The Wall Street Journal. It’s like viagra for your mind, or so they tell me. Anytime one of these non-sports related publishing comes out with a sports-related article it seems to mean more, kind of like a really attractive girl who’s into sports. Doesn’t happen often but when it does, it’s news. The WSJ tells us that the power of NBA players is getting to be too much. They’re of course referring to the unprecedented “summit” held by this year’s free-agent crop which David Stern is too toothless to condemn. Maybe it’s because the CBA is up for renewal and he doesn’t want to ruffle too many feathers before the negotiations start, or maybe he’s resigned to the fact that the league and clubs will be relinquishing even more control so may as well just prep yourself for it. The problem persists in every sport, and the NBA must be commended for actually having a CBA which goes some way in protecting team’s who are about to lose their free-agents. The only shortcoming I’d say is guaranteed compensation, much like the NFL’s franchise player rule.
According to Chad Ford, the Raptors are looking to either move up in the draft or get out of it. Huh? As posted in the forums, Colangelo is looking to move up or possibly trade out of the draft if a proper package comes his way. If this is true, then it’s quite odd because he’s deciding between two extremes – go top 5 or sit out. It’s hard to see anybody offering anything substantial for a #13 pick, and since Colangelo’s open to sitting out the draft as long as a good package is offered, you have to conclude that he’s shopping more than just the pick to get it done. It’s no secret that Chris Bosh, Hedo Turkoglu and Jose Calderon are the three Raptors parked at the trading block, but whether they can be parlayed into something that entices Colangelo to move out of the draft is intriguing to say the least.
Bosh remains the Raptors most valuable asset and, as has been discussed numerous times, if we can’t get anything of value in return, we should aim to dump something of little value. My gut feeling is that Pat Riley will come in and his love for Bosh will trump his hate for Hedo and he’ll take them both and give us Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers and the pick he took from us last year in return. Wouldn’t that be something, eh? Riley feeding us the pick he pretty much fleeced us for and making it look we’re getting something new. Riley, I’m very weary of him, he reminds of Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises.
DeMar DeRozan is playing in the Drew League and is killing it. Apparently he dropped 46 yesterday which is impressive until you consider that Deon Tresvant of the Bulls (not Chicago silly, the K&E Bulls) is the player of the week averaging, 38pts, 5rebs and 5asts. Other notables in the league include Brandon Jennings, James Hardin, and Cuttino Mobley. Video of DeMar’s demolition:
Defensive specialist, Tom Thibodeau will be the Bulls head coaching job. It’s surprising to see the Bulls make another rookie hire with Rose and Noah emerging as stars, you’d think they’d want to announce their arrival as contenders with a big name hire like Jeff Van Gundy. Other than Scott Skiles, their last few head coaches have been Tim Floyd, Bill Berry, Bill Cartwright, Jim Boylan and Vinny Del Negro. Of note is that they chose not to promote Pete Myers, who has been with the team as an assistant for nine years and was a scout for two years before that. This is after being drafted by the Bulls and having a nine year playing career, three of which came with the Bulls. If he hasn’t been promoted after all that, he’ll never be. Also, pretty sure Jay Triano got hired for doing a lot less.
I’ve always liked Thibodeau, but that’s probably because I like defense and Thibodeau is all about that. Defense is also the reason I used to like Marc Iavaroni, not that I had ever analyzed his coaching, but since he was so highly talked about I assumed there was something to it. Here’s hoping Thibodeau does more than just pretend to talk to a player who isn’t even listening to begin with, all the while looking really goofy. Another potentially surprising rookie hire could be Tom Izzo at Cleveland, if they’re serious about keeping LeBron, is hiring a rookie coach, no matter who he is, really the answer? It does appear Izzo is hesitating.
Our current roster:
PG: Calderon, Jack, Banks
SG: DeRozan, Belinelli
C: Bargnani
SF: Turkoglu, Weems
PF: Evans
The only position we’re three-deep at is PG. The position we’re the weakest at is C. The position we have the least amount of talent at is the PF. The position where we have the most amount of athleticism is SG. The position that nobody quite sure knows how to evaluate is SF.
Hung out with some cool people last night, but I won’t name drop. On our way to the Karate Kid premier.
“Some cool people”. Well, at least we can rule out this guy.
Did you know that if you buy an RR Hat, we also send you this.
