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by Paul Jones
--raptors.commentator
January 24, 2005

(TORONTO) -- An NBA executive told me nine years ago when the Raptors were still a struggling expansion team that once an expansion team, or any team for that matter, flips the switch and makes a serious playoff run, it’s hard to bring expectations back down again.

Fans and all others in the organization expect a playoff team thereafter. Since 2001 in Toronto, all the talk from fans has been about contending.

So Rob Babcock has some tough decisions to make if the Raptors keep playing the way they have been recently. Alright, the one exception was last Friday’s game against Washington, but an 8-3 record in the month of January is an indication that things are turning around.

If threre's a guard out there that can check Jalen Rose in the post we haven't found him. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

So does Babcock make trades at the risk of upsetting a winning formula?

“What we’re looking for is to improve (the team) for the future, not just for now” said Babcock outside the locker room in Washington last Friday night. “Any move we make, just as the Vince Carter trade, is designed for the betterment of this team for the long haul, to build to win a championship.”

Yes the goal is to build a solid team to contend for years to come and you always make moves with an eye to the future. But, do you have to fall in the standings and suffer lean years before you ascend up the ladder? Or, can you do it on the fly and not sacrifice wins?

“Occasionally that (building a solid team) means that you take a step backwards in order to get where you want to go,” the first-year GM remarked. “You hope that you don’t have to do that and just because a lot of our player’s names are out on the internet and the papers and everything, it doesn’t mean we’re actively pursuing a trade.”

Conventional wisdom says, get young players and let them gain experience, setting the foundation for years of winning. But, this may lead to losing as these youngsters start to learn and who knows how long it might take. Exhibit “A” the Chicago Bulls who seem to have returned to respectability for the first time since their last title in 1998.

NBA front-office types have said that young players don’t learn as much when losing is the only constant. Losing brings out the worst in everyone and the youngsters don’t learn how to win. Exhibit “B” the LA Clippers.

Even though the Raptors have shown improvement, Babcock is still reluctant to say the turnaround is complete.

No one can argue that Babcock's plan is working thus far. (Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)

“We’re playing well right now which is good because the guys are playing hard and they’re playing together, but I guarantee you we’re going to have some other bad stretches,” said Babcock very matter of factly. “We’re still young, still developing, and we’re still learning.”

Babcock praised all involved, coaches and players, as they have worked hard to make gains individually and the result has been the current stretch of winning basketball. So is the recent success a reason to change course?

“You can’t get too high on yourself because we’re playing good basketball right now,” said Babcock. “We have a long way to go and we have a lot of improvements to do to the team, but I’m comfortable with where we are, where we are going and everybody’s attitude.”

It sounds very much like there could still be changes made. But winning and getting into the playoffs, even scraping in, is important, but perhaps not paramount. The season will be evaluated by the way the team plays, not necessarily the end result.

“We’re not going to not sneak in (to the playoffs) just because we’re building for the future,” laughed Babcock. “We want to win every game we can, and make the playoffs if we can, but the focus is playing basketball the right way.

“To me it will be a failure of a season if we don’t continue to make progress. It won’t be a failure if we don’t make the playoffs as long as we’re continuing to make progress,” Babcock concluded.

Rob Babcock did not create this situation, he’s just trying to clean it up. And now that Sam Mitchell has roles more clearly defined and the team is winning, I say keep this group together and let the winning chemistry continue to develop. Wins will make future changes easier to handle and players more attractive to potential trading partners.

Fans are more likely to be patient and give you more time if they see a taste of the playoffs this year.

If trades are made and a winning unit is taken apart, sacrificing short-term success for potential long-term gains without the playoffs, the paying public might find it hard to listen to how the moves will be better off in the long run. The inevitable questions about what might have been will come up because you’ll never know.

Hey Rob, thanks for starting to turn things around, but before you make any moves, help Sam and the team find that switch and turn on the playoff lights at the ACC. Somehow it was turned off and the fans have been left in the dark for the last two seasons.