Here at Sparty and Friends, we have reached NBA preview time (again). There will be one team per work day leading up to the season opener (Celts vs. Cavs, October 27th at 7:30pm on TNT). The teams are ordered by record starting with last place and going up through the non-playoff teams, followed by the playoff teams in order of elimination (or lack thereof in the Lakers’ case). We’ve already grabbed a Sac(To) lunch, went off to see the Wizards, turned to JP and the Clips, visited a Grizzly veteran, played some Timber sports, found our inner Warrior, rolled with the Thunder, wonder ed why there exists in today’s hip-hop NBA a team named after a older than old school piece of clothing, and now we share the regret of naming a team after a popular movie…

The Toronto Raptors invested a few dollars this off-season. They got some ugly alien guy with a name nobody can pronounce. Oh, that’s Hedo Turkoglu? Maybe in Canada they are more accepting of his kind. By “his kind” I am of course referring to either aliens or alien looking people. I’m not sure which. Anyway, why did they do this? Is “The Big Ugly Shooter” (I like to call him “The BUS”) actually going to help the team? Sure. Enough? No. So, why? The answer isn’t pretty and that’s why I put it after the jump (or because it’s long and wouldn’t fit on the front page”. Click to see ugliness for the answer…

Let’s check that mediocre group o’ dudes…

Last Year’s Record: 33-49 (2nd to last in Atlantic Division, 3rd to last in Eastern Conference, 8th to last in the NBA)

Last Year’s Prediction (GITC): 40-45 wins, 5-9 in the Eastern Conference

Coach: Jay Triano

Expected Starting Lineup: Jose Calderon, Marco Belinelli, Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani

Expected Bench Contributors: DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson, Rasho Nesterovic

Notice anything weird about this roster? You look at a few of those guys — Calderon, Bosh, Turkoglu — and you say, “yeah, that looks pretty solid.” Then you look at the other two starters and you probably say, “Marco Belinelli?!? Didn’t we mention MBS (Marco Belinelli Syndrome) in one of these previews already? This can’t be a good thing.” You’d be right. And for the record, MBS’s end result is not being an effective NBA player. Then you’d say, “Andrea Bargnani… is he doing well enough in the NBA to start on a decent team?” Good question, you guys. The answer is a big giant “maybe” and I’m sure you hate that. Bargnani has been good but this is a little bit a little soon. And the bench? Let’s just give it an “ouch and not mention it again.

Let’s get back to the reason this team was constructed, shall we? Why did Bryan Colangelo go sign Turkoglu when the addiction was obviously not going to do enough for the team to really matter. Correct answer? To keep his job! I know what you’re going to ask now. I’ve become pretty good at this. “Didn’t he win Executive of the Year just a second ago? How can his job be on the line?” The answer is that two seasons ago they went .500, last season they really bad, and this year didn’t look any better. Turkoglu absolutely doesn’t help the team down the road, but he might help them win enough games to help Colangelo justify his job. Hard to imagine, but when you get a job as an NBA GM, you really don’t want to give it up. He’d probably get another job, but there’s no guarantee. The BUS will help just a bit.

Video of the Day time! This is Jose Calderon highlight reel. He pass ball good. Very good.

Best Comment From Last Season’s Preview of This Team time! This one goes to Sparty because it reminded me of a finny time around these parts…

NOT A COMMENT!!!

new post.

First of all, we commented that there was a new post. Second of all, I realized that Sparty was making sure that it was not a comment because he had lost a bet to CMFost at the time and was banned from commenting… on his own website. Ah, the old days.

I’m not quite sure where to go, but a low playoff spot seems possible so…

Prediction: 37-42 wins, 7-11 in the Eastern Conference

Guyinthecorner is an author here at spartyandfriends.com. He writes the NBA section, X-Games section, and contributes to College Basketball and MLB. He doesn’t watch hockey except when the circumstances are dire. He’s not sure how to rate Michael Phelps on the scale of athletes not only because he doesn’t directly compete against people, but because he is a fish. He doesn’t understand the hate for the 2002 National Champion Maryland Terrapins and wishes everybody would just shut up by now. He is known for having statistical formulas and might be Bill James or Joe Lunardi depending on who you ask. His identity is as hidden as many times over as the number of internet memes he employs in his comments. Some have called him “The Riddler.” He can be reached at gitc@spartyandfriends.com. “GITC” is an acronym for guyinthecorner in case you aren’t that perceptive.

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