Well then. Now that the most hated ex-Raptor is in Orlando and (arguably) Orlando’s MVP of the past two seasons is in Toronto, is it possible Orlando will replace New Jersey is our arch-rival du jour??

We can hope. Though I somehow doubt the Magic fans will have the same disdain for Hedo Turkoglu that Raptors fans have for Vince Carter, since even the most casual of fan can see losing Hedo is strictly a financial decision…

On the other hand, it looks like Hedo and the Raps haven’t made any new fans in Portland…!

But seriously, this is a pretty big coup for the Raptors. Hedo was arguably the biggest unrestricted free agent available this year; he might just be the biggest free agent signing the Raptors have ever made. And, although he isn’t the super-athletic wing we need, he can score from anywhere, he’s not afraid to drive (his 389 attempts last year would put him second on the team, behind Bosh), he can initiate the offense, and most of all, he seems to thrive with the ball in his hands in the clutch, a trait no other Raptor has.

And, you know, he’s got big game experience. Think about it. He was a bit player on those great Sacramento teams. He spent a year in San Antonio. And he made it to playoffs four out of five years in Orlando, including the finals this past season. The Raptors have been desperate for a guy who can take and make big shots for years. There’s no doubt in my mind that Turkoglu can be that guy.

Of course, signing him means we can’t sign anyone else to fill out the bench - not even Parker and Delfino - so we’ll likely be saddled with 2009 versions of Will Solomon and Hassan Adams. So there’s that to look forward to.

Also, he’s 30 years old, and played in 193 games the past two seasons. Last year he also shot below his career averages from the field and from 3pt range. Will he hold up for the length of the contract? And, he’s not a great defender (nowhere near Marion’s level).

Still, as a fan, I appreciate that the Raptors are making a splash and going for it. Even thinking longer-term, I guess the idea is, if Bosh leaves a year from now, they will (should) still have a decent core in Turk, Bargnani, and Calderon (and hopefully DeRozan), and cap space from Bosh’s salary to sign multiple guys.

Well. I do hope Colangelo is not done wheeling and dealing, but I am glad to see he’s not just sitting by while everyone else gets better.

Tags: Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu, Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter

My final tally on Vince’s time with the Nets is below. I started tracking this last season, notably after he obliterated the Raptors’ season and ended Sam Mitchell’s coaching career on That Night in November (remember how often Colangelo kept bringing it up right after he fired Sam? Yeah, death warrant). After That Night, where Vince was, as usual, booed incessantly, it seemed most people decided the booing needed to stop because it only made him play better.

I didn’t think that was true, since I’d seen every game the guy had played against the Raps and almost every game he played with the Raps, and noticed no difference whatsoever. But I decided to check the stats, and thankfully, the stats backed me up. Check it:

Stats as a Net	Games	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Totals	374	3126	6987	638	1723	1944	2404	2152	1762	8,834
Per game averages:		8.36	18.68	1.71	4.61	5.20	6.43	5.75	4.71	23.62
Shooting percentages:			44.7%		37.0%		80.9%

Vs. The Raptors	Games	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Totals:	24	212	476	45	121	102	147	160	108	571
Per game averages:		8.83	19.83	1.88	5.04	4.25	6.13	6.67	4.50	23.79
Shooting percentages:			44.5%		37.2%		69.4%

In New Jersey	Games	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Totals:	12	99	219	21	54	60	85	71	53	281
Per game averages:			45.2%		38.8%		70.5%	5.9	4.4	23.4

In Toronto	Games	FGM	FGA	3PM	3PA	FTM	FTA	REB	AST	PTS
Totals:	12	113	257	24	67	42	62	89	55	290
Per game averages:			43.9%		35.8%		67.7%	7.4	4.6	24.1

So you see, the stats are virtually identical. His numbers were incredibly similar overall, vs. Toronto, and at home and away. In Toronto, where he hears the boos, his shooting percentages are down slightly, but his scoring and rebounding are up slightly, so it’s a wash. His free throw shooting is down across the board which is odd, considering he’s normally a great free throw shooter, but it’s likely just an aberration.

The only thing I really notice is the free throw attempts vs. field goal attempts in Toronto and Jersey. He seemed to take some more contact in Jersey, with 23 more FTs attempted in the same amount of games – and settled for more jump shots in Toronto, with 38 more FGs attempted.

Relevant? Probably not. The Nets won 13 of the 24 games during Carter’s time there, which is the most important thing, including 4 of the six playoff games of course, and that’s not a surprising thing considering they had the better team and coach most years.

In Orlando, I expect Vince’s stats to be down across the board as that team is pretty stacked and doesn’t need him to be the focal point of the offense; plus he’s not as young as he used to be. In the flip side, because they are a good team, he should probably experience his greatest team success there. I look at that roster and, assuming they fill out the bench with a couple decent guys, I have to believe they’re the Eastern Conference favourites – at least as long as Cleveland plans to head into 2009-2010 with the same undersized backcourt and under-athletic frontcourt (I fail to see how adding Shaq addresses the flaws exposed in the Orlando series).

So the question remains – will Vince be booed here in Toronto? Yeah… probably. Maybe not quite as much – New Jersey was a fun team to hate. But I’m sure they’ll still be plenty audible. And I’m OK with that. Most people seem to think it needs to stop… but really, who cares? Everyone loves a villain, and Vince brought it all on himself by quitting on the Raptors five years ago. As you can see above, it has zero impact on his play, so if people enjoy booing… I think they should go ahead and do so.

Quick Free Agency Update: Looks like Ariza’s going to Houston. That means, as far as I can tell, it’s all but a lock Shawn Marion will be back next year, and the Raptors will go into the 09-10 season with at least four of the five starters the same. Hardly a great recipe for improving on a 33-win team…

Tags: New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter

… you won’t be missed. Scrub.

Welcome, Patrick Fitzgerald O’Bryant! I’m sure you’ll join in the fine tradition of virtually useless Toronto big men, like Uros Slokar, Pape Sow, Mamadou N’Dyai, Nathan Jawai, Eric Montross, Rafael Araujo, Alex Radejovic, Jake Voskuhl, Acie Earl, Primosz Brezec, Robert Archibald, Mengke Bateer, Nate Huffman, Sean Marks, Jelani McCoy, Loren Woods, and of course, the immortal Yogi Stewart…

Good God, that is one depressing list, and I didn’t even mention The Corpse of Hakeem Olajuwon.

It’s gotta be depressing for the guy with the most Irish name in the history of the NBA to be traded away from the Celtics. And this guy went 9th in 2006! More proof that the 2006 NBA draft was the worst of all time…

Well, all in all, another disappointing deadline day. Not that I expected the Raps to do anything, but it would have been nice to see some big names get moved (like Vince Carter). Ah well.

Tags: NBA Trade Deadline, Toronto Raptors, Will Solomon

I don’t have much of a preview to write here. The Raps just played the Bulls last week, and lost at home, so I don’t imagine they have much hope of winning in Chi-town.

As I wrote last week, Derrick Rose is better than any player on the Raptors (and he’s just a rookie), the Bulls winning simply depends on how much support he gets from his teammates. The Bulls have a lot of shooters, and if they’re on, they’re tough to beat; They’re also athletic so when they get out on the break, look out.

Since the Raptors give up more open looks than any team in the league and offer up some of the worst transition D you’ll ever see, it’d be pretty easy for the Bulls to run them off the floor.

The Raps were in last week’s game because Andrea Bargnani caught fire and they fed him the rock for three quarters (and proceeded to ignore him down the stretch). They also hit the glass when Gordon, Deng and Hinrich were missing shots.

That’ll be tougher tonight because the Bulls will have Drew Gooden back; their best rebounder missed the last game and although the Raps were without Jermaine O’Neal, his contribution is expected to be pretty minor.

Early word is that Jose Calderon is gonna try and play tonight. Not sure if this is a good thing or not; if he’s not 100 per cent then what’s the point? Heck, 100 per cent or not, he’s going to get destroyed by Rose.

As for the rest, well, the deal is still the same. The Bulls offer the sort of shooters and athletes that that give the Raptors trouble. If their shots are dropping and they’re getting out on the break, the Raps are in trouble. But because jump-shooting teams are always vulnerable, the Raps can steal this one - they get a few misses, hit the glass well, keep the bigs involved, slow things down some, and get solid contributions from Parker and Calderon… well, I guess there’s a chance.

But not much of one.

Bulls by 11.

Moving on, the All-Star Starters were announced last night, nothing too crazy happened (like T-Mac making it ahead of Chris Paul or even worse, Yi making it ahead of Kevin Garnett). I agree that Allen Iverson isn’t having a great year but he’s always been a fan favourite, and he’s still a very good player; remember the starters should be a combo of player talent and popularity. Devin Harris and Jameer Nelson are having good years but they haven’t reached their ceilings and they’re not that popular… yet. Let them join the team as bench players this year, pay their dues that way, and in the next year or two - assuming they continue to get better - they’ll get the votes.

I assume Chris Bosh will get selected by the coaches, and although the team sucks and Bosh has been up and down, I definitely believe he’s one of the best forwards in the east. And, although I was hoping he’d make it this year, I have no doubt that Jose Calderon will miss the cut. He’s missed too much time and, either because of the injury or some other reason, hasn’t played quite as well this year as last year. He just doesn’t deserve it, not with Harris and Nelson having the seasons they are. Even Derrick Rose is more deserving right now. Calderon’s turn is going to have to wait until next year - assuming he ever gets healthy.

Anyway, that’s about all I have to say for today. It’s an unfortunate time to be a Raptor fan, our team sucks and there’s a chance we won’t even have an all-star. Sigh. Hopefully we’ll get a couple of good, exciting games this weekend to keep us entertained.

Tags: Chicago Bulls, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose, Jose Calderon, NBA All-Star Game, Toronto Raptors

Slow day at work, so here’s a couple thoughts on the goings-on of the day.

First up, Alonzo Mourning has officially retired.

Excuse me if I don’t shed a tear.

Raps fans have a hatred for Zo that I believe is only topped by their hatred for Vince Carter. To recap, Carter was traded to New Jersey for Zo - who was unhappy in New Jersey and wanted out - as well as the Williams Brothers and two draft picks. It also cost them highly touted Jerome Moiso (waived), who was just about to find his groove with the Raps!! Um, just kidding about the last part.

(What was the biggest shame was that Alvin Williams was too hurt to play and Jerome Williams had been traded a year earlier. I mean, all they had to do then was trade for one more Williams and they could have had a lineup of five Williamses on the floor, and that would have been the greatest moment in Raptors history. Alas.)

That trade looks pretty bad as it is but what made it worse (the worst trade in the NBA this decade, in fact) was that Mourning refused to play in Toronto. In fact I don’t know if he ever actually came to Toronto. He wanted to be traded, yes, just not here.

So, you’d think, if you were the Raptors, you’d confirm with him that he’d play before pulling the trigger, especially since he was the only player of value in the trade coming this way.

But, no, that didn’t happen. Actually, rumour has it, it did: Sir Rob Babcock did indeed ask - and Zo confirmed he wouldn’t play - but BABCOCK STILL MADE THE TRADE.

Now, you’d think at this point, the Raps would play hardball and force Mourning to report, and if he didn’t not pay him, as is their right under the collective bargaining agreement.

But, no. They let him sit out - in Miami - and never even tried to make him join the team. In fact as I recall he never even had to take a physical to prove he could play, and thus couldn’t even be fined for not playing.

Now, you’d think, OK, here’s a guy that won’t play for us, he wants to play somewhere else so he’ll accept a bargain buyout and we’ll go our separate ways.

But, no. The Raptors offered to buy him out FOR THE FULL VALUE OF THE CONTRACT. He never played a game for the Raps, still collected his ENTIRE paycheque from us, and then went on to help the Heat win a title.

So, you can understand why Raps fans don’t like the guy. There was no reason for him to act like such a prima-donna; especially mere months after saying he wanted to play with Jason Kidd in Jersey, he could have rehabbed his image by coming to TO, teaming with Jalen Rose and mentoring Chris Bosh and (ahem) Rafael Araujo. Instead he acted like a prick and never even showed up.

And if - as he claimed - it wasn’t about the money, but rather about going somewhere to win a title - he would have simply accepted a minimum buyout to be set free. But he took the full amount! It was nothing but highway robbery.

Still, as big of a jerk as he was to the city of Toronto… the blame really is on Babcock here. First of all, this was a terrible trade, even with Mourning; he could have done better. Second, Babcock enabled the situation. He didn’t force Mourning to report when he could have. He waived the physical. He paid the ridiculous buyout.

Why would he ever, in a million years, do this? I don’t know. I understand he was blinded by the fool’s gold of the draft picks and made the trade despite Zo’s refusal to play. But at the least, you don’t pay the guy FULL AMOUNT and allow him to go help another team! The purpose of a buyout from the team’s perspective is to save a little money. If you’re going to pay him the full amount anyway, you may as well keep him on your team so he can’t help someone else!

Anyway, the point of this tirade was to suggest that it be Babcock, not Mourning, that deserves the brunt of your hatred. Yep, Mourning was an ass for refusing to report. But Babcock was a much bigger ass for A) making the trade in the first place and B) not taking a harder stance with Zo.

Also, SI Grades the Raps

This afternoon also saw this rather harsh grade - and harsh reality - of the Raptors season from Steve Aschburner of SI.com:

Toronto Raptors: It’s not easy to earn a grade this harsh. You would need to underachieve dramatically, abruptly fire your recent Coach of the Year (Sam Mitchell), have a showy offseason move (trading for Jermaine O’Neal) blow up in your face, turn your lone superstar into a cranky finger-pointer who might want out, cope badly with a key injury (Jose Calderon), run off a string of losses and drown in trade rumors a month before the NBA deadline. Ladies and gentlemen, your … Toronto … Raptors! Grade: F

Good times. My grades from a week ago were a smudge higher, but really, I can’t disagree with him at all. Although, he also forgot to mention “trot out the worst collection of swingmen in the NBA every game,” as well as “bring in two guys who washed out of the NBA years ago (Adams and Solomon) as your only off-season free agent pickups.”

Oh, hey, and guess what the only other team to get an “F” was? That’s right, the Clippers. Remember when everyone thought we’d be Phoenix North? Turns out we’re Clippers North.

Yep… really good times.

Remember when Young MC rapped, “well you got no money and you got no car, then you got no woman, and there you are”?

Well we got no swingmen and we got no D, so we got no winning, and here we are.

Here we are.

Tags: Alonzo Mourning, Toronto Raptors

The waiting is almost over! Finally, the regular season starts tomorrow. But what would the pre-season be without predictions? So, some quick thoughts about who’s gonna finish where this year in the NBA:

Western Conference

1. Los Angeles Lakers. They were good at the start of last year with Bynum and without Gasol. They were good at the end of last year without Bynum and with Gasol. So how good can they be with both of them? Plus, they still have that Kobe guy… so I’m guessing pretty good.

2. New Orleans Hornets. Assuming Chris Paul is as good as he was last year - and I believe he’ll be even better - the Hornets come back with essentially the same team, just the added defensive presence of James Posey. With another year of experience I see them in the conference finals.

3. Utah Jazz. Much like Paul, I don’t think Deron Williams has even hit his ceiling yet; and much like the Hornets, they come back with pretty much the same team as last year that was already pretty good.

4. Portland Trailblazers. I think the Blazers are making the big leap this year. They’ve got enough talent to contend with anyone, it’s just a matter of experience. But Brandon Roy plays like an 8-year veteran, and although everyone’s eyes are on Greg Oden, a team that loaded with talent is perfect for him - he doesn’t need to be “the man.”

5. Houston Rockets. They have enough talent to be ranked two or three spots higher. But they have injury problems (McGrady misses too many games every year, and did you see Yao hobbling around at the Olympics? He looked like Hakeem Olajuwon with the Raptors) and chemistry issues (Rafer Alston couldn’t even keep two nice guys, Jalen Rose and Vince Carter, happy; how’s he gonna handle Ron Artest and McGrady, two guys who go south when they don’t get the ball?) that’ll probably cost them 10 games.

6. San Antonio Spurs. They have to start dropping off eventually, right? They’re getting old, and their only acquisition was Roger Mason, and Ginobili is out until January. So I think their wins will be down in the regular season. But, look out come playoff time - Ginobili will just be coming into shape, and you can never count them out in May.

7. Dallas Mavericks. I think the Kidd trade was a step back, but they still have talent and their new coach should keep them in the hunt.

8. Phoenix Suns. The Shaq trade was a good gamble; unfortunately, that gamble didn’t pay off. Now they’re just old and slow - but still one of the smartest teams out there. They’ll find a way to sneak in.

The rest:

LA Clippers. If Baron and Camby stay healthy and Al Thornton continues to develop, they could actually challenge for the 8th spot!

Denver Nuggets. Losing Camby hurts; their D was already spotty. They should still be able to score, though.

Golden State Warriors. No Ellis for 30 games? No Baron? No playoffs.

Sacramento Kings. They can score, but not much else.

Memphis Grizzlies. You know, they’ve got OJ Mayo, Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay; if Marc Gasol can play, they might be better than anyone thinks.

Minnesota Timberwolves. Got some pieces in Love, Jefferson, and Brewer, but still a year or two away.

Oklahama City Thunder. Sigh. That just looks bad in print. Anyway, they were terrible last year and haven’t seemed to have made any upgrades, just a downgrade in location. Hardly a recipe for success.

Advancing to the second round:

Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Trailblazers

Conference Finals:

Lakers over Hornets

_______

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics. While losing Posey hurts, as long as Garnett, Pierce and Allen stay healthy, they’re still the team to beat. They won’t win 66, but 58 isn’t unbelievable.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers. As much as I hate to say it, Mo Williams may just be the answer here. Having Varejao and Pavlovic healthy from the start of the year helps too. But can Big Z and Big Ben still hold down the middle? That’s the question.

3. Orlando Magic. I’m prepared to suggest they suffer a big drop-off from last year, but I can’t put my finger on why; on paper, I see no real reason why they won’t be even better. Until I have more to go on than “just a feeling,” I have to put them here… but I’m not convinced.

4. Detroit Pistons. Getting older, and while their young guys aren’t bad… they’re not that good either. And I don’t really have much faith in Michael Curry, either.

5. Toronto Raptors. As long as the Raps are healthy, they should win between 45-50.

6. Philadelphia 76ers. Ditto as above.

7. Washington Wizards. I think the last two Eastern playoff spots are completely up for grabs - every team except maybe New Jersey has a shot at the postseason. Although I’m not a Wizards fan (Arenas and DeShawn Stevenson spend too much time posturing and not enough time playing D), I am a fan of both Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, who I think are both way underrated. If Arenas comes back healthy and in shape, they can outscore anyone on any given night; that makes them just a little better than anyone else below them.

8. Chicago Bulls. I think I ended up picking Chicago for the last spot, because I still can’t see why they dropped off so far, so fast last year. It’s still a talented team, and they’ve added a great-looking rookie in Rose. If their young bigs (Noah, Thomas) can step up, they should take the final playoff spot.

The rest:

Indiana Pacers. Really tough to pick Chicago over them. But I just think the Bulls are more athletic and that should make the difference… barely.

Atlanta Hawks. A full year with Bibby should help, but I don’t think it’s enough to get them back in the playoffs.

Miami Heat. Don’t underestimate what a healthy Dwyane Wade can do.

Milwaukee Bucks. They’ve got size and shooters in the starting lineup. But do they have any chemistry, and any depth behind them?

Charlotte Bobcats. I’m sure Larry Brown will love this group of underachievers. Still, he should coax a couple more wins outta them.

New York Knicks. D’Antoni should make them almost respectable, but I don’t think there was enough roster turnover to make a big difference this year.

New Jersey Nets. Hope you’re looking forward to even more “Vince settling for jumpers” moments than usual, Nets fans!

Advancing to the second round:

Celtics, Cavs, Magic, Raptors

Conference Finals:

Cavs over Celtics

_______

NBA Finals

Given how close LeBron got the Cavs to beating the Celtics last year, I have to believe that he can overtake them this year in the playoffs. As for the Lakers, I just think that big front line and the offense Kobe provides will keep them a step ahead of anyone else.

A Kobe-LeBron Final would be great theatre. In the end, I think the Lakers would take it - their young big men will overpower the older, slower forwards on the Cavs, and LeBron won’t be able to do enough.

Lakers in six.

Tags: NBA, NBA Season Preview, Toronto Raptors

So it seems the early word is that a number of Raps games (possibly as many as 23, though no confirmations yet) will be on the new “TSN2″ sports channel.

This channel can is currently only available on about half the cable providers in Canada, and only if you have a digital box.

I’m not going to go into a rant here - because I already ranted about this with the Raps games on Raptors TV two years ago. The same points stand - when you are building a market, you need to make your product available to as many people as possible and anything less is unacceptable. Actually this may be worse since I think most, if not all, cable networks could potentially get Raptors TV - although again you needed a digital box - and while it didn’t help in building the brand, it didn’t hurt the existing fans, most of whom would shell out for Raptors TV.

In this case, it doesn’t matter whether or not you are willing to shell out the extra dough for TSN2, if your cable provider doesn’t carry it, you’re outta luck.

And the worst thing of all - is that the station isn’t available on Rogers, the ONLY cable provider (unless you want satellite) in Toronto. Meaning the TORONTO Raptors have made the brilliant decision to suddenly remove games from the TV schedule in their own home town.

No, I’m not kidding. You’d think it was a joke, it’s such a boneheaded thing to do… but it’s not.

Just who the heck is making these decisions over there? Yikes.

Word is they’re working on getting it on Rogers, but why would Rogers care? The relatively small number of Raptors fans isn’t a blip to them. And even if they do, I doubt they’ll carry the HD version of the channel.

It’s an absolute disgrace that A) Rogers would not carry this channel; B) TSN would relegate the only NBA team in the entire country to some second-tier channel; and C) that MLSE would allow this to actually happen. I’m sorry, you don’t have some sort of power or words in the contract stating that the games can’t be relegated like this? You DEMAND that the games be shown nationally, ignoring whether or not most of the nation actually GETS the channel the games are on? Shame on all of you. You all suck, and I extend not one, but two, middle fingers at you all. And a nasty look. So there.

On TJ Ford
This originally started as a much longer piece but then it went on too long when a writer is getting bored writing something, you know it’s probably not very good. The point was I hope the crowd doesn’t boo TJ Ford when the Pacers come to town (Dec. 11 for those who want to know).

No, I didn’t like the way Ford handled things last year, and yes, I agree that Calderon is the better PG For this team.

But the thing is, Ford lost his job due to injury, when the unwritten sports rule is that you don’t lose your job to injury. He handled it poorly, sulking until he got his job back, although he never quit and always played hard (he just didn’t play the right way).

And then he was traded and it looks like both the Pacers and Raptors are (or at least should be) better for it.

So what is there to boo about? That he sulked for a half-dozen games? Come on. I don’t know about you, but I try not to lose sight of the fact that these guys are human beings too, and like all human beings, their emotions sometimes get the better of them. I don’t honestly think it would have made an ounce of difference either way in the final results of last season. Maybe they’d have won that game in March - was it against Orlando? - where he forced something like 8 shots in 11 possessions… but they still would have lost in round one. The problems with last year’s team ran much deeper than the Calderon/Ford debate.

Anyway, my point is, I think Ford is a good guy and a good player, and he’s worked his way back through a couple of serious injuries, was a major part of the second-most successful Raptors season ever (2006-2007) and he deservers better than boos. Not a standing O or anything, but at least the polite applause you give any respected opponent. So please don’t boo him.

PS Please still boo Vince Carter. And don’t ever stop.

On the election, or, “How to Waste $300 million in 60 days”
So, nothing changes except Stephane Dion is probably going to lose the Liberal leadership. Did we really need this election to tell us that? Heck, all we needed were the debates - where he could barely hold his own - to tell us he’d be a terrible leader. What was the point?

We have got to change the willy-nilly way we call elections here in Canada. Why can’t we stick to a regular schedule? At a time when the economy is struggling we just threw $300 million dollars away.

What a colossal waste.

On BC and Andrea Bargnani
I love how some people are ripping Bryan Colangelo for defending Andrea Bargnani, as if he’s got some blind devotion to him because he was Colangelo’s #1 pick, “Bryan’s guy.”

Because, apparently, it’s acceptable for a GM to rip his players in public.

Seriously. Do you ever, in a million years, think Colangelo is going to say “Yep, made a mistake with that Bargnani pick!” Of course not! He’s not an idiot - it’s clear, in hindsight, to anyone with eyes that Brandon Roy would have been perfect for this team and that LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay will likely have better careers than Bargnani. But BC isn’t going to admit that - he’d never throw one of his own players under the bus.

And it’s not because Bargnani is “Bryan’s guy.” It’s just because that’s the way a good GM operates.

It also doesn’t mean “Bryan won’t trade him because he’s Bryan’s guy.” Really, you think BC slagging Bargnani is going to make Bargnani valuable trade bait? All that does is decrease his value!

And hey, you know what, TJ Ford was a “Bryan’s guy” too - remember, he brought Ford in with the idea that this would be a Bosh-Ford-Bargnani triumvirate. Well that didn’t work so he swapped Ford for O’Neal and it’s now clearly a Bosh-Calderon-O’Neal triumvirate. If he was willing to trade Ford, he’ll be willing to trade Bargnani if the right deal comes along.

Colangelo has a brilliant basketball mind, and he knows more about basketball than me and every single Raptors fan out there. He’s smarter than all of us and if the opportunity arises, he’s pretty adept at turning negatives into positives.

On Stephon Marbury
He has a tattoo of his sneaker logo on his head. ‘Nuff said.

On the Wizards
Man, the Wiz caught a break that Antawn Jamison’s knee is OK. Imagine if they lost Gilbert Arenas, Brendon Haywood and Jamison? As it is, I think they’re in trouble - they could be in a big hole by January, when Arenas comes back, and even then, Haywood isn’t expected back for six months.

But let’s not forget that they were missing Arenas most of last year and still leapfrogged the Raps in the standings at the end - because Jamison is always solid and Caron Butler is really freakin’ good. You can never completely count a team out, no matter how many injuries they’ve got.

On the Tampa Bay Rays

Kudos to this good young team for making it to the big show. They’ve got a solid line-up that’s played well all season; they deserve it. But kudos also to the Sox for at least making it interesting! I checked the score Thursday night and it was 7-0. Turned off the TV and started reading.

Little while later I checked Sportacular on my iPhone. 7-4 now. Hmm.

Few minutes later, I check again. 7-6 in the bottom of eight! And since Sportacular is awesome enough to give me up-to-the minute details including count, I can see Coco Crisp is batting, with a runner on second, with a 3-2 count and two outs.

I could not turn the TV on fast enough! What a finish. It’s rare that I actually care about baseball but that finish, as well as game 6, were great. Game seven was a little less exciting - not enough scoring, too many runners stranded - but nevertheless, it was a good series.

I think Tampa’s got enough to win it - in six games.

Tags: Andrea Bargnani, MLSE, TJ Ford, Toronto Raptors, TSN2

I managed to see most of the game yesterday afternoon (even though I had seen the final score in the morning). I’m glad that Spain challenged the US and even though I always like to cheer for the underdog, I’m happy for the US.

If this team had played like the US teams played in 2002 and 2004 - miserable, sulking, like 12 individuals playing because they had to, not because they were proud to represent their country - I wouldn’t have wanted them to win.

But because this group played like a team, respected their opponents and the tournament itself, because (it at least looked like) they enjoyed the games and each other’s company - in other words, they earned their victory, not just with a hard-fought win but by playing and representing the sport the right way. I’m glad they won.

In fact it’s a delicious irony that Larry Brown often uses that exact same phrase (that he coaches his teams to “play the game the right way”), since it was his 2004 team that dropped a load in Athens.

As for Spain, they hung tough, and kept it closer than I thought it would be. Man, they move the ball well, don’t they? Their big men also have great hands - they corralled a lot of those little pick-and-roll slip passes in traffic that would bounce off the hands of most NBA big men.

It’s a shame Calderon couldn’t play because even though they were three-deep at point guard, obviously a guy with his experience could have helped in a big game like this. Surely he never would have fouled Kobe on that 3-point shot like Fernandez did! Alas, that was the turning point. But a great game overall.

I’m also glad that by all accounts Calderon’s injury is not severe and that he should be fine with a couple of weeks rest. Only a month until training camp!

Tags: Jose Calderon, Olympic basketball, redeem team

Well, we’re back. Once again we’re going to try this blog thing. How many times is this? Five? Eight? I’ve lost count.As usual, we’ll mainly be focusing on the Raptors with commentary on a few other things like movies, music, video games, comic books and other nerdy things like Magic and Star Wars thrown in here and there.

Some quick notes to get us back in the swing of things:

Jermaine O’Neal

I’m not a huge Jermaine O’Neal fan, never have been; always thought he was a bit overrated. But I am a fan of this deal. Look, anytime you can trade an injury-prone 5′11″ guard for an injury-prone, 6′11″ forward-center, you have to make that deal. Especially if you’ve already got a replacement for the guard (and he doesn’t want to play backup here) and the forward-center is a former five-time all-star.

Hey, it might not work at all - it’s possible that Chris Bosh and O’Neal may not be able to play together, that O’Neal might get hurt, that Jose Calderon may not be as good a starter as we think, that Andrea Bargnani may continue to stink and that Sam Mitchell won’t be able to figure out how to get the best three-point shooter in the game open for more than 0.7 seconds per game. All these things and more are possible.

But, coming off a disappointing season in which rebounding and defense were the team’s biggest problems, getting Jermaine O’Neal is a risk worth taking. I think as long as he stays healthy, and as long as Mitchell decides on a rotation and doesn’t jerk the 2-3 positions around as much as he did last year, the team should win 45 games and be in the hunt in the middle of the east.

Team USA

First off, at this point, if you think there’s a chance the US won’t win the gold… you’re crazy. Look, like a lot of people, I had doubts about this team coming into the Olympics.

But I watched that first game against China, and there was no doubt after that. Zero. None. It wasn’t just the talent level - the US, even when it wasn’t winning tournaments, was always the most talented and athletic team. No, this time, it was the execution - they made all the right adjustments on defense, they moved the ball well on offense… they ran when the opportunities came, they didn’t force things… basically, they played like a real team. A well-coached team.

And that was the complaint about them the past few tournaments, right, they didn’t play like a team? And all the other countries did? Now that the US is playing together, playing the right way, no other team is close to them. Australia didn’t have a chance, and neither does Spain or Argentina.

I’m also, obviously, pleased with how well Bosh is playing. Especially his effort on defence. With O’Neal beside him, hopefully Bosh won’t take as much of a pounding and be forced to guard the rim as much - he’ll be able to use the quickness he’s showing in Beijing to help the perimeter guys a bit, leaving O’Neal as the last line of defense.

Also, for those that like to debate these things… this team would not beat the original (and one-and-only) Dream Team. That is the greatest basketball team ever assembled. I would say that, if those two teams played 10 times, the current team would MAYBE win one, but the Dream Team would win the other nine. Easily.

XBox 360

My beloved XBox 360 Elite succumbed to the dreaded Red Ring of Death recently. Thankfully, it was still covered by Microsoft’s extended “we’re losing billions on this, but WTF, we got the marketshare” three-year warranty. The service was fairly efficient, the only hiccup being Purolator A) making me drive to the Beaches to pick up my empty box; and B) claiming to have attempted to deliver my replacement this past Monday, even though no one ever rang my door. Whatever, it arrived Tuesday, and I’m back gaming after a month long vacation.

So the question is how to prevent the RRoD from happening again. The most rumoured cause of the RRoD is overheating; my XBox was in my entertainment unit, and although I believed there was enough airflow around it, perhaps there wasn’t. Or there was just enough to keep its lifespan at 14 months. So now I either have to find a new place for it (not easy) or buy a new, more open-concept entertainment unit (not cheap). Or perhaps suspend it on a wire from the ceiling with a fan blowing on it at all times…. Sigh. I’ll have to figure something out this weekend.

As for what I’m playing, well, I still have a few achievements left to capture for Lego Star Wars, and after that, I think I may play some Guitar Hero or Rock Band - I haven’t rocked out in far too long. I do need to pick up Civilization: Revolution at some point, and of course, The Force Unleashed comes out next month…

And for the record, I did not finish Grand Theft Auto IV. I could not beat the last mission. I’m not kidding. Final mission, I got stuck. Damn frustrating.

Music

Saw Counting Crows the other night, my favourite band of course. I am happy to report that even though they are old and haven’t done much of anything lately, they are still great live. The show was a nice acoustic set (although that version of Miami was a little TOO acoustic). Even though it was yet another in their seemingly endless string of co-headlining summer tours at shitty outdoor venues, and Maroon 5 was predictably terrible, I’m glad I went, as it could be the last time I see them; they’ve been so quiet, I wouldn’t be surprised if they quit any day now.

Of course at this point I’d pay just about anything to hear them indoors, at a nice venue, on their own for a full show. Massey Hall, anyone?

The Dark Knight

Dark Knight was not as good as the hype. Was it good? Yes. Was it THAT good? Not even close. Whose idea was it to shoe-horn the Harvey Dent story into this flick? HUGE mistake in not giving his transformation into Two-Face the time it deserves, and making him a secondary character in what should have been the Joker’s movie. The flick should have ended after the hospital confrontation, leaving Dent to descend into madness and take his revenge in the next flick. Mashing it all together did each villain (and Batman, who seemed to barely be on-screen) a disservice, and made the film way too long.

The acting, outside one notable exception, was fantastic. Enough has been said about Heath Ledger, of course, and Aaron Eckhardt made a great Harvey Dent. And would probably have made a good Two-Face, if, you know…

That exception? Maggie Gyllenhall. She’s not a bad actress, but she was practically unwatchable here. Look, can we please just get away from giving Batman a romantic foil? Please. Just take a look at your source material. Give me one good Batman comic with Bruce Wayne in love. Oh, look. There are none. Shocking. Her death may have sent Harvey over the edge, but did the audience really care? An utterly forgettable role

Anyway. It was still an enjoyable film even if it was 40 minutes too long. And obviously, I’m glad it’s doing well as it is; any superhero film making a ton of cash is good news for comic book fans, and a comic film that dark and “grown up” means that perhaps audiences really are ready to take the next step with…

Watchmen

Does it look cool? Hell yeah. Is it going to be good? Probably. Great? No way. Look, Watchmen is the best comic book ever made, but it’s great because it does things no other comic book ever did before, and none have done as well since. None of these things will translate to film. The story itself will translate fine, and the characters - if the acting and writing is any good - should also be solid on screen. Top it off with some nice effects and yeah, it should be a decent flick.

But I can imagine the universal reaction afterwards being, “that was good, but I really don’t see what makes that any better than any other comic book…” because the things that make a great comic book won’t be there: The symmetry in the panels. The subtle unraveling of history that just can’t happen in a two or even three hour film. The depth of the illustrations. The recurring motifs that you only notice after reading it three times. That perfect balance of art and writing.

Look, Citizen Kane is the greatest movie ever made, but you wouldn’t turn Citizen Kane into a comic book and expect it to have the same impact. Take away all the groundbreaking camera work, lighting, acting, innovative flashback structure, and editing - none of which had ever been done before in a movie… and you’re left with a biography of a rich guy.

So if you turn the Citizen Kane of comic books into a movie… removing all the things that make it a great comic… you’re left with a story of how super-heroes ended the cold war…

…

…which, on second thought… actually does sound pretty cool.

Star Wars Revisited

A Star Wars fan? Good. Google “Star Wars Revisited Adywan”. Just do it, just like that. I’ll wait.

…

OK, so now you know that Star Wars Revisited is one person’s masterpiece - a version of Star Wars edited to get rid of all the special edition nonsense, while keeping the good parts of it, and adding in a couple very subtle touches to tie the movie to its prequels. It’s also colour- and sound-corrected from the incredibly flawed 2004 DVD release.

Basically, it’s the greatest version of Star Wars ever made.

Find some way, anyway, to get your hands on it, watch it, and remember why you fell in love with it 30-odd years ago.

And hope you can find some way to “speed up the harvest” so that Adywan finishes up The Empire Strikes Back Revisited soon!

Tags: Chris Bosh, Counting Crows, Dark Knight, Jermaine O'Neal, Raptors, Star Wars Revisited, Team USA, Watchmen, XBox 360

Tonight the Jazz come to town, with a 6-2 record… and riding a four-game winning streak.

It’s the start of a three-game home stand for the 4-3 Raps… who are merely 1-2 at the ACC this year.

Oh, and the Jazz have swept the season series the last two years.

So basically, it doesn’t look good for the Raptors tonight.

Still, all streaks end sometime and you know eventually the Raps will start winning on the home court. Overall the Jazz are averaging 111 points a game and shooting 50 % from the field… one has to assume that like a streak, those numbers have to come down too, right?

Could tonight be the night?

Utah is a tough matchup for Toronto’s offense at any time, let alone when the Jazz themselves are lighting it up on offense; at virtually every position, they are bigger and stronger. Even Mehmet Okur, their center who likes to bomb from long range, is an effective rebounder and big body. Carlos Boozer is the type of physical forward that gives Chris Bosh fits; Andrei Kirilenko can help on penetrators and close out on shooters with those long arms; they rebound the ball well; overall they’re just well disciplined, they rotate well, and they don’t make a lot of mental mistakes.

Defensively, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bosh and Rasho Nesterovic switched some, and and Rasho guards Boozer for stretches, and Bosh guards Okur. That might help keep Bosh fresh and out of foul trouble.

Deron Williams is turning into a great point guard. He’s definitely not as fast as TJ or as good a shooter as Calderon, but he’s got a knack for hitting big shots, and he’s got a big upper body that allows him to get into the lane and finish. Basically TJ and Jose are going to have their hands full.

Meanwhile there’s Kirilenko who, for all the drama surrounding him, is still a great help defender and rebounder, and he can shoot and slash; at a legit 6′9″, he’s a difficult matchup for whoever ends up starting at small forward for the Raptors - Kapono, Moon, I don’t know at this point.

The Jazz bench isn’t all that deep, but it’s nothing to scoff at. Second-year man Ronnie Brewer is starting, leaving shooters Gordon Giricek and Matt Harpring to come in firing off the pine. They’ve also got rebounding beast Paul Millsap and backup center Jaron Collins. Williams is backed up by Jason Hart, who frankly, should get eaten up by Calderon. I’d definitely give the Raptors bench the edge; in addition to Jose we’ve got shooters of our own in Bargnani and Kapono, and Delfino has been fantastic.

Still… I think the disciplined, physical game of the Jazz will wear the Raps down, and though they won’t run away with it, they’ll hold the Raptors off for a 12-point win.

Meanwhile… how about that Stephon Marbury? I mean if you had any doubts about the Knicks being the most dysfunctional team in sports, they had to have been obliterated by this latest mess, right? Well, whatever. What’s bad for the Knicks is good for the Raptors, as far as I’m concerned. I hate the Knicks.

Tags: Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Deron Williams, Stephon Marbury, TJ Ford, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz