Built Ford Tough

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2012/09/20/20120920phoenix-suns-channing-frye-enlarged-heart.html#ixzz273gIvdvW

I guess I'll humor you, even though, regardless what you said earlier, I'm about 99% sure you are just disagreeing for the sake of creating a discussion. No, it is not an overstatment. It is accurate. Paul is in the first tier of point guards, Holiday isn't even top 10. I probably saw about 20-25 Clipper games and another 30 or so Sixer games. How many Sixer games did you watch last year? As far as Holiday goes, name me one thing he does better than Paul other than guarding bigger point guards? He doesn't score more (Paul scored 19.8, Holiday 13.5) or as efficiently (Paul's TS% was 58.1, Holiday's 49.6). He doesn't pass nearly as well (Paul's AST% was 43.8, Holiday's was 21.6) He doesn't rebound as well (Pauls's DRB% was 9.4, Holiday's was 7.3) He doesn't take care of the ball as well (Paul's TOV% was 10.8 with a USG% of 24.3, Holiday's was 13.2 with USG% of 21.8) Paul's PER was nearly double Holidays (27 to 14.7) As far as choking goes the numbers completely contradict what you are saying. In 4th quarters and overtimes, Paul shot 144-300 which is 48%. Holiday shot 92-222 which is 41%. When the game was within 10 points, Paul shot 399-847 which is 47%. Holiday shot 332-781 which is 42.5%. Paul was also creating his own shot (assisted on just 9.9% of his 2PT shots and 47.8% of his 3PT shots) much more frequently than Holiday (28.7% of his 2PT shots and 64.7% of his 3PT shots) was. So, tell me again, how exactly did Paul choke much more frequently than Holiday did? Was it him scoring more when the game was within 10 points? Was it him shooting much more efficiently at the end of games? What exactly is it about Holiday that made him so much better in the clutch than Paul? That may be the case. I don't have a problem if somebody thinks Bynum is better than Griffin because they are close. Even if Bynum is better than Griffin, it doesn't nearly make up for the colossal gap between Paul and Holiday. The gap on the top players list between Bynum and Griffin may be 5 spots. The gap between Paul and Holiday is 50+ spots.

There is no arguably about it. Paul is better than Holiday by a country mile and always will be. Even if Holiday becomes the absolute best player he can be, it still won't be as good as Paul was last year. It will be at the very least a tier below that level. The answer to this question is quite easily Paul and Griffin. It shouldn't even be a debate. The gap between Bynum and Griffin doesn't even come close to making up for the gap between Paul and Holiday. Honestly, is Bynum even a clear cut better player than Griffin anyways? I can't say so.

That was the first thing that came to my mind as well. I think they are bad. Sure, they may be "different" or "unique" compared to other uniforms around the league, but that doesn't make them appealing to me. I think they are just awful.

For Toronto: 1. Seeing what kind of improvements the Raptors make offensively. Casey talked about how last year the entire focus was on defense and how he wanted to establish a defensive philosophy with the team. He has also mentioned how he would use this years training camp to implement some more zone schemes, but the primary focus would be on the offensive end of the ball. With the new personnel in place, it should be interesting to see what kind of offense he looks to run. 2. How will Calderon do off of the bench? I loved him as a reserve when he was backing up TJ Ford and Jarrett Jack and think that he is a much, much better player when he is coming off of the bench and playing between 18-24 minutes a night. With guys like Amir Johnson, Jonas Valanciunas and Ed Davis, he will have plenty of pick and roll options, and he will also have shooters like Ross and Kleiza to spread the floor. I really like the potential of the Raptors 2nd unit assuming Calderon buys into his new role and doesn't pout or anything. 3. Was Andrea Bargnani's start to last season him breaking through or a simple hot streak? With the calf injury severely limiting him last season after those 13 games Raptor fans never really got to come to a conclusion on whether or not this was a "new Bargnani" or just a hot streak. If he ends up playing like that for an entire season I'd say there is a very good chance that Toronto will make the playoffs, but I also think the chances of him playing like that for an entire season is very slim. For the NBA: 1. Will Harrison Barnes be a better pro than college player? I'm sure it is just my UNC and Barnes homerism speaking but I really think that he will be better in the NBA due to the floor being more open and the lane being less congested. He probably won't be much more than a spot up shooter in Golden State as Curry, Thompson, Lee and Bogut will likely all be ahead of him on the offensive pecking order, but I'm just looking to see if he shows glimpses of being a potential number one offensive option. 2. Who'll grab the final two playoff spots in the West? I think the top 6 is set in stone (barring a serious injury) with LAL, LAC, SAS, MEM, OKC and DEN all being locks. That should make the race for the final two spots very interesting considering there are 4 teams that should be very close. I'm definitely thinking that the battle between Dallas, Minny, Golden State and Utah will be very tight. 3. Austin Rivers playing the point. I'm just waiting to see how long it takes before Eric Gordon, Anthony Davis or Ryan Anderson blow up at him during a game when he shots 2-12 and has more turnovers than assists. It will be a beautiful disaster.

Not only for your own team, but as a fan in general. Lets say 3 things for your favourite team and 3 things for any other teams.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8371331/connecticut-huskies-jim-calhoun-announce-retirement-sources-say I can't say I'm surprised by this considering all of the health troubles he has had in combination with his age. Add that to UCONN being on probation, banned from the NCAA tournament and not having a lot of talent and, well, is anybody surprised he finally decided to call it quits?

Do you remember Julian Wright when he played for the Raptors? McGuire is basically a rich man's Julian Wright. Does everything that Wright does/did better but has basically the same weaknesses If that doesn't really help you, here are some statistics that should shed some light on the type of player he is. All you should really expect from McGuire is a great isolation defender. His opponents scored 0.59 points per possession against him in isolation situations. This was the 17th best PPP allowed in the NBA in isolation plays. He also forced a turnover 14% of the time. He was also the 59th best when guarding a pick and roll ball handler (0.72 PPP) and 47th best in post up situations (0.71 PPP). He tends to lose track of his man off the ball, though, whether it is because of being too help concious or just a momentary lapse of focus. In spot up situaions his opponent scored 1.07 PPP, which ranked all the way down in the 300's (313 to be exact). Offensively, he is a disaster, though. It really doesn't matter if he is spotting up, posting up, cutting, in transition or isolating. He is brutal in every catagory ranking in the 200's-300's in PPP) in every catagory (except cutting which he was 140th). This makes him nothing more than a short clock defensive specialist. So yeah, like I said in the first post expect great man defense, especially in isolation situations, but a complete trainwreck offensively. If he does end up making the team his role will be nothing more than a late clock defensive specialist unless he drastically (and I mean drastically) improves his jumper so that you aren't playing 4 on 5 offensively. PS: The contract is a one year, partially guaranteed deal. It sounds like McGuire and Magloire will compete for the final roster spot.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--dominic-mcguire-reaches-agreement-to-play-for-raptors.html I like him as purely a defensive specialist in late clock situations, but his horrific offensive game makes him pretty much a liability for anything more than short bursts. As a 15th man, I like this signing.. Solid defender (near elite in iso situations) who can guard 4 positions, elite rebounder from the wing and has nice athleticism. He'll also make guys like DeRozan and Ross work their asses off during practice which is an added bonus. I really hope it is only a 1 year deal, though. If it is two years, I don't understand why Colangelo keeps on handing out these two year deals to end of the bench players. If it is a two year deal, I imagine the 2nd year would be a team option or something like that.

I didn't catch it as I was at work but here is a recap that a poster over at Real GM wrote up. Nothing really interesting but given the lack of Raptors news I figured I'd post this anyways. In regards to the first point about players meeting up in LA after Summer League, I also believe that Ed Davis was there. I don't know for sure, but I remember reading something about Amir Johnson being there as well, but I'm not 100% sure on him. I do know that Davis was there, though. One thing I found pretty funny is the way he talks about Calderon. If somebody had no idea who Jose Calderon was they would probably assume that he was some grizzled, 37 year old vet or something and not a guy who just turned 30.

It isn't officially signed as of yet, but it sounds like that is the only thing left to do as the framework and details have all be agreed upon. The deal is non-guaranteed as well.

What I like the most about it is that their skill sets compliment each other so well. Monroe has been great playing center and on the low block since coming into the league but during his time with Georgetown he was probably the best high post big in college. If Drummond develops like expected they will be an absolutely scary low post/high post combo, especially when you combine Drummond's athletic ability with Monroe's excellent passing ability. It will really be a treat to watch these two develop and grow together, assuming Drummond is able to reach his potential. They have the potential to be an absolutely lethal frontcourt pairing.

Metal Gear Solid 4. Red Dead Redemption. Heavy Rain. Uncharted series. Elder Scrolls Oblivion and Skyrim. Dragon Age: Origins (never played the 2nd, but I head it wasn't that good). I haven't played games like Mass Effect, Fallout 3 or Demon Souls, but I've head that they are great as well. I definitely suggest Heavy Rain. It is such a unique gaming experience compared to what is out there and has plenty of replay value.

Bautista is going to have wrist surgery and is done for the year. The recovery time is around 3 months so he should be ready for spring training next year. Also, Marcus Stroman, one of the Jays' two first round picks this year has been suspended 50 games after testing positive for a PED. Supposedly it was in some over-the-counter supplement that he was taking.

I actually thought that Anderson was going to be another one of those classic Spur steals when they picked him 20th in the 2010 draft. I really thought he would be able to come in and contribute immediately and would end up being a starting calibre shooting guard. Oddly enough, the reason why I thought he would be a steal is actually the reason why he has been a flop so far; his jumper. I thought he would be a lights out shooter especially since the big three would demand so much attention. I knew he had a strange hitch in his mechanics but it didn't really stop him from being an effective shooter in college (career 38 3PT% and 80 FT% in his 3 years at OK State) so I figured it wouldn't be an issue in the pros once he got to work with the Spur staff. That obviously wasn't the case since he has been awful in his two years and he can barely even get his shot off at this level. Maybe a change of scenery will help him, but from what I've seen, I doubt it. I haven't seen anything from him in his two years to think that he will break out in Atlanta.

I don't believe he meant to get rid of posters who only post in the off topic areas, but rather the ones who's sole purpose of posting seems to be antagonizing and baiting others. Nobody on the staff has a problem with a poster who would rather chill in the OT areas. Obviously as a basketball site we encourage everybody to post about basketball as much as they can, but nobody we realize some people use this forum as a place to talk about things other than basketball and that is fine. The baiting that goes on is not, though, and that is what I think CmS was meaning by his post.

In Sheridan's defense (never thought I'd say that since I think he is a hack) he believes Toronto will be one of the worst teams in the league next year so I'm guessing he thinks there is a good chance that the pick will be 5th overall or something. I don't agree with him at all on that trade because I'd be very, very surprised if Toronto's pick is any better than 8th next year and the class sucks anyways, but that is probably the logic he is using.

Canada Basketball is holding press conference is scheduled for 10 AM PST tomorrow to announce that Triano will be named the head coach. Perfect timing considering Nash is having an orientation camp this weekend for the senior men's team. I don't know all of the players involved, but I do know that 20-25 players will be there and that includes some of the upcoming young talent like Wiggins, Ennis and Kabongo as well as the obvious guys (CoJo, Thompson, etc...).

Pierce and McGrady's teams were a lot worse than Love's last year, though, even with Rubio out of the lineup. Those teams were also openly tanking, which the Wolves were not doing either. Pierce, McGrady and Garnett had also proven to be able to lead poor supporting casts into the playoffs prior to these scenarios you are taking about, which Love has never done. Those scenarios really aren't comparable if you ask me. I also never said that team success represented individual ability, but if somebody wants to tell me that a player is a legitimate franchise player, I sure as hell expect that player to have some team success, even if it is just a first round exit or two. Prime McGrady and Garnett played with garbage for the most part yet they still managed to consistently get their teams into the playoffs or at least near the playoffs.

I definitely agree with you that it is big market vs. small market. The thing is that these types of contracts being handed out in the middle of negotiations just show that there is a pretty big division amongst the owners and that is just awful when going through these types of negotiations. If the owners are divided amongst themselves that gives the PA so much leverage and negotiating power. It just makes the owners look bad if you ask me. Not that I really care, although I would like to see contracts capped at 5 years. I absolutely hate these ridiculous 10+ year contracts.

Supposedly Buffalo has offered Shane Doan a 4 year, $30M contract. That is absolutely absurd. EDIT: Also, Taylor Hall signed a 7 year, $42M extension with the Oilers. The owners really aren't doing themselves any favours during these negotations. They talk about how they want a maximum of 5 year contracts, yet during these negotations we have seen Weber signed to a 14 year deal, Hartnell signed to a 6 year deal and now Hall signed to a 7 year deal. It sure looks great on the owners.

That is exactly my point, though. The team imploded once Rubio got hurt. That should be a be a huge red flag in regards to Kevin Love being a franchise player. The T'Wolves were good enough to be 21-19 prior to Rubio's injury but then once he is taken out of the lineup they go 5-20? I'm sorry, but a rookie Ricky Rubio isn't the difference between a 52.5 winning percent and a 20 winning percentage. Yeah, Love missed some games as well, but even then, 7 of the first 11 games of their losing streak occured with Love in the lineup and 5 of those losses came against non-playoff teams so its not like they were getting beat up on by playoff teams or anything like that. As for your Dirk comments, maybe he doesn't win a championship without Kidd, but the big difference is that Dirk has led the Mavericks to the playoffs and 50 wins for over a decade. Dirk proved he was a legitimate franchise player not by winning a championship, but by having the Mavs as a contending team year after year despite not always having a great supporting cast. They situations aren't even close to being comparable. Lastly, a franchise player needs pieces around him to win a championship. That is 100% true. A franchise player shouldn't need a much better supporting cast than what Love was working with last year (even with Rubio being injured) to at least compete for a playoff spot. I know I'll probably get flak for this from somebody, but if you ask me, Chris Bosh in Toronto was closer to being a legitimate franchise player than Kevin Love is. Sure, he may not have stuffed the stat sheet like Love does, but he had a greater impact on winning than what Love has shown so far in his career. No, I don't think it is. A franchise player is a guy that you build a contending team around. Do you honestly think that you can ever build a team around a guy like Kevin Love? At the very least, you need a player who is just as good as Love to be a contender and, in that case, is Love really the franchise player if there is another player on the team who is his equal?

Because the T'Wolves have done jack shit with him as the best player? I'd say that is a pretty good reason for why you can say he isn't a franchise player. Mediocore talent or not, franchise players don't lead their team to having the worst record in the league (2 years ago) or 15 games under .500 (last year). There really is no excuse for why that T'Wolves team last year finished with such a poor record if Love is in fact a legitimate franchise player. The guy is clearly a 2nd option. It truly baffles me that there are people who think that he is a player you can build a contending team around.

The problem is that the same things were being said at this time last year. I actually remember reading threads on the RealGM Raptors board about how DeRozan's jumper was significantly improved and that his handle was much tighter based on Drew League highlights. Of course, those things didn't exactly prove to be correct. Sure, he dramatically improved his 3 point percentage last year, but his mid range jumper wasn't nearly as good as it was the previous season, he was still a well below average shooter from deep and he struggled to create much of anything in isolation situations. I don't think anybody will say that DeRozan doesn't look good in those highlights because that isn't true. It's just a case of been there, done that with him and people aren't really impressed by him having a strong showing in a summer league. This year may be different because he was on the select team and he is able to work out with Raptor coaches and trainers, but the Drew League stigma isn't exactly a positive one considering how much hype he got last year because of it.

If Kevin Love was a franchise player the T'Wolves wouldn't have imploded when Rubio got injured last season. They were 21-19 in their first 40 games. Rubio got injured in game 41. In the next 25 games the Wolves went 5-20 including an 11 game losing streak. I know Rubio is a good player, but he is not that good at this point in his career for a team to go into a tailspin like that without him, especially since Minny had a more than capable backup point in Ridnour. If Love was a legitimate franchise player the T'Wolves would not have gone on such a horrific losing streak after Rubio's injury. The fact that they completely fell off a cliff like that shows that, at least in my opinion, Love will never be the best player or leader on a team that makes any sort of noise in the playoffs. I know that there were other factors that led to their poor finish to the season and it wasn't just Rubio's injury, but again, if Love was a legitimate franchise player they would've at least been respectable and not a complete pushover during those final 25 games.