Mailbag

So what I like to do is every Sunday answer some of your questions and comments. If you would like to ask me a question or have a comment feel free to email me at james.choleras@gmail.com. Enjoy!

“Do you think in the next 5 years the Raptors can win it all? What would they need to do to accomplish such a task?” – Andrew P

5 years is a very long time to look ahead, but if I had to have an answer I would say “no”. There are too many younger teams out there who are better than the Raptors right now who have a much better chance to win it all. This all depends on contracts and if teams can keep their younger talent though. When Lebron James becomes a free agent in 2010, if he goes to a team with at least 1 other decent player then they could win a championship. The same can be said for Orlando if they can keep Dwight Howard and New Orleans if they can keep Chris Paul.

Now as far as the Raptors are concerned, what they need to do is bring in some better talent to play with Chris Bosh and show him they are serious about winning or when his contract expires in 2010 he might walk. Bringing in Jermaine O’Neal and getting rid of TJ Ford definitely helped but they can’t stop there. Also getting rid of 1-dimensional players like Jason Kapono would be a move in the right direction. Lastly what the Raptors need to do is finally decide on what kind of player they want Andrei Bargnani to be either a rebounding center or a 7’0 3point specialist.

“Which 2 storied rivals have the best chance at meeting for a league championship in 1 of the 4 major sports in the next year?” – Bryan C

This is an excellent question but the only problem is that most of the great rivalries in sports have 2 teams in the same conference i.e. Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens and Red Sox vs. Yankees so that’s an issue in itself. This year we did see two great rivals in the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers meet in the NBA Finals. So looking at rivalries across the 4 big leagues I would have to go with a Lakers-Celtics repeat.

The Lakers are basically going to have the same team except Andrew Bynum will be healthy, so that’s a huge improvement on this year’s team. Lets not forget that they sill have the best basketball player in the world in Kobe Bryant. The Celtics are still going to have Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen and the East is still relatively weak compared to that so they have a great chance of repeating.

“Cleary you are not a Leaf fan but what do you think of the moves they have made so far? And do you think they will be able to make the playoffs?” – Nathan C

You’re right, I’m not a Leaf fan but I absolutely love what they have done so far this season. Kyle Wellwood is a scrub who played on the 1^st and 2^nd lines and only managed 21 points in 59 games and who also apparently has the worst work ethic in hockey. Andrew Raycroft couldn’t stop a beach ball and has mercilessly been shipped out after fans ripped into him every time he got between the pipes and with good reason (2-9 3.92 GAA .876 SV%). Darcy Tucker was costing way too much money and wasn’t producing to earn that money, 18G 16A 34P -8, last season. But now all of these players are gone and cap room is available to try and bring in some free agents.

The Leafs chances of making the playoffs .00001%. If they don’t bring in anybody and Mats Sundin decides to take his services elsewhere then the Maple Leafs top line would be Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Jason Blake which might be the worst top line in NHL history.

“Do you think the Grizzles traded Kevin Love as to avoid having a Gay-Love line-up on the floor?” – Ryan W

At first I assumed it was because they felt that OJ Mayo was a better player and had more potential but hey you never know.