Relax

I really want to tell myself to relax.

I really want to tell myself "This is game 1 of 82. Last year they started 3-0 and look how that turned out. Just cool your jets."

I really want to, believe me - but that just ain't happening. Not when I witnessed what I just witnessed. We ran roughshod over one of the elite teams in the NBA, with only a few bewilderingly bad referee calls preventing this thing from being a blowout.

Like Hulk Hogan making his Wrestlemania VII entrance, each Raptors starter came into the ACC one by one through a black curtain (seriously, I felt like I was watching the Royal Rumble. It looked like Bosh was going to run into the ring to break up Jose being beaten on by Varajao and Shaq). And after getting a few laughs and nostalgic sighs in seeing Alvin Williams and his ill-fitting tie, we finally got to see what these new Raptors were all about.

I'm so happy that I really get to loud and clear say what I've been trying to holler to anyone that could hear me for the last month: Pre-season means NOTHING. They are over-glorified scrimmages with guys running at 75% and trying not to get injured in a fake game. So I'm genuinely not that shocked to see this team come out and play rather then the lame duck that got spanked by Minnesota.

I'm not going to do a full game recap, but some things that really stood out:

Bosh went 0-3 to start, and with our offense already looking stagnant, the young rookie Demar DeRozan slashes in and draws the foul. It seems like this should be run of the mill, but any Raptors fan knows this was a sight we haven't seen in years. Instead of settling for jumpers for the next 8 minutes, we actually had an athletic wing who just crashed inside. This young dude is going to be the future of the franchise, just you wait and see. He did everything we could have wanted from him and then some. He will be our franchise in four years. Bank on it.

But that's the future, and right now the present seems to be unfolding something we've all hoped and prayed for: A raw, powerful, quick and hungry Andrea Bargnani. He was easily the best man on the floor tonight, and probably could have jacked his stats up even more if not for the absolutely abominable refereeing tonight. Bosh is still our #1 (even if the boxscore doesn't show it, his grit and tenacity to get to the line when we needed him to and making the plays when they count is textbook franchise player) but Bargnani is emerging as a contender to that throne.

And that leaves everyone else - and I really do mean EVERYONE else. I cannot think of one guy who laid an egg tonight. Sure Jarrett Jack may have needed to reign in his three point shooting, but his change of pace from Jose (who was in beautiful A/TO ratio form tonight) is one of the reason the Cavaliers were never able to get a defensive handle on us. Belinelli made a statement to Don Nelson that he is much better then the Warriors ever gave him credit for. Antoine Wright was a monster on defense, Amir Johnson crashed the boards with solid minutes, and our old pal Nesterovic gave me my favorite play of the night. After Bargs got sent to the pine with yet another ticky-tack foul, Rasho came in at a very crucial moment in the game making the ACC collectively cringe as he set up on the defensive block. What happens next? Huge block by Nesto, who runs down the board and gets the pass and the 2 points to finish the play. Let's not forget that it was a scant two years ago that he was consistently getting this team out of jams down the stretch and he did it once again for us tonight.

And then of course, our star acquisition, Hedo Turkoglu. One thing I've been saying since he went down in that tragic, jaw-dropping heap, is the biggest blow to the Raptors in recent history was the loss of Jorge Garbajosa. he didn't put up huge numbers or lead the team in any stats, but his impact on games were unquestionable. Hustle plays, and smart passes, and good positioning and just all around smart basketball. His effects weren't on paper, but the team was winning because of him. And I think we found just that in Hedo. If you paid attention, you'd see his subtle touches on every good play run by Toronto. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and coupled with the fact that he once again proved himself to be "Mr. 4th Quarter" by closing out the Cavs, he looks to be fitting on this team like a glove.

I don't want to talk about this too much, but I feel it has to be said: How long until Mike Brown starts updating his workopolis profile? This Cavs team is going nowhere fast, and all signs point to the walking corpse known as Shaquille O'Neal as the culprit. In the annals of Cavalier folklore, when the book is written on the team (tentatively called "The Rise and Fall of the King") his arrival will be the pinpoint people make when deciding when the team spiraled out of control and moved to London, England. What stuck out most for me with them though is their opening antics looked VERY contrived. Shaq hitting people on the butt with a tube, Lebron's funky handshakes, it looked like they really wanted to act like "The Team That Loves Each Other" but came off more like Don and Betty Draper at a dinner party - all show with nothing behind it. Except this sub-plot to deepen as the season wears on.

Back to the Red and White: again, this is just one game, and for all I know, the Raptors could get smoked in Memphis and I'll be sitting here writing "Good ol Raps! Playing up to the good teams and down to the bad. Don't you ever change you sons of bitches."

But for now, the Raptors just opened their season by beating one of the best teams in basketball. And not by squeeking one out, but by solidly defeating them.

Relax?

Not fucking likely.

HOPE vs. FEAR

Chris Bosh had a very interesting statement before kicking off the new season. Rocking his out-of-control Mikki Moore style hair, he casually mentioned that he doesn’t care what kind of predictions people make for the Raptors, because none of it means anything. He said last year people never thought Orlando would make the NBA Finals, but they proved everyone wrong.

That is a gross gross understatement.

I spent a bit of time tooling around last years NBA predictions, as in pre-season predictions for the 08-09 team, no one ranked Orlando higher then fourth and in a lot of cases actually had the Wizards beating them for the division title. At the same time, the Pistons were always in the top three (either second or third) and the raptors were floating between 4th and 6th. I know this has been said a million times, but really truly, no one has any idea what’s going to happen this season. For all we know, Shaq could upset the balance in Cleveland so much that they end up in 5th place this year. For all we know, Wade could have an MVP type season and push the Heat up to 3rd or 2nd. For all we know, the Wizards could end up plagued with injuries and not even make the playoffs (oh wait a minute, we do know that’s going to happen).

Hollinger on espn had a very good note about the Raptors this year, which is that it’s lazy for everyone to keep predicted us as 41-41. That’s simply not what’s going to happen because it’s such an unorthodox team, and predicting .500 is just a way of saying “I have no idea what to expect from them.” They will not be .500, they are going to have 55 wins or 15. They have buttloads of offensive firepower, and no defense, and one of those two things will prevail.

And I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that the 15 is closer to what we should be expecting. For the first few weeks, I can’t help but fear that we’ll see every starter be harangued by all the problems that we thought would hit them: Jose simply can’t handle starting point guards and will be killed defensively by everyone from Chris Paul to Jonny Flynn. Demar DeRozan will be a raw rookie with potential, but not at all be able to break out in his first season. Hedo Turkoglu will be a 30 year old who just earned a huge contract and will play like he just doesn’t care anymore. Chris Bosh will be playing for a max contract and will be looking to bloat his own numbers rather then try to help his team collectively get better. And Andrea Bargnani will take a giant step back and make everyone realize this play at the end of last year was the aberration, and he’s nothing more then a weak European white 7 footer. I see the second unit doing infinitely better then the first unit, and at some point in December Triano will keep in the bench to close out a game against the Kings or Grizzlies and Dave Feschuk will write a long article about how the starters can learn a few things from the bench (which is ridiculous, because of course the bench has the potential to be better against other teams’ benches, that’s not exactly something to write home about). I fear we’ll be 10 games under .500 by trade deadline, and Colangelo will be forced to deal Bosh lest be hung by the court of public opinion, we’ll get back some good prospects and/or expiring contracts and we’ll be back to “planning for the future” again.

That is my fear and it’s completely grounded in reality.

BUT, there will never be a way to silence my hope for this team. I really really hope the potential this team has can shine through, and we see right off the bat that this is team we need them to be: Jose will be injury free, and free to play the game his way, which is as one of the best pass-first guards in the game. Demar DeRozan will play like a ROY candidate, being that athletic and slashing guard we’ve always wanted on this team. Hedo Turkoglu will just pick up where he left off as the eastern conference playoffs MVP and be an almost unguardable 6’10” small forward who can play every position. Chris Bosh will be playing for a max contract and will be looking to show teams he can lead a team to great heights rather then bloat his own numbers. And Andrea Bargnani will finally make that leap that we’ve all known he’s capable of and be worthy of that #1 draft pick that he is. Our second unit will feed off the energy of our starters and will start to gel as one cohesive unit that teams will hate to play against: They either have to deal with the starting unit draining buckets like it’s going out of style, or our bench banging them into a pulp. We’ll shock everyone by coming in 4th or even 3rd in the conference and take the Celtics to 7 games in the second round next year. Bosh will re-up with us, and the young guys will have gotten the kind of experience that will push us even further in 2010.

That is my hope, and it’s entirely possible… but I have to be honest with myself and say the fear has completely pushed itself past the hope in my head.

I fear for another season of disappointment. I fear for another superstar leaving this city in his dust. I fear we’ll continue to look up at the glass ceiling of the NBA and not figure out a way to get through it.

And I hope my Raptors will prove me and everyone else wrong.