Welcome Jarrett

Indiana Pacers won't match Jarrett Jack's offer to play in Toronto, which means we can officially welcome Jack as a new Raptor. It's not a huge signing, like with Hedo Turkoglu, but it's definitely great news. If you look at the previous season what happened when Jose Calderon got injured and we had no legit NBA point guard to back him up, you will see what I mean.

Wonder how much time it takes for people to start bitching about another 'point guard controversy'. We used to have 2 good point guards with TJ Ford and Jose Calderon, but it didn't make people happy at all. If you read all the rumors, you would have found out, that Jose and TJ were in a constant war about the starting job for the Raptors. Surprisingly, trading TJ to Indiana, created another 'war' between TJ and Jarrett. Even more surprisingly, that move didn't make us a better team. Wait, it didn't even keep us on the same level. Figure that.

About year ago, before we traded for Jermaine O'Neal I had a discussion with my husband about the Raptors roster. Although he is mostly a hockey fan, he's been watching sports on regular bases for longer time than me, so I felt he will be more of an expert on this subject. We still hadn't signed Jose Calderon and I was getting anxious if he was going to be a Raptor for the following season. My hubby suggested that we should sign and trade El Calderon or get rid of TJ, because you don't keep two good point guards in the same team. This statement made me completely perplexed - why do you fix something that ain't broke? I always took the 'point guard controversy' with a grain of salt and I didn't see the logic of keeping only one good point guard and filling the backup position with an unproven player. What happened later, unfortunately proved me right. Sometimes your heart gives you a better hint than 'expert advice'.

So I let myself be led by my heart in this season. I loved the Hedo deal from the beginning, and, although I was a little concerned about our bench, I believed it will somehow get sorted out. I didn't really care that much, about other blogs screaming that the signing would certainly be a doom for the Raptors. And it got sorted out.

Jarrett Jack is another signing that makes some people shake their heads looking at the price tag. I don't care. If this is the price, we had to pay, to secure him, I'm fine with it. If the news create another controversy, I won't care either. Believe me, I don't really give a fuck, if Jarrett Jack sleeps with Mrs Calderon. We have two good point guards in our roster, and what they do in their spare time is none of my business as long as it doesn't interfere with their actions on the court.

Also, I can sleep easier now, knowing that Jamario Moon will be shooting ill-advised treys for the Cavaliers, not for the Raptors. I was slightly worried about the possibility of bringing Moon back, but luckily he will be signing with Cleveland if Miami don't match the offer. Yes, he is athletic, he can dunk and rebound, but I can live easier without that goofy smile after a missed trey in the crunch time with 18 seconds on the shot clock. Good luck in Cleveland, Jamario. Let's see how much of the ball you'll get with LeBron James and Mo Williams on your team.

I'm looking forward to the next season.

About the Summer League and Toronto Point Guards

Yet again, I decided to put my family life on the edge for basketball, like it was before with the March Madness and playoffs. I got myself enough beers, take-out phone numbers handy, paid the $15 ransom to the NBA and started getting excited.

Although strangely familiar to the game I love to love, it's difficult to call them basketball games. It's a rookie watch. I don't really care who wins and by how many points, I'm more interested in personal performances, to see what we're getting for the next season.

First game for the Raptors was against Lakers, second against Pistons.

In the first game Smush Parker looked better as our point guard then Ukic or Douby, although he screwed it up in the second game. Ukic is not an NBA point guard. Neither is Douby. Roko simply sucks and Douby hogs the ball as a wannabe Allen Iverson. He scored 21 points in the second game, but didn't bother very much with dishing the assists.

Brent Petway was channeling Pops Mensah-Bonsu in game 1, trying to prove us that D-League plays better ball than Raptors second unit. Like we didn't know it before. He didn't have very much impact in the second game, which had most of the offense going through the guards.

DeMar DeRozan looked rather good in game 1, his jumper not bad, some high-flying. Had some problems with ball in the traffic, but nothing to raise serious doubts. He really warmed up in the game 2, though, 20 points, 4 rebounds. I didn't see him as a game starter after first game, but in the second game, he got his rhythm going and might be as good as advertised. I have to see more games, to know him better.

Patrick O'Bryant is a misunderstanding. Luckily, he comes cheap. He is soft as a kitten, soft enough to make other Raptors players look like hockey thugs.

Other notable rookies:

- Detroit seems to hit a jackpot with their rookies: both Austin Daye and DeJuan Summers are simply killing it.

- Stephon Curry is a definition of a volume shooter. As Golden State Warriors seem to have more shoots available than your standard NBA team, he seems to be a good fit there.

- Tyreke Evans lives at the free throw line. He drives, drives and drives. And his impressive wingspan seems to extend from one end of the court to another.

- Brandon Jennings sucks.

- After watching (or half-watching) 8 summer league games, my huge book about C++ starts looking tempting. Basically the games are not really exciting.

After 2 games it was easy to notice, that our backup point guard position screams for an NBA worthy player. If Marcus Banks was watching these games in TV, he must have been thinking that his year was coming and he'd get some playing time. How wrong he was. Raptors offered 4 year 20 mln sheet to Jarrett Jack. Jack is a solid backup combo guard. Maybe the money is too big, but on the other hand it can put us on the safe side, if Pacers want to match the offer. They may not be able to offer him this kind of money.

Jarrett Jack as a Raptor puts Marcus Banks on the top of the LVP (Least Valuable Player) run this season. Oh, wait, wasn't he already there? Jack is also Bosh's buddy from Georgia Tech. Another move to seduce Chris in staying in Toronto?

The Cavaliers might be interested in getting Joey Graham. Seriously, is this a move to keep LeBron in Ohio? Or maybe they want to replace Bron with Joey, when he heads to New York?

Paul Millsap signed an offer sheet with Portland. If Utah Jazz doesn't match, we will have helluva of a Trail Blazers team next season.

The Hedo-gate in T Dot & LeBron's big mouth

The Hedo-gate is reaching dangerous levels in Toronto. Soon Bryan Colangelo will have to make his decision about renouncing (or not) the rights to the free agents: Shawn Marion, Carlos Delfino and Anthony Parker. Soon we will learn.

Are we gonna have Hedo and none of 3 above? Are we gonna sign & trade any of them? Are we gonna send an apologize card to Hassan Adams begging him to come back?

There is an interesting rumor about sign & trade Shawn Marion with the Mavericks, which will give us Jerry Stackhouse and our MLE back (or not). Yeah, don't ask me. 'The CBA is really fucking complicated', by the words of @scottcarefoot. I completely agree. As soon as I understand it, the new, more complicated CBA will come. It's like deja vu allover again. If I was capable of catching up with CBA on the first read, I'd apply for a job of a first female GM in NBA.


Hence, I hope our man Bryan Colangelo gets what it needs to be a good GM, understands the rules and has a huge ace to pull out of his sleeve. He looks clever, no?



While BC is tactfully silent and let our minds wonder, LeBron just wouldn't shut the fuck up. About year ago, he told to the media, that he will be playing in New York. Now, he tries to lure Trevor Ariza to Cleveland, promising him, that he's an Ohio man through an through. Surprisingly, when asked, the King calls Ariza a liar. How will he shake Trevor's hand after this? Oh, I forgot. He's a witness. I mean a winner. Winners don't shake hands.


Other news:

The ugliest tattoo of NBA stays in Hotlanta.



Avery Johnson decided he doesn't want to take part in the Motown Experiment, without job security. Pistons will hire John Kuester as a coach. Kuester was an assistant coach in Cleveland. Cavaliers had an assistant coach? How many coaches do you exactly need to call one play: 'give the ball to LeBron 35 feet away from the basket and get the hell out of the way'?

Cavs are still alive

Whether it was LeBron James' triple-double, Mo Williams' wet jump-shot or Andy Varejao's acrobatic flops - the boys from Cleveland kept the Nike's puppets dream alive. And the fishing-rods sellers in Ohio have to wait at least another 2 days.
The first quarter belong to the Cavaliers completely, Magic decided to have a nap during this period. The twitter-land divided into 2 camps: 1. Magic are done, Cavaliers won it. 2. Magic will slowly come back, and Cavaliers will blow this 22-point lead. Well the second group was closer to the truth - if you call blowing the lead in just one quarter slow.
Second half was much more interesting with the lead going back and forth, both teams actually playing and Reggie Miller trying to be quotable: 'Varejao flopping allover the place.' Skip to my Lou awarded us with some drama everytime he touched the ball (1-7 from 3pt line).
Unluckily, French Revolution (Pietrus) and Polish Democracy (Gortat) didn't work on the reigning MVP. Even Courtney Lee didn't dunk on the King. Cavaliers won.
Who's gonna win the series? All of us know that there were only 8 teams that came back from 1-3 deficit (that was the Cavaliers record before the yesterday's game). By all I mean everybody besides Mo Williams who seems to be the most cocky about his team winning. I know, I know, if I dislike cockiness I should stop watching basketball and start reading poetry, cooking, etc... But back to the point.
I believe in teams working in the concept of a 'team work' more than 'having a super-star and a bunch of random dudes'. That's why I picked up Magic. More, I am sure if they had Jameer Nelson, they'd win in 4 games. Or if Rafer learnt to pass more. They also have much more offensive schemes. They have Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis who are versatile enough to give any team defensive-mismatch problems. And Dwight Howard in the middle. And even if LeBron is the best player in this series he needs some help and he doesn't get it often enough.