With the NBA back in session, and this season's 66 game schedule announced, players & team officials alike are getting back to work in anticipation of being able to officially practice and have team meetings to get ready for a condensed 2011-2012 season that will prove to be quite the physical & mental grind.

Akil Augustine & Sherman Hamilton of NBA TV Canada spoke with several Toronto Raptors players who were at the Air Canada Centre practice facility today getting workouts in and meeting with strength & conditioning coaches in preparation of what will be a whirlwind training camp & pre-season.

DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis, Jose Calderon, Jerryd Bayless, and James Johnson were on hand and spoke with Akil & Sherman about their offseason and what they expect for this upcoming NBA season that will officially soon be underway.

All of the player interviews can be seen here via Raptors.com.

Raptors GM & President, Bryan Colaneglo, stated today that a 3rd point guard, a small forward (with Linas Kleiza still 1-2 months away from being able to return), and a back up center will be 3 of the positions that the Raptors will be targeting in free agency. The Raptors want to maintain as much financial flexibility as possible going into the summer of 2012 - therefore re-signing players like Reggie Evans and Julian Wright are not an immediate priority for Raptors management, according to Colangelo. It is expected that the Raptors will have anywhere from $10M to $20M in available salary cap space to try and recruit and sign players once 2012 free agency begins this coming summer.

**It was announced this evening via TSN.ca that the Raptors have signed veteran center and Canadian, Jamaal Magloire to a one year contract.

Canadian basketball & Steve Nash fans:

Are you looking for ways to fill the void that the NBA is currently leaving? Well, we have something to help you forget about the lockout blues, at least for a 'minute'!

The fine people at vitaminwater Canada have set up a contest where you submit a minute long video about why you believe you deserve to meet and co-star with Steve Nash in his next online vitaminwater commercial! As an added incentive for your minute long video, vitaminwater Canada are also giving away an 'Are You Nash Enough' prize pack including an assortment of vitaminwater products AND an autographed Steve Nash basketball!



Here are the contest details, requirements, and how to enter:

The “Nash Enough?” Prize Pack - Heads up all Steve Nash fans! glacéau vitaminwater is offering a Nash Enough prize pack including glacéau vitaminwater, an autographed Steve Nash mini-basketball and a chance to meet the basketball superstar AND co-star with him in his next online video!  From now until November 30, Steve Nash and glacéau vitaminwater are teaming up for the “Nash Enough” contest – to enter, visit www.vitaminwatercanada.ca/nash and submit a 1 minute video about why you think you’re “Nash Enough” to win! (Canadian entries only)

How to Tweet your prize pack ballot:

For your chance to win the “are you nash enough” prize pack, tweet the following to either @seanfrancois or @romyaquino: 

@seanfrancois i want to win the “i am nash enough?” prize pack @vitaminwater_ca

or

@romyaquino i want to win the “i am nash enough?” prize pack @vitaminwater_ca

The overall contest runs until November 30th, but you have until end of day November 27th to tweet us for a chance to win the 'Are You Nash Enough' prize pack.

Don't forget to submit your minute long video entry at www.vitaminwatercanada.ca/nash for a chance to meet and co-star with Steve Nash in his next online vitaminwater video!

Good Luck everyone!

When Chris Bosh left town last summer, it was clear that the season would be a serious struggle. And struggle the Raptors did, all the way to the third worst record in the Association. However the ping pong balls did not fall how everyone wished, and Canada's team was left with the fifth overall pick in last night's draft. 

There were a lot of names that were being mentioned as potential targets for the Raps in this draft class, many of them being guards. Kemba Walker, the NCAA champion from UConn and Brandon Knight from the University of Kentucky were amongst the fan favourites for that fifth pick. Both are guards on an already guard heavy team, so it was curious as to why so many devout followers of the team were interested in adding another ball handler so the squad. Barbosa, Bayless & Calderon all play the one or the two, and there simply would not be any playing time for another one in the mix.

So if it was not to be one of the college guards, then it had to be Bismack Biyombo, right? The massive Congolese player had burst onto the scene in the past few months and had worked his way into the top end of the lottery. His defensive intensity and ceiling made him one of the most mysterious players in the draft. It seemed as if he would be able to fit in perfectly in new head coach Dwane Casey's system to a T.

But then something else happened. David Stern walked up to the podium and announced that the Toronto Raptors had selected Jonas Valanciunas, a seven-footer from Lithuania with a serious unresolved buyout situation. You could hear the groans across the country loud and clear. Many Raptors faithful have become fed up with the European experiment that Colangelo and Gheradini have taken us for in the past five years. When they were winning, it was okay, but as soon as the team started losing, it was easy to point the finger at the outsiders.

 

Much to the dismay of Raptors fans, the Draft Lottery did not go as planned, and they ended up with the fifth overall selection. In the final month of the season, a few Raptors fans, myself included, were cheering against the team and in favour the the T-Wolves, Cavaliers, Kings and the rest of the teams in the basement of the league.

But the ping-pong balls did not fall in order, and after ending the season with the third worst record in the league, they ended up with a worse pick then they expected in one of the worst drafts in recent memory. So where do they go from here?

The Raptors are a team in flux. After losing their franchise player Chris Bosh to free agency last year, they endured a rough season to say the least. A few young players rose to the occasion, including sophomore DeMar DeRozan and rookie Ed Davis. Newly acquired Jerryd Bayless finally got a chance to play major minutes, and showed why he was worthy of such a high draft pick a few years back.

So what does this team need to take the next step? Well a war of words has erupted between supposed franchise player Andrea Bargnani and newly extended GM Bryan Colangelo, and many Raptors faithful are in favour of pulling the plug on the former first overall selection, and shipping him out of town. Bargnani was described by Colangelo as the “enigma of enigmas” in his post-season news conference, and it is clear that the love affair is over.

The Raptors wrapped up a disappointing season last night as they fell to the Miami Heat sans the Big Three. They ended the season with a 22-60 record, and it was about as ugly as you can imagine in their first season since Bosh headed to South Beach. But amidst the losing record and the pile of injuries that stacked up over the course of the year, there are some positives that can be taken away from this season for Canada’s lone franchise.

The biggest highlight of the season was the play of DeMar DeRozan. The sophomore avoided anything resembling a second year slump, as he raised his scoring average from 8.6ppg to 17.2ppg, and on top of that he managed to play every single game this season. The two-guard out of Compton has put himself on the map as a legit scorer in the Association, and should only continue to improve his game. DeMar is just 21 years old, so he has plenty of time to grow into his skills and continue to develop his body.

DeMar & Ed

no comments

The Colangelo regime and the Bargnani era go hand in hand. BC and Gheradini made Andrea the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, and he has blossomed into a rather impressive spot up offensive shooter, but his overall game ends up bringing the rest of the team down. His rebounding troubles have been well documented, as he continues to only average in the neighborhood of five rebounds per while standing seven feet tall.

When he is on the floor, Jay is forced to run sets for him on the offensive end in an attempt to get him involved in the action. Constant pick and rolls from the top of the key which lead to him flailing in the air while trying to draw a foul. He is half decent at drawing fouls, but watching him do so is seriously painful.

He sat out the Raptors most recent game, an impressive win over the Magic, and the Raps looked better off without him. They were able to run non-stop and let their guards take the lead. Jerryd and DeRo both had huge games as the athletic bigs were able to get them the ball and keep it alive. Ed had a big game on both ends of the floor, including a thunderous dunk over Brandon Bass. James Johnson was running on the wing and distributing the ball to everyone, not just the big tower in the middle.

In a twist on the weekly links posting we used to do, I've compiled some Toronto Raptors and Canadian basketball related links you may have missed in the past week or two that I found particularly noteworthy, insightful, interesting, and/or well written.

Without anymore build up, let's get to the links shall we? I hope you enjoy:

"James Johnson: The NBA first round pick with quite a kick" - Cagewriter (a Yahoo! Sports blog) (via @Tim_Micallef)

"Egos & Icons: Chris Bosh Gets Booed" - Toro Magazine (via @skittlebrau78)

"KABONGO, WILTJER & BIRCH NAMED MCDONALD'S ALL AMERICANS" - Canada Basketball (via Ray Bala (@CanBallReport) of 'Canadian Content' on RaptorsHQ)

"CIS men's basketball Wednesday roundup: Saint Mary's Haywood sets AUS single season point record" - Canadian Interuniversity Sport (@CIS_SIC)

"CIS Final 8: Despite Dominating In Halifax, Ravens & ScotiaBank Place Fail In Ottawa" - Basketball Buzz (@basketballbuzz)

"Starting 5- Be Like Myck (Interview with Myck Kabango)" - Dino Nation Blog (via James Borbath @dinonationblog)

Before the NBA All-Star break we caught up with fellow NBA blogger & Bloguin member Michael De Leon, who is a co-founder of the San Antonio Spurs' blog Project Spurs, to get his thoughts on impressive season of the league leading San Antonio Spurs, their thoughts on the Toronto Raptors and other NBA topics including Jerry Sloan's departure from the Utah Jazz.

Hoop Heads North: Even though the Spurs have the leagues best record, do you feel like they're the underdog and are seemingly flying under the radar?

Michael De Leon (Project Spurs): I don't think they are flying under the radar anymore, but they certainly are not getting the respect they deserve. However, if you ask any Spurs player, they wouldn't have it any other way. Respect is earned in the postseason.

HHN: In one of your recent posts, you linked to a quote of Kobe's where he stated that he believes the Celtics are the Lakers biggest threat. Do you agree or disagree?

MD: The Celtics are on a bit of a skid lately, but before that, they were playing as well as anyone. While the Spurs have beaten the Lakers twice this season, the Celtics pro bably match up better with the Lakers, but a seven game series is not always about matchups, and I think the Spurs have the shooters and a superior bench to be a threat..

HHN: As a Raptors follower & supporter, it's easy for me to become jaded watching the team night in and night out. What is your perspective on the Toronto Raptors' play this season.

Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan had the honour of kicking off the marquee event of NBA All-Star Saturday Night, the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. He got things started with the first of two tremendous 1st round dunks, called the "Eastbay Funk Dunk Remix". The judges awarded him a 44, which in my opinion (and many others), was much too low for what he pulled off.

His second, the "Show Stopper", was another visual delight!



DeMar was awarded a perfect 50 by the judges!

DeMar DeRozan ended up with a 1st round total score of 94/100, but instead of being in the finals (deservedly), he and Serge Ibaka were forced to watch on as JaVale McGee & Blake Griffin battled it out for the 2011 Sprite Slam Dunk contest crown, which Blake Griffin ultimately claimed.

Earlier in the day, Chris Bosh was interviewed during the All-Star Game practice and was asked his thoughts on what it's like seeing his former Toronto Raptors teammates and who he'd be cheering for in the Dunk Contest (I believe it was NBATVCanada's David Amber who posed both questions):

Jeff Garcia of ProjectSpurs.com has collaborated with us once again for a pre-game Q&A before the NBA's 1st place San Antonio Spurs face the Toronto Raptors, for the 2nd and final time this season, tonight in Toronto:

http://www.projectspurs.com/2011-articles/february/san-antonio-spurs-vs-toronto-raptors-gameday-qaa.html

Once again, feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with my responses to Jeff's questions regarding my assessment of the Raptors season and what we can expect from them in the 'second half' of the season.

We'll get Jeff's reaction post-game for a Spurs' supporter's perspective, and his thoughts on the Spurs chances of bringing another Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy back to the Alamodome.

Thanks for the support and stay posted for more Raptors & NBA content and perspectives.