Jack pledged to do his part to ensure that Bosh, who could jump ship after this season, returns. He was asked if he thought he would be able to keep Bosh around longer than the one year at Georgia Tech before Bosh opted for the NBA draft.
"I hope so man, but the last time I played with him and he left, we went to the championship without him so he might be the one holding us back," Jack joked before adding, "I think with what we do this year, we can put a lot of pressure on him to come back."
That’s quite a turnaround for an organization that was contemplating the worst just three short months ago.
If Jarrett Jack has proved one thing in his three years in the league and his college career, it’s that the concept of a day off is foreign to him.
Jack is one of only 11 NBA players that has not missed a game in two consecutive seasons. In his rookie year in Portland, he played in 79 of the 82 games, which means he has missed just three games his entire pro career. He also started every game of his Georgia Tech career except on Mar. 5, 2005 against Clemson.
As it stands now, Jack likely is looking at a sixth-man role in Toronto unless 19-year-old rookie DeMar DeRozan isn’t quite ready to fill the hole at shooting guard.
Bosh, who made a cameo appearance at Jack’s introductory news conference, said he’s impressed with the moves president and general manager Bryan Colangelo’s made but remained non-committal.
"For sure, I’m really excited about next year," Bosh said. "Not too excited to the point I was last year (when he and Jermaine O’Neal were supposed to be a dominant frontcourt duo) but just looking at it, I think we have the chance to have a good team if we do the right things."
Jack would seem to be a perfect fit for the Raptors roster, a combo guard who could spell Jose Calderon at the point or whoever wins the starting shooting guard position.
"The moves that have been made have been systematic and well thought out," said Colangelo. "This is another piece of the puzzle."
In four seasons he’s carved out a reputation as one of the NBA’s most professional young players, putting winning ahead of his own agenda, suggested by the fact that he opted to sign on for what will likely be a sixth-man role instead of trying to find somewhere he would be guaranteed big minutes.
“I just try to have a relationship with every [teammate] in my own special way,” he said.
It’s a generosity of spirit he says came from his parents.
“Whenever my father was cooking in the neighbourhood, he wasn’t just cooking for me or my younger brother, he was cooking for everyone, anyone who needed a plate,” he said.
"Not many times in this league do you get to play with someone you can call your friend, do you know what I mean?" Jack said. "Me and him were talking about it the last time we played against each other, like it would be something if we could ever be teammates again. It came to pass now."
On Monday, the pair joined rookie DeMar DeRozan for lunch. Bosh picked the spot and picked up the cheque.
Jack hopes these dinners continue for years to come, but is smart enough to realize it will come down to winning. He would like to help convince Bosh to stay, but knows it is not the be all and end all.
"I just remember coaching and calling out plays, he was picking up our guys and looking over and stealing plays and relaying them back to his teammates and always talking," Toronto coach Jay Triano said in Las Vegas, where he is working with USA Basketball this week. "He just showed me he was very prepared for the games, very much a leader with his team because he really communicates."
Rumor has it that at least three NBA teams are currently pursuing Mancinelli: the Toronto Raptors, who are seemingly interested in every European player that comes down the pike; the Los Angeles Lakers, especially with Lamar Odom still in free-agency limbo; and perhaps his most likely destination, the Portland Trail Blazers.
While some see his 5-year, $20-million contract as excessive, his particular fit with the Raptors, as opposed to his empirical place in the NBA stratum, aid in explaining those figures. If Calderon goes down for any length of time this season, for instance, it’s nice that the team can once again feel confident that they have a backup that won’t be a liability to the club while they wait for their starter to mend. The fact that Jack can (and will) also log minutes at shooting guard should also help prevent the kind of tension over minutes that ultimately doomed the T.J. Ford/Jose Calderon partnership last summer. Both of these players will have significant roles with the team next year and neither one has to worry about being wholly overshadowed by the other. The Raptors will need what both bring next season to be successful, and Jack understands that or else he wouldn’t have signed in Toronto in the first place.
I haven’t had a chance to put out my thoughts on the Jarrett Jack signing but plan to get to that sometime today. I did though, get a chance to be a guest on the Fan590 last night to talk about the Raptors.
Jarrett brings a number of intangibles to the table. His versatility (able to play both guard positions) and his durability (has missed only 6 games in his career) are two aspects Toronto has always seemed to be lacking. One also can’t ignore the fact that Jarrett Jack shares a close relationship with Chris Bosh. With the possibility of Bosh leaving in 2010, bringing in one of his best friends should play at least somewhat of a role in CB’s final decision. At the end of the day, regardless of how productive JJ can be, this can certainly be viewed as a good fit for T.O.
So as I’ve read more and more at different places about Delfino’s Russia-NBA saga I’ve come away with the opinion that Delfino was never really satisfied with playing in the NBA, and was never truely hell-bent on proving that he even had the goods to stick with the big boys for the long haul. That’s what I’ve been most irritated by since the end of the Delfino era in Detroit. It’s not so much that he’s not playing in the best league in the world, it’s about how he conducted himself while in the NBA that has always irked me.
and finally, Arsenalist and RapsFan were dancing and singing in Arse’s bedroom after the press conference yesterday. This isn’t them, but it is a perfect representation of their dance moves and the song they were listening to. In fact, all Raptors fans should stand up and dance to this song……take pride in being a Raptors fan again. Times they are a-changin’…
