Pre Season Pre View - BlindSideNZ's Dynasty

BlindSideNZ's Dynasty Blog

Pre Season Pre View

Posted on February 5, 2014 at 12:43 AM.

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Pt III

So like i said guys, in these continuation we will be taking a look at the roster the Toronto Raptors have assembled for the 2014-2015 season.

(Note: I played all 8 pre season games to get a feel for how things would go)

Before i get into too much depth, we had the worst possible beginning to the season. In game one Jerryd Bayless went down with a season ending ACL injury. Couldn't believe our luck. So i dove into what was left on the FA pool after the off season and took a look at some other combo guards. As you'd expect there wasn't a whole lot of choice. Then i happened to read an article on Bleacher Report about one Pierre Jackson. And wow. Being in New Zealand i don't get to see all that much D-League. But i did a little more research and was lucky enough to bring him in on the same contract as Bayless was on, who was subsequently released.

We had a very strong pre season despite the Bayless injury, Jackson did a great job of coming in and being a scoring option off the bench. We also had Valanciunas go down with a knee injury after 3 games. To which our front court depth proved vital and they came through big time.

Finish with a record of 6-2, with notable wins against the Thunder & Spurs. Although we dropped both games versus the Knicks. To which we just got outplayed at the power forward spot. After JV went down. Amir Johnson slid to the 5 spot. Which left us with below average perimeter defense to cover Bargnani.

Individual Stats

Toronto Raptors Stats - 2
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
Kyle Lowry	8	30.7	10.8	3.2	7.5	1.5	0.0	1.7	2.1
DeMar DeRozan	8	35.7	22.0	4.3	4.2	2.0	2.1	2.1	3.1
Terrence Ross	8	31.0	11.3	3.6	1.7	1.0	0.3	1.5	2.3
Amir Johnson	8	31.0	15.5	6.8	0.5	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.8
Jonas Valanciunas	3	31.0	12.6	10.3	0.3	0.0	1.0	0.3	2.0
Kurtis Holden	8	21.2	7.1	6.0	3.2	0.0	0.8	1.1	2.8
Tyler Hansbrough	8	20.0	7.0	4.3	0.2	0.5	0.8	1.1	2.5
Matt Barnes	8	12.2	4.7	2.1	0.1	0.7	0.2	0.3	0.3
Vince Carter	8	11.0	5.8	1.6	1.2	0.1	0.0	0.8	1.6
Pierre Jackson	8	12.1	4.1	0.7	1.2	0.5	0.0	0.3	1.3
Chucky Hayes	6	10.1	3.6	2.5	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.8	0.8
Steven Jenkins	6	8.0	2.0	1.8	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1

Clearly DeMar would be our star player through this stretch who posted in every column of the box score over all 8 games. DeMar has made it known that he will be aiming for a Starting All Star spot this season, and also hopefully pushing himself up in the All NBA 2nd team.

Kurtis Holden also came in and got straight to work, setting himself up as the 3rd best assist man by a clear stretch. Essentially placing himself above Hansbrough in the rotation. Also thinking he could made a strong case for the ROTY award.

The team is aiming for yet another playoff berth this season, and also retaining that Division Title once again. With a roster just as strong depsite some of the losses the past off season brought us we will be looking to make a deeper run this year also after gaining some very valuable playoff experience.

This will also be another big year in terms of roster movement especially in our front court as Amir Johnson, Tyler Hansbrough & Chucky Hayes are all in the final years of their contract.

So potentially an exceptional chance for Kurtis Holden to prove his worth and take the starting spot next season. But there also a new draft class full of frontcourt depth so that is another route we could take. Notably Cincinnati man Kareem Bishop. Realistically we will hopefully be looking towards guys like Gregory Livingston (Washington), Raheem Thompson (Georgetown) and Kenneth Carter (Missouri)

Lastly before i wrap this up. Using a random number generator i will determine the first game i will play this season. 1 will be before the All Star Break and one will be after.

Game 1:
Minnesota Timberwolves
Thursday February 5 @19:30

Stay tuned for the next update

As always feedback & comments most appreciated