Jack enjoyed a career-high season last year with the Indiana Pacers, playing in all 82 games, averaging 13.1 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.1 SPG in 33.1 MPG.
Standing 6′3", Jack can play the point-guard position as well as the two spot. His quickness and defensive ability will enable him to produce consistent minutes off of the Raptors bench and immediately contribute to Toronto’s winning percentage.
ACC Expansion
Toronto’s Air Canada Centre gave a sneak peek at the results of a $48-million expansion to the facility which includes he west side Atrium expansion, new amenities for fans, state-of-the-art technology, a new broadcast studio and improvements to the in-arena fan experience and conversion process.
The facelift to the arena is centred on the western edge of the building and includes a new concourse and main entrance and the studio that’s the site of Raptors and Leafs pre- and post-game TV broadcasts.
There is little to notice in the actual bowl of the arena although a new hydraulic system of seating will make it possible to convert the arena from hockey to basketball quickly enough to potentially allow for both the Raptors and Leafs to play home games on the same day.
Anxious to get an early start, Teague came to town weeks ago, embarking upon a rigorous daily routine of weight-room and on-court work, mostly with Jarrett Jack, a former Georgia Tech star who is now a guard with the Toronto Raptors.
The mere notion that NBA players have an “offseason” is laughable to Jack, an acknowledged gym rat long before he moved from the Flats to the NBA.
“To each his own,” Jack said. “I think for the most part, guys just can’t stay away from it for too long. Guys have their own routines that they do. Me personally, I’m in the gym all the time. I just love to play.”
Busy offseason in Canada. In order to save his job, Brian Colangelo architected a team
to make the playoffs and compete right now. They signed and traded Shawn Marion for Antoine Wright, who helps on the defense event, and Devon George who was already traded to Golden State for shooter Marco Belinelli. Besides all of that Toronto attracted the hottest free agent in the NBA at the time, Hedo Turkoglu, plus they signed Jarrett Jack to run the second unit.
Brothersteve’s Green & Red Raptor Blog
Just taking a quick look at the backgrounds of the staff that Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano have assembled it is easy to see that this is a very diverse group of people. A Hall of Fame player, international experience, multi-sport backgrounds, scouting, college coaching, National program, NBA head coaching experience and a Canadian.
The Raptors already have a full time investment in the frontcourt in Andrea Bargnani, who had a breakout campaign this season. Where is this all leading? Chris Bosh. The Raptors already received tempting offers from teams this season, there were rumors of the Bulls offering a package that would include the physical monster Tyrus Thomas, and a combination of their many talented wing players (Andres Nocioni, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon were all mentioned), as well the Golden State Warriors were said to have offered centre Andres Biedrins and Corey Maggette. Both these players remain with Golden State, who are looking to make deals this offseason. They were particularly interested in Amare Stoudemire but with his season and possibly career ending eye injury, Bosh is arguably the next best power forward available in the league.
Also troublesome is his recent performance at the European Championships underway right now in Poland. Even with three NBA players on the roster (including new Raptors’ teammate Marco Belinelli), Bargnani’s squad was quickly eliminated from medal contention after disappointing losses to teams like Finland – hardly basketball powerhouses.
The Italian press in fact placed much of the blame for the losses on Bargnani. La Gazzetta Dello Sport even went so far as to say that Bargs justified his "Il Mago" nickname by being able to disappear in games right before the eyes of the crowd!
Unfortunately as Raptors’ fans, we’ve seen this movie before too; the one where Andrea disappears in games for long stretches and in the process ends up being a walking-running basketball liability.
Don’t provide him with a supporting cast he feels accurate? If he’s in Toronto, he’ll sulk and loaf. In New Jersey, he’ll play strong and inspired. Go figure. It’s annoying as hell.
Tell him that he could add four more points per game to his scoring average if he just drove more, getting to the line a la Dwyane Wade. Try it. He won’t do it. It’s annoying as hell.
Vince Carter is annoying as hell. On that, we can all agree.
But he can dunk. And he’s gotten everyone.
And while Bosh never possessed the talent of man like Michael Jordan, his grit and desire to improve his game every year is what could turn him into a superstar in the league, not just a star.
Sure, a cynic could turn to you and say he’s in a contract year, and has nothing but dollar figures to gain from improving his numbers. But to that person I say, what year hasn’t Bosh come back, bigger, better, or more determined? It’s in his nature.
The problem with his lack of skill in the finesse areas of the game is that it’s difficult to justify keeping him on the court for extended periods of time. He’s never averaged more than 24 minutes per game in his seven-year career and he played a career-low 14.4 minutes per game last season. In a big man rotation with Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Rasho Nesterovic and Amir Johnson, it’s possible and perhaps even advisable that he play even fewer minutes per game next season.
32 Raps
We’re going to be forced to listen to Bosh trade rumours all season long…
Franchise at RaptorsHQ should do some homework before posting incorrect information about Bargnani and the italian national team . First of all the third Italian in tne NBA ,Danilo Gallinari, is recovering from a back
injury and did not play .Second , it was France which eliminated Italy as the last game against Finland was meaningless. France is now one of the
favorites to win the Euros. If the Italians had a point guard like Calderon or Jack it would have been a close fight to see who qualify.
wow. that was alot of stuff today
To be honest I’m a little concerned that the writer at NBA Primetime (link #1) considers Jack to be a good addition since he clearly has no idea what he’s talking about.
AP has a strong attack the basket mentality? He’ll be throwing down alley-oops? I love me some AP, but that guy takes it in so weak. Likely the weakest in the NBA. We’ve all seen the old turn-your-back-into-the-defender-and-toss-it-over-your-head move he pulls to avoid contact.
He also claims 43.8% shooting percentage is ‘fantastic’ for Matt Barnes. Okay……
Also to NBA Outsider: BC’s job was never close to being in question, and architect isn’t a verb, so a situation can’t be ‘architected’. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve finished computering for now.
‘computering’… nice!
Actually, “to architect” is indeed a verb. See:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/architect
ooohhh….burrrrn.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all the links daily for Raps news but some of the drivel needs to be read before being posted. The “Buy out the Bosch” article by Thornlea News is some of the worst writing I’ve ever read.
“Maggette is a proven wing scorer who is averaging just under 20 points a game for his last 6 seasons in the league, he is also used to scoring in a sixth-man role which would make him a perfect scoring compliment to Shawn Marion’s defensive and reboounding game at the 3 position, should the Raptors lock Marion up to an extension as expected.”
Why are we linking any idiot that wants to write something with no knowledge of any info of this team?
yeah I was quite amazed by this article… I was extremely confused by his timeline. He seems to refer to everything that happened the previous offseason and not this year… does he realize that there was an offseason this year?
plus he compliments Maggette… which is just plain wrong.
Well, looking at the “about” section at the bottom of the blog, I’m assuming this person set up a new blog and brought old articles over. Maybe.
its a highschool paper. my old highschool actually. go thornlea!!!
Yea mine too,when did u graduate, lol we might actually know each other! I graduated 2 years ago.
Couldn’t agree more with your post. I posted something very similar a week or two ago, and got told…wait for it, to “just not read it”. I don’t know why that never occurred to me before! What sage advice!
I’m seriously considering pushing my ass cheeks against the keyboard until I have 500 character keystrokes, pasting in the word ‘Raptors’ a few times, and then launching it into the blogosphere — just to see if it will end up in the next day’s “morning coffee”.
If it does, remember: you don’t have to read it! ;)
It’s nice to see “Morning Coffee” is being held in such high regard. Truthfully, I find that almost laughable, but I’m chuffed.
It’s amazing lately…Arse’s articles suck, RapsFan has disappeared, Morning Coffee is as important as getting a piece in the Times. No wonder the Raptors feel like they are judged too harshly.
And, I agree with the “don’t read it” suggestion. Much like a search on Google for, say, “wingnuts”, some articles (or pictures) you come across there will be of interest and you read the whole thing, others turn your skin, so you close it and go to the next.
Thanks for caring.
No offense meant, AltRaps. I think you’re taking it a bit personally.
To clarify (reiterate?): I think Morning Coffee is a great concept, and do appreciate reading it. However, I think there needs to be a stricter screening process as to what makes it in. I love the idea of getting the latest from the Sun, Globe, Star, Post, and the best blogs all in one spot. However some of the blogs that have been included as of late are, objectively (and I’m not the only one who’s noticed), poorly written and of no substance or even flat-out incorrect.
Those blogs, diminish the quality of the Morning Coffee, which was, up until now, a great feature of RR.
Anyway, I don’t know if that’s just repetition, or if it clarifies the point any. Regardless, no offense was intended. The effort is still much appreciated. I just thought that feedback from readers was something that would be helpful.
I am just watching the Spain vs Turkey game … is it just me are does Hedo Turkoglu look overweight? Training camp is only what, two and half weeks away? And, Hedo is in the middle of a tournament, and he’s out of shape? Not a good sign.
Turkoglu has taken some awful shots in this game. They’ve gotten the point guard, Rubio, switching onto him on a couple of occasions … Each time Hedo settles for a fadeaway 24 footer with a hand in his face, with pretty much no attempt to get closer to the basket before settling for that low percentage shot. Rubio has defended Hedo well, but it’s more Hedo’s poor offense than Ricky’s great defense.
My thoughts exactly. Hedo seems to have taken his huge paycheck and spent it all on Kebab this summer ;) I’m sure you’ll be fine though and get his stuff together. he hasn’t exactly counted on his athleticism to get by in the NBA before, ss long as he drops the 5-10 pounds of kebab.
Re Zan Tabak’s post on Chris Bosh always looking to improve himself … I think he’s right. A ways back, Sam Mitchell talked about when he was an assistant at Milwaukee and Bosh was a ‘scrawny rookie’. “We didn’t think he was going to play,” said Mitchell. “He had two knee injuries [and was] playing with two knee braces on. And you’re just watching the physical pounding that we were putting to him, yet he kept getting up, he kept competing and you just knew then that he played with a lot of heart and, even though he was under-sized, he had a lot of toughness.”
With the work he’s done this off-season and Bosh being the kind of competitive guy I think he is, I’m looking forward to a very big season from CB4. Go Raps.
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE FIRST DAY OF TRAINING CAMP … NAME TAGS WILL BE NECESSARY … LOL
2nd warning: stop it with the unnecessary caps.
Next step will be all your comments being held in moderation. Your call.
OK .. sorry …
CAN YOU IMAGINE NOT READING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN…. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME…LOL
I kind of like the fact we have so many new faces.
The culture on this team had to change. I don’t really want to hear the old excuses.
So I can’t fault Bryan for tossing last years team to the curb. If it wasn’t him, I would want his replacement to do the same.
This situation also pushes Bosh and Jose to come into training camp with incentive to adjust to their new teammates. So this camp will require a little more focus from those two. I think that is a good thing! Believe it or not, Vets like to prove a thing or two to rookies as well, new faces sometimes have a positive effect on competition and renewed commitment to responsibility.
Andrea… umm, not his greatest fan, but I hope that the new guys on the team give him an incentive to be more assertive and leave his rookie shell in the past.
Franchise is definitely trying to stir up Raptor fans at the start of his article.
But he comes around the longer he goes. This will be a big season for Bargs. He has a lot to prove and fans are expecting him to prove it!
The big Italian should be a fan and media favorite by the end of this season.
wow, thats alot of BS today, some of these articles just kill my brains, are these people watching the same Raptors or what?
These are some scary reports from European games !!!! Hedo being out of shape and getting defended by Rubio !!!!! and AB getting blame for Italian team’s bad performace !!!! I am strating to worry now !!!
Yeah, Andrea has been awful this summer, but probably too ugly too be true…Hedo is going up and down, he played some nice game, and a terrible one tonight. Turkey got a nice win over Spain though, achieved displaying the ghost of Hedo on the floor…Very dangerous team, and Tanjevic is a great coach. As of today, Turkey, France, Slovenia look like the teams to beat, Greece and Spain still dangerous but a few steps behind. Spain right now is the big negative surprise, Rubio is not working as expected at the point guard, and the team is not responding on defense, allowing too many easy shots and offensive rebounds. Anyway, they’ve got so much talent and strength inside and outside, that I wouldn’t count them out of the medals yet. My bet for the final? Spain over France.
Greece hasn’t lost yet either. I take them to win it all. France also looks very dangerous as long as they keep the mistakes down to a minimum. Spain simply doesn’t look like the Spain we know.
Yes, Greece are definitely within the potential winners group and haven’t lost a game yet, but they’ve played a little bit under the radar… If Spain manage to pass the cut to semifinals, they could still go for the win. France and Greece vs Turkey and either Slovenia or Spain for the semis?
I think it’s crystal clear now. Television adds 15 pounds to your frame!
“And while Bosh never possessed the talent of man like Michael Jordan, his grit and desire to improve his game every year is what could turn him into a superstar in the league, not just a star.”
He has put up nearly the exact same numbers for the past 4 seasons. :s
I kind of like the fact we have so many new faces.
The culture on this team had to change. I don’t really want to hear the old excuses.
So I can’t fault Bryan for tossing last years team to the curb. If it wasn’t him, I would want his replacement to do the same.
This situation also pushes Bosh and Jose to come into training camp with incentive to adjust to their new teammates. So this camp will require a little more focus from those two. I think that is a good thing! Believe it or not, Vets like to prove a thing or two to rookies as well, new faces sometimes have a positive effect on competition and renewed commitment to responsibility.
Andrea… umm, not his greatest fan, but I hope that the new guys on the team give him an incentive to be more assertive and leave his rookie shell in the past.