The 2010/11 Toronto Raptors have gone through a lot of changes to get ready for the upcoming season. Gone are Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw. With Bosh gone, the team will rely on recently drafted forward Ed Davis to fill in the gap left by Diaw. Also new to the team are Dwayne Jones, David Anderson and Julian Wright.
The team is young, one of the youngest in the league, but they are deep. "We are still doing a lot of high screen and rolls but a lot of it is coming at the end of plays instead of just coming down and letting teams set up as you go into it. That's what European teams do. They don't come down and go high screen and roll. They come down and it's move, move, move, and then high screen and roll. That's what we're trying to do and if we can do it, we'll be a lot better team."
Look for your Toronto Raptors to work hard to get back to the playoffs and compete with the best in the East.
The Toronto began their 15th season in the NBA with a shakeup that involved nearly the entire team. With the exception of Andrea Barganani, Jose Calderon, Patrick O’Bryant, Marcus Banks and Chris Bosh, the entire team was replaced.
In his first full year as Head Coach, Jay Triano managed to keep Chris Bosch by forming a team he felt would be able to compete with the rest of the NBA. After signing Hedo Turkoglu, Jarrett Jack, Antoine Wright and trading for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems and the return of Rasho Nesterovic the team was set to compete in the tough Atlantic Division.
The Raptors got off to a fast start, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in their home opener 101-91 but would sputter afterwards going 7-8 through their first 15 games. Injuries also played on the Raptors record as PG Jose Calderon has missed a dozen games and forward Reggie Evans has yet to play a game this season.
As of this writing, the Raptors are one game below .500 at 17-18. Come on out and cheer your Toronto Raptors to victory!
The Toronto Raptors along with the Vancouver Grizzlies joined the NBA in 1995. The Grizzlies would relocate to Memphis, Tennessee leaving the Raptors the only NBA team in the country. As the norm with expansion teams, the Raptors struggled early and it wasn’t until the 1998 acquisition of Vince Carter that the team began to compete at a higher level.
Carter would lead the Raptors into the playoffs for the first time in 2000, their first playoffs series win in 2001 before losing the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Carter would push the team for two more years but after not making any progress, was traded in 2004. The franchise then went out and pursued Bryan Colangelo, the GM of the Phoenix Suns. After the Suns were sold, Colangelo signed with the Raptors in 2004 and promptly won the NBA Executive of the Year by the end of the year.
After revamping the roster in 2006/07, the Raptors significant drafted #1 overall pick Andrea Bargnani, traded for point guard T.J. Ford, signed shooting guard Anthony Parker and small forward Jorge Garbajosa and extended Chris Bosh three years. This lineup would work for the team as Bosh recorded career highs in points and rebounds and was voted into the 2007 All Star Game while Colangelo won Executive of the Year and Coach Sam Mitchell won the 2006/07 Coach of the Year. The Raptors went on to win their first playoff game in five seasons but were eliminated by the New Jersey Nets 4 games to 2.
The following season, the Raptors acquired guard Carlos Delfino from the Detroit Pistons for 2nd round draft picks in 2009 and 2011, signed small forward Jamario Moon and 3-point specialist Jason Kapono. Injuries would take a toll on the team as three players lost considerable time; Garbajosa missed 75 games, Bosh 15 and T.J. Ford 31. They would again make the playoffs but would be eliminated in the first round by the Orlando Magic in five games.
Prior to the following season, the Raptors agreed to a deal with the Indiana Pacers that would put All Star Jermaine O’Neal in a Raptors uniform. The franchise gave up T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, Roby Hibbert and the 17th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. With the team getting off to a 21-34 start, the franchise severed ties with head coach Sam Mitchell and replaced him with long time assistant Jay Triano. Prior to the All Star Break, Triano traded O’Neal to the Miami Heat for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks but even that couldn’t stop the slide as the team finished with a 34-49 record.
In May 2009, the Raptors franchise gave Triano a three-year contract for the Head Coach position.
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