Built Ford Tough

Even so, you can't say that seeing Garnett hobble up and down the court doesn't worry you and the thought of his knee injury lingering isn't sitting in the back of your mind. I know that if I was a Celtics fan that this video would definitely worry me because he does not look good at all. It could end up being nothing but if I was a Celtics fan this video would definitely plant a little seed of doubt in my head and it would magnify every little thing about that surgically repaired knee of his.

I forgot that seeing how both the Raptors and Grizzlies missed the playoffs it is more like 5 months then 2-3 months.

And so it begins...

Ok, I thought that you were insinuating that because he has a gut and doesn't look like your typical fighter that he wasn't a legit fighter or anything. The funny thing is that despite his physical appearance, Nelson was known for his great agility for such a large guy. He was surprisingly agile and quick for a guy that looks like he would gas out from the walk to the octagon. I'm not sure if he is still as agile as he once was because he has gotten bigger since I last saw him fight. The guy is no joke though, regardless of his appearance. He will never be a contender in the heavyweight division or anything but barring any freak injury, mental breakdown or him just simply getting caught, he should really just run right through the competition during TUF 10 and be a solid gatekeeper in the UFC.

Thiago Alves is no joke though. He is a top 3 WW in the world and is a tough, tough dude. GSP hit him with some hard shots and dropped him a couple of times. You also have to keep in mind that GSP's style of fighting is just completely different from Anderson Silva's. Silva goes out there and unloads on his opponenents with his percision striking. GSP goes out there and uses his superior wrestling, control and cardio to wear his opponents down and bring the fights to the later rounds because of his unlimited gas tank. Then in the 4th and 5th rounds he turns it on and picks apart his exhausted opponent (like he did against BJ Penn). GSP and Anderson Silva both dominate their opponents, they just do it in a different way because they are both elite in different aspects of fighting (Silva with his striking, GSP with his wrestling). Like I said though, Silva would be a heavy favourite if the two ever fought. Originally I wanted to see the fight, but after seeing how Silva completely dominated a huge Light Heavyweight in Forrest Griffin, I don't want to see the fight happen because Silva is simply too big of a fighter. He would have like 4 inches and around 20 pounds on GSP to go along with his huge strength and reach advantages.

That "out of shape" guy just so happens to be one of the top 20 Heavyweights in the world. He is a BJJ black belt under Renzo Gracie and has beaten people like Frank Mir and Jeff Monson, two outstanding heavyweight grapplers, in grappling matches. He has competed in Abu Dhabi Grappling Championships and is a former IFL Heavyweight Champion. He should not be on a show like TUF because he is clearly more experienced and has better skills at this point then anybody else on the show. Roy Nelson is a huge favourite to win TUF 10 and is the best fighter in the house. He looked terrible in the Kimbo fight because he just went out there to barley do enough to win the fight, but make no mistake about it, he is a talented fighter. His only losses have come to Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell (fighting Cain Valesquez at UFC 104, Josh Curran and Jeff Monson (was a controversial decision). Arlovski is a former UFC Champion, Monson was a former HW contender and Rothwell is a current HW contender in the UFC. They don't act like they need him. TUF 10 needs him because Kimbo = ratings and ratings = money. The Ultimate Fighter is more about making money than it is about actually finding talented, unknown fighters and has been that way since about TUF 4 or so (The Comeback one). As for Kimbo's stand up, it was a lot better than it was before. He landed some good shots and was throwing some decent combinations. He rocked Nelson once or twice and the only fighter to have ever KO'd Nelson is Andrei Arlovski who has some of the best hands in all of MMA (too bad his chin is made of glass lol). Kimbo showed some good thigns in that fight though and has certainly gotten better. He showed some much improved takedown defense and was outstriking Nelson. I do agree with you about his ground game though. It is not good but the fact that he was almost able to use the cage to buck an accomplished BJJ practitioner like Nelson showed a lot of improvement, but you are right, his ground game is poor. I used to be a Kimbo basher just because of how EliteXC hyped him up to be something that he is not, but after seeing how he is on TUF, seeing the work that he has put in to improve and the fact that he actually went on TUF rather then signing with some smaller orginization to cash in on his name has made me a fan of his. The UFC doesn't need him at all, but keep in mind that the UFC is a business and Kimbo is a huge draw so obviously they are going to milk him for every penny that they can possibly get.

I highly doubt that it is all muscle because that is a lot of muscle to add in such a little amount of time (at least as far as I am concerned) but it is definitely good to hear that he has bulked up and becomre stronger. This will enable Adding bulk and strength will mean that opposing big men won't be able to push him around as easily defensively and just buly their way to the hoop. Obviously there is so much more to defense then being a strong player but being strong, being able to stand your ground better, being stronger when fighting for position etc... will obviously help out on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively it will come in handy as well because he will be able to establish position down low easier, battle for offensive boards and won't get pushed around/bodied up on as much either. The key is that this added weight won't take away from his expolosiveness and quickness because those are two of the most important part of Bosh's game and, for the most part, his biggest advantages over opposing big men.

He has a punchers chance but nothing more if you ask me. The type of fighter that has the best chance of defeating Silva is a fighter with great wrestling, top control, submission defense with powerful GNP and good BJJ as well. Anybody that is a striker first and foremost, who,s name isn't Lyoto Machida, has a punchers chance and nothing more. Unless Belfort is able to catch Silva and unleash his crazy flurries on him, I don't see how he would pull out a victory as Silva is better is basically every single area of fighting.

GSP completely dominated Thiago Alves in his last fight. He was dominating Alves in every single aspect including striking, which GSP was supposed to be at a severe disadvantage in. He didn't have any trouble with Alves at all and dominated that fight from start to finish even with him having a groin injury. GSP has completely dominated all of his fights since Josh Koscheck (the last fight he lost a round on the judges scorecard). He doesn't dominate in the same way that Silva does (ie. knocking people out) but what he does it domination none the less. Just ask Jon Fitch what he thinks about GSP's domination: http://www.hunglodojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/jon-fitch-3.jpg Even with all of that said though, Silva would beat GSP because of the fact that he have a gigantic size advantage over him that would be too much for GSP to overcome. GSP's style of fighting is the ideal style to defeat Silva (elite wrestling, top control, sub defense with good striking and BJJ) but I don't think that GSP would have the size or strength to be able to take down and control the much larger and stronger Silva. Skill wise there isn't much seperating the two of them, but Silva would definitely win.

Good god, I think I am going to have nightmares tonight. On a side note, does anybody else think he looks weird wearing #3?

Yes. Even if Bosh resigned I still whole heartidly believe that Colangelo makes the necessary moves to upgrade the team.

Definitely a good move on Thabeet's part. There is really not a better ex NBA center to pattern your game after. This is also encouaging news for Memphis fans as it shows that Thabeet is not content with just sitting on his raw natural gifts and is willing to take the innicative and seek out tutilige from an NBA legend like Hakeem.

Doesn't really surprise me. Once they drafted D.J. Augustin last season I had a feeling that Felton would be on his way out of Charlotte sooner rather than later. If it was me I would've tried to explore any and every potential sign and trade deal for Felton in order to get talent in exchange for him. If this is true and he is not dealt sometime during the season, the Bobcats are going to lose him for absolutely nothing, which really sucks. I do think that Augustin is going to be a good point guard in the NBA and a capable starter so it doesn't hurt them in regards to their point guard position heading forward.

This shouldn't really surprise anybody. As far as I am concerned Ben Wallace went back to Detroit because he wanted to finish his career with the franchise that he gave his heart and soul for, and experienced his most success. I think that he knows that his time as an NBA player has basically come to an end.

You could tell that it hampered him a bit both offensively and defensively as he simply couldn't move laterally quick enough, but its not like he was a good defensive player or anything even at 100%. He is still going to be a below average defender and that won't change most likely. All I can ask is that he is not the point guard equivalent to a pylon out there.

No way that any of the marquee free agents like Wade, James, Bosh etc... will take a short contract. The reason why these three took shorter extensions is because of the fact that it would enable them to get max contracts for next year quicker. Bosh may stay in Toronto, it all depends on how they do next year, but it will not be on a short contract. It would be on a 6 year max deal.

This thread was posted on another forum and I ended up getting into a little bit of a debate with another poster (me taking on the role of pro Turkgolu for once lol). Here is what I wrote in that thread. I expect around 15 ppg/5-6 apg/4-5 rpg on 40-43 FG% and 35-37 3PT%. He has the potential to have a bigger impact on the game than his numbers though and here is how I mean it: As for what he brings to the table, he brings a creative playmaker on the wing to relieve some of the pressure from Calderon. Having a playmaker like Turkoglu on the wing will enable the Raptors to do more offensively as they won't be delegated to running the same things over and over again like they were last season (Jose screen and roll, Jose iso, Bosh post up and Bosh iso was basically the brunt of our offensive sets last year). They will be able to make better use of Jose's shooting ability this year and can stick him in the corner or on the elbow for some spot up jumpers off of Turkoglu's playmaking or Bosh and Bargnani's inside work. He also creates plenty of mismatches on the floor because of his combination of size, skill and shooting ability. One of the biggest reasons why he was so successfull in Orlando is because of the mismatches that he creates offensively and that is not going to change because of Dwight Howard not being in the paint. Having three players that are 6'10 or taller that have ball skills and shooting skills like the Raptors will have with Turkoglu, Bosh and Bargnani are going to create plenty of mismatch situations. He brings legitimate playoff experience to the team which is something that they are desperately lacking as aside from Rasho, nobody on the team has any sort of serious playoff experience (correct me if I am wrong though). Lastly, he gives the Raptors a legitimate late clock performer. I am sure that you had gotten fed up with the Raptors constantly running the same play over and over in late clock situations (iso Bosh on the elbow). With Turkoglu they have a player that is capable of hitting clutch shots and more importantly, creating shots in clutch situations. As much as an offensively gifted player that Bosh is, it is simply unrealistic to expect him to get the ball 20 feet away from the hoop and create shots in pressure situations. With Turkoglu on the floor Bosh won't be relied upon so heavily to create during late clock situations. Yeah Turkoglu has some flaws to his game like his defense and that won't be pretty watching him try and defend stud players and he is making more money than he is worth, but it was a necessary signing because his positives outweight the negatives. I admit that there is a realistic chance that he might bust in Toronto but regardless, it was a chance they had to take because if they didn't get a legitimate player on the roster and up the talent on the team this year, Chris Bosh would be guarnteed to leave in 2010 and the Raptors would be back to square one. With Turkoglu on the team they at least have a legit shot at making the playoffs, possibly making it to the 2nd round if they get a favourable matchup, and perhaps most importantly of all, they have a much greater chance of resigning Bosh

Alright, signed up. As for the draft, the ideal time for me would be Sunday night as that is the only time that I can guarntee that I will be able to do it.

What are your expectations for Hedo this season? Not only statistically but in terms of what he will bring to the table for the Raptors as a whole. I'll post my thoughts later.

Source He better wait until he is fully recovered before he starts working out and things like that again. I don't want another Jose Calderon fiasco this year, but worse because it would be Bosh. Last year Calderon hurt his hammy in the Olympics and as Raptor fans all know it lingered throughout the entire season and definitely had an impact on his play on the court. The Raptors cannot afford Bosh to be hampered by the same kind of thing this year. I know that it may seem like an overreaction as it is probably just a minor tweak or something, but you have to be careful with things lik hamstring injuries because they are very easy to re-aggrivate.

Was it perimeter talent? Was it interior toughness/rebounding/defense? Was it point guard play? Or was it just all around depth of the team? These are just some of the possible options. State which area you believe the Raptors improved upon the most this offseason and say why you picked this area.

It's something I saw on another forum. I think it's very interesting. Which players...past or present come to mind first when you think of a particular position? In other words which player game fits your ideal description of that position? The player doesn't have to be the best at that positon, just simply the "prototype".

That doesn't necessarily mean that DeRozan is the third best player in the draft as of right now though. It means that you think he could become the third best player in the draft which is not what you said. As of right now, DeRozan is not the third best rookie in the league. I don't even see how you could possibly argue otherwise.

He could very well end up as the third best player, or even the second best player, in this years draft, but as of right now, there is no way that he is the 3rd best player in the draft. He is not nearly as NBA ready as some of the other prospects taken. Guys like Griffin, Curry, Evans and Flynn are definitely more NBA ready than DeRozan is right now, but his ceiling is higher than almost everybody in the draft. The way I see it, DeRozan will be given the starting job at the start of the season and it will be his to lose. From everything that I have heard/read about him from Jay Triano and Bryan Colangelo makes me very confident that he will be the starting shooting guard to open the season.

Is somebody upset that Burke was able to hold out long enough so that he didn't have to trade Kaberle to the Bruins for Kessel? On a serious note though, I can definitely see this move ending Kaberle's tenure with the Leafs but it isn't a forgone conclusion either. Even if he does end up leaving I won't be too upset (talking about free agency here) because although Tomas Kaberle is a fantastic defenseman, by the time that the Leafs young prospects like Schenn, Kadri, Bozak, Tlusty, Kulemin and Stalberg are in their primes and the Leafs are a relevant team again, Kabs won't be the same player that he currently is. I don't expect him to have a significant drop off in play or anything considering his style of play, but he won't be the same elite puck moving defenseman that he is today (I do still believe that he is an elite puck mover, he just hasn't had anybody to move the puck to the past couple of years lol. If you disagree on the elite part, fair enough). Like I said above though, this doesn't guarntee that Kaberle will be gone from the Leafs by any means. He loves the city of Toronto and the Maple Leaf franchise and Burke knows that he is a great defenseman. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see Kabs take a paycut to stay in Toronto, but I can see him leaving just as well. We will just have to wait and see what the future holds in store for Kaberle and the Leafs.