Built Ford Tough

Dash, who do you think are the main targets for the Rockets at 14? Judging from your comments, mocks and things like that, it seemed like Motiejunas was the number 1 choice for the Rockets at 14, but with him pulling out of the draft that is no longer a possibility. I also got the impression that they liked Hassan Whiteside, but as of late he seems to have done nothing but decrease his stock and last I checked, many mocks and analysts have him falling to mid 1st round. Would the Rockets still take him at 14? With all of the uncertainty surrounding Yao, I would imagine that they are looking for a big man for insurance. Somebody like Cole Aldrich would be great, in my opinion, but I don't think he would fall past the Raptors at 13. Daniel Orton? Hassan Whiteside? Ekpe Udoh, if he fall? Is trading down and grabbing somebody like Larry Sanders or Soloman Alabi something that has been talked about? Just curious as to where Houston seems to be leaning. I know that Morey usually keeps his cards tight to his chest so it is difficult to predict what he will do.

Colangelo said that he would use the money they received in the Jermaine O'Neal trade to buy a 1st at some point in order to make up for the lottery protected first that they sent to the Heat. There has been quite a bit of talk from Colangelo and the rest of management about buying another first. However, it is the same old story as every year there seems to be talk about the Raptors buying an extra pick and they never end up buying one so I don't know how much I believe it. Last season I remember them talking about buying a late 1st to try and pick up Taj Gibson (I think it was him) but Triano didn't want anymore rookies on the roster so they never actually pursued it. If they do end up buying a pick I would imagine it would be from Atlanta who has made it clear that they are willing to sell theirs, like you said, New Jersey or Minnesota who both have multiple picks or the Grizzlies who have 3 picks and said that they don't see them using them all. EDIT: A bit of an update on my post about the workouts earlier today: http://blogs.canoe.ca/courtside/general/raptors-to-resume-draft-workouts-tuesday-thursday-free-agent-camp-friday-and-saturday/ And Avery Bradley sprained his ankle and is shutting down until the draft, so it looks like I won't get that Bradley/Bledsoe workout that I wanted.

Haha, yeah, I meant the 3rd. Typo on my part. Game has started to get really chippy as of late with the Allen/Fisher and the Perkins/Bynum battles. If I was a Celtic fan this game would really worry me. The Lakers really haven't played well at all and yet the Lakers are only down by 8. The way that Kobe has been playing the 2nd half, I would want to see this lead get up to double digits ASAP.

Did I just hear that right? Kobe had scored the last 23 points for the Lakers and nobody else has scored in the 4th? I'm listening to some audio feed right now while I wait for my TV to start working, so I'm not sure if I heard that right. If so, that is brutal.

So for some reason my tv stopped working, anybody care to give a recap of what has gone on since Jackson called a timeout with about 6 or 7 minutes left in the third?

Well, from what I saw: - Fisher was running around the court out of control and trying to draw fouls. - Gasol was drifting further and further away from the hoop so that he could avoid contact. - Artest was standing behind the three point line terrified that Kobe might pass him the ball and he would brick another jumper, so he made himself as invisible as possible. - Lamar Odom was literally invisible. Sound about right?

Well your comment was so stupid that it didn't deserve a legitimate response. Artest drew a Technical foul by flopping and people are making Rondo out to be the bad guy in this situation. Stupid play by Rondo? Yes. Did Artest flop? Yes. Why is Rondo being made out to be the bad guy and no mention of Artest flopping like he is playing in the World Cup and not the NBA Finals?

So Artest should've [expletive]ed up Rondo because Artest flopped after Rondo barely touched him? Smart play by Artest to draw the Technical, but these comments are hilarious. Lakers have done a nice job of forcing turnovers and getting second chance opportunities. Those are literally the only reasons why the Lakers are even in this game right now. They played an absolutely terrible first half and are only down, what, 6? They have to be thrilled with that.

I've been really impressed with Bynum to start the game. I do admit to watching him more closely than the other players on the floor for obvious reasons, but I have liked what I have seen from him. He has been aggressive and doesn't seem to be worried about his knee right now. Him and Bryant have been playing the pick and roll really effectively so far. Bryant has fed him some very nice passes like that lob and that bounce and Bynum has done a nice job of finishing them at the rim. One thing that he needs to do a better job of is reading the defense and seeing where the double team is coming from, which will make it easier for him to pass out of the double. I know that the jump ball early in the quarter wasn't entirely his fault and some of the blame can be placed on Artest, but throughout the series I have noticed that he isn't very effective at recognizing where the double is coming from or passing out of it. On Boston's side, I have liked the energy that Garnett has been playing with. 6 points and 5 boards from him to start the game. Some of the rebounds have basically fallen right into his lap, but he has been effective on the glass and with his sound passing ability, it is allowed the Celtics to get out and run a bit.

Raptors will resume workouts this week. There will be a workout group on Tuesday and Thursday. I haven't heard anything about who will be coming in, but I would imagine that Xavier Henry and Paul George will be coming in one of those days. Both of them have said that they have workouts scheduled with the Raptors and I would imagine that they would bring in the two of them together. Also, the Raptors will be holding a Free Agent camp on Friday and Saturday. I assume they will bring in some guys and offer some Summer League (if they have a team this year, which I hope they do) roster spots.

From Doug Smith's blog: If the Raptors are committed to rebuliding, I think it would be best if Colangelo is gone after this season when his contract it up. Colangelo has his strengths and weaknesses as a GM, but from what I have seen in Toronto, patience is not one of them and I can't see him having the patience to build a team through the draft, which is what I hope the Raptors do. It is pretty funny though. Back when Colangelo was hired there wasn't one Raptors fan tha I knew of who was upset about it. Everybody was absolutely thrilled with the signing and now the majority of Raptor fans are thrilled about the possibility of him leaving after the season. Oh how things change. It is Doug Smith though, and he isn't exactly the most reliable beat writer for the Raptors. Since he mentioned this I wouldn't be surprised at all to wake up tomorrow and hear that MLSE gave Colangelo a 4 year extension.

Looking at it from a financial standpoint, it is a terrible move on his part. Center depth or no center depth, he isn't going to get anything close to the $12M or whatever it is that he would make next season if he picked up his option. Add in his underwhelming season last year and the constant injury concerns around him, and it gives teams even less of an incentive to pay him. However, if you look at it from a winning standpoint, then you could make the argument that it would be a smart move on his part to try and latch onto somebody like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or a Chris Bosh and join one of the marquee free agents wherever they go. If he goes to Miami for cheap and the Heat bring in somebody like Amare or Boozer (or Bosh) while retaining Wade, he would be a great fit as a defensive anchor for that team. Or he could sign in Cleveland, if LeBron stays, and be a nice fit there with his defensive ability, productiveness in pick and rolls and lob finishing ability. He could find himself in a very nice position when it comes to winning a championship, but he won't be in anything remotely close to the same financial position that he would be if he stayed with Charlotte. I was originally going to come in here and disagree with you 100%, but after typing this I can see where you are coming from, haha.

Questionable foul call on Bryant there. I can understand why you may think that was a block in real time (I thought he was in the restricted area) but the replay clearly showed he was above and that looked to be a charge. Then again, that foul on Allen could be argued as questionable as well. It looked bad when it happened but on the replay you can argue that it wasn't a foul. Two huge sequences right there. This game is still very much up for grabs. Huge steal by Rondo though. Great anticipation from him. Give credit to Allen and Garnett for forcing Kobe into a tough position to pass there.

Watching Nate and Baby's reactions after they score a basket is more entertaining than the game itself.

That was quite possibly the quickest 3 seconds call that I have ever seen. I'm thinking there was a bit of a makeup call on that play because of the previous play where Allen looked to get away from hitting Fisher on the arm while he was shooting.

Couple of new things. First, I found this video of a Sacramento Kings workout on Youtube. It was a workout that had Cole Aldrich, Ekpe Udoh, Daniel Orton, Hassan Whiteside and Ryan Richards together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4cMkKiAus&feature=player_embedded I absolutely love Cole Aldrich's shot. Man, that is a thing of beauty. Secondly, Paul George will be coming to Toronto for a workout sometime soon, according to his Twitter account. My guess would be that he and Xavier Henry will work out for the Raptors at the same time. That would be a workout that I would like to watch as I would be thrilled with either of those two. And lastly, Chad Ford released his 4th mock draft. He has the Raptors taking Bradley at 13. Other notables: Cousins going 6th. Haywood going 8th. Babbit going 9th. Orton falling to 21st. Patterson down to 22nd.

I'm not going to respond to the stat argument because travesy basically already said what I would say (again). But one thing I found funny was this: How exactly are we making Turkoglu out to be a "two-horned, red-tailed demon"? Is it too much to ask for a player to come into training camp in good shape, or if he isn't in good shape for him to get into shape during the season, both which Turkoglu didn't do? Is it too much to as for a player to give it his all whenever he is on the court? Shame on us for wanting the Raptors major offseason acquisition to actually play like he gave a damn all season. If Turkoglu played every game like he did that one against New York (26/11 or something) or that last game against Chicago when he grabbed 18 boards (or whatever it was) the Raptors would've been a playoff team. Whether a player fits in with a team or not, is it not expected for him to try and make the best out of the situation? Or are we being irrational fans for expecting that?

I wouldn't call Jarrett Jack a throwaway considering it is completely valid to think he is the better player than Louis Williams. They are basically equal all things considered. Belinelli has talent, but he is so damn inconsistent and streaky that it is hard to actually give him any sort of consistent burn without him being detrimental to the team, so he could be considered a throwaway. At least he is expiring at the end of the season so if he doesn't do anything to impress the Sixers, they can just send him off at the end of the year. I would imagine that if such a trade were to go down, it would go down right after the Raptors pick (they technically can't trade the pick because of them owing Miami a 1st, but they can draft a player and then trade him to the Sixers). If somebody like Cole Aldrich (I imagine the Sixers would want a big man) falls to the 13th pick then I could see the Raptors drafting him and then flipping him to the Sixers right after. I think if a trade does happen, it will be entirely dependent on if somebody that the Sixers are after falls to 13.

Ok, this I find funny.

Fair enough. I only caught the 2nd half of Game 3 and I think Pierce had already had 4 fouls when I started watching. The 5th one when him and Artest were battling for position in the post was questionable though, at least in my opinion, but that doesn't really matter. You can't really expect a coach to do anything else in that situation though is basically what I was getting at. Whenever a team has one of its best players in foul trouble all game long in a critical game like a Finals game, the coach is going to lobby for more calls in said stars favour. Just planting the seed for the next game and every coach would've done it. I could be looking at this from a different perspective though, considering I didn't see the first half and I don't really care who wins this series, so I'm not emotionally involved in this like somebody who's favourite team is playing wold be (it is only natural).

Was it funny stuff when Phil Jackson was basically saying the exact same things in regards to Kobe Bryant after Game 2? Or is it funny now because it was one of the Celtics key players that was in foul trouble and not the Lakers? Seriously though, what do you expect them to say? They are saying what 99% of the league would say in the same situation. Obviously Rivers is going to try and plant a seed for his star player, just like Jackson did for Kobe after Game 2. Garnett's comments are a little funny because of the fact that the replay clearly showed that the ball went off of him. However, it is the same situation. He is just planting a seed in hopes that a call will go his way in the next game. He sure as hell isn't the first player to do this and he sure as well won't be the last. I just don't see what the big deal is with anything that they said. Its not like you didn't think that these things would be said after the game, especially with how much Jackson plays the officials before, during and after games.

Poe, I would respond to you but travesy basically said exactly what I would've said in response to you. One thing that I would like to add though is that no matter what the circumstances are, I will never be okay with a player publically demanding a trade. Not only does it completely negate any value that you would've had in the first place (in Turkoglu's case, very little) but it puts management in a terrible position as you won't get anything of value in return for a player who makes these kinds of demands, and keeping him on the roster is just terrible for chemistry. If you want out, go to management and discuss this in private. Also, props for the Pokemon reference. Loved that, haha. Something that I found funny is Turkoglu complaining about not having the ball in his hands all season long and throwing in the towel because of it, but he would be fine with going to Sacramento to play alongside Tyreke Evans who had a USG% of around 27% this past season (Bosh led the Raptors with 28%) as a rookie. You have to imagine that number will increase next season when he adds to his game. Also, factor in the Kings will be adding a top 5 draft pick that they will surely want to develop as well and will be given ample oppotunities to prove himself during his rookie season. Its not like he would be the primary ball handler and see the most touches on the team or anything like that in Sacramento. (I know that he simply wants out of Toronto at this point, I just found this funny as not having the ball in his hands all of the time was one of his biggest problems with this team.)

He privately stated that he wants to go to Sacramento and it just happened to be leaked to the media? Yeah, I'm sure he had no intentions of this story breaking and having it be known that he wants to return to Sacramento. He is probably an innocent victim on this as well. And where did I say that I wasn't glad that there are trade talks in regards to Turkoglu? Did I not say in my post that I would trade him anywhere for basically anything? As long as the player the Raptors are getting back has a shorter contract than Turkoglu's, I'm all for it. I would be absolutely dumbfounded if the Raptors got something of actual value in return for Turkoglu. I just think it is bush league for players to whine and cry all season long which diminishes their value, demand a trade, which diminishes their value even more and then try to dictate where he is traded to. Oh right, this was a private conversation that nobody was supposed to know about.

For those of you that didn't know, DeRozan has been playing in the LA Drew League over the last little while. I know that the competition isn't anything special and an NBA player should dominate this kind of league, but here is a highlight package of him in action in the league. http://www.ballislife.com/video/demar-derozan-killing-a-drew He has lit the league up with a 40 point game, 46 point game and a 36 point game. Like I said, I know the competition isn't anything special, but it is nice to see him getting right back into the gym and working on his game. His jumper looks like he made an adjustment to it and he doesn't have as much of a hitch when he is shooting. I'm liking the fact that he is taking the ball into the post and seems to be adding new weapons to his game. Even though the competition is weak, at least it will help his confidence heading into next season, or, at least I hope it will. Now the next step is to continue getting etter over the summer and translating all of the stuff he worked on to the NBA. Oh yeah, Amir Johnson is playing in this league as well. I haven't really heard anything about him though. All I know is that DeRozan and Amir are on the same team. PS: How sick was that block (well, goaltend) about 20 seconds into the video?

I love it. Turkoglu signs a lucrative contract with the Raptors, decides to play like complete [expletive] all year, complains about his role all season, apologizes to the franchise and fans at his year end press conference, proceeds to blast the team to the Turkish media just a few weeks later and now he wants to tell the Raptors where to trade him? Not that I am complaining considering I want him gone regardless of the return (save for maybe an Arenas or Brand contract, but even then, I think the happiness of getting rid of Turkoglu would make me fine with that), but I just love how he is trying to dictate where he goes. When you play like crap all seaason which completely diminishes your value, and then you go ahead and demand a trade, as far as I am concerned, you don't have any right to try and dictate where you go. Alas, the joys of professional sports. So I imagine the deal would be Turkoglu for Nocioni. Kings may insist that the Raptors take on Garcia or something too as he would be redundant with the addition of Turkoglu and emergance of Casspi last season. I really doubt the Raptors have much leverage in a trade involving Turkoglu so they will probably get the shaft in any trade with him. Who cares though, if the Raptors can get somebody on a shorter contract than Turkoglu it is a good enough trade for me, regardless of how much the other play may suck.