Built Ford Tough

The schedule is below. ALL TIMES EASTERN Wednesday, Aug. 31 08:15 AM Serbia vs. Italy (Preliminary Round) 08:15 AM Spain vs. Poland (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Belgium vs. Georgia (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Montenegro vs. Macedonia (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM France vs. Latvia (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Turkey (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Greece vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Slovenia vs. Bulgaria (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Germany vs. Israel (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Russia vs. Ukraine (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Lithuania vs. Great Britain (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Croatia (Preliminary Round) Thursday, Sep. 01 08:15 AM Latvia vs. Serbia (Preliminary Round) 08:15 AM Spain (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Montenegro (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Bulgaria vs. Belgium (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Israel vs. France (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Great Britain vs. Turkey (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Greece (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Georgia vs. Russia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Italy vs. Germany (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Ukraine vs. Slovenia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Macedonia vs. Croatia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Poland vs. Lithuania (Preliminary Round) Friday, Sep. 02 08:15 AM Spain vs. Great Britain (Preliminary Round) 08:15 AM Serbia vs. Israel (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Latvia vs. Italy (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Poland (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Turkey vs. Lithuania (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM France vs. Germany (Preliminary Round) Saturday, Sep. 03 08:30 AM Ukraine vs. Bulgaria (Preliminary) 08:30 AM Bosnia-Herzegovina (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Slovenia vs. Georgia (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Greece vs. Macedonia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Russia vs. Belgium (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Croatia vs. Montenegro (Preliminary Round) Sunday, Sep. 04 08:15 AM Israel vs. Latvia (Preliminary Round) 08:15 AM Great Britain (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Georgia vs. Ukraine (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Macedonia (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Italy vs. France (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Poland vs. Turkey (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Montenegro vs. Greece (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Bulgaria vs. Russia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Croatia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Belgium vs. Slovenia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Germany vs. Serbia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Lithuania vs. Spain (Preliminary Round) Monday, Sep. 05 08:15 AM Israel vs. Italy (Preliminary Round) 08:15 AM Great Britain vs. Poland (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Georgia vs. Bulgaria (Preliminary Round) 08:30 AM Montenegro (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Latvia vs. Germany (Preliminary Round) 10:45 AM Spain vs. Turkey (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Slovenia vs. Russia (Preliminary Round) 11:00 AM Greece vs. Croatia (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Lithuania (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Macedonia vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Ukraine vs. Belgium (Preliminary Round) 02:00 PM Serbia vs. France (Preliminary Round) Wednesday, Sep. 07 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Thursday, Sep. 08 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Friday, Sep. 09 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Saturday, Sep. 10 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Sunday, Sep. 11 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Monday, Sep. 12 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Second Round) Wednesday, Sep. 14 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Quarterfinals) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Quarterfinals) Thursday, Sep. 15 08:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Consolation) 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Quarterfinal) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Quarterfinal) Friday, Sep. 16 08:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Consolation) 10:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Semifinals) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Semifinals) Saturday, Sep. 17 11:00 AM 2011 Tournament (Consolation) 02:00 PM 2011 Tournament (Consolation) Sunday, Sep. 18 10:30 AM 2011 Tournament (Third Place) Who do you think will win? Obviously Spain are the favourites but in a tournament like this the best team doesn't always end up winning the tournament and there are some other talented teams in the field like Lithuania, Serbia and France. Ultimately I don't see much problem for Spain, though. Pau and Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, Jose Calderon and Serge Ibaka is just too much talent and too much depth compared to most teams here. I won't say it will be a cake walk, but I don't forsee too many problems for them in this tournament.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/452/fiba1.jpg The tournament got underway earlier today with 4 games. Dominican Republic 90, Cuba 60 Al Horford led Dominican Republic with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Full Box Score: http://www.mardelplata2011.com/en/box.asp?g=A&n=1&r=8422 Brazil 92, Venezuela 83 Tiago Splitter led Brazil with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists Grevis Vasquez had 26 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss Full Box Score: http://www.mardelplata2011.com/en/box.asp?g=A&n=2&r=8422 Argentina 84, Paraguay 52 Paolo Quinteros led Argentina with 19 points, Luis Scola had 14 and Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni both had 10 Full Box Score: http://www.mardelplata2011.com/en/box.asp?g=B&n=2&r=8422 Puerto Rico 96, Panama 66 Carlos Arroyo finished with 11 points and 7 assists Full Box Score: http://www.mardelplata2011.com/en/box.asp?g=B&n=1&r=8422 If any of the Canadians on here are interested, the Canada vs. Brazil game tomorrow is being aired on TSN2 at 7:30 PM EST time.

Brett Lawrie with a 3 run homer. Have I mentioned that I him before?

I agree. If you could get, say, 1 or 2 people for each team it wouldn't be too bad, but even then it would be a lot of work. If this ends up being a relative success, I will likely end up doing one for another team in the Atlantic Division depending on which team the majority wants. The Raptors just amde perfect sense considering they have played 16 seasons and it just made sense. I've actually considered doing this a while ago but never got around to it.

So there is nothing going on anywhere which makes it difficult to get any posts in the Raptors forum (the Ultimate Raptor Rankings are pretty much the only source of consistent Raptor related stuff) and since there have been 16 year of Raptors ball I figured I would use the What If Sports simulator and run a Raptors playoff. The bracket will be the same as your typical playoffs with 2 conferences (red and purple conference to represent their team colors and because, well, I'm completely uncreative) with 8 teams in each. Each series will be a best of 7series. I will rank the teams based on their regular season records and will sim 1 game for each series every day that I am online until there is a winner. In the event of a regular season record tie, I will use my judgement on which team I believe is worthy of the higher ranking. The bracket is as followed: Purple Conference #1 2000-2001 Raptors vs #8 1997-1998 Raptors 2000-2001 lead series 3-0 #2 2001-2002 Raptors vs #7 2002-2003 Raptors 2001-2002 lead series 3-0 #3 2007-2008 Raptors vs #6 2005-2006 Raptors 2007-2008 lead series 3-0 #4 2003-2004 Raptors vs #5 2008-2009 Raptors 2003-2004 lead series 2-1 Red Conference #1 2006-2007 Raptors vs #8 1995-1996 Raptors Series tied 1-1 #2 1999-2000 Raptors vs #7 2010-2011 Raptors 1999-2000 lead series 2-0 #3 2009-2010 Raptors vs #6 1996-1997 Raptors Series tied 1-1 #4 1998-1999 Raptors vs #5 2004-2005 Raptors 1998-1999 leads series 2-0 In the event that roster moves happened midway through the season, such as in 2008-2009 when Jermaine O'Neal was traded midway through the season for Shawn Marion, I will use the lineup that got the most playing time, so O'Neal would be factor into that lineup instead of Marion. I'll get started simming games tomorrow.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/top-prospect-andre-drummond-tweets-hes-headed-to-uconn/article2144521/ Nice get for the Huskies after losing Kemba. Obviously Drummond won't be able to replace the kind of production that Walker gave UCONN last season but pairing one of the top freshman with Lamb will definitely make them a good team next season. They aren't on a Kentucky or North Carolina level of talent, but I do like them quite a bit for next season.

I think it is a bit much. Yeah, he had an impressive run in the playoffs scoring 7 goals in 11 games, is still young and has quite a bit of potential (big power forwards always take longer to develop as well), but it is a fairly lucrative deal for a player who has played like a borderline top 6 winger in his two full NBA seasons. On the other hand, if he does improve on his play from this past year's playoffs and has his breakout season, this deal could prove to be a bit of a bargin considering I do believe that he has 30 goal/60-65 point potential and getting that kind of production from a big forward like JVR is definitely worth a $4.3M cap hit (or whatever it is). I wouldn't call it a bad deal by any means, but I do think he is a bit overpaid as of now. The Flyers just have to hope that he can build upon his strong postseason because they are clearly paying him for what they believe he can become and not what he currently is worth.

Really? I bought NHL '11 the day it came out and didn't pay $80. It was only $60. I haven't checked prices of '12, but I don't see it being $80 since I've basically never seen any video game that expensive. I guess the prices can definitely be different in different provinces, though.

It is official now, Woodson will be joining the Knicks whenever the NBA resumes play.

Number 25 is... Joey Graham http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2011/08/24/ultimate-raptors-rankings-%e2%80%94-no-25-joey-graham/ Graham had all of the physical tools you could ask for in an NBA small forward. He was built like a tank, strong, athletic, fast and had decent length, but, unfortunately for Raptor fans, that was about the extent of his worth as an NBA player. He never seemed to be able to translate all of his natural gifts into any real basketball skills (outside of rebounding) such as shooting, dribbling or passing. It also didn't really help him in Raptor fans eyes when he was picked over somebody like Danny Granger or the fact that he was really the only piece that they got back in the disasterous Vince Carter trade. He was the constant reminder of how bad that trade was. At least we will always have this picture: http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee350/Jarg007/joey_graham_1.jpg and moments like this: to remember Joey by when his NBA career is over, which appears to be next season (and if the entire season is lost, his career is likely already over).

I Brett Lawrie. In the 20 or so games that he has played since being called up he has hit .348 with 5 home runs, 14 RBIs with a 1.063 OPS. Henderson Alvarez looked great so far tonight as well. 4 K's through 3 innings with only 1 hit. Too bad the one mistake he made turned into a 2 run homer, but outside of that he has looked very nice in his 4th career start. I wasn't too impressed with him for his first 3 and figured his future would be in the pen, but he has shown much more than just a fastball in this game so far.

Yeah, I already knew that part. I thought he was only going to be a type-B free agent, but apperantly he actually is a type-A free agent according to MLBtraderumors. I know that AA has been interested in him in the past so he probably figured why not get a 6 week or so look at him to end the season and if he likes what he sees he will bring him back. If he doesn't like what he sees he will let him walk and pick up the compensation pick in the process. It is a win-win either way if you ask me, especially since there isn't much of a market for 2nd basemen this summer, at least as far as I know.

With the expected hiring of Woodson as the Knicks new defensive assistaint, combined with D'Antoni's contract only having one more season left on it, does this signal the end of his time in New York? There is already speculation from Mitch Lawrence of the NY Daily News that the Knicks are looking to groom Woodson as their next head coach, and the fact that Dolan has shot down all of D'Antoni's requests for an extension this summer (at least according to Lawrence) it makes you wonder if the D'Antoni has any future with this team. What do you think D'Antoni's future with the Knicks holds? Will he eventually get the extension that he wants? Or will Woodson eventually take over the reigns as the head coach once D'Antoni's current deal ends?

Nothing of real importance, but considering there is next to no news in Raptorland (or basically the entire NBA for that matter) I thought I would post this article from Simmons. http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/24/raptors-colangelo-wants-a-sidekick

It sounds like the Knicks are close to hiring Woodson and it might be official sometime next week. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/2011/08/24/2011-08-24_knicks_ready_to_add_former_hawks_head_coach_mike_woodson_as_defensive_coach_on_m.html#ixzz1VzWmMqHB

I agree with you that he will never be a playmaker like a Nash, Paul, Williams, Kidd etc... but I do think that he has more potential as a playmaker than Billups ever was, but I also think that Billups was never much of a playmaker anyways. He did a solid job of running an offense and making good decisions with the ball (although even then I tend to think he was a bit overrated as a floor general as well due to his tendancy to force up poor shots a bit too frequently), but as an actual playmaker he never really struck me as better than the average point guard. Even in his Detroit years where he averaged around 6.3 apg I think it was more due to him being in a perfect offense surrounded by the right personnel (like a pick and pop with Sheed or hitting Rip on curls and things like that) then him being that good of a playmaker. I think that Jrue has more potential in that regard as Billups does. Other than the 05-06 season where Billups averaged 8.6 apg and an assist to bad pass ratio of around 7, a season in which I think we can all agree was a bit of an anomaly playmaking wise for him as he has always been more of a 5.5-6.5 apg type of player, Billups has consistently hovered right around the range where Holiday is currently at as just a 20 year old sophomore. What I mean by this is BIllups passing rating, 2005-06 season excluded, as been consistently around the 9-9.5 range, his assist to bad pass ratio has always been around the 4-4.5 range and his hands rating has consistently been around the 20-21 range. This during the time period where Detroit was always at the top of the East and making deep runs in the playoffs and Billups was in the prime of his career. Compare that to Holiday this past season who put up a passing rating of 9.6, assist to bad pass ratio of 4.1and a hands rating of 20.5. I think it is definitely safe to assume that as Holiday continues to gain experience and grow as a player that he will become a better playmaker. I don't see why he won't be able to consistently be around the 8-9 apg mark during his prime years with a passing rating of around 11-13 and a hands rating of around 22-25 area. These aren't close to the Kidd/Nash levels of passing ratings of 15+ and hands ratings of 30+, but they are definitely above a Billups level of playmaking. I do agree with you about him having an overall impact on a level similar to Billups, though. I just think that he will be a better playmaker than Billups ever was, but I don't believe that he will be the same scorer as Billups was, so in the long run those two will likely cancel each other out somewhat.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-08-23/cavs-to-retire-ilgauskas-no-11-the-same-number-kyrie-wanted I can understand why they would do this with his loyalty and how well he represented the Cavalier organization, but his play definitely doesn't warrant a jersey retiring as he was never really that great of a player, even in the two years that he was named to the All-Star team it was more due to the lack of centers in the East than Big Z being a star or anything like that. I can understand why they are doing this, though.

Yeah, that is what I am hearing too. Don't know where the Nationals claiming Wandy came from, but it was on multiple message boards earlier.

Wandy Rodriguez was claimed off of waivers and it is speculated that the Nationals were the ones who claimed him. Also, the Blue Jays traded Aaron Hill and John McDonald to the D'Backs for Kelly Johnson. I don't really know anything about Johnson, but this seems like a case of trading one struggling 2nd baseman for another struggling 2nd baseman. Johnson had a great year last season, but has been struggling a lot this season (although he doesn't seem to be as bad at the plate as Hill as this season). Hill's time in Toronto had run its course, though. He had a few good seasons, but it was clear that he needed a change of scenery or something and that he wasn't part of the Jays long term plans with the way that he has played over the past two seasons. He seems like a great guy and now that he is in the National League I wish him (and Johnny Mac) the best of luck as he seems like he is a great guy. His time in Toronto was just up. Can anybody share any insight on Johnson for me? I don't really watch much ball outside of the Jays so I don't know much about him. From what I've read he has some nice pop and strikes out a lot. How is his defense and things like that? PS: From the press conference that AA had (with Hill and McDonald), it sounds very likely that McDonald will be back next season.

You have to wonder how the NDP is going to do now without Layton. The guy was the heart and soul of that party and perhaps the most well respected politician in all of Canada. By all accounts he was a real stand up guy and he will definitely be missed. It really sucks that he lost his battle with cancer as he had already beat it once. It also really sucks that it comes only a few months after he experienced such success in the last election.

I would imagine after his fairly solid season last year that the Nets would want to bring him back (correct me if I am wrong) as he is a very good compliment to Lopez considering his poor rebounding and the like. However, after a breakout season of sorts Humphries may be looking for a more lucrative deal than the Nets would want to offer him. With that said, what do you think would be fair value for both the Nets and Humphries? EDIT: Of course this is largely dependent on how the new CBA looks, but lets just assume, for the sake of this discussion, that we are operating under the old CBA.

It is official. The Ultimate Fighter is going to air on Friday's and the first UFC card to air on Fox will be on November 12th.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/215240/Vucevic_Close_To_Deal_With_Buducnost_Podgorica#ixzz1VbSJumfL

The other day he had 13 points and 16 rebounds against Russia. Here are the highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XypNzblBTow&feature=player_embedded Lithuania plays Latvia in about half an hour in another exhibition game. Valanciunas will likely get a lot of minutes since Lithuania only has 11 players dressed and are missing 3 big men.

Say both of them retired today and never played another game, who would you say had the better career between the two? LeBron's resume: 2× NBA Most Valuable Player (2009–2010) NBA Rookie of the Year (2004) 7× NBA All-Star (2005–2011) NBA Scoring Champion (2008) 5× All-NBA First Team (2006, 2008–2011) 2× All-NBA Second Team (2005, 2007) 3× All-Defensive First Team (2009–2011) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004) Career averages of: 27.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 7 apg, 1.7 spg, 0.8 bpg on 47.9 FG%, 74.4 FT%, and 32.9 3PT% Wade's Resume: NBA Champion (2006) NBA Finals MVP (2006) 7× NBA All-Star (2005–2011) NBA Scoring Champion (2009) 2× All-NBA First Team (2009–2010) 3× All-NBA Second Team (2005–2006, 2011) All-NBA Third Team (2007) 3× All-Defensive Second Team (2005, 2009–2010) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2004) Career averages of: 25.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 6.3 apg, 1.8 spg, 1 bpg on 48.5 FG%, 76.9 FT%, 29.2 3PT% Does LeBron's 2 MVP awards and superior statlines make up for Wade's Championship and Finals MVP or does Wade's ring and Finals MVP give him the edge in your mind?