|
The Official Raptors Thread. (pg. 31)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Kytracid |
| As long as the 'Answer' remains in philly, the inclusion of Webber will only make that ball club stronger. Iverson is the key, always has been, always will be. I'm glad they got Webber though. I still think he has a few years left in the tank, and his presence will definately help the sixers down the stretch. |
|
|
| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by Crazy Serb
oh man, he went downhill a few years ago... ;) |
Well, I think he still puts up decent numbers. Yeah, those injuries hurt him a lot.
Still waiting to hear about any deals that Babpulls... |
|
|
| EvilDust |
What's with the Webber bashing? the guy is averaging 20 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists. the guy should've been an all-star this year.
nice pickup for philly. |
|
|
| Crazy Serb |
| quote: | Originally posted by EvilDust
What's with the Webber bashing? the guy is averaging 20 points 10 rebounds and 5 assists. the guy should've been an all-star this year.
nice pickup for philly. |
No man, that's just me bashing him... He's been amazing back in the day, especially the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. But it's been downhill from there for him, and even tho he still puts up decent numbers, this Chris Webber today comes with a whole lot of attitude that I believe guys at Sacramento were not willing to deal with any longer.
I wish him all the best in Philly tho... (I ain't no playa hata)
And yeah, that trade deadline is at 3pm today? I wonder if Babis gonna pull anything in the next few hours... |
|
|
| Kytracid |
Webber hated sacramento and wanted out a few seasons ago. It's a testiment to his determination to win a championship that forced him to remain there as long as he did. I remeber at one point he wanted out so badly that the GM of the kings had billboards saying "Webber should stay at Sacramento" put up on the road to the stadium knowing that Webber would have to see them as he came into work everyday.
One of the reasons Webber wanted out was cause he had to drive an hour from sacramento just to get some good soul food. Translatation --- there aren't nuff black peeeps in sacramento. Now that he's in Philly that problem is completely gone. Now, not only does he have all the soul food he wants. He's also got the world famous philly cheese steak to get him ready for the big game.
Sixers with Webber and the Answer are going to be a very tough team in the East. |
|
|
| Crazy Serb |
| quote: | Originally posted by Kytracid
Sixers with Webber and the Answer are going to be a very tough team in the East. |
...and they just happen to be in the same division as Raptors. :whip:
well, there goes the playoffs :D
UPDATE:
| quote: |
League sources are reporting that the Hornets have agreed to send inactive former All-Star forward Jamal Mashburn and forward Rodney Rogers to the 76ers for forward Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson. |
76ers running for the title, maybe? :D |
|
|
| EvilTree |
| That would be a steal of a trade for 76ers as Mashburn is capable of putting up good numbers... |
|
|
| EvilDust |
umm...mashburn's career is already over...
celts got antoine walker back for payton
knicks got malik rose and mo taylor but gave away nazr mohammad
why haven't the raps made any moves?!?! |
|
|
| Crazy Serb |
| quote: | Originally posted by EvilDust
umm...mashburn's career is already over...
celts got antoine walker back for payton
knicks got malik rose and mo taylor but gave away nazr mohammad
why haven't the raps made any moves?!?! |
yeah, i just saw that too... Walker back in Boston? Holy , Walker & Pierce are gonna kick Raptors' ass again.
And Knicks gave up Nazr? Oh well... as long as Raptors don't give up Marshall & Rose now that they've started "clicking", it's all good. |
|
|
| MarkT |
I think Philly is the big winner this deadline...great move getting Weber...Iverson is the key and he was getting bitchy (again)...potent combo if Weber's health holds up. Mashburn is apparently retiring next year...getting him was nothing more than a salary cap move for next year.
The best move today, IMHO, was Golden State getting Baron Davis for Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis. They give up nothing for a huge potential upside if Baron can stay healthy (maybe a big "if")
Hw about Dallas getting Keith van Horn!?! Sweet move...especially with Dampier hurt...great backup for Nowitzki or there's talk they'll make him a small forward...imagine a front court of Nowitzki, Dampier and van Horn? *crazy* potential.
Glad the Raps didn't make a stupid move with Marhsall...he's not coming back next year and we'll gain some cap room. |
|
|
| Crazy Serb |
| And then there was the Heat... not only are they signing Alonzo, they just brought Steve Smith from Charlotte as well. Smithieee!!! |
|
|
| dEsidEL |
| quote: |
Feb. 25, 2005. 01:00 AM
Babbuying time
Did Raptors GM make no trades because he's snakebitten by the Vince debacle? Division rivals improved their teams greatly while Toronto just sat on its assets
DAVE FESCHUK
In explaining why the Raptors stood pat at yesterday's NBA trade deadline, general manager Rob Babsaid, "We like our players ... We think we can make a playoff run."
Those shocking comments suggest two possibilities. Babis either a bad liar — which, since he's on the payroll of an image-over-substance entertainment empire, will eventually get him a raise. Or, more disturbing, he's an even worse evaluator of talent than anyone imagined in the wake December's Vince Carter trade, which has seen him widely vilified as the victim of an historic fleecing.
For Raptor fans, neither theory is particularly comforting. With Canada's team 10 games below .500 and Babcock's managerial batting average stuck at .000 yesterday, the rookie GM sat on a tradable asset named Donyell Marshall while a couple of divisional rivals, the very teams the Raptors will have to pass if they're to make that far-fetched postseason sortie, added all-star-calibre talent. That meant that Marshall, who'll become a free agent this summer and has shown as much interest in re-signing in Toronto as he has in taking up crocheting, will almost surely depart without yielding an ounce of compensation — not a second-round draft pick or, Heaven forbid, an actual player with actual value, nothing but $5 million (all figures U.S.) in payroll savings for a basketball club run by a locked-out NHL cash cow.
Meanwhile, teams with an admirable desire to satisfy their fan bases got to work. The Philadelphia 76ers were the winners in the late trading, swinging the Wednesday-night blockbuster that brought five-time all-star Chris Webber to town for a trio of lesser power forwards (Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner). Webber's big contract and questionable resolve make him a risk. But Sixers stalwart Allen Iverson hasn't had a teammate with a 20-plus point scoring average since Jerry Stackhouse. And unlike Stackhouse, Webber, who is averaging 24 points and nine rebounds in the wake of left-knee surgery that has slowed him, will actually pass the ball.
LeBron James, chiming in for reporters from Cleveland, called Webber's acquisition "an early Christmas present" for Iverson.
And it came with a stocking stuffer, too.
The Sixers were also buoyed by the arrival of shooting specialist Rodney Rogers in a deal that yielded the injured Jamal Mashburn and sent the also-infirm Glenn Robinson to New Orleans. Rogers has been playing like a pooch for the bottom-of-the-West Hornets (read: who hasn't?), but he's a long-bomb specialist who'll help spread the floor.
Said James of the Sixers, who sat in a percentage-point deadlock with the Boston Celtics for the Atlantic Division lead as the deadline passed at 3 p.m. yesterday: "They're going to probably win the Atlantic now."
Funny James didn't pick the Raptors. Perhaps that's because if the Sixers don't win the division, and the No.3 Eastern playoff seed that goes with it, the Celtics surely will.
Boston pulled off an unexpected déjà vu deal that, in sending Gary Payton, Tom Gugliatta, Yogi Stewart and a first-round pick to Atlanta, repatriated Antoine Walker. Walker, of course, was the guy who claimed a personality conflict with Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge when Ainge traded him to Dallas nine days before the 2003 season opener. And though it's no secret that Ainge then disdained Walker for his shoot-too-much proclivity, the Celtics have changed coaches in the interim — from Jim O'Brien to Doc Rivers — and they're a higher-scoring unit as a result, seventh in the NBA at 100.5 points per game. Also, they're desperate to join the race for the Eastern title which — as Shaquille O'Neal's recent knee tweak has shown — is no sure thing.
Babcock, if he wasn't lying about his belief in a Raptor playoff run, isn't paying attention. Or maybe he is — to his boss's new mandate. Letting Marshall's contract expire tells you a lot about how the Raptors mean to do business in this hockey-lockout era. No longer the poor cousin to a richer-than-thou hockey club, yesterday's idleness suggested new-found thriftiness. And let's be clear: Letting Marshall walk is a financial coup, not a competitive one. It doesn't push the Raptors anywhere close to being under a salary-cap threshold that would make them players in the summertime free-agent market. It only means the club saves cash, just as it did in the buyout that has freed Alonzo Mourning — one of the pieces acquired in the Carter debacle — to sign with another team.
Maybe yesterday was about penny-pinching. Or maybe Babcock, shell-shocked by the continent-wide criticism he's receiving, was simply afraid to make another mistake. Sitting out yesterday's action bought him time, at least. His next measurable performance won't come until the June draft, where he's likely to have multiple picks and multiple options, one of which will not be inaction.
|
source:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...ol=970081593064
|
|
|
|
|
