Raptors Media Day.

[Soundwave]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, The People's Basketball Sim League proudly brings to you it's Best GM in the woooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrllllllllld!  Mr. Sound Wave!




Mr. Sound Wave:
Um, thanks announcer guy, but that was overdoing it just a bit.  I don't believe that I, or the Toronto Raptors have earned that label.  Yet.  But we plan on it.  

Welcome all to the Grandest Stage of them all, the Toronto Raptors media relations shindig.  You all know me, or at least my reputation, so I believe that no further introductions are necessary.  Let's get down to business shall we.

I guess you guys want to know about our offseason huh?  Well it was an interesting one.  
After our first round exit from the playoffs we were very much looking forward to the lottery.  We didn't hit deuces like we had hoped and ended up picking in a spot where we felt we could get a really good player but also where the trade demands dropped off.  We were happy to select Jon Barry with the 9th pick since we had identified SG as our weakest position.  His potential is massive and we firmly believe that the sim gods will undo the neutering performed by assistant commissioner BallsokilledJonBarry.  Then came a very interesting dilemma with our 14th pick.  After taking a SG at 9, it was widely assumed we would go bigger at this spot, but Hubert Davis stood out as too good to reach for another position.  Our draft board had significantly dropped off after him, so we made the controversial pick.  We are thrilled to have him as we will not have to change anything up when the bench gets on the floor.

Enter Free Agency.
We had no main target as a free agent but would have liked to retain the services of Otis Thorpe.  He decided to take a few more dollars per year on a smaller term contract that we had offered from the Bucks.  This left us somewhat surprised but mildly relieved as to not have to overpay a declining older player.  Most of our other targets signed elsewhere as we were reluctant to overpay any free agent in this class.  This franchise has always been known (with only one famous exception) to get good value with contracts.  We believe this is our biggest strength and it helped in landing a huge piece in Tim Legler.  

Before we finish, let's take a quick commercial break.....





After the first sim, it was time to make some moves. Isiah Thomas was a pleasure to have on this team last season but was not a part of our long term plans.  The organization had a meeting and agreed that the core of our team is not yet set so the best way to move forward was by collecting assets.  Isiah was traded for a couple of first round picks which is double what we gave up for him so we considered this a win for our future.  We also believed that the only way Greg Anthony could make the leap was to step out of the shadow cast by one of the game's greats.

We were able to fill in a few more depth spots in free agency but felt something was missing.  With a gluttony of depth of guys who can play the 2, we traded Mad Max for a guy that, quoting another GM, "could be a younger, cheaper Otis Thorpe."

So now let's introduce our current Toronto Raptors.......



Mr. Sound Wave:
Let me introduce first, our newest acquisition, The man, the myth, the legend, the infamous Charles Oakley...

Charles Oakley:
I pity the fool.

Mr. Sound Wave:
Ummmmm, Charles. Thats Mr.T.

Charles Oakley:
Hmmmm Did I do that?

Mr. Sound Wave:
Now that's Urkel

Charles Oakley:
Shut up Cracker.

Mr. Sound Wave:
Ok, let's move on.  Now we will just take questions from you guys here.  And by we, I mean myself and our new assistant coach Greg Popovich.

Any Questions guys?

[NOLa.]

Training camp has been a hot topic for the Toronto sport media sites as of late. What steps did your team take in preparing for more optimal results than the previous?

[Nick Malone 77]

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Do you feel like with such a young team that there is an urgency to win now and return to the playoffs or develop your core of guards and gritty guys like Legler and Oakley. By the way, Charlotte graciously thanks you for the services of "Mad Max" for this season and beyond. Was it tough to trade him or with Hubert and Barry, the decision to move him had to be made?

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 13:55:41 GMT -6 NOLa. said:

Training camp has been a hot topic for the Toronto sport media sites as of late. What steps did your team take in preparing for more optimal results than the previous?

Thank you and good question,
First of all, we have contacted Indiana for some of the Deer Antler Spray they appear to be using on their players.
Secondly, we have revamped our entire training camp system and brought in an outside consultant.

[IamQuailman]

Jan 16, 2014 14:46:08 GMT -6 Soundwave said:

Jan 16, 2014 13:55:41 GMT -6 NOLa. said:

Training camp has been a hot topic for the Toronto sport media sites as of late. What steps did your team take in preparing for more optimal results than the previous?

Thank you and good question,
First of all, we have contacted Indiana for some of the Deer Antler Spray they appear to be using on their players.
Secondly, we have revamped our entire training camp system and brought in an outside consultant.

Their Deer Antler Spray didn't work when it mattered most... against deer in the playoffs.

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 14:37:20 GMT -6 Nick Malone 77 said:

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: Do you feel like with such a young team that there is an urgency to win now and return to the playoffs or develop your core of guards and gritty guys like Legler and Oakley. By the way, Charlotte graciously thanks you for the services of "Mad Max" for this season and beyond. Was it tough to trade him or with Hubert and Barry, the decision to move him had to be made?

Another good question, you guys are getting better.
There is no urgency at all to win now. Especially with the Hawks dynasty in our own conference. It is all about development of the guys we have now and the pieces we have yet to get. The decision to trade Maxwell was made before the draft, we just didn't know what return we wanted until Oakley expressed his interest to leave Charlotte.

[Deleted]

Jack Philson here from the LA times. Did your late run into the playoffs with Isiah coming off the bench give you confidence that your team could survive without him despite moving your pick late last year ?

[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, see you talk all about the rookies. What about the Sophomores? What do you expect out of Stanley Roberts, Greg Anthony, Rick Fox? Can we just cancel the rookie-soph game on All-Star weekend and hold it in Toronto one day? I'm sure all your players will be free that weekend anyway.

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 15:16:59 GMT -6 ballsohard said:

Jack Philson here from the LA times. Did your late run into the playoffs with Isiah coming off the bench give you confidence that your team could survive without him despite moving your pick late last year ?

To be bluntly honest, no not really. Isiah and Greg are totally different players. We are hoping Greg learned a bit of the passing game and court leadership from Isiah, but we are thrilled with the defense and shooting he already brings to the table. Those areas are already improved, we are hoping our outside consultant will help get his assist ratio closer to 30. But we know our D and scoring from the position will be better.

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 14:52:05 GMT -6 IamQuailman said:

Jan 16, 2014 14:46:08 GMT -6 Soundwave said:

Thank you and good question,
First of all, we have contacted Indiana for some of the Deer Antler Spray they appear to be using on their players.
Secondly, we have revamped our entire training camp system and brought in an outside consultant.

Their Deer Antler Spray didn't work when it mattered most... against deer in the playoffs.

Greg Popovich:

Is this even a question?  Who let this joker in here?

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 15:31:43 GMT -6 Conroy said:

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, see you talk all about the rookies. What about the Sophomores? What do you expect out of Stanley Roberts, Greg Anthony, Rick Fox? Can we just cancel the rookie-soph game on All-Star weekend and hold it in Toronto one day? I'm sure all your players will be free that weekend anyway.

Greg Popovich:

You're an idiot Simmons.

Mr. Sound Wave:
Thank's Greg, but I got this.  You're an idiot Simmons.  But to answer your question, it's a stupid game that no one is gonna miss anyways.  The one thing you did get right is that we do like em young.  The younger the better.  Who wants old talent when you can have young talent?

[J2]

Johnny Junior from The Washington Post. DC's under riot watch, so I'm taking a trip around the league. 3 quick questions:

1. Your team is extremely young. Who are you looking at to step up and give Coleman the help he needs?

2. Speaking of Coleman, he slacked off during training camp, yet still performed strongly during the regular season. Is laziness a concern with him? What do you expect to see from him during this training period?

3. Your big offseason acquisition, PG Alvin Robertson, is not only older than the majority of your team at 30, but is also only signed for this season. What is his role and how does he fit into your long-term plans?

[Soundwave]

Jan 16, 2014 16:46:57 GMT -6 J2 said:

Johnny Junior from The Washington Post. DC's under riot watch, so I'm taking a trip around the league. 3 quick questions:

1. Your team is extremely young. Who are you looking at to step up and give Coleman the help he needs?

2. Speaking of Coleman, he slacked off during training camp, yet still performed strongly during the regular season. Is laziness a concern with him? What do you expect to see from him during this training period?

3. Your big offseason acquisition, PG Alvin Robertson, is not only older than the majority of your team at 30, but is also only signed for this season. What is his role and how does he fit into your long-term plans?

Great questions Johnny and I had to think for a while before answering.  But in order,

1. We have already mentioned Anthony's scoring ability and we believe it is time for Fox to step up a bit.  We also drafted Jon and Hubert mostly for their scoring ability.  But the player we are most excited about is Stanley Roberts.  He did a great job in spurts last season and we are looking more consistency this season.  Overall it will have to be a team effort.  We would much rather have 4 or 5 double digit scorers than rely on one guy to put up 30 a night for us.  We have sacrificed some D to hopefully drastically improve our offense.

2.  I don't know if I would phrase it as laziness but he needs to get into better shape.  Overall we hope to adjust his work ethic and conditioning.

3.  I'm not sure if I would label Robertson as our big get.  We are extremely excited about Legler, Oakley, and of course our rookies.  Robertson is here to provide veteran leadership and some playmaking ability from the bench.  Nothing is set long term with any player until we actually see them in some games.  This team is currently a collection of pieces we hope to use to build the throne.

[IamQuailman]

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