Built Ford Tough

You are correct. He was the leading scorer for the select team. I don't remember the exact specifics, but I think he averaged around 7 points a game and shot around 60%, but I'm not 100% sure on that. As for the Drew League, his 44 point game was impressive given the fact that based on what I read he pretty much took over the game and brought his team back nearly single handedly. That kind of mentality is more impressive to me than the fact that he dropped 44 points. However, at the end of the day I couldn't care less how he played in the Drew League. I'm more interested in the work that he is doing with Raptors coaching staff, his work with his personal strength and conditioning coach and things like that.

He probably came to the realization that Milwaukee would be one of the only teams who would be stupid or desperate enough to give him a max contract.

7th seed is their ceiling. They won't be better than any of: Lakers Clippers OKC Spurs Nuggets Grizzlies I imagine they'll be fighting for one of the final 2 playoff spots in the West along with: Dallas Utah Golden State I think they finish outside of the playoffs, but I wouldn't be surprised if they landed one of those final two spots since there really isn't a whole lot seperating Minny from these three teams. Assuming everybody stays healthy, I'd have Golden State and Dallas ahead of them, but if a key player or two misses even 10 games for one of those teams, Minny should jump ahead of them.

I know he has only been at the helm for 2 years, but where do you think he ranks among the best gm's in the league? I honestly can't think of a single bad move he has made since leaving Toronto to become Denver's gm. Here is a recap of his moves since taking over the Nuggets. Traded Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and a 2nd round pick for Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Raymond Felton, Kosta Koufos, a 1st round pick, 2 2nd round picks and the rights to swap 2016 1sts with New York Signed George Karl to a contract extension Traded Raymond Felton for Andre Miller and a 2nd round pick Drafted Kenneth Faried, Evan Fournier and Quincy Miller (jury is still out on Fournier, but I like him based on scouting reports I've read and Miller's potential in the 2nd round is a fantastic pickup) Traded a 2016 2nd for Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez Re-signed Arron Afflalo to a 5 year, $43M extension Re-signed Danilo Gallinari to a 4 year, $42M extension Traded Nene for Javale McGee Re-signed Wilson Chandler to a 5 year, $37M extension (I think, at least) Re-signed Javale McGee to a 4 year, $44M extension Traded Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington and the lower for the 2014 1sts for Andre Iguodala So looking at this list how many of these moves can you say were bad or poor decisions? The only ones I can think of would be maybe Afflalo's contract, but he flipped him for Iggy so that is moot. Maybe the McGee extension will prove to be bad but the gamble is worth taking over paying Nene more than that. I honestly think he hasn't made a poor move since taking over. I know he doesn't have an extensive track record given he has only been on the job for two years, but where do you think he ranks among the best gm's in the league?

I remember reading on Twitter (can't remember who Tweeted it, though) that in around 15 games that the Sixers pace was 96 or higher, his TS% was 63%. That 96 pace is exactly what the Nuggets averaged per game last year. I don't expect to see Iggy post a 63% TS% next year, but I'd be absolutely shocked if he didn't noticeably improve on his 54% from last season.

On paper I agree that they look better but, like I said in the thread about Bynum, part of me is very skeptical as to how this whole thing will work out chemistry and stylistically. I also think that losing Iguodala is going to hurt a lot more than many people are acting like. I know that Bynum is a better player, but Iggy's skillset is basically ideal for any team and his defensive ability is going to be very, very hard to replace. I look forward to seeing this team play because they certainly have some interesting pieces.

Tyler Ennis, a Canaidan point guard ranked as the 4th best lead guard in the class of 2013, committed to Syracuse today. I love the move for Ennis' college career as I think Syracuse's playing style is a very good fit for him and he should get a significant role immediately. The fact that it will be Syracuse's first season in the ACC will give him ample coverage and exposure as well. However, the biggest weakness of his game is on the defensive end of the floor and going to Syracuse and playing in the 2-3 zone isn't likely going to help him develop as much as other systems would. Sure, it will help mask his weaknesses while he is in college, but when he looks to make the jump to the pros I can't help but think he might've been better off going to a different school that would be able to help improve his defense and not look to "cover it up" instead. Despite that, I do like the move for Ennis since, other than the whole zone thing, Syracuse is a great fit for him while also being close to family and his brother (who plays for Villanova) who he is super close with. Of course, anything can happen between now and the actual signing period so it isn't set in stone that he will be playing for Syracuse next year. After all Trey Lyles (class of 2014) made an early committment to Indiana last season and decommitted from them about a week ago.

I don't want to harp on this much longer and since I can understand where you are coming from on most fronts, I'l just let it go. However, there is one thing that I just can't understand. What exactly makes you think Wall is a better defender than Lowry? I'm seriously struggling to see anything that woud make me think that Wall is a better defender than Lowry. Wall has a long way to go before he shoud be mentioned with an upper-echelon point guard defender like Lowry. He has the physical tools to get there one day, but his defense has been one of the weaker parts of his game since he came into the league. Hell, it was one of the weaker parts of his game when he was in college as well. I'm just not seeing anything from Wall that woud make me think that at this point in time he is even on the same level defensively as Lowry is, let alone being superior.

Here is a 2 minute trailer for season 7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NzpnjVmuCA&feature=share Season looks like it will be epic. PS: There are some spoilers in the promo, athough it is nothing serious or surprising since most of us speculated them in this thread while watching this past season. Here is also the first 2 minutes of the season for anybody who wants to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1kJsZbFU78&feature=related I don't know much about guest stars, but Yvonne Strahovski wil have a recurring role.

This isn't exactly season 2 related, but they've announced some casting news (actually, it was announced a while ago). Many of the characters that book readers thought would've been in the 2nd season will be in the 3rd such as Meera and Jojen Reed, Edmure Tully and The Blackfish. They'll also be introducing Stannis' wife and daughter and Beric Dondarrion. Here is a full list of the 13 new characters as well as a video introducing them. http://www.tvfanatic.com/2012/07/game-of-thrones-season-3-premiere-date-13-new-actors-announced/

The only reason he scores more is because he jacks up 17 shots a game and his poor TS% (51%) reflects that. He may score at a higher volume, but Lowry is a much, much more efficient player. There really is nothing to argue. Kyle Lowry is simply a better player than Brandon Jennings. Even if you want to say that Jennings can score the ball bettter (and, personally, I think it is only because of his trigger happy playing style) that isn't nearly enough to make up for Lowry being a much better playmaker, a significantly better rebounder and a monumentally better defender. Again, you are looking purely at raw scoring numbers and not digging deep enough. Sure, Wall may score more than Lowry, but he also played 4 more minutes a night and took 2.6 more shots a game (not to mention 1.9 more free throws a game as well). That is, on average, the potential for Wall to score 7.1 more points a game than Lowry, yet Wall only scored 2 more points than Lowry did. Call me crazy, but I'd take 14.3 ppg with a TS% of 55.8% over 16.3 ppg with a TS% of 50.2% every single time. As for playmaking, yeah, Wall does have Lowry beat in that regard. I've got no trouble admitting that. As an overall floor general, though, Lowry is, at this point in time, better. He doesn't have nearly as many moments where he over dribbles, stagnates the offense, drives recklessly into traffic or makes poor decicisions that lead to turnovers. Of course, that should be expected given Lowry has been in the league for a while and Wall is just entering his 3rd season, but it obviously plays a factor into deciding who is the better player at this specific point in time. Given the fact that he is a much more efficient offensive player, runs a team better and is a better defender (Wall has the potential to be an elite defender at the point, Lowry is already an elite point defender), I'd take Lowry over Wall if I'm looking at things from purely a single season standpoint. Just look at the numbers and everything points to Lowry being better than Wall. Lowry's PER - 18.9 Wall's PER - 17.7 Lowry's ORTG - 111 Wall's ORTG - 100 Lowry's DRTG - 104 Wall's DRGT - 107 Lowry's WS - 4.9 Wall's WS - 3.5 In two years time? I'd be surprised if Wall isn't better but right now that isn't the case. That begs the question, though, is having Curry's production for half the season more valuable than Lowry's for 70 games? Sure, Curry may play better when he is on the floor, but that gets negated by the fact that he is only on the floor half the season. His talent doesn't really help the team much when he is sitting on the bench in a suit.

Name one thing other than jack up bricks that Jennings does better than Lowry. I'll save you the trouble, there is nothing. I've never seen a guy live off of one good month in his rookie season more than Jennings. The guy is not a good player, yet people talk about him like he has star potential. As far as Wall goes, if he improves his jumper and decision making than he is without a doubt better than Lowry. The problem is, he still plays at basically one speed and can't shoot to save his life (dude shot about 27% from outside of 3 feet this past season). I have faith that Wall will improve these areas of his game but since I can only go off of what I saw last season, yeah, I'd say heading into next year Kyle Lowry is a better player than John Wall for the immediate future. Would I take Lowry over Wall to build a franchise? Of course not, but that doesn't mean he isn't the better player heading into next season. As far as Curry goes, the guy is always hurt. Talent wise he may have Lowry beat (although Lowry is about 10X the defensive player Curry is) but what good is that talent if all it takes is for you to roll your ankle one time and miss the rest of the season. But of course, those guys are big names so of course, they are vastly superior players than Lowry regardless of the fact that he had a better season than all three of them each of the past two seasons with Curry's 10/11 season being the lone exception. Again, though, the problem with Curry isn't the talent, it his his potentially red flag ankles. I do agree that a healthy Curry is better than Lowry.

At this point in his career, it isn't even debatable that Billups is better than Lowry. Billups was clearly a step slow last season and then he suffered a terrible injury (just look at how much a younger Eltron Brand's game deteriorated after suffering the same injury). He is living off of his name now. I'd also say that Lowry is better than Conley is. Look at the numbers from last season between the two. PPG Lowry -14.3 Conley - 12.7 APG Lowry - 6.6 Conley - 6.5 RPG Lowry - 4.6 Conley - 2.5 PER Lowry - 18.89 Conley - 16.79 TS% Lowry - 55.8% Conley - 52.3% ORTG Lowry - 110 Conley - 111 DRGT Lowry - 104 Conley - 102 Lowry put up better numbers than Conley did last year, was more efficient and is a better individual defender (the DRTG reflects that given the difference between Memphis and Houston's defensive abilities). I like Conley but Lowry is better. Not by a substantial margin, but he is slightly better than Conley is most areas of the game and when that is all added up, it, well, adds up to him being a better player. Rubio will be a better player, but at this stage in his career he has too many glaring holes in his game to say that he is better than Lowry as of right now. Lin is debatable as well. I'd say that heading into next season Lowry is worse than Paul, Williams, Rondo, Nash, Westbrook, Lawson, Parker, Irving and Rose. That would put him right around 10th. He is a good point guard, borderlin top 10. Nobody thinks or is saying he is a franchise point or a saviour, but he is a clear upgrade over what Toronto had last season It is an insult to Lowry to say that he belongs in a grouping with Darren Collison and George Hill. If you have Cleveland finishing ahead of Toronto that means you think Cleveland improved more than Toronto this season considering the Cavs were the 3rd worst team in the league last year and Toronto was the 8th. If you have a team who was worse than another ahead of that team next season, it means you think they are more improved. It really is that simple. And, dude, who said that Toronto was anything special? Last I checked, people don't think a team is special if they are saying best case scenario is that they fight for the 8th seed. Last thing about your comments quoted above, there is no way in hell that Tristan Thompson is a better player than Andrea Bargnani. That is an absolute joke. You claim that Varejao played like an All-Star before he got hurt, well, Bargnani was too prior to his first calf injury. He was averaging 23.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg on 60% TS% with a 114 ORTG and 107 DRTG. Was it a random hot streak? Possibly. Even if it was, Tristan Thompson is not even close to being a better player than Bargnani is and I'm far from a Bargnani fan. Unrealistic expectations? Thinking that best case scenario is the Raptors will fight for a final playoff spot but likely fall short is unrealistic? Give me a break. The one with unrealistic expectations is you and thinking that Toronto will be the 2nd worst team in the East next year. So you think adding Lowry, Ross, Valanciunas and Fields will make the Raptors fall 3 seeds down the Eastern Conference standings? Not to mention having Bargnani likely not missing 50% of the season, having a full training camp with Casey's system instead of learning everything on the fly like they did last season and having internal development from some of their young players. Cleveland may very well end up finishing ahead of Toronto, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they did, but I 100% guarantee that, barring injuries, Toronto is not the 2nd worst team in the East next year.

I think they are rated pretty fairly and where they belong. They'll likely be in that group who fight for one of the final two playoff spots in the West along with Dallas, Minnesota and Utah. I think it is safe to say the top 6 in the West will be some combination of the Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Grizzlies and Thunder and I just don't see the Warriors being able to sneak above one of those teams, which would make them a true sleeper (given where their expectations are heading into the season). I do really, really like what they've done this summer, though. If they stay healthy I'd expect them to grab one of those final two playoff spots.

I don't get it. The Raptors add Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, Landry Fields and Terrence Ross and lost Jerryd Bayless (was hurt for half the year) and James Johnson, yet they didn't get much better? The Cavaliers add Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, Kelenna Azubuike and Jon Leuer and lost Anthony Parker and Antawn Jamison, yet they improved much more than Toronto? The Cavs will have internal improvement from the likes of Irving and Thompson develpoing while having a healthy Varejao, but can't you say the same thing about Toronto? DeRozan and Davis should be better and they will have a healthy Bargnani. Call me a homer, but I just don't see how the Cavs improved their team this offseason so much more than Toronto did. The only reason why Cleveland may improve more than Toronto is because Irving takes the next step and they don't blatantly tank the 2nd half of the season. That has nothing to do with anything they've done this offseason. I agree that best case scenario is that Toronto fight for the final playoff spot, though, and at the end of the day I'd be surprised if they did make them.

Put it this way. The Magic traded the best player, didn't receive either the 2nd or 3rd best player traded and took on arguably the two worst contracts in Harrington and Afflalo. I like Afflalo, but his PER is below league average and he makes around $8M a season for another 3 years if I'm not mistaken. That alone should tell you what to think of this trade. EDIT: I actually forgot about Richardson, so they took on arguably 2 of the 3 worst contracts.

I actually really don't know what to expect from Philly with Bynum. Sure, on paper adding a center like Bynum to a team like Philly who desperately lacked low post scoring is a perfect match. However, Bynum is at his best in a slowed down, half court game. The rest of the Sixers main pieces (Holiday, Thad, Turner) all excel in a faster paced, free flowing offense. Will they be able to find a way to integrate Bynum into the offense that doesn't take away from the strengths of their other core players games? On the surface it would make sense to think that they will look to push the break and then when that fails they'll pound the ball into Bynum, but that still leaves the problem of Turner and Holiday (more so Turner) not being as effective without the ball in their hands. I also really question how Bynum is going to react to Doug Collins. I can definitely see the two of them clashing multiple times next season. Now, despite my reservations, I do think that if everything works out that the Sixers improved their team. I am a huge Iguodala fan and think that the Sixers will sorely miss his perimeter defense (especially in the East where you have wings like Melo, Pierce, James, Johnson, Granger and Deng who you will meet in the playoffs) but Bynum gives their offense, which could get very predictable, a completely new dimension.

I know there is the Jonas Valanciunas thread where I usually post Valanciunas related news, articles, stats, etc... but I figured I'd create a new thread for this because of how much I enjoy Sebastian Pruiti's work. I definitely recommend reading the entire article and not just the bit I post here since it is a fantastic read, like basically all of Pruiti's work. Anyways, here it is: Rest of the article... http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/34145/the-london-olympics-and-jonas-valanciunass-potential-for-the-raptors

Why aren't you arguing about the obvious hand ball from Rapinoe in the penalty area? The point is that shit happens in a game and calls are missed. Can you argue that Morgan could've had a penalty kick? Absolutely. Can you argue that Rapinoe's hand ball should've resulted in a Canadian penalty kick? Absolutely. I can live with stuff like that being let go. What I don't like to see is refs going on power trips. In my opinion, Pederson went on a power trip tonight. In your opinion, you think it was a fairly officiated game. Am I not just as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours? EDIT: And, once again to be clear, I also have the opinion that the ref did not cost Canada the game. They were outplayed in the overtime period and, questionable calls or not, had as much of a chance to win this game as the Americans did. The fact of the matter is, they didn't come through in the OT and the Americans did. For that simple reason, the Americans deserved to win this game.

No, it is not equivalent at all, but I digress because this is a pointless discussion.

Are you seriously trying to compare the that to a 5 second or 8 second call in basketball? lol

And how many times have you seen that call made before? If you answer anything other than 1 (today's call) I'm calling bullshit. The hand ball was the right call, although it is hard to swallow considering the circumstances that led to it. Still, I've got no problem with that call. I'm not making excuses or anything like that. It was an observation on my part. At the end of the day the game was still tied and Canada still had a chance to win it in OT. The Americans were clearly the better team in the OT and it showed by how much the dominated ball possession. The Canadian team was absolutely gassed and the Americans, being the superior team, took advantage and deserve the win.

Talk about everything going your way. Score a goal that deflects off the Canadian defender. Get an absolute gift handed to them from the refs to tie it. Score with 30 seconds left in OT. Oh well. I can't imagine what Sinclair must've been feeling at the end of the game, though. She plays the game of her life and absolutely dominates, yet comes up short on the scoreboard after some very unfortunate events.

Seems like a pretty hasty move if you ask me. I know the players seem to like playing for him, but I don't understand the real rush to give him an extension. I guess the stability will be nice for a young team, but I would've waited until after the season before making any sort of committment to him.

Pretty soon the league will be run by nothing but RC Buford protégé's. What a glorious league it will be.