Key early season games for the Raptors

This is the first two months of the schedule for the Dinos:

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October	Opponent	Expected Outcome
Wed 29	@ Philadelphia	L [1]
Fri 31	vs Golden State	W [1]
November	Opponent
Sat 01	@ Milwaukee	?
Wed 05	vs Detroit	L [2]
Fri 07	@ Atlanta	?
Sun 09	@ Charlotte	?
Mon 10	@ Boston	L [3]
Wed 12	vs Philadelphia	W [2]
Sun 16	vs Miami	W [3]
Tue 18	@ Orlando	L [4]
Wed 19	@ Miami	?
Fri 21	vs New Jersey	W [4]
Sun 23	vs Boston	L [5]
Wed 26	vs Charlotte	W [5]
Fri 28	vs Atlanta	W [6]
Sun 30	@ LA Lakers	L [6]
December	Opponent
Tue 02	@ Denver	L [7]
Fri 05	@ Utah	L [8]
Sun 07	vs Portland	L [9]
Tue 09	@ Cleveland	L [10]
Wed 10	vs Indiana	L [11]
Fri 12	@ New Jersey	L [12]
Sun 14	vs New Orleans	L [13]
Mon 15	vs New Jersey	W [7]
Wed 17	vs Dallas	L [14]
Fri 19	@ Oklahoma City	L [15]
Sat 20	@ San Antonio	L [16]
Mon 22	@ LA Clippers	L [17]
Fri 26	@ Sacramento	L [18]
Sat 27	@ Portland	L [19]
Mon 29	@ Golden State	W [8]

LEGEND:
W – Expected Win; L – Expected Loss; ? – Undetermined; [#] - W/L Number

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With possible expected outcomes of …

8 W’s,
19 L’s, and
4 Undetermined’s

which would generate five possible W-L records for this team by January 1, 2009:

i) 0-4 on Undetermined’s = 8 W, 23 L;
ii) 1-3 on Undetermined’s = 9 W, 22 L;
iii) 2-2 on Undetermined’s = 10 W, 21 L;
iv) 3-1 on Undetermined’s = 11 W, 20 L; and, 
v) 4-0 on Undetermined’s = 12 W, 19 L.

None of which is very good.

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Q1. Is it possible that a team could trade for a 6-time NBA All-Star; line him up beside two other solid NBA players, like Chris Bosh & Jose Calderon … and, then, somehow still finish the 2008 portion of its schedule with a W-L record like one of those five options above?

A1. You bet it is.

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Each of the L’s listed above is a very losable game for this Raptors team, this season, given (I) the losses of Rasho Nesterovic, Carlos Delfino and TJ Ford from last year’s squad, and (II) the expected improvement from other teams in the League that have re-tooled their rosters heading into this campaign … BY INCREASING their Quality Depth, e.g Philadelphia, Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers & Sacramento.

If the Raptors are going to avoid this type of backwards step this season … keep a close watch on how they do in their first 6 games AND the 15 games from Nov 30 to Dec 27.

Struggle early, like they did two years ago, and the temperature is going to rise significantly in Raptorville.

Successfully navigate these two stretches … with, say, a .400 mark [or better] … then it should be clear sailing from there, as one of the 8 teams in the East to eventually qualify for the Playoffs this season.

Tags: Carlos Delfino, Chris Bosh, Jermaine O'Neal, Jose Calderon, Rasho Nesterovic, TJ Ford