Once again the Raps blew another draft.
Those were the cries of Toronto Raptor fans all over Twitter and Sports Links last night. Although experts say it takes up to three years to evaluate a draft, I don't think Bryan Colangelo and the Raptors have any time to wait.
Brandon Roy, Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala, David Lee, Rajon Rondo and Lamarcus Aldridge.
I know what you are thinking I played NBA 11 and got this team through Fantasy Draft. But on the contrary they all have something in common. They all COULD HAVE BEEN RAPTORS!
Between 2004 and 2006 the Raptors picked in the TOP-10. And of those 3 times they chose Rafael Araujo(04) Charlie Villuaneva and Joey Graham (05) and Andrea Bargnani 1st overall pick in (06) passing up on players including the ones above. A franchise that let prize possession Vince Carter get frustrated and leave on terrible terms. And then to not be able to build a good enough team around Chris Bosh, leading to his depart, you would think that they would have learned better.
Come full-circle to the 2011 NBA Draft that took place from the Prudential Centre yesterday. The Raptors sitting pretty at 5Th spot had just seen the top-4 go as predicted. Leaving Brandon Knight of Kentucky and Kemba Walker of Connecticut. A team that was last in about every category last year, has the ability to give a pulse back to a city that has gone through its share of turbulence. Instead they through the franchise into the water with 50lb rocks tied to it, watching him sink lower.... and lower.... and lower.... until you can't see it anymore.
Let me Preface by saying I recently did an assignment on a Raptors Post-Game after they had been blown out by the Atlanta Hawks on the road. Their sixth straight road loss and seventh in a row. I watched a team without a leader, crumble in front of my eyes as I began to edit. I realized this is a team without identity... I understood that, but in basketball above all sports Body Language is key. How a player does or doesn't act is extremely crucial to not only the game but his team and teammates. I watched Barganani speaking less then 4 words of English, sit and try to explain why he can't rebound. To any observer he looked as if a 6 year-old kid who didn't get what he wanted, pouting.
Back to the Draft. With Walker and Knight ripe for the taking, Colangelo pulled a quick one even on new coach Dwayne Casey who says he was 'Shocked' with the selection of Jonas Valanciunas 6'11 Centre from Lithuania.
Not only does he speak no English but he has problems with getting into North America and may not be able to play next years, assuming there is one. Kemba Walker or Brandon Knight may have not been the solution here( but i'm also not saying they couldn't have been) but to give hope into fans, gives hope into the team. When Colangelo sees the damage he did with the pick such as in lesser attendance ratings and in my opinion hearing 'Get Rid of Colagnelo' chants might be force him to leave. This player in Valanciunas could be good later down the road, but when a team and a city needed hope, it was reluctantly shut down and showed the front door.
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