Ugly Boys Raptors?

Yesterday night, on Twitter, Sarah [ticktock6] from Hornets Hype raised a valid point - trading Arron Afflalo from Detroit to Denver seriously shakes the hotness spread over the NBA. Pistons are definitely falling out from the top 10, first losing Allen Iverson to free agency, then trading cute Arron.

This made me think - where are the Raptors in the rankings? And it is not very optimistic. We've been known for losing lots of hot players in last years: Mo Pete, Vince Carter, TJ Ford, even coach Sam Mitchell's classy suits. The last loss of Anthony Parker only adds to our misery.


The core of Bosh, Bargnani and Calderon remains the same. Not stunningly hot, are they? Well, Jose can look rather cuddly on some photos, but he ain't no All Star in Hottie Contest.


With the new additions to our roster, you can make a case for Jarrett Jack's sweet smile [please, Pacers, don't match the offer!!!] and DeMar DeRozan's physique, but it really gets thin after that.


Our hope lays in signing Carlos Delfino which is still remotely possible.


So, is the era of Ugly Boys Raptors coming? I guess so. Hope they will be known for their good play, not for the looks.

What'ya gonna do?

It was rather a calm evening, after eventful day. I wasn't even supposed to be around, we were moving to a new place without internet and cable, at least for a few days. Then @RapsFan announced that he got an anonymous email offering Andris Biedrinds and Monta Ellis from Golden State Warriors for our Chris Bosh. No, bloggers cannot trade players in the real NBA, but it made me think - should we:
a) keep Bosh, surround him with a better cast
b) trade him at the draft night, and for whom
c) keep him till the trade deadline

Fortunately I am not the GM, because I have no answers. We need Chris to stay here, but he didn't sign the extension, and what if he walks? Surprisingly Toronto fans base seems to be optimistic about Bosh staying here:
@altraps believes we can keep him if BC provides a solid piece.
@RapsFan holds the hope Bosh will resign.
@_Chaun thinks we just need to make some noise and he's ours.
@Raps_fan says it's all up to BC and his willingness to add some decent players to the roster.

Or maybe I just follow the optimistic people, because how can you still believe after the last season? And having the memories of all these players, that either walked, demanded trade or just simply declined coming to Toronto?

@docksquad33 offers Tyrus Thomas, Kirk Hinrich and 2 1-st rounders from Chicago, @altraps thinks that BC would rather have Ben Gordon included in this trade. Just think about the defensive power in our backcourt with Jose & Ben(!!!)

@thattalldude sees Bosh in San Antonio in 2010. Spurs are my second favorite team and Duncan/Bosh duo sounds powerful, but I am not willing to condemn Raptors to league basement just to watch Spurs get another 'chip.

Last but not least @NBAguy shares his knowledge about basketball players that will never play for Toronto, because it's too cold here. Providing the fact, that most of basketball players sleep in cardboard boxes and have to wait on bus stops, temperature is definitely the huge factor!

So what'ya gonna do BC? Will you give us a winning season, make Bosh happy to stay in Toronto? Will you put us through rebuilding all over again? What do you have for us?

My RSS reader is pretty silent today. Well, they say no news is better than bad news!

No more cheating. A tribute to the Denver Nuggets

As I said in the previous post I'm a notorious cheater. I promised myself to do something useful during the few-days-break from the playoffs. List was long and included: working on my website, cleaning the house, emailing all these people... and all I do is: visit a hairdresser, book a cosmetician, ramble about my diet, ramble about Ben Gordon (again!).
On the other hand I bet that whatever was supposed to be said about the Conference Finals, (expected) Nuggets exit and (unexpected) Cavaliers exit was already said.
I actually like Lakers and during the regular season they appeared the best team to me and I believed they do deserve the championship. But during the playoffs something malicious woke up in me. It started with a disappointment that the Raptors didn't even make it to the first round. It got deeper with another disappointment that the Spurs didn't make it to the second round. It changed into fury over the LeBron vs Kobe hype. I just didn't want any of them to get the 'ship'. Any!
Then came the Houston team with so many injuries and huge huge heart. And Lakers got lazy. They didn't look like champions anymore. They finally won to the Rockets but it didn't look as good as it was supposed to do.
Next team for Lakers to face was Denver. Which raised a question: does anybody outside Denver actually cheer this team?
Can anybody like this guy?



or that?



Twitter had the answer. Of course we're gonna cheer these guys. The 'JR being JR' and the 'My IQ is as big as my jersey number' Kenyon. Thanks to @courtside who taught us all about greatness of JR Smith and to @jose3030 for documenting it (the gif of Dino-JR).
As much as Nuggets disappointed us with losing this series, they definitely provided loads of fun. Chauncey Billups with inbounding the ball of Kobe's back was the funniest moment in this playoffs so far.
It was fun cheering for the Nuggets. And yes, I am a freak. So when you meet somebody wearing sun-glasses in the middle of the night, it will probably be me.