I'll have to go with success after that horid losing streak. The Raps had a nice run to end the season and fell one game short of the second round. Next season Vince will be back with a vengance and have this team back at that form it was showing prior to the all-star break when they were 29-20.
There is no way any sane person would trade Vince. The Raptors without Vince are a playoff team, the Raptors with a healthy Vince are a threat to come out of the east. He has to make a strong comeback and fit in with what the team was doing effectivly. By that I mean:
-Work the ball into the post.
-Don't jack up countless off balanced jumpers.
-and take the ball strong to the hole.
They fell short of initial expectations, but the rally at the end was impressive.
If nothing else, the season proved that the team needs some tweaking. Vince obviously needs some more help on offense. They have too much trouble scoring when he is out of the game.
True, I do think he needs some help on offensive. But I think if they could move Avlin to the 2 or a back-up role and bring in a PG who either can distribute the ball better to our post players, (Keon, AD, and the ageing Dream) or score on the shot the jump shot with more consistancy I think other players will have an easier time scoring.
I think the Raptors found out that they did a lot of standing around watching Vince instead of helping their "star" teammate! I also think Vince will return and perhaps return to the form he showed in the olympics, which we nba fans can agree was potent!
I also think Alvin was a "project" that Lenny did not turn into the pg he thought Alvin would become. I could have told him that!!
Now, Alvin can and did show up, then moved to sg and Childs was the pg. So, maybe if they can get a real pg and have Vince at sf and Alvin at the sg, they can trade MoPete for a PG!
At any rate, I still believe with a healthy Vince, a team that now knows not to stand around and wait for Vince to save them - this team will go further than this last season.
If they can get a PG for MoPete - all the better!
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Last edited by TheRifleman : 05-21-2002 at 01:04 PM.
Anything short of a title isn't a success, but you could be a winning team while not winning the title. Most fans say what I just said. I say that too, but have a soft spot for the teams not winning it all. For example, my Knicks in the early part of this decade, they won 55, 57, 60 games every year, but lost to Chicago and Houston. Their season wasn't a success but it wasn't a failure either. If you lose because of lack of talent, that is okay. You cannot overlook the hard work put into a season. I mean, if it weren't for Michael Jordan, we would have three, maybe four titles in the 90s. If it weren't for Shaq, Webber would have been playing in the finals last year and this year. My point is, the ultimate success is a title. But there are other goals in between that and the lottery.
Vince needs to grow a heart and an attitude. (And play some defense). That is what separates him from Paul Pierce and Kobe. McGrady, Vince Carter, Ray Allen, Garnett, they are superstars, but they cannot hold a candle to Kobe, Duncan, Iverson, etc...
Last season a success or failure??
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