Raptors @ 76'rs London, Ontario(Preseason)

Well, the time has come for us to embrace this team once more as representation of professional basketball in the city of Toronto. Since this is the 15th season of our beloved franchise, let's look at what we have come to expect each and every season.

-we have grown into becoming the 11th highest attendance in the league

-this team has gone through 7 coaches. With Mitchell receiving the coach of the year, a first for this franchise.

Brendin Malone 1995/96
Darryl Walker 1996/97-1997/98
Butch Carter 1997/98-1999/00
Lenny Wilkins 2000/01-2002/03
Kevin O'Neill 2003/04
Sam Mitchell 2004/05-2008/09
Jay Triano 2008/09-Present

-we have been in the playoffs 5 out of the 15 seasons of our franchise.

-we have had 3 franchise(Stoudamire,Carter,Bosh) players.

-there have been 4 Gm's leading the franchise.

If we were to estimate what stage of life this franchise is in, it would definitely be a twenty something young adult trying to find its own identity. Numerous line up changes over the past few seasons have hampered our chemistry on the court. The fact that we are heading into this fresh season with only 3 incumbent players is unnerving. Yet, it is also admirable to have Bryan Colangelo admit past failures and blow the team up when necessary.

So here we are. A new beginning.

Pregame:

What to expect in the game? Allot of fouls! The trend has been set with the replacement referee's. We can expect a slow and stagnant game. What to expect from the players? They will be learning to play with each other against real opponents. Coaches will be trying out many lineup possibilities. Rookies will be learning to adjust their game to the NBA level.

There is a season of doubt with both the 76'rs and the Raptors. Other than being divisional rivals the teams have another glaring fact in common. Both teams tried and so far have failed(Toronto entirely ditching the idea) with their major acquisitions in the off season of 2008-09. Toronto trading for Jermaine O'Neil and Philadelphia acquiring Elton Brand. We know the timetable of events that occurred with Toronto, but Philadelphia is still giving all they've got with Brand.

Brand was a tremendous force during his time with the Clippers and gave that Franchise a new beam of hope. He had taken them as far as they have gone in the playoffs. With Philadelphia however he has bogged them down and turned them from a transition offense into a half court offense. They have so much money locked up into their front court of Brand and Dalembert, that it is imperative they fill the void of a slim bench. They need to produce some serious numbers with Iguodala. They need to mesh into the team style better than they have in the past. Iguodala is in my opinion a star in this league. He just doesn't have a good enough supporting cast for this team to be competitive(remind you of another situation?). I'm not sure Premos Brezac is quite the game changer they needed to acquire this past off season. It will be interesting to see what Eddie Jordan has drawn up as his master plan for this team. He will have a rookie in Jrue Holiday and rising talent with the likes of Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams. There is a definite hole in the point guard spot now that Andre Miller checked out and Williams has the potential to become a solid point guard in the east.

The Toronto Raptors have changed their identity once again and have the deepest bench in franchise history. With a new supporting cast featuring Hedo Turkoglu, Marco Belinelli, Jarret Jack, Antoine Wright, DeMar DeRozan, Reggie Evans and Amir Johnson this team has a well rounded and competitive squad on paper. This has been by far the busiest off season ever. Colangelo has erased the ghost of Jermaine O'Neil and grabbed the number one free agent on the market, Turkoglu. He has brought in one of the toughest off ball competitors and rebounding specialists with Reggie Evans. He has answered the call of athleticism at the wing with DeMar DeRozan. He made a stellar move by acquiring Jarret Jack to back up Jose Calderon at the point. Amir Johnson and Marco Belinelli both young unproven talent have been given a second chance to make noise in the league and turn into solid contributors on the court. Will this be enough to take us to the next level? We are 21 days away from finding out.

The starters we can expect for Toronto are Calderon, Belinelli, DeRozan, Evans and Bargnani. With no Bosh, Turk, Wright and Weems this will not be the full line up. We can however get our first glimpse of what this team can and cannot do. I would expect Triano to keep Jose's minutes in check. There is no need to work him knowing he is coming off of an injury plagued season. DeRozan will get plenty of burn. This will only benefit DeRozen and giving him more minutes will instill in him the confidence needed to be successful in this league. Everyone other than Calderon and Nesterovic should be getting their minutes. This team needs to play and these players need to get comfortable fast. The first month of the regular season schedule is going to be tough. They will need to get their plays tightened up and their possible lineups etched out.

Look for both teams to be experimenting and the referee's putting a stop to any sort of pace this game may try to find. A home game for Philadelphia in London, Ontario? Both teams will face off again on Wednesday night at the ACC. I will do a Post Game/Pregame mix because we really don't know what either team will bring. If you're a die hard Raptors fan, enjoy the first relevant game in a long while. I'm sure you are dying to see the fruits of Colangelo's labour. This is a pivotal year for this franchise. If all the pieces fit, this team will be competitive and no laughing matter. Colangelo has done his job and it's up to Triano and the boys to get it done on the court. I'm not sure if we will get to 50 wins this season, but there is no reason we shouldn't make the playoffs with room to spare.