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Thursday, November 5, 2009 10:56 AM
Raps win in front of Oak
Did not get to see last night’s game as I’m on the road on another assignment, but as wins go I guess you could call it necessary, right?
You’re playing a team missing two starters and playing the second night of a back-to-back and you don’t win and you have some serious issues. That they allowed Detroit to come back in the fourth quarter and pull within a point has to be a concern, as the fact that they’ve allowed an average of 107.5 points a games and rank 29th in defensive efficiency. On a positive note the Raptors are now third in the NBA in offensive efficiency, so take the wins where you can.
Anyway, I also missed the Oak love-in. I’m all for celebrating 15 years of Raptors history, but it’s kind of slim pickings, isn’t it? As quotable as Oak was, his grumpiness was misplaced, given that the worst three full seasons of his career were in a Raptors uniform. In his last season he shot 39.9 per cent from the floor, yet he had bamboozled the Raptors into paying him $21-million over his three years in Toronto beginning at age 35. And people think Colangelo might have overpaid for Jarrett Jack? I always thought Oak should have been laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe he was.
Anyway, I got a call yesterday from Oak’s business manager Billy Diamond who wanted to tell me a pretty funny story about how Oak almost didn’t become a Raptor.
Seems Oak wasn’t very happy about coming to Canada. The Raptors were the NBA’s version of Siberia and coming off that epic 16-66 season, he was probably right. As the exiled toast of New York, Oak was sincerely grumpy when he pulled up to the border crossing on his way to training camp, driving up from his home in Cleveland. He’s rolling in a black BMW with tinted windows, stuffed to the gills with whatever belongings he might need to make the Royal York Hotel feel like home away from home.
The border guards are curious maybe even suspicious and Oak gets questioned. He tells them he’s on his way to play for the Raptors, but that doesn’t quite cut it. They want to see his work papers and documentation etc., but Oak doesn’t have it. They search the BMW. Tens of thousands of dollars of suits only Oak and the Ohio Players could wear are being rifled through, and who knows what else.
He’s mad. He calls his agent. “This is bull***, call (then Raptors GM) Glen Grunwald, F*** this! I’m not coming up there, I’m turning around right now.”
Diamond calls Grunwald, who in turn gets pumping on trying to find out how to get a very angry, very big, power forward admitted to Canada. On a Sunday.
Diamond calls Oak and asks him to sit tight, be patient, it will get sorted out in an hour or so.
Oak: “F*** that, I’m going back to Cleveland.”
Diamond convinces Oak to sit tight, but Oak decides he wants to use the time wisely. He wants to work out.
“He says find me a gym, otherwise I’m turning around and going back to Cleveland.”
Diamond remembers he knows a college player at the University of Buffalo and calls him up on a Sunday afternoon. “Can you find a place for Charles Oakley to work out?”
“Serious?
“Yeah.”
The kid gets the key to the gym and the University of Buffalo and off Oak goes.
Two hours past, no word from Oak, meanwhile Grunwald has sorted out the issue at the border.
Where’s Oak?
“Long story short,” says Diamond. “Oak lifted for an hour, shot for an hour and then took the kid, Rassan Young, out to eat, He finally calls back, he’s all happy [for Oak] and everything is good to go.
"Typical Charles.”
International incident averted, Oak heads to Toronto, and a unique era in Canadian basketball history begins.
Link to this postMonday, November 2, 2009 08:55 AM
Some thoughts on the Raps' start
One game, some things, v3.3:
If there is a theme I’ve picked up in three games it’s this: As the other team goes, so go the Raptors. Against Cleveland, I thought Toronto played well, but my overall impression was the Cavaliers were awful. Memphis? I thought they played great, and Orlando was unbelievable. The flip side is one of the objects in sports is to make the other team struggle. I’m not sure the Raptors made the other team do much of anything.
As much as Bargnani didn’t score in the first half, I thought he played pretty well; in particular he defended Howard reasonably well and most importantly didn’t foul. Very early in the game Howard took him to the left block, got the ball, pitched out, re-posted and then powered hard to the middle of the lane. Bargnani was pretty much overmatched, but he stayed with the play as best he could and at the point he realized he’d been beaten he didn’t foul. Bargnani’s tendency to foul early was a big hurdle in his development and more and more he’s learning to use his fouls wisely and keep himself on the floor.
Someone should roll out the Vlade Divac tapes for Bargnani though. He’s been pretty game in matching up with Shaq, a surprisingly effective – and huge – Marc Gasol and then Howard, but he’s still a couple of seasons of lifting away from really keeping those guys out of the deep post, if it ever happens. It might be time to flop.
So into the Magic dressing room before the game and there’s a very sleepy Dwight Howard holding court. He’s not doing interviews; he’s just bored and looking to chat with the three or four reporters lingering around. First it’s about MMA, of which he’s apparently a big fan. Then it’s mentioned that Ron Artest apparently wants to box professionally when he retires from basketball. Then the question becomes how much money would it take to step in a ring against Ron-Ron. Tough question, as I point out that a clean shot by Ron-Ron might break my face and kill me. Howard says if I trained I could make sure Ron-Ron doesn’t get a clean shot. I’m thinking a lot of professional boxers train their whole lives and give up clean shots all the time. I figure $5-million might be enough.
Then Howard comes up with this one: Would you stand in a ring with a gorilla for one minute for $5-billion? The last time I seriously contemplated this was fourth grade, I think. It’s pointed out to Howard that, pound-for-pound, a gorilla might be the fiercest beast on earth. The possibility is that the gorilla rips you limb from limb before the minute is up. At that point who gets the $5-billion?
Then Howard and Ryan Anderson got into a pretty detailed chat about their pre-game, um, rituals, toilet wise. We’ll just leave it at that.
Then Vince Carter walks in. Somehow the conversation has shifted to Master P; Carter tells a funny story about being Master P’s teammate for a memorable (though before my time) pre-season game during the Butch Carter era. The rap mogul stripped a Vancouver Griz hopeful at midcourt, went the other way and pulled up and made a 1-0 three-pointer. The offending Vancouver player, says Carter, got cut the very next day. Playing with Master P, said Carter, was great: “We had the best music.”
In the midst of this, a little guy is labouring over the Magic’s white board, delineating the Raptors sets; drawing up Orlando’s game notes. “I saw Master P playing for the Fort Wayne Fury in the CBA during the lockout,” he says to no one in particular. “He was awful. Couldn’t play at all.”
The voice, I realize, belongs to Stan Van Gundy who has coached a team to the NBA Finals but still won’t let an assistant do his white board, possibly because he couldn’t possibly find someone to make it neater. It’s a beautiful piece of work.
By the way, a few minutes later Van Gundy told us that Vince would not be playing because of his sprained ankle. “It’s absolutely killing him not to play,” he said, noting that his lateral movement was the problem.
Um, no it wasn’t ,Stan; it was not killing Vince not to play. Carter seemed absolutely jovial in the dressing room in between his Master P stories, and even did some running on the spot, announcing that he could “run the Boston Marathon right here in Toronto.” The marathon as we know, doesn’t require defensive slides.
Funny line about Turkoglu by Van Gundy: “Hedo’s biggest thing is, I don’t know what time they practise here, but 10 a.m. is not his best time of the day. Sometimes he needed a little prodding and sometimes a lot more than a little to get him going in practice, but that’s just him, he’s not really a morning guy. We had some troubles there.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 03:52 PM
Raptors hanging on to Belinelli
Jay Triano said he could envision Marco Belinelli could emerge as a fan favourite in Toronto when were talking after practice today. Well, he’ll have a chance to makes himself familiar. The Raptors picked up his option yesterday and he’ll be under contract through 2011.
Here’s some details from the Raptors release:
The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday they have exercised the fourth-year team option on the Rookie Scale Contract of guard Marco Belinelli. Belinelli is now guaranteed through the 2010-11season. In accordance with the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the Raptors had until October 31 to exercise their option on Belinelli. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal was not disclosed.
Belinelli had 10 points in 19 minutes in Wednesday’s season-opening win versus Cleveland.
The 18th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, Belinelli averaged 8.9 points, 2.1 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 21.0 minutes in 42 games last season with Golden State. He registered four 20-point games during the 2008-09 campaign, including a career-high 27 points December 12, 2008 at Atlanta.
Through 76 career games Belinelli owns a .397 mark from three-point range (69-for-174). As a rookie he appeared in 33 games, averaging 2.9 points in 7.3 minutes.
Prior to joining the Warriors, the 23 year-old, 6-foot-5 guard from Bologna, Italy, played professionally in Italy for five seasons. In 33 games during the 2006-07 season with Fortitudo Bologna in Serie A, Belinelli averaged 16.4 points, while shooting .544 (99-for-182) from the field. In 13 Euroleague contests, he averaged 12.9 points on .438 (32-for-73) from the field.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:51 AM
A modest man's thoughts on opening night
Modesty prevents me from taking credit for last night’s show, but given my pre-season pessimism and dour predictions, you knew a blowout win over a supposed Eastern Conference powerhouse was a near mortal lock. Thank me later.
Anyway:
1. One of the biggest ovations last night was provided for Alvin Williams as an assistant coach, which I thought was great. Toronto fans take a beating for various things, but one of them is embracing the wrong guys a lot of the time – Tie Domi comes to mind and for different reasons Jerome Williams, whose likeability was offset – for me at least – by his flair for self-promotion. But with Alvin Williams they’ve got it just right. In my experience Alvin Williams has never begged for attention and he certainly wasn’t the kind of player, in terms of flash, that commanded it. He was simply a pro’s pro with a burning passion for his work. That Raptors fans recognize that and made the special effort to acknowledge it last night reflected well on them.
2. I have to say the opening night was pretty good. They had a full orchestra and choir on the floor and maybe the most amazing thing, with all the noise, was that about halfway through I realized that the music accompanying the whole deal – one of those 19th-century pieces with minor key vocals and big percussion – was live. My only regret was that they didn’t tone Herbie down a bit so that they could be heard. Overall a very impressive show though.
3. It was kind of amusing though, that in the pre-game montage, when they were showing all the guys doing dunks or dribbling tricks they showed Rasho kind of leaning on an imaginary defender and slowly backing him down. That’s about right, I guess.
4. And the designated hugger is……Marcus Banks! Well done Marcus, but obviously he had the advantage of Sonny Weems being in street clothes. Antoine Wright, I saw worked to get some hugs in, too. But Banks staked out his territory by the scorer’s table early, held on to it despite some challenges and is clearly the Raptors designated pre-game hugger until something changes.
5. Was it just me or was Calderon being a bit braver with some of his passes? You don’t lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio without being a bit cautious. But there was Calderon throwing a little running alley-oop to Andrea for a layup and a gutsy bounce pass on the run in traffic that got Bargnani fouled. That will be an interesting trend to follow.
6. To me the most impressive aspects of last night’s game was when the Cavaliers went small in the first half and put James on Bargnani, his response was to head for the block, demand the ball and then convert twice in the post. That is a huge development and something that was hinted at last year but it clearly going to be more of a fixture this year. I’ve written this many times: if Bargnani plays with authority in the post, particularly against smaller players, and the Raptors can exploit it, he becomes close to unguardable.
7. Credit to DeRozan: on his first touch as an official NBA player the ball was swung to him and he wasted no time in attacking the rim and picking up the foul. On a couple of other occasions he hit those mid-corner jumpers that are going to be there all season, too. He got lost defensively a couple of times, but otherwise an encouraging debut.
8. The Cavaliers looked like a very unhappy team. James looked frustrated; Shaq looked fat – check that – I saw him tugging on his jersey and he is definitely carrying some extra weight and his lack of lift was alarming. He’s obviously in his “use the first-half of the season to get in shape phase” and I’m not sure that’s going to fly on a team that won 66 games and last year and is trying to get better.
9. Got a good look at Bosh’s tattoo last night. There’s a big tree growing out of the base of his spine and spreading up and over his shoulders with a big tiger attacking it. Apparently he’s only done five hours of the estimated 40 hours of work it’s going to require. There you have it.
10. Here’s an interesting take by Cleveland Plain Dealer beat writer Brian Windhorst:
“Bargnani, perhaps showing why the Raptors saw fit to give him a $50-million extension in the off-season, was masterful moving in and out. The Cavs' big men could not stay with the former No. 1 overall pick when he was outside. When the Cavs tried James on him for a stretch, Bargnani took him into the post and scored down there. He finished with 28 points on a slick 11-of-15 shooting, which including two three-pointers.
"Then there was Bosh, who was his normal prolific self with 21 points and 16 rebounds. There were times when the Cavs guarded him effectively with either Anderson Varejao or James, but there were very few times when the Cavs could guard both Bosh and Bargnani at the same time.
"Add in Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon creating offense by spinning off pick-and-rolls with Bosh and Bargnani, and the Raptors looked formidable.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 03:23 PM
DeRozan raring to go
It’s about that time. It was kind of interesting talking to DeMar DeRozan this morning on the eve of his first NBA game. His parents are here. He’s excited. He’s finally at the place he’s worked most of the past 10 years to get to and he’ll walk out on the same floor with Shaquille O’Neal who he watched growing up in Los Angeles, and LeBron James, who rivals DeRozan’s mentor Kobe – he worked at the Lakers star’s summer camps – as the best player on the planet. Not bad. He says he’s not too nervous, but that his mother Dianne is, particularly after seeing Shaq lay out Kevin Garnett last night.
To me DeRozan is one of the real keys for the Raptors this season. I watched the Cavs-Celtics last night and thought AP was pretty underwhelming – some shaky turnovers, a little hesitation in his game – which is understandable given it’s his first game with his new club and he’s a slow starter anyway. I hope he can find his feet sooner than later but what’s interesting is that Raptors were perceived to be deficient at the two spot last season when Parker was holding it down.
Now? There is no way DeRozan is an upgrade, not yet. One of Sam Mitchell’s Samisms was that the ball will always find the guy in the place where he’s least likely to do some good with it. “It’s amazing the way that ball finds you,” he said.
DeRozan shot 16.7 per cent from the college three-point line at USC last year. He’s shooting 27.3 per cent from the NBA line through eight exhibition games, and 41 per cent over all.
My guess is that opposing defences are going to run away from him and force him to be the guy shooting late in clocks. If I were him I’d be nervous about that.
Not a big prediction guy but here are mine that I submitted to Eric Smith of The Fan590.
Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin
2. Most Improved Player: Greg Oden
3. MVP: LeBron James
4. Sixth Man: Manu Ginobili
5. Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders
6. Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard
7. Eastern Final: Magic-Cavs
8. Western Final: Lakers-Spurs
9. NBA Championship: Lakers over Cavs
10. Raptors record: 38-44, 10th
As you can see, I’m not real bullish on the Raptors right now. The good news for Raptors fans is I’ve been wrong every year. But the main reasons why I’m not on the post-season bandwagon is that given the exhibition season the team has had and the schedule they face, I think a quick start is hard to imagine. And I think that they’re still a weak rebounding team and are going to be giving up too much at the two-guard spot and they lack depth at three. Those are key positions to be deficient at.
If you want more, give a listen to the podcast I did with Darren Yourk of globeandmail.com.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 11:09 AM
Talking hoops, LeBron and Shaq with AP
The Raptors locker room is open to media for 45 minutes beginning 90 minutes before the game, and for most of the past two years the go-to spot was the farthest side of the wall where Joey Graham, Kris Humphries, Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker lived. The Raptors have always had good locker rooms. Juan Dixon, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Jose Calderon, Garbo, T.J. Ford, Jason Kapono – even Bosh, though he’s usually pretty focused before games – have always been fun guys to chat with when time allows. But the far side of the wall was a bit unique. Hump was hilarious, intentionally and unintentionally. Moon? I’ve never met anyone like him, Joe Geezy? You couldn’t meet a nicer guy; it made you wish he could better follow instructions on the floor. AP was like Dad to those guys, or at least like a big brother. They’d be saying crazy stuff – Hump mostly – and Moon would chip in with some country wisdom and Joey would seem a bit bemused, as if he was late to a Hall of Fame luncheon, or something. And AP would just watch and laugh or egg them on, which didn’t take much.
It was all very entertaining, as I tried to capture a couple of times with Ask Hump (RIP) last year. A lot of times when you say nice things about professional athletes – like when someone says nice things about reporters, not that that happens very often – it’s qualified: He’s a nice guy for an athlete; he’s pretty smart for an athlete, etc. It’s stupid, but it’s tradition. AP required no qualification. He was smart, nice and has several other good qualities by any standard. All of this to say I’d have no problem cheering for him to earn an NBA ring with the Cavs. Anyway, I wrote a story that appeared in the paper today, but thought I’d post the transcript of the interview here.
What was it like to be a free agent for the first time?
"It was stressful, we prayed a lot. I was going to have a job, it was just the stress of knowing this could be your final contract; you want it to be a good situation but also knowing you want to get the best deal financially as well, so you were weighing a lot of options.”
Did you have a lot of choices?
“It was tough and there were a lot of good teams in the mix as well, but Cleveland showed a ton of interest from the beginning and made it clear that I was part of what they wanted to do, that was a big thing.”
“It’s definitely a good feeling knowing teams like that are coming after you. Three years ago I was overseas and now I’m here. But even then Bryan Colangelo was the guy that showed interest early and stayed with it and that meant a lot, and Cleveland was like that this time.''
I can guess, but why do you think so many good teams were interested in you?
“I guess for what I do. I’m someone who has played major minutes in the NBA, I’m willing to come off the bench; I can shoot, I’m a solid defender and I’m not going to do anything crazy in the locker room.”
It must be wild to be playing on the same team as LeBron and Shaq?
“Again, three years ago I was playing overseas and now I look on one side and it’s LeBron and on the other side it’s Shaq, it’s pretty cool. They make things a lot easier and they take so much pressure off everyone because they command so much attention, it allows someone like me to focus on what I do and do it better.”
LeBron seems like a good team guy; someone who enjoys being part of a group rather than tolerates it?
“That’s part of the appeal for all the players in the league about LeBron, it stands out. He’s a team guy and in a team concept he can’t help but shine, but the fact is his mindset is team first and he’s shown it with the strides he’s made on the defensive end and he’s got the ability to lead but not in an outspoken or brash way; he’s a hard worker. It’s good to see.
“When your best player is one of your hardest workers, the rest of the team follows suit. If he’s staying after practice to get up shots, you better be sure that you’re getting your shots up as well.”
Any good Shaq stories yet?
“I can’t believe he’s older than me; he’s got so much energy and he’s always joking around, I have to remind myself he’s the guy I’ve been watching all these years. He’s fun to be around.”
Those guys have so many things going on off the court; do they have time to be good teammates, too?
“That’s part of the whole thing, being able to juggle all those things and still remember why you have those opportunities. Shaq’s had a career of being able to do that and LeBron seems to be doing that really well as far as having a lot of balls in the air and still being able to get better at the game of basketball.”
Are you used to playing with them yet?
“At the beginning it’s like, ‘there’s LeBron and there’s Shaq’, but as you get to know them, like anybody, you get past the superstar thing and you see – it’s sounds corny but it’s true – they’re just people. They say funny things, they do funny things, they’re not always right, they have the same problems everyone else has. I definitely feel like we’re at that point where, yeah, there’s Shaq, there’s LeBron and you just go to work.''
Will they be able to work together?
“It looks that way. They can complement each other and it’s not a situation where they’re going to have to work hard to try and complement each other. The trust and all that comes over time over the course of a season, but there’s certainly that respect level and the trust starts from there.
How’s Jamario?
“Jamario is still Jamario. We have all kinds of guys on this team, some real characters, and Jamario’s one of the country guys. Actually, J.J. Hickson has Jamario beat, if you can believe that.
"Jamario is kind of our translator for JJ, when we don’t understand. When he says a whole sentence that sounds like one word, we look at Jamario and he’ll tell us what JJ said.”
What’s it like to play on a team expected to win an NBA title?
“It’s a different challenge. There’s not pressure to make the playoffs, there’s not pressure about what we’re going to do in the regular season, it’s more the goal is championship. It’s a different sort of pressure, it’s a different level, but it’s exciting to be a part of it. People are talking about it; your family gets to see you on TV, all those things.
“When we travel now, it’s a little different, when we pull up to the hotel and there are hundreds and hundreds of people waiting, I’m not going to say it’s like The Beatles, but it’s different. You feel that excitement level whereever we go.”
So how is it guys like you or Jamario are no longer with the Raptors but you're going to be important parts of a potential championship team?
“For players like me it’s all about getting in the right situation. When you’re in the right situation you can seem a lot better than you actually are and when you’re in a bad situation you can seem a lot worse than you actually are. Those difference makers are few and far between and its tough to get them on your team, and we have two difference makes here in Cleveland.”
And it looks like you’ll be starting?
“I just hope that I don’t have to do any dances or anything. That’s not my style.''
Kind of cool to be coming to Toronto so early in the season?
“I’m excited; it’s like a free trip to a place where I called home for three years. It’s exciting to go back and compete against your old team as well, but it’s weird because I didn’t play against very many of those guys.”
What do you think of the Raptors?
“They have a deep team; top-to-bottom it’s a better team, Jarrett Jack will really help. It kind of reminds me of my first year because there are so many guys who can come in and play.”
Monday, October 26, 2009 03:09 PM
Almost time for tip-off
It’s getting to that time, isn’t it? I’m definitely excited about Wednesday night. And how cool is it that the Raptors first game is playing host to the new-look Cavs and featuring the return of Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker?
Oh, and Shaq and LeBron’s debut; that, too.
As I’ve posted before, there’s little I’ve seen in the exhibition season to convince me that the Raptors are on their way to the fourth or fifth seed in the East. At the very least between injuries, etc., their top five guys – with Antoine Wright in place of DeRozan – has played almost not at all together, which makes it hard to expect a fast start, particularly when you look at the Raptors schedule, which is a tough one early on: Two very difficult west coast trips to start with, and the only title contender they don’t play by December 1 is the Lakers.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see what everything looks like when the lights go on, and having Shaq and LeBron and some old friends on hand make it even better.
Giving it a bit more of buzz is the fact that LeBron’s movie is opening in Toronto and Vancouver on Friday (Oct. 30). Unfortunately the man himself won't be at the Canadian premier tomorrow night at the Scotiabank Theatre because the Cavaliers are opening the regular season at home to Boston.
Canada Basketball, as you know, is putting on the movie premier event as a fundraiser for their world championship season next summer; for a tax deductible $100 you get to mingle with Canada Basketball types – Maurizio Gherardini, Leo Rautins and others – take part in a Q and A with director Kris Belman – his story is almost as good as LeBron’s – and see what is supposed to be a very good movie. There are more details here.
I’m going to screen it tonight and will let you know more.
Anyway, kind of a fun week shaping up.
Friday, October 23, 2009 11:43 AM
Bad timing for NBA in Vancouver
So Nash shows up in Vancouver and an NBA exhibition game packs the joint. Makes a guy wonder . . what if? As Matt Sekeres wrote in today’s Globe, with a crystal ball and some better decision making there’s no reason the NBA shouldn’t have remained on the West Coast. If they had known the Canadian dollar would have rebounded to par, would they have left? If they had somehow, someway managed to pick up a second first-round pick in the middle of the 1996 draft to use on Nash, would they have needed to? What if the NBA hadn’t written such an onerous expansion agreement, in particular locking the Raptors and Grizzlies out of the top pick in the first couple of seasons? As Nash has said before, what if another general manager, not Stu Jackson, had been running the show, maybe things might have been different.
But looking back, one element that can’t be overlooked is this: During the years they were picking the highest and needed stars the most, the NBA draft was incredibly weak. Even when you go back and dissect who should have been picked where, Vancouver’s draft prospects weren’t that good.
Picking No. 6 in 1995 they got Bryant Reeves. Were they unwise to pick him there? I don’t think so. Were they unwise to sign him to a $65-million extension? Yes. Was it his fault he ate himself out of the NBA? Yes.
They got Shareef Abdur-Rahim No. 3 in 1996, and while he’s not a Hall-of-Famer, he was a productive NBA player. The problem was he was miscast as a franchise player.
1997: Antonio Daniels? A nice role player at No. 4, and when you look at what else was available – Tony Battie, Ron Mercer, Tim Thomas and Adonal Foyle were the next four picks – not a bad choice. Revisionist history would suggest Tracy McGrady at No. 9 was the right call here, but that would have been a huge stretch then.
1998: Mike Bibby at No. 2? Well, Raef Lafrentz went No. 3, and the Golden State Warriors thought so little of Vince Carter (taken No. 5) they traded him to Toronto for Antawn Jamison (taken No. 4) and paid money to grease the deal. Bibby has gone on to a really nice career, the problem is he’s just not the impact player you want picking No. 2.
1999: A huge blunder taking Steve Francis at No. 2; his teary pout was a pox on the franchise. But look at the alternatives: Baron Davis? Underachieving flake. LaMar Odom? Flake. Jonathan Bender? High school kid, always hurt. Wally SZzzzz? Rip Hamilton went No. 7, but no one was projecting him as a No. 2 pick at the time. Before he got hurt Francis was a huge talent. Unfortunately for Grizzlies fans he was an immature weirdo.
2000: Yes, Stro Swift was a waste of a No. 2 pick. Total underachiever. But remember that Darius Miles went No. 3. Marcus Fizer went fourth, Mike Miller went No. 5 and DeMar Johnson went No. 6 and then came Chris Mihm. Seriously, what could any GM do with that?
These were horrible draft classes.
The Raptors made it in part because they play in a bigger market and in a better building and in no small part because of the shared ownership with the Leafs, which meant corporate box-holders got Raptors suites along with their Leaf suites, they couldn’t pick and choose. And also they caught a break when they got Carter, who got better faster than anyone imagined. When they got McGrady; same thing.
I think the NBA should be in Vancouver and wish it was. If the team had been launched in 2002 with a better expansion agreement they might still be, given the strength of the dollar and the possibility of drafting the likes of LeBron, Carmelo, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul or Kevin Durant. That’s a lot of true franchise players to pick from; the Vancouver Grizzlies never got a shot at anything remotely close to that, though with their luck, picking No. 2 in 2003, they would have taken Darko.
But you see what I mean.
Nash and the Maple Leaf
Also, we can put this to bed right now, Sekeres asked Nash about playing for Canada next summer, here’s his answer, for the last time:
“I’m probably not going to play. I just can’t do it. I’m 35 – 36 in the middle of the season – and I gave it everything I had just to handle my responsibility to this team. For me to live up to my standards for the national team, I’d probably have to train for two months before we play. I’m not the type of player or athlete who can just take a few weeks and live up to my standards. We’re talking about, in some ways, an expiration date on what I can handle.
“I also think that those guys have done an amazing job qualifying and those guys deserve to go. They should go and build a program with those guys who went out there and qualified - I would say against the odds - and they should go down and build a team and build a reputation for themselves. I’ll be supporting them all the way, but I’d say the chances of me playing are very slim.”
Kudos to Canada Basketball.
The national governing body for hoops in our home and native land has secured the rights to the Canadian premiere of the new LeBron James flick, More Than a Game, next Tuesday night in downtown Toronto. There are lots of details at the Canada Basketball website but the great thing is a portion of the ticket sales will go to support Canada Basketball’s four – count-em four – entries at the various World Basketball Championships next summer. There is also a silent auction for the same cause, so take a look. I’ve heard the film is very, very good. Look for an interview I did with director Kris Belman way back in this space early next week.
Friday, October 23, 2009 03:59 PM
On Magic, Bird and Isiah
Just a quick one. For fans of a certain age, Magic, Bird and Isiah mean just about everything to you. It’s what you grew up on. Apparently there’s a book coming out that goes behind the scenes in the Magic-Bird relationship, which alone makes it a must read. That Jackie McMullen wrote it helps, too. And that Isiah Thomas is the villain in the piece only makes it more delicious. And that Isiah is more than bitter about being cast that way, and is spouting off with a vengeance to Ian Thomsen on SI.com? Must read, must read.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 01:11 PM
Revisiting the draft class of 2006
It’s getting to that time for the 2006 draft agent class. LaMarcus Aldridge became just the third member of the draft class to sign a contract extension, something that has to be done by Hallowe'en. Aldridge signed Wednesday night for five years and $65-million (all currency U.S.) with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Why is this relevant for Raptors fans? Aldridge was selected second in 2006 after Andrea Bargnani. As everyone knows Bargnani signed for five years and $50-million in July. I know people within the Raptors front office were watching with interest to see what would happen with Aldridge.
Brandon Roy, taken at No. 6, has already emerged as the class of that draft to date and has the five-year, $80-million extension to prove it. Now the question becomes if his body will hold up long enough that Portland will get the return on the deal. Rajon Rondo, taken 21st by Phoenix – just one sign of the apocalypse for Suns fans, by the way – is said to be looking for “all-star money” which -- probably starts at what, $60-million? He might be worth it, based on his triple-double flirtation in the playoffs last year, but that’s still a big ticket for a guy who can’t shoot. Does Rondo get all that room playing without Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and KG? That’s for Danny Ainge to decide.
What is Rudy Gay worth, given his numbers are very comparable to Alderidge’s and Bargnani’s? Working for the notoriously cheap Memphis Grizzlies, Gay, taken eighth in 2006, apparently hasn’t even seen an offer yet, but I can’t see him not getting something in the $10-million range. Ty Thomas in Chicago is another enigma, the No. 4 pick’s vast potential still unrealized, but insiders put his value anywhere from $40-million now with the chance that could jump if he breaks out a little bit.
Regardless, the Aldridge deal confirms at the very least that the Raptors got pretty decent value for Bargnani. If you look at their numbers for last season on a per 36-minute basis Aldridge comes out ahead, particularly given he did it on a playoff team:
Aldridge: 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 48.7 per cent shooting, four free throw attempts and 1.2 blocks.
Bargnani: 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 42.4 per cent shooting, 3.9 free throw attempts and 1.1 blocks.
But the $15-million question is, of course, will Bargnani continue producing at the rate he did in the last half of the season – 18.9 points on 46.8-per-cent shooting in just under 36 minutes a game – or was that just another tease from the talented Italian?
If he does produce at that rate or even trend upward, Colangelo deserves credit for acting decisively and signing the extension early. At this point it’s almost certain it won’t be a bad deal, based on current market conditions, and there’s a chance it could be a very good one.
The true proper order of the 2006 draft is still open for debate and likely will for be for sometime, but if Bargnani picks up where he left off last season – and his pre-season performance suggest he has - there will be little question the Raptors got great value from their No.1 slot.
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Michael Grange
Michael Grange brings unique news, commentary and analysis from around the basketball world