The AltRaps Blog

All of a sudden, two bad teams are good and the bottom half of this year’s playoff lineup – read Toronto, Philly and Atlanta – are a tad nervous.

That puts a tremendous amount of extra pressure on Mr. Colangelo to improve the roster and on Mr. Mitchell to get the most out of it

The summer, or at least the time between now and the middle of July, just got a tad interesting for those of us who have to follow and write about this squad.

- Toronto Star

What they’re looking for is someone who knows what he – or she – is doing.

If I know Bryan Colangelo, who’ll have a big say in who gets the job – there’s no way he gives it up to someone with no NBA experience. This is not an organization where you cut your teeth; this is a job for someone grown up and experienced.

No names at the moment but as I mentioned eons ago, it seems, Kevin Calabro of Seattle has to be on their minds.

Got a breathless e-mail from a friend yesterday who spotted a story somewhere that says Carlos Delfino would like to stay in Toronto but if the offer’s not good enough, he’d consider playing in Europe.

To which I say: “Duh!”

Of course Europe would be an option for someone who’s a role player in the NBA.

This is not news.

- Toronto Star

(video) Joe Alexander

- ESPN

Calgary native Kyle Landry, a former Northern Arizona University Lumberjack in Flagstaff, Ariz., is scheduled to have a workout with the Toronto Raptors the first week of June and participate in tryouts next week with potential Canadian team implications.

“It is pretty exciting,” said Landry. “I never really thought I would have this chance. I had a good year. They are the only team in Canada and, if I get a chance to play with them, it would be great.”

Landry had a stellar senior season last year. He was named Big Sky player of the year by collegeinsider.com and was an all-Big Sky first-team unanimous pick.

- Calgary Herald

My recommendation? Get a real Toronto Raptor fan to do the play-by-play. Find someone local who not only knows basketball, but truly gets excited by the team and the sport. Maybe RaptorsTV can sponsor a contest where fans can send in their play-by-play samples and the winner gets to work the games?

Whoever does end up coming to be the voices of the Raptors, they’ll have a tall order ahead of them in trying to fill Chuck Swirsky’s shoes.

- BlogTO

The raps don’t need Magette or Richard Jefferson as many bloggers have them linked to making a deal for. CDR can bring the size, speed, athleticism, offensive flare, and ability to drive to the basket- that the raps so desperately need from the wings. He is 6-7, 200llbs, and could player the 2 or 3 in the pros (although probably best suited for the 2).

- RaptorsTalk

It’s pretty obvious what the hot topic is this summer for the Toronto Raptors – the PG situation. It’s become increasingly clear that the current situation is not exactly ideal, and with Jose’s recent comments to the foreign media, it sounds more and more like the Ford-Calderon duo is about to come to an end. Calderon is a restricted free agent and wants to start. Ford has also made it clear he wants to run his own team.
Something has to budge…time for the HQ’s own version of Spy vs. Spy…

- Raptors HQ

Restricted Free Agents are a whole different animal than Unrestricted Free Agents because the team that holds that certain player’s rights has the right to match whatever contract another team matches.  This is usually what happens barring a max sort of contract, which means the Raptors and their current cap situation really don’t have the flexibility to go after the big name RFAs that could help their team.

- MVN

National team coach Carlo Recalcati has given up on the seven-footer with Bargnani facing a hard summer of training to prepare for his third NBA campaign with the Toronto Raptors.

Bargnani is not the only one who choses the league games or even a free summer over his national team. Tony Parker will also not play for France and even French women super star Sandrine Gruda announced that the prefers to play in the WNBA this season than working out with the national team.

- Ball In Europe

The skinny: Lopez is drawing a lot of comparisons to Anderson Varejao. On a team that needs toughness and rebounding in the middle, he should be a great fit. He’s kind of the anti-Andrea Bargnani.

- ESPN.com

And despite leading the Toronto Raptors to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, head coach Sam Mitchell (for now) is still in the hot seat, according to some.

Enough already.

Let’s douse the hot seat on myriad grounds.

For one, every coach will tell you that they’re “hired to be fired.” It’s a bit of a cliche. as well, but oh, so true. Every head coach in sports, on almost any level, is sitting on a ticking clock and counting down their days when someone deems them expendable.

- Ballers, Gamers, and Scoundrels

A player I’d love to see on the Raptors is resident psychopath Ron Artest whose free agency plans has the Kings on edge. I feel like a prostitute dangling my only two assets once again but would they be interested in TJ Ford or Jason Kapono? Doesn’t matter, Ron Artest is to a Colangelo-type player what Darius Miles is to a Harvard graduate. Thinking out loud now but if our problem is defense and we require a slasher on offense, is there a better fit?

- Arsenalist

The following NBA cities have never hosted an NBA championship parade: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, East Rutherford (New Jersey), Indianapolis, Memphis, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, and Toronto.  In all, of the 29 cities hosting a team, 14 - or 48.3% — have never won a title.

If we focus on franchises, the following have also never won a title: Bobcats, Cavaliers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Hornets, Jazz, Magic, Mavericks, Nets, Nuggets, Pacers, Raptors, Suns, and Timberwolves.  Again, we have 14 teams, or 46.7% of the 30 NBA franchises.

Why do I bring this up today?

Last night the Spurs eliminated the Hornets.  This means that the population of those who have never won is going to remain unchanged for another year.

And the dominance of the top franchises in NBA history is guaranteed to continue.

- Wages of Wins

Now, going into the ‘06 Draft, Toronto had the top pick and was beginning a rebuilding project. Bryan Colangelo had just been brought in to turn things around, and with Chris Bosh already established as the primary building block, they needed a Kobe to his Shaq. Knowing then what they know now, that would leave Roy, Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge as the most viable candidates.

With that, here’s my ‘06 Lottery do-over:

1. Toronto — Brandon Roy, SG, Washington. A foundation of Roy and Bosh makes the Raptors relevant in the Eastern Conference for the next decade (or at least until one of them wants to leave Canada). A definite upgrade over Jalen Rose and Mo Pete.

- Dime