A Sad Day, Raps Season Preview, and Memphis Gets Its Sexy Back

Sorry ladies and gents but my post this week is starting off on a sad note. After eleven years in the NBA, multiple video montages, hours spent cheering on his teammates from the bench, and even a commercial I guarantee that you will have no idea what it's advertising, the White Mamba, Brian Scalabrine, is retiring. Scal, you will be missed.

Now, as promised I'll be giving you guys my prediction on how I think the Raps will fair this season. I'll try and keep this prediction realistic despite the fact that I'm pathetically optimistic about the Raptors at the beginning of every season.

Last season the Raptors got out to a 3-3 start to have some believe, okay, maybe just me, that the Raps could be a playoff team. Bargnani played well, bought into Dwayne Casey's defensive mentality, and displayed facial expressions other than his usual completely dumbfounded look. And yep, I realize I just publically stated that Bargnani played defence.

The Raptors were floated around .500 for the few weeks of the season until Bargnani suffered a calf injury that limited him to only 31 games. With Bargs injured and Derozan regressing in some offensive categories from his sophomore year, the Raps` offence ranged from completely awful to "why is Rasual Butler shooting so much?" When the regular season concluded the Raps had stumbled to a 23-43 record, twelve games back of a playoff seed.

Considering Bargnani played less than half the season, Derozan showed little improvement and this being their complete roster, the Raps finishing with only 23 wins sounds about right. But who cares about last season? This year's team is a playoff contender!

Is this team a championship contender? Absolutely not. Will the Raptors have homecourt advantage in any of the playoff rounds? Nope. Do they have a chance to make the playoffs? They have a shot at the seventh or eighth seed. But will they make the playoffs? I don't think so.

Yes, the Raptors are significantly better than their team from last year. Yes, Jonas Valanciunas is finally going to play. Yes, Kyle Lowry will add needed depth at the point this season, and yes, if Bargnani can stay healthy, the Raps might surprise a few teams. I still can't accept that they will finish with a record good enough to get them in the playoffs. The Raptors will be better this season but not good enough to beat out the better teams in the East.

Let me break it down like this.
There are six East teams that will certainly make the playoffs this year: Miami, Boston, Indiana, Brooklyn, Philly, and New York.  
That leaves only two playoff spots for the Raptors to claim, meaning that they would have to finish better than Chicago (no Derrick Rose until March but still a good team), Milwaukee (a team that narrowly missed out on the playoffs last year), Atlanta (no more Joe Johnson or Marvin Williams, probably a good thing), and Washington (yes Washington! Look at their roster for this upcoming season. They traded away all of their head cases and acquired proven veterans to complement their young talent. Mark my words, the Wizards will compete for a playoff spot this year. Mark em!).

I have Atlanta and Chicago rounding out the East playoff picture with the Raps finishing ninth or tenth, a few games out from a playoff spot.

I don't expect everyone to agree with my predictions and if you don't, drop a comment on how you think the Raps will do this season. If I think you've made a better prediction than I have, I'll most likely delete the comment and say mean things about you in my next post for making me look bad. But other than that, I totally encourage your opinions.

Other NBA News

Memphis Gets its Sexy Back

Yep, that's right, Justin Timberlake has reportedly joined the prospective group that will soon own the Memphis Grizzlies. This kind of makes sense since Timberlake is a Memphis native and has spent his own money in the past on preserving one of the city's golf courses, I guess? 

Reggie Miller Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame

Reggie Miller is a polarizing player - you either like him or you don't. I always liked how he talked trash to players, flopped in almost every game, hit huge threes, and single handedly crushed the Knicks for years. And I have no beef with the Knicks. Congrats Reg.

Lakers Sign Draft Pick Robert Sacre

Canadian kid. Need I say more?



And finally, if this video doesn't make you like Stephen Jackson, I don't know what will.