execute a successful season this time around. Thanks for reading!
-RaptorsGuy (mr.hunter)
Friday, July 31, 2009
411 on Pops Mensah-Bonsu
Ok, so I know alot of Raptors fans are still wondering whats going on in the Pops situation. Well I finally found some answers after alot of searching. According to a British bassketball site the Raptors extended an offer to him earlier in the month for $2.1M over 4 years ($8.4M), but he declined because he needed more money-or less years. What the Raptors are trying to do now is work out a sign and trade deal in which the Raps send Marcus Banks($4.5M) and a future 1st Round Pick to a team in exchange for Pops. That deal is going to give him a reported $4.2M over 3 years($12.9M); the kind of deal he wanted. This is exciting news because everyone loves the intensity this guy brings every night. Now GM Bryan Colangelo has to pull off some more magic to get this reported deal to work, It would also cap off the off-season as all roster spots will be filled!
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