A certain No. 15 once had optimism at a sky-high in Toronto, a little less than a decade ago. But since the reign of Air Canada ended, this team has had a serious lack of star power.
Big names to grace the ACC floors have been a one-legged Hakeem Olajuwan, an aging Jalen Rose—and who could forget that Alonzo Mourning almost made a courtesy trip?
Regardless, the team has a budding star in Chris Bosh, whose rise to stardom has had a lot to do with his comical efforts on Youtube and his over-rated performance in the Olympics.
And with the arrival of Jermaine O'Neal, the Raptors have a star presence once again and fans seem pretty happy to start the season. With O'Neal, Bosh, and a freshly-inked Jose Calderon, the Toronto Raptors seem confident that they can at the very least compete with the best of the East.
But what has truly made the best teams great isn't just their stars, but their role players.
The Raptors gave up three very valuable ones this off season in Delfino, Garbajosa—blah blah blah, he was injured—and Rasho Nesterovic, and have replaced them with some big, big question marks. So how does the second unit for the Raptors stack up now?
It really depends on Sam Mitchell and who he decides to put in at the starting three spot. Thus far, it's a three man race between Kapono, Bargnani, and Moon.
I'm going to say for the record that Moon being a starter will ultimately be the best for this team, and I'm going to make a case for it based on some strange logic—Bargnani and Kapono would thrive coming off the bench.
If we are to peg Moon as the starter, the Bench shapes to be Ukic, Adams, Graham, Kapono, Humphries, and Bargnani. Obviously, this isn't hockey, and the likely situation is that Bosh/O'Neal will be on the floor for the majority of this time instead of Humphries.
So why would this unit thrive?
One thing people will learn immediately about Roko Leni Ukic is that he's about as good a slasher this team's seen in a while. He's a shooters dream—a drive-kick guy who has great court vision, out-of-this universe handles, and plays in control.
While, in his younger days, people played off of him due to his lack of upper body strength and limited finishing ability, last year he showed some great skills at finding his shooters.
Ukic's jump to the NBA couldn't have come at a better time. Had he come two years ago, he might have come down with Yoroslav Korolev syndrome, and been forced to play in Turkey for the next three decades.
With Bargnani, and Kapono as the focal points of offense coming off the bench, the Raptors will have a very balanced attack which could see both players reaching double-digit scoring totals.
Adams—unlike Delfino—will not be taking 13 shots a game, and will allow Bargnani and Kapono to do their thing as the good shooters they are. At the end of the game, either player can play the three if an additional shooter is needed to replace Moon—who is a bit of a handicap out there on offense.
The idea that Moon is to be ousted from the starting role because O'Neal and Bosh need shooters is simply silly. There isn't enough ball on the court for Jose, Bosh, and O'Neal as it is. To put in a Bargnani or Kapono—two players who don't particularly look like they belong in the NBA when they don't have the ball in their hands—would be a failed experiment.
I, for one, hope that Mitchell and Colangelo see this sooner rather than later—like in the first round of a playoff series.
8 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
M K 9 months ago
Raps are going to make it past the first round-guarenteed!!!
GO RAPTORS!!!
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C B 9 months ago
Weird that you say the Raptors bench is full of unknowns, but then go on to tell us that it has a good mixture of skillsets and should thrive together. If you're right about Ukic, the Raptors bench should be strong once again.
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Brett Fulmore 9 months ago
Good article. Let's go Raps.
Make or break season for Bagnani, in my opinion. I hope he finally puts it all together this year but I have to say that I'm skeptical. Kapono should have a better season than last. When he played with the 2nd unit, after Ford, Delfino and Barnani... there weren't many shots left for him. I think Sam Mitchell could be using him better. He's lights out when he gets the looks.
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Waleed Ershad 9 months ago
Hopefully the Raptors play awesome this year! And hopefully Bargnani comes alive...at last he doesn't have to play the 4 and sometimes 5. He can thrive at the 3 spot, especially with O'Neal and Bosh drawing so much attention in the middle.
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Sang Nguyen 9 months ago
I'm calling it right now - Roko Ukic is gonna flunk out of the league by season's end.I saw him play during the Olympics as well as old footage of him in Europe and nothing, NOTHING, is distinguishable about him when compared to any other low-mid level guard playing professionally right now. If I wasn't specifically looking out for him in the Olympics (being a Raptor's nut and all) I swear I wouldn't have noticed him at all.
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Robert Seagal 9 months ago
While it's possibly easy to base your entire projection of him on a tournament and some old highlights, I'd like to bring to your attention something that MIGHT be encouraging. The day Bryan Colangelo became the General Manager of the Toronto Raptors, he immediately asked if they could bring over Roko Leni Ukic. Sadly, they had spent their entire MLE ($800,000 left over) on Matt Bonner and Jose Calderon and thus were unable to get the guy over. Further complicating things was Roko's desire to actually play minutes and he got a chance to play this year in Roma. If you want "encouraging", check out how he played against the Raptors last year in an exhibition game in Italy. I think you'll notice a few things. He got through the Raptor defense at will. He shot the ball well (but take this as he is very streaky) and he gave Ford and Calderon fits on defense. He was the best point guard in that game even if his team didn't win and his overall play last season was sensational. At the draft camps he had a workout against Devin Harris and from the hearsay of those in attendance, he schooled Harris. The year before when scouts had so many negative things to say about him, he worked the whole year and called those same scouts to "come see him now". I may be a little less doubtful because I've followed the guy since his glory days in KK Split to his days of misery in Tau, to his redemption season in Roma last year where (the coach also happens to be his national team coach) gave him a chance. I'm not saying he's going to come in and give Calderon a run for his money but the potential to be better than Calderon is there. He's long, quick, creative, and capable defensively. To advance, (congrats to him), he's a mature guy who just became a father of a lovely baby girl, and he's just the type of guy who works hard every day. He's a gym rat and I think Colangelo is drawn to players of his nature. He's tough- and he plays with energy, emotion, and fire. I speak glowingly of him because over the past 5 years I've actually seen the maturity in his game. I always speak of a good point guard as one who plays best when his team mates are best. The worst ones seem to do best on Lotto-bound teams. Roko will thrive if he's given capable guns like Bargnani and Kapono and this is as much a compliment to them for being offensive weapons as it is to him for being a good floor general. I hope by seasons end you'll change your mind. In fact, I'll wager it'll take about 3-4 games.
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Sang Nguyen 9 months ago
I'll take that wager, my good man.
The game is afoot!
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Robert Seagal 9 months ago
I'm gonna have to let him know .. pull a Swirsy by telling him that he's my "x-factor"- anyways thanks for the feedback
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