Wiretap: Calderon - Raptors 'Are So Close' To Being Good

Kabookalu · Post #21 » by **Kabookalu** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:47 pm

We're close to being good, we just need.....James Harden!

I never bought into the whole "slashing all star wing", but damn I can't believe how much we need one now. Parker needs to not play this entire offseason and rest his poor old legs.

J-Roc · Post #22 » by **J-Roc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:51 pm

Choker wrote:We're close to being good, we just need.....James Harden!

I never bought into the whole "slashing all star wing", but damn I can't believe how much we need one now. Parker needs to not play this entire offseason and rest his poor old legs.

Who is Detroit's slashing all-star wing?

Post #23 » by **Geddy** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:51 pm

I don't see how Jose sees them as being close to being good, and if anything they really haven't had much fight in them this season. BC must have switched up the gatorade for some MLSE Kool Aid.

Kabookalu · Post #24 » by **Kabookalu** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:02 pm

J-Roc wrote:Who is Detroit's slashing all-star wing?

Detroit is just an average team.

34_fifty · Post #25 » by **34_fifty** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:22 pm

hes right you know. We have a **** coach and a franchise player who is looking to pad his stats

from24ft · Post #26 » by **from24ft** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:29 pm

So lets see, we now have that SF we felt we needed and the schedule has gotten much easier, yet since the trade the team is playing .200 ball.

If I hear one more time how close we are I will puke.

timdunkit · Post #27 » by **timdunkit** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:30 pm

J-Roc wrote:
Choker wrote:We're close to being good, we just need.....James Harden!

I never bought into the whole "slashing all star wing", but damn I can't believe how much we need one now. Parker needs to not play this entire offseason and rest his poor old legs.

Who is Detroit's slashing all-star wing?

Technically Iverson was an allstar ....

seanied · Post #28 » by **seanied** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:31 pm

J-Roc wrote:Why was Jose half decent against Stuckey yesterday, in terms of keeping him in front of him? Only thing I notice is that if he keeps his feet on the ground, he can do a better job than when he's hopping around.

I have a theory that defense can be learned and improved. A few years back I spoke with the guy who was the coach of the UK national team. He had a drill where players played 3-on-3, andf the defenders were forced to defend with their hands behind their backs. I think laterla quickness can also be improved through lateral quickness drills. WHat cannot be improved is lateral quickness if an injury is preventing a player's muscle from pushing at 100% intensity.

And I think they are close to being good. (I know it's more popular to be negative like how a high school kid is cool because he says everything sucks, but whatevah!) I'm not sure what is going to be the thing that turns them around, but I do know that confidence plays a huge role in improving performance, and right now with the infighting, the blaming, the instability of personnel, there is a distinct lack of team and individual confidence.

LeBronxJames · Post #29 » by **LeBronxJames** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:39 pm

jrsmith wrote:
dagger wrote:
jrsmith wrote:lol, aww he got excited, they managed to compete with a 500 team that doesnt have one of its major guys in sheed, and doesnt have iverson coming off the bench, how cute!

gotta love the expectations.

what a joke

Iverson makes them worse and we were without our second best scorer after the first period.

its yet to be seen whether iverson will have an impact good or bad off the bench, lets wait on that,

perhaps vs average and good teams he might make them worse, im sure you know vs a team like ours (as always) he would have gone off and exposed us

seeing as sheed can easily shut down bosh, his value on his team compared to bargnani is equal at best.

You fail to see the point that its so sad that they managed to keep a game close with a .500 team and yet believe they are so close to being good.

Shut up ballboy. You know nuffin about basketball. How dare you challenge the great dagger!

J-Roc · Post #30 » by **J-Roc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:49 pm

timdunkit wrote:
J-Roc wrote:
Choker wrote:We're close to being good, we just need.....James Harden!

I never bought into the whole "slashing all star wing", but damn I can't believe how much we need one now. Parker needs to not play this entire offseason and rest his poor old legs.

Who is Detroit's slashing all-star wing?

Technically Iverson was an allstar ....

But who is the slashing all-star wing that makes them better than us? I know they at least have guys who can slash like Stuckey and Iverson. But it seems to me, at the end of the day, their big plays make jumpshots. If our shooters like Bosh, Bargnani and Kapono and Parker and Calderon could make open shots, this team would be a lot better. And that's with the same personnel, same coach, same "system".

_Mantofini_ · Post #31 » by **_Mantofini_** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:00 pm

J-Roc wrote:
But who is the slashing all-star wing that makes them better than us? I know they at least have guys who can slash like Stuckey and Iverson. But it seems to me, at the end of the day, their big plays make jumpshots. If our shooters like Bosh, Bargnani and Kapono and Parker and Calderon could make open shots, this team would be a lot better. And that's with the same personnel, same coach, same "system".

SMitch.... SMitch? Is that you? Gimme a "Mo Shats!!!" if it is.

J-Roc · Post #32 » by **J-Roc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:09 pm

_Mantofini_ wrote:
J-Roc wrote:
But who is the slashing all-star wing that makes them better than us? I know they at least have guys who can slash like Stuckey and Iverson. But it seems to me, at the end of the day, their big plays make jumpshots. If our shooters like Bosh, Bargnani and Kapono and Parker and Calderon could make open shots, this team would be a lot better. And that's with the same personnel, same coach, same "system".

SMitch.... SMitch? Is that you? Gimme a "Mo Shats!!!" if it is.

You gotta make shats!! Not just mo shats.

CB was knocked for taking jumpers to start OT last night. But that's all Rip Hamilton did to start OT, because the Raps were actually preventing the Pistons from slashing. Making shats makes such a difference.

timdunkit · Post #33 » by **timdunkit** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:11 pm

J-Roc wrote:
_Mantofini_ wrote:
J-Roc wrote:
But who is the slashing all-star wing that makes them better than us? I know they at least have guys who can slash like Stuckey and Iverson. But it seems to me, at the end of the day, their big plays make jumpshots. If our shooters like Bosh, Bargnani and Kapono and Parker and Calderon could make open shots, this team would be a lot better. And that's with the same personnel, same coach, same "system".

SMitch.... SMitch? Is that you? Gimme a "Mo Shats!!!" if it is.

You gotta make shats!! Not just mo shats.

CB was knocked for taking jumpers to start OT last night. But that's all Rip Hamilton did to start OT, because the Raps were actually preventing the Pistons from slashing. Making shats makes such a difference.

Well you have to look at teh skills of players and the system teh team employs. RIP had 15 assist last night and I am quite sure they werent just lateral passes and a guy hitting a jump shot. Rip also is the best off=ball player in the NBA, did you wath how he uses screens and how quick he is off screens, its really wonderfull. The Pistons have a group of guys where if the opportunity comes, they will slash ... we don't have that ...

RapsVC15 · Post #34 » by **RapsVC15** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:17 pm

Add a competent 2 guard (Marquis Daniels) a solid draft pick, and bolster the bench to average nba standards and we're all of a sudden looking up.

This team really isn't that far away.

timdunkit · Post #35 » by **timdunkit** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:18 pm

TJ11 wrote:Add a competent 2 guard (Marquis Daniels) a solid draft pick, and bolster the bench to average nba standards and we're all of a sudden looking up.

This team really isn't that far away.

Of course, the differnece between a good team and a bad team is really a small margin. We are close to been a good team but a contender is going to require more changes ....

J-Roc · Post #36 » by **J-Roc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:21 pm

The question is....."close" to what? Jose is talking maybe about being close to winning a game. But how close are they to being a team with like a .600 winning percentage? The bar is so low these days.

bballsparkin · Post #37 » by **bballsparkin** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:36 pm

"We're so close. We are a good team, we fight. But when you are in this situation, it happens. Maybe when you win one, you go on a roll, but to change the dynamic is the difficult

This gave me a good laugh. Raps are so not close to being good. I agree all is not lost. But this is a team that was supposed to compete for a second round playoff spot. The only thing Raps are close to is a better draft pick.

It must be hard for the players though, admittedly. I've played in just for fun tourneys and making the playoffs felt like a big deal to me. So it surely must suck. For players like Jose and Bosh it's a wasted year. You play 82 games for the playoffs.

djsunyc · Post #38 » by **djsunyc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:38 pm

he's not wrong. AP has been pretty bad this year. an upgrade in that position probably puts us at .500 at the minimum. we are severly outplayed at the 2/3 for most of the season until marion came aboard.

djsunyc · Post #39 » by **djsunyc** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:40 pm

J-Roc wrote:The question is....."close" to what? Jose is talking maybe about being close to winning a game. But how close are they to being a team with like a .600 winning percentage? The bar is so low these days.

look around the league. how many teams have a .600 winning %?

it ain't easy to build a big time winning team. that's why there's only a few at the top and a ton that are bad.

Peg-city · Post #40 » by **Peg-city** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:41 pm

The thing is we have some of the types of player you would find on a championship caliber team, but they are not playing in the role you want to have then in. Examples
Anthony Parker: Could be a beast of a player as a 6th man because you can bring him out and he can play and guard 3 positions. He would be good for a burst of scoring, solid d and for those days he is having an off day you don't have to rely on him to play all the SG minutes.
Joey Graham: A high energy guy for the second unit. Plays solid physical D, can play bigger than he is, can cover both forward positions with success, and goes to the rim hard and causes mismatches in the post with a lot of the SF in this league. Every winning team has a guy like this
Kris Humphreys: A physical big man that can guard the 4 and 5, plays with high energy and does everything at a hard physical level. rebounds well, has some post games and goes to the rim. Needs to learn when it is his time to shoot though.
Pops: Very similar to Hump, every team needs a couple of these big men who give everything day in and out.
If this team had a solid starting SG that can drive on a consistent basis and Bargs continues to develop his D game, mainly help side D and a bit of a vertical, a player like Kapono becomes another on of these players championship teams always have, the 3 point specialist, but he is a spot up shooter and we are forcing him to be more than that since we don't have someone who can drive and kick or a big man that demands a double team frequently on the low block. I know CB4 gets double teams but these are mainly at the elbow to the last blocks on the key where it is still possible to disrupt a lot of shots that happen off the kick out. Lastly I am in no way saying that is we get an SG we will be a championship caliber team but I am saying that we are closer to this than a lot of people think or believe we are.