The Official Race to the Playoffs/Lottery Thread

[LittleOzzy]

I have messaged The Boshpit! about updating this thread, don't worry.

[dinosaur_dan]

Ugh, the Raptors are are in a crappy spot on both lists. What a disheatening season.

[Avenger]

My mentality is this, if the raptors win i am happy for the young players like Bargnani and Ukic cause winning some games here and there is very important to inexperienced and young players to keep them focused and optimistic about the long term. If we end up losing, i am happy with the fact that the pick between 8-12 will get us a decent starter to shore up our SG or SF positions.

[supersub15]

The Raptors are currently in 12th spot in the Eastern Conference, 3 games behind 8th.
The Raptors are currently picking 10th in the lottery.

Let's update this daily. I'm counting on you guys.

[vivekmj10]

evan turner...remember the name

[Avenger]

sub,you probably noticed already but there's a sticky on this

[ruckus]

I was thinking about this while "reading a magazine" and, if there was ever a season not to make the playoffs, this is it. I don't think anyone is getting past both Boston and Cleveland in the East and even if by some miracle you do, take your pick of the top west teams to try and beat to win a championship.

And, although the upcoming draft looks fairly weak, BC has done pretty well drafting in the #10 range (Deng @ 7 (not sure if that was purely a Chicago pick), Amare @ 9 and Marion @ 9).

I'm not saying to tank. Tanking goes against everything I believe in but, if that's where things fall out, I won't get too choked up about it.

[inrapscity]

a bit too soon.

think that after the ASG would've been a better choice.

[The Boshpit!]

Updated as of January 15th

[Hendrix]

When I look at where we are, and our scedule for the end of the year I can't help but think we'll end up around 7-9 in our conference. Which is the worst spot to be, and tredmill city.

[wade2bosh]

Top 4 pick in a bad draft please. Cavs/Celts would own us in the playoffs.

[_MidNight_]

evan turner...remember the name

This Turner kid sounds exactly like the young wing player we need to groom, here's a few paragraphs from his writeup on Draffexpress..

What stands out the most about Turner’s play this season—besides his terrific versatility—is just how naturally his game appears to translate to the next level. Incredibly smooth and fluid, almost effortless in his movements, and clearly the type that everything comes quite naturally for, Turner does an outstanding job creating offense for himself and others. He loves to come off short curls and flex-type screens to catch and shoot jumpers from 15-17 feet, but he’s clearly at his best when operating on the perimeter with the ball in his hands.

Turner does a masterful job in the triple threat position, showing an advanced understanding for utilizing jabs, body fakes, crossovers and hesitation moves to keep his defender off-balance. He is terrific at changing speeds and directions with the ball in his hands, looking perfectly capable of creating shots with either hand, and is absolutely deadly creating separation from his matchup with his picture perfect pull-up jumper.

His demeanor and style of play is eerily reminiscent Brandon Roy at Washington, even if his skill-level obviously isn’t as high at this point. Not quite the incredible passer Roy is, he’s still pretty good in his own right, particularly off the dribble. With a rookie point guard running the show for OSU at the moment, they’ve turned quite a bit to Turner to help break a full-court press and get them into their offense.

[Cyrus]

It looks like we'll be 16-25 after this game....even after the epic choke by Indy or comeback by the raps if you want to look at it positively.

Exactly half way through the year....41 game mark...

So we need to go 25-16 or 0.610 the rest of the way, just to FINISH 41-41...and a .500 record and likely finish 7th or 8th and get whooped in the first round. Miami is currently in 6th, with a roughly .550 record, which roughly translates to a 45-37 record over the season. Meaning we'd have to go an insane 29-12 or 0.707 rest of the way.

And right now i'm not confident we can do that when we can't beat the similar bad teams like Indy, OKC, etc. and sure as hell can't beat the good teams (Save ORL, Houston).

If this was the West, we'd be talking about next year, but we are in the east, and there are 2 under .500 teams in the playoffs....and consider we played out "tough" schedule portion, we still got a GOOD shot at the playoffs....but even so, there are lot of bad teams in the east, like Indy that'd we'd actually have to play worse to get a decent pick.

[JaysOrRaps]

Cyrus that is depressing as hell, especially since the Leafs are almost in the exact same situation. I'm tired of quick fix, quick playoff exit seasons. Let's just bring back Vince so he can teach us how to tank and get us a nice draft pick.

Hey, we still got the Jays. Oh god... that's even more depressing.

[The Boshpit!]

Cyrus that is depressing as hell, especially since the Leafs are almost in the exact same situation. I'm tired of quick fix, quick playoff exit seasons. Let's just bring back Vince so he can teach us how to tank and get us a nice draft pick.

Hey, we still got the Jays. Oh god... that's even more depressing.

At least the Leafs have a bright future in Schenn and are likely to get another high draft pick this year.

The Raptors are in the worst possible situation right now. Not good enough to compete but not bad enough to make a splash in the draft. We will most likely end up in the 8-10 range and get a mid draft pick who won't have much upside. We either have to break house and completely rebuild or make a move which would retool the roster by bringing in a good swingman. No matter what something needs to be done because this roster just isn't cutting it.

[99 Problems]

Look at the upcoming schedule:


Sun 18 vs Phoenix
Mon 19 @ Atlanta
Wed 21 @ Detroit
Fri 23 @ Chicago
Sun 25 vs Sacramento
Wed 28 @ New Jersey
Fri 30 vs Milwaukee
February
Sun 01 vs Orlando
Tue 03 @ Cleveland
Wed 04 vs LA Lakers
Fri 06 @ New Orleans

That right there should show the grim reality to anybody that still has illusions of a playoff spot.. By the All-Star break it should be perfectly clear where this season is going..

[HungaryRaps]

uhh, we can easily go 2-9, and from 18-34 there is no way back.

[sycammer]

this team needs to make a trade. they have this thing over their heads, everyone's waiting for BC to make a move. the sooner the better for everyone.

raps still have a slight chance, becz i think 2 teams that take the 7-8 spots in the east playoffs will have under .500 records. if the raps go 8-2 in the next 10 games, they'll be 24-27.

[MoPetefor3]

Worst of all, I have zero confidence in our managements ability to draft a good player. Despite the weak draft, there will be up to 10 good to great players come out of it. We will get a 7 year project.

[MoPetefor3]

this team needs to make a trade. they have this thing over their heads, everyone's waiting for BC to make a move. the sooner the better for everyone.

raps still have a slight chance, becz i think 2 teams that take the 7-8 spots in the east playoffs will have under .500 records. if the raps go 8-2 in the next 10 games, they'll be 24-27.

Not happening for this reason:

Phoenix - Loss
Atlanta - Loss
Detroit - Loss
Chicago - Win
Sacramento - Kevin Martin/Salmons - Loss
New Jersey - Loss
Milwaukee - Loss
Orlando - Loss
Cleveland - Loss
Lakers - Loss

So therefor, 1-9. We will be 17-34 after the Lakers game, book it!

I am being optimistic with the win against Chicago. That could very well be a loss as well.