Hollinger: No clue how Raps will perform

bballsparkin · Post #61 » by **bballsparkin** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:33 pm

Reignman wrote:I'm going to disagree with John on this one. This season, we'll be neither "Brilliantly Successful" nor a "Spectacular Failure". Chances are this is a 45 win team hoping to get some internal development to take the next step in a couple of years. Internal growth and future trades will take us to "Brilliantly Successful" (or "Spectacular Failure").

True, I agree with him the team is hard to predict, but it's unlikely to be as extreme as he suggests.

Brinbe · Post #62 » by **Brinbe** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:40 pm

bballsparkin wrote:
vulture wrote:No, Yuri! Keep it away from them. I can't see Hollywood recreating the beautiful cinematography and that hallway scene can never be duplicated.

I've never seen this movie Oldboy. You two have me intrigued. I'm putting it on my list to see. Thanks.
You know Hollywood, they'll wreck anything for money.

Hate to go wildly OT, but Oldboy is definitely a quality flick, everyone should give it a watch at some point. And the best part, other than the literal/figurative mind-shattering ending (btw how the hell will that work out for an American audience?) and the "eating" scene is right here.

And

T0R0NT0_RAPT0RS wrote:
Brinbe wrote:Remember this? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft200 ... ter-090618

Nonetheless, I would back away from DeRozan if the 12 relatively safe guys at the top of the Draft Rater are still on the board.

Speaking of which, let's take a look at the collegians for 2009.

Yeah, he's never really been a DD fan...

Thanks Brinbe for the insider post. Would it be possible to post those "12 relatively safe guys" he thinks should have been drafted before DD?

Well on Hollinger's draft rater, DD graded out as a 9.26 which was good for 54th overall... His top 12 was

Top 12 rated collegians for 2009
Player School Draft Rater
1. Ty Lawson North Carolina 16.34
2. Blake Griffin Oklahoma 16.21
3. Tyreke Evans Memphis 15.02
4. Austin Daye Gonzaga 14.24
5. Stephen Curry Davidson 14.18
6. Nick Calathes Florida 13.66
7. DeJuan Blair Pittsburgh 13.56
8. Danny Green North Carolina 13.28
9. Jonny Flynn Syracuse 12.99
10. James Harden Arizona State 12.97
11. Hasheem Thabeet Connecticut 12.90
12. Earl Clark Louisville 12.88

Sorry about the formatting, but I'm too lazy to clean that up. Hope that's what you wanted.

Hank_Scorpio · Post #63 » by **Hank_Scorpio** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:43 pm

Terrible. This guy has no clue.

Vittorio De Zen · Post #64 » by **Vittorio De Zen** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:45 pm

I like Hollinger's honesty and, really, anyone acting like they know how this will turn out is full of it.

We've got a lot of offensive firepower and a lot of flawed defensive players. Can we play decent team defense, so our good offense can win us some games? Can we simply outscore people like the old Suns did? Can Bargs & Bosh make strides on the defensive end this year?

I. Don't. Know.

If everything goes right, maybe the Raps win 50 games this year. If everything goes wrong, it could be more like 35. Sure, Hollinger's not exactly putting his reputation on the line here, but a cautionary outlook really is best at this point. Let's wait and watch these guys play.

Post #65 » by **FluLikeSymptoms** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:45 pm

Hank_Scorpio wrote:Terrible. This guy has no clue.

At least he admitted it this time.

Hank_Scorpio · Post #66 » by **Hank_Scorpio** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:03 pm

thesciencedroppa wrote:
Hank_Scorpio wrote:Terrible. This guy has no clue.

At least he admitted it this time.

I didn't actually read the article...or the thread for that matter. In fact, I didn't even read the title of the thread past "Holinger".

dagger · Post #67 » by **dagger** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:10 pm

VittorioDeZen wrote:I like Hollinger's honesty and, really, anyone acting like they know how this will turn out is full of it.

We've got a lot of offensive firepower and a lot of flawed defensive players. Can we play decent team defense, so our good offense can win us some games? Can we simply outscore people like the old Suns did? Can Bargs & Bosh make strides on the defensive end this year?

I. Don't. Know.

If everything goes right, maybe the Raps win 50 games this year. If everything goes wrong, it could be more like 35. Sure, Hollinger's not exactly putting his reputation on the line here, but a cautionary outlook really is best at this point. Let's wait and watch these guys play.

It's honesty, but it's also ignorance. It's all about protecting his åss. He doesn't know, so he's not going out on a limb, saying, in effect, we could win from 30 to 60 games. The trouble is, the guy is earning a nice salary for his opinions, and not having the stones to make one is just ducking responsibility. If somebody comes out and say the Raptors will be a flop because... I can rant and rave all I want, and point out the flaws in the argument, which is what internet forums are all about, but if getting an opinion out of Hollinger is like nailing jello to the wall, then there is no debate because he hasn't risked anything, he has nothing to justify either way, and he just didn't put enough effort into his analysis.

Post #68 » by **DG88** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:13 pm

dagger wrote:
VittorioDeZen wrote:I like Hollinger's honesty and, really, anyone acting like they know how this will turn out is full of it.

We've got a lot of offensive firepower and a lot of flawed defensive players. Can we play decent team defense, so our good offense can win us some games? Can we simply outscore people like the old Suns did? Can Bargs & Bosh make strides on the defensive end this year?

I. Don't. Know.

If everything goes right, maybe the Raps win 50 games this year. If everything goes wrong, it could be more like 35. Sure, Hollinger's not exactly putting his reputation on the line here, but a cautionary outlook really is best at this point. Let's wait and watch these guys play.

It's honesty, but it's also ignorance. It's all about protecting his åss. He doesn't know, so he's not going out on a limb, saying, in effect, we could win from 30 to 60 games. The trouble is, the guy is earning a nice salary for his opinions, and not having the stones to make one is just ducking responsibility. If somebody comes out and say the Raptors will be a flop because... I can rant and rave all I want, and point out the flaws in the argument, which is what internet forums are all about, but if getting an opinion out of Hollinger is like nailing jello to the wall, then there is no debate because he hasn't risked anything, he has nothing to justify either way, and he just didn't put enough effort into his analysis.

It's because Hollinger gives a rats a$$ about us :roll:

223red · Post #69 » by **223red** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:44 pm

Hollinger knows he'll get more buzz amongst Raps fans with a negative article than a neutral one.

Post #70 » by **theSkinny** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:51 pm

I wish we could play a psychological trick on Hollinger, maybe we could pick some lowly team, Minnesota or Milwaukee come to mind. Starting now if he says ANYTHING about the raps, just ignore how you feel and look out for anything on the Bucks or Twolves, and let him have it for that. He will then get a false sense that the raps dont get any attention when he is scathing and thus directing his hate towards the Bucks or Wolves.

It would be too much for his brain to handle.

redshortz · Post #71 » by **redshortz** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:24 pm

man you guys are giving this Hollister dude too much shine. I seen people in this thread who are on first name basis with this dude "yeah this is one of John's more negative articles". Screw this loser.

MacDaddy · Post #72 » by **MacDaddy** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:23 pm

redshortz wrote:man you guys are giving this Hollister dude too much shine. I seen people in this thread who are on first name basis with this dude "yeah this is one of John's more negative articles". Screw this loser.

The school system is failing you.

Mustard_Tiger · Post #73 » by **Mustard_Tiger** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:35 pm

For what it's worth (which isn't a hell of a lot to me, knowing the inexact nature of advanced basketball statistics), BP has this team failing: http://www.basketballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=278

redshortz · Post #74 » by **redshortz** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:44 pm

MacDaddy wrote:
redshortz wrote:man you guys are giving this Hollister dude too much shine. I seen people in this thread who are on first name basis with this dude "yeah this is one of John's more negative articles". Screw this loser.

The school system is failing you.

I guess thats why you didn't attend.

Avenger · Post #75 » by **Avenger** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:58 pm

I hate to agree with this prick but i think he's right about Toronto. On one hand we don't have great great defensive minded players and if they're not committed to the system we would be a sub 35 win team no matter how good our offence is.
But on the other hand, if Triano can implement a sound system and gets his players to buy into it, we could play average defence and win 48+ games with the offensive firepower we have. I think there's an extremely low chance we end up in the 35 to 45 win range. We'll either win 48+ or lose 48+

The Notic · Post #76 » by **The Notic** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:07 pm

dagger wrote:
It's honesty, but it's also ignorance. It's all about protecting his åss. He doesn't know, so he's not going out on a limb, saying, in effect, we could win from 30 to 60 games. The trouble is, the guy is earning a nice salary for his opinions, and not having the stones to make one is just ducking responsibility. If somebody comes out and say the Raptors will be a flop because... I can rant and rave all I want, and point out the flaws in the argument, which is what internet forums are all about, but if getting an opinion out of Hollinger is like nailing jello to the wall, then there is no debate because he hasn't risked anything, he has nothing to justify either way, and he just didn't put enough effort into his analysis.

lol. what are you talking about?

Morena R · Post #77 » by **Morena R** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:09 pm

Oh yes this explains absolutely nothing at all.

TheGame2 · Post #78 » by **TheGame2** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:09 pm

223red wrote:Hollinger knows he'll get more buzz amongst Raps fans with a negative article than a neutral one.

lol so true, he knows we are touchy fan base and i would do absolutely the same thing if i was him. Raps fans are too easy to get riled up. :lol:

nikeone · Post #79 » by **nikeone** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:40 pm

I wonder what the response from people would be like if Hollinger called a team the blackies or the negro's or the africannies and then sterotyped these people as being soft pansies because of their colour or where they came from. My guess is we would see his face plastered all over CNN bringing ESPN down with him.

I have no problem with saying things to get raptor fans riled up but this constant euro bashing by him is crossing the line

jaymeister15 · Post #80 » by **jaymeister15** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:02 am

nikeone wrote:In the future I would prefer people do not post articles with what I believe the contain racial slurs. It seems everytime this man writes an article about the Raptors he has to throw out a few jabs about the team having several european players as if its something that is funny or worthy of a joke.

What makes it funny for me is that the name Hollinger is German, perhaps Mr. Hollinger was raised under Hitler's book of morals.

lol, only on realgm can using the word "euroraptors" get you compared to Hitler.

Unbelievable.