What do people think would be an acceptable amount to 'overpay' marvin williams as a restricted free agent this offseason? I think he would fit in really well here and the Hawks may not want to match a big offer if they're planning to resign joe johnson and al horford (a couple years down the line, but probably for big money). I think that 12 mil for 4-5 years would be good for the raps, and luol deng just signed something like that (maybe not the best comparison, but not too different), so maybe that's what the market for him would be.

Out of the available Free Agents coming up, I like Williams though he hasn't exactly reached the heights of some of his other fellow draft mates. He is young and has a good wingspan I could see him fitting in nicely, I see him as a 3 but we could try to give him a run at the 2 as well.

whatttt? I really hope you meant 12 millions in total for 4 years, and not 12 million PER year.

You won't get Marvin Williams at 12 mil in total for four years, but 12 mil a year for 4-5 is waaaaaaaaaaay overpaying him. At most 8 mil per year, and really, that's assuming he lives up to his potential.

I did mean 12 per year, but that was meant to be an explicitly 'overpaid' number. And I do think that he is already beginning to live up to his considerable potential. Maybe it was a bit of an overshot, though I was sorta working off the 7.3 mil for which he could return to Atlanta for a year. I do think, however, that with the amount of cap space that we will be freeing up over the next two years, it may be alright to sign a player that we really want to an excessive contract.

If theres any chance we can trade Jermaine for Marion just so we could unload that contract and pick up a SG next year id be excited about next season

http://www.nba.com/2009/news

There was a TrueHoop post about Kevin Love's rebounding this year that brought up an interesting stat I had not heard of before, a teams overall rebounding rates when a certain player is on/off the court. The idea being that this stat eliminates rebounds stolen from teammates since those rebounds would go to said teammate when the player in question is off the floor, and the team's rebounding rate would not change much.

I have been a relatively unwavering Bargs supporter, and the most irritating criticism that I continue to hear is that he is a very bad rebounder. Watching the games I find this to be patently false, on account of his improved commitment to boxing out. I will admit that his nose for the ball still leaves something to be desired, but every game I see multiple rebounds that were snatched by teammates while Bargs was the only one boxing out. This is where the aforementioned stat becomes handy. A look at the team's performance when he is on the court compared to off should reveal the overall contribution he is having. It may surprise some that, in fact, Andrea leads the team in this statistic for defensive rebounding. Note that I have chosen defensive rebounding because it illustrates my point more clearly, but also because we give up so many offensive boards. The rest of the positive contributors, in order, are Will Soloman, Anthony Parker, Jake Voskuhl, Chris Bosh and Jamario Moon. The only surprise there would have to be Soloman, but perhaps this is because he is almost always replacing Calderon or Ukic, two very poor rebounders. So for those haters out there calling out the 'seven footer who can't rebound', at least give him credit for contributing more to the team's rebounding woes than anyone else.

Thank you cb4! I have said countless times that Bargs is an above average rebounder, this stat helps prove what I've seen in the games.

Rebounding is great but have a look at his Net Rating. It's brutal, even worse then Kapono's.

Yeah, I noticed that, but I can't find an explanation of the Net Rating anywhere on the site. I am a little weary of the 'all-in-one' brand of statistical analysis which can be subject to loss of information and compounding errors when trying to distill many different elements into one "rating". I might be more convinced if there were transparency in the method, and if there is such an explanation on the site that I've missed, please point that out to me. Also, when sorting the Raptors according to this Net Rating, Jamario Moon and Jake Voskuhl are 2nd and 3rd, respectively. That encourages my skepticism. Furthermore, when the entire league is ranked according to this stat Andre Iguodala, Lamar Odom and, shockingly, Delonte West are all in the top 10, and Ben Wallace is 21st! Further reason to question what exactly this Net Rating rates.

You are correct as it isn't exactly the truest of stats but let me explain.

Offensive rating = points scored per 100 possessions
Defensive rating = points allowed per 100 possessions
Net rating = difference between the two - and difference between on/off court stats

This figure is very accurate in determining wins/losses ect - it's arguably the most accurate.

The only downside is that you can't compare two players or teams that play different styles. For example, Andrea may play a slower style when he is on the court; ie. instead of playing 100 posessions a game he is playing at a 90 ppg - aka Pace factor. Taking this into account, the stats would still point to Andrea being near the bottom.

In laymans terms, when the player is on the court does his team score more than they give up - can't get much simpler, can it?

In my books if he has skills and plays hard, hes a great player.

If he doesn't play hard (Jamario) or has limited skills (Kapono) then hes garbage

Hmmm...I don't have much of a retort. It does seem pretty straightforward and I don't think that considering the different rates of play is all that significant for this discussion. It would be interesting to contrast this with his performance as the starting center to see if the stats are skewed by his poor play in November/December.

I was thinking, Anthony Parker was the 3rd best player on the Raptors team two years ago that went to the playoffs (behind Bosh and Ford). Now, without a huge dropoff in skill, Parker's the 5th best player on this year's team (behind Bosh, Bargnani, Calderon, and Marion) and the team is significantly worse. I don't know if I really have a point, just an example of how that team overachieved/this one underachieves.

If I recall, the first team had virtually no injuries. Didn't Calderon have a sprained ankle that kept him out for a handful of games, and that was it? Oh, and we lost Bargs for a month, and Garbo for the playoffs. Nothing much in the way of starters, though.

This year, we've had O'Neal, Bosh, Calderon, among others miss significant time due to injury. Further, a few have come back too early because the team was struggling and tried to play hurt, which really didn't help us in the long run.

Not saying that injuries alone are it, but they probably account for some of it. (Or maybe Garbo was better than we all thought?)

No team in the NBA is immune to major injuries. But the last couple years we were lucky, and there were some pretty good teams who were not. Another factor is that the league is better every year. Miami is a great example, last year they were a good team if Wade has healthy, even worse they pick up a future star prospect in Beasley.

We finally come down to earth this year and we will probably not get much of a prospect in the draft

Also teams like Cleveland and Orlando who have "real" superstars. Are starting to see their stars grow, as well they have built a solid team around them.
We have built a solid team around CB4. But he is not a "real" superstar...

Shaq Responds To Bosh
Mar 02, 2009 7:20 AM EST

After Chris Bosh suggested that Phoenix center Shaquille O'Neal benefited from the refs ignoring the three seconds in the lane rule, the Arizona Republic is reporting that Shaq has responded.

"I heard what Chris Bosh said, and that's strong words coming from the RuPaul of big men," O'Neal said. "I'm going to do the same thing (in their next meeting) I did before - make him quit. Make 'em quit and complain. It's what I do."

Thats it. Trade this guy. I do not want a guy who other players call "Rupaul" leading my team. Do not give him max money, CB will be made fun of in every arena for the rest of his career.

Shaq has 4 titles, MVP's and has a hall of fame career
CB has not made it past the first round. Way to go "nice guy"

Dumb-ass

Hahah Thank you Shaq, another gem of a quote. I have never been more uninterested in a Raptors team then this one, there is no excitement left. Zero. This quote by Shaq is the most attention I've paid to the Raptors in a few weeks, that's how sad this team is.

oh snap! hahahahahahaha

the diesel always knows what to say

""Everybody's saying it's the Celtics logo. It's just a clover, a symbol of Ireland," said O'Bryant. "It would be the same if they had Prehistoric Day and everybody in the NBA had a dinosaur on their jerseys."

Quote of the day???

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/602825

Well with the new Douby signing - are we officially a d league team?

Okay, let's suppose, hypothetically speaking, that the Raptors win every game from here to the end of the season. (This isn't an argument on whether that's possible, just go with me here.) Would you be a) angry at the drop in draft position; angry that they didn't do this earlier; or c) thrilled about the prospects of next season?

Noe of the above. To quote one of my favorite tunes...


I have become comfortably numb

Now Randolph is taking a shot at Bosh..I love it
Link

The question is Bosh's beeyotch like attitude easier to swallow then Randolph's cancer like attitude? I'm not going to mention off court issues because Bosh has just lost his edge in that category

Randolph has seemed to only get better over the last three years, he is a consistent double double guy who provides a solid post presence, I still would prefer his cheaper teammate Kaman despite being less of an impact guy.

if we're comparing alleged criminal acts, randolph was once the subject of sodomy allegations as he attempted to anally penetrate a passed out basketball groupie, not to mention that his high school coach has gone on the record saying he fears getting the late night phone call that zach has been shot (or something to that effect).

z-bo is also the man that brought us this gem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j1q6osDAEc

there are lots of guys that can trash bosh in good conscience, z-bo is not one of them

Colangelo praises Triano

Please tell me this is a joke, and that there's no chance we keep Triano after the season (except as an assistant).

I don't understand all these reports lately that Triano will be back next season. I think the Raptors have to make one of two moves. The first option would be to bring in a true defensive minded coach, or the second option would be to make sweeping changes to the roster (i.e. trading Chris Bosh/Jose Calderon/Shawn Marion/Andrea Bargnani). If the media is to be believe, neither of these will happen and Colangelo's plan for next season is to keep going with this current core of players.

To me, although the Chicago game was fun to watch and the Raptor won, it highlighted the main problem with the Raptors this season. All of their best players can play to their full potential on the offensive end and they still almost lose the game because of porous defense.

Its not the coach..............................

Its the players.

forgetttt that gem, there's a much better one now, i'm talking about a game deciding shot, clipper down 2 with like 3 seconds left, watch what happens, almost like deja vu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A13PKLR-HyY

i was watching that game live and I couldn't believe it, I thought i was day dreaming for a sec ans watching that old vid of him in a knick uniform.

I don't even want him as an assistant. I just want a complete coaching change, from the ground up. Please for the love of all that is good in this world, tell me we have OPTIONS this season for who we could hire as coach?

oh ya, that one is awesome. in other hilariousness, as of the other day, he had 14 blocks on the season

Either way those two are both ugly specimens

http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/johnson/2...burn-past-2010/

"Bosh is having a career season with arguably one of the top 5 point guards in Jose Calderon."

I'm probably going to get flamed just for bringing this up...but why not give Marcus Banks some burn. Yes he is a terrible playmaker and yes he is a streaky shooter BUT he is an above average on the ball defender. When Jose is resting, either Jack is on the floor or Hedo is out there, Banks wouldn't even have to handle the ball, just defend his man and be aggressive. And maybe if he gets some minutes he'd be much easier to include in a trade..

Because who do we take minutes away from if we put Banks in? Belinelli or Wright? Both are doing fine as defenders.

We needed AI.. Its to bad we wont get him

Wright has been terrible all season, especially last night I saw him get beat off the dribble a few times. If he continues to play like that I would rather see Weems get some burn or as mentioned Banks.....

it's not 2001, he is the last thing we need

on another note, i was taking a gander at the raptors floortime stats on 82games. (http://www.82games.com/0910/0910TOR.HTM) a few things i noticed...
1. jack has better adjusted +/- than calderon
2. the only guy with a positive adjusted +/- is turkoglu, seems like that's working out a bit
3. belinelli's stats as an offensive guy off the bench are decent
4. calderon is pooping the bed

i lean towards the adjusted +/- more than other stats because it tends to show a guy's overall effect on the game.

what do we think about these?

Stats are good but you have to watch the games. There are alot of things that players do that dont show up on the stat sheet.

ya, i agree that there are a lot of things that don't show up. however, especially with the adjusted +/-, guys that i notice who do all those small things (deflections, getting loose balls, setting good screens, etc) end up with good ratings in that stat; shane battier is the first one that comes to mind, but there are others.

that said, i was certainly surprised that turk seemed to have such a positive impact on our play... and that calderon was so useless.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14892
(scroll down for Triano)
http://sportsradiointerviews.com/2009/12/3...spot-right-now/

Well certainly based on early returns there seems to be a lot of truth to the early schedule contributing to some lackluster games and embarrassing blow outs. I'm not ready however to call this team the second coming of the 2000-2001 squad just yet though - they have a tendency to relax either against bad teams or when they get large leads. If they display more of a killer instinct in the months ahead, maybe then it will be time to get a little more excited.

Speaking of Triano - for all his faults, isnt it nice now we have a coach that designs actual good basketball plays coming out of timeouts?