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The Official 2007/2008 Toronto Raptors and NBA Thread (pg. 22)
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| infinity HiGH |
| quote: | Originally posted by jon jon
Headsup
If you txt "Raptors" to GOOGLE (466453) it will come back 10 seconds later with a score update :) |
niiice! ^5 |
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| SuperJimbo |
ESPN
Page 2
Riding With ... Morris Peterson
January 25, 2008
By Jemele Hill
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans shooting guard Morris Peterson was still pawing his brand-new Mercedes when the "Riding With" crew arrived.
The car hadn't even been in Peterson's clutches for 24 hours, so the drool was understandable. Retailing at $142,000, with something on it called "night vision," the CL63 is a testament to the kind of life Peterson has been able to build in the NBA. A skilled shooter, Peterson is in his eighth season in the league. He's regarded as a valuable veteran, the kind of glue guy most teams covet. And he's playing that role to perfection right now with the surprising New Orleans Hornets, who as of Friday owned the best record in the NBA.
Peterson spent his previous seven seasons in Toronto, where he was one of the team's most popular players. Still, he's probably best known for starring at Michigan State, the school he helped lead to an NCAA title in 2000, along with fellow Flint, Mich., buddies Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell -- back then they were known as the "Flintstones."
Peterson discusses old times and the new memories he hopes to make with the Hornets in this latest installment of "Riding With," where we interview athletes in their cars and find out what makes them tick.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page...25&sportCat=nba |
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| jon jon |
| quote: | Originally posted by SuperJimbo
with the surprising New Orleans Hornets, who as of Friday owned the best record in the NBA.
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:eek: |
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| Pett |
| quote: | Originally posted by jon jon
:eek: |
its not true anyways
boston has the best record by a long shot
Boston 34-7 vs NO 31-12 |
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| jon jon |
| must mean last 10 days or some |
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| EvilTree |
I'm really happy to see MoPete do well in NO.
One of the hardest working Raptor when he was in Toronto, and he deserves success |
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| slingshot |
| quote: | Originally posted by jon jon
must mean last 10 days or some |
Best record in the West is probably what they meant to say. |
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| SuperJimbo |
ESPN.com
Stein Line's All-Star Reserves
By Marc Stein
January 25, 2008
This is exactly how the coaches do it.
As instructed on ballots that went out Friday, coaches in each conference have been asked to vote for seven reserves -- excluding their own players, of course -- for the All-Star Game in New Orleans on Feb. 17. The list of seven players is to be comprised of two forwards, two guards, one center and two wild cards, with each coach ranking his choices from one to seven to give each vote a point value ... but also with the invitation to ignore the positions at which players are listed on the official All-Star ballot if they wish.
The exact wording from the league office: "If the head coach feels a player can play more than one position, he should vote for that player at the position that he thinks is most advantageous for the All-Star team, not necessarily the one he plays most often during the season."
The coaches' secret ballots are due back to the league office by Tuesday, with the reserves to be announced Thursday night. Using the same official guidelines as the X-and-O men, here's how our benches would look:
EAST RESERVES
Forwards: Caron Butler (Wizards), Paul Pierce (Celtics)
Butler has been so versatile and rugged in Gilbert Arenas' absence that this could be a pretty heated Beltway debate: Gil or Caron ... who is Washington's true franchise player? (An aside: Butler is also one of best bargains in the league at just $8.5 million this season.)
It's been easy, meanwhile, to overlook Pierce. He has new teammates named Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in Boston. But don't forget that the Celtic you take for granted is the guy finishing much of what KG starts at both ends while playing more of an all-around game than ever before.
Guards: Chauncey Billups (Pistons), Jose Calderon (Raptors)
Billups, again, would have been one of my starters had I actually punched a ballot -- placed ahead of Dwyane Wade because of the depths of Miami's for-the-ages collapse. Then there's Calderon, who probably deserved at least a starter's mention in the last Weekend Dime. He's been even more efficient than the economical Chauncey. How efficient? The Spaniard, not a bad bargain himself at just $2.5 million a season, has averaged 13.8 points, 9.9 assists and just 1.8 turnovers in his 28 starts while shooting 50.7 percent from the floor, 43.4 percent on 3s and 91.2 percent from the line.
All of which helps explain why Toronto hasn't nose-dived without T.J. Ford and why Raps general manager Bryan Colangelo was moved to thank predecessor Rob Babon Chad Ford's weekly podcast for bringing Calderon over. Praise for Babcock, remember, is not exactly Toronto tradition.
Center: Chris Bosh (Raptors)
I know (and I agree): It's not really All-Star Weekend without Shaquille O'Neal. But Shaq will be in New Orleans and I suspect we'll see plenty of the Big LSU. So there's no need for East coaches to vote Shaq in on a lifetime achievement basis, especially when he's not even healthy to play. East coaches, furthermore, don't have to fudge at all to vote for Bosh. The lefty indeed plays plenty of center for the Raps and the rules, as noted above, allow coaches to vote for players at the position "most advantageous for the All-Star team" and "not necessarily the one he plays most often during the season." So Bosh is clearly the best fit here, especially because he's gradually getting healthier and more dominant and with Rasheed Wallace urging the coaches to evaluate him on purely statistical terms. Which would ensure that Sheed gets to stay home all weekend.
Wild Cards: Antawn Jamison (Wizards), Rip Hamilton (Pistons)
There are only five 20-and-10 guys in the entire league and Jamison, as the other chief catalyst in Washington's gritty Arenas-less run, is one of them. Yet there are actually several contenders for the last spot on the roster in spite of the East's ongoing ability to disappoint us as a group: Hedo Turkoglu, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and two of our favorite lefties -- Michael Redd and Josh Smith -- all have a case.
The traditional Stein Line tiebreaker, though, naturally led us to make a team-success choice between a second Piston (Hamilton over Sheed) and a third Celtic (Allen). And Rip prevails. As much as I'd like seeing Boston's entire trio of prominence prominence (don't want to offend anyone by calling them anything more) on the All-Star stage, even Ray would have to concede that Rip has been sharper for a fellow 30-game winner.
The Line's 1-to-7 East Order:
1. Billups, 2. Butler, 3. Pierce, 4. Bosh, 5. Calderon, 6. Jamison, 7. Hamilton |
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| SuperJimbo |
| PARKER, FOR 3...IT's GOOOODDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. |
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| MarkT |
big trade!
Pau Gasol from Memphis to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and a couple of 1st rounders (and the rights to Gasol's younger brother for whatever that's worth).
great deal for both sides, but especially the Lakers. Assuming everyone is healthy, a playoff starting 5 of Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum is definitely a title contender.
Memphis did alright for the future, but gets nothing for right now. Kwame and McKie's contracts are up this year, so they'll have some serious cash to spend on free agents to build the team around Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and Mike Miller.
Perfect deal for the Lakers, especially with Bynum out for a while...and if they can somehow snag a true PG (Fisher is good, but more of a SG) they'll be a favourite to go all the way.
I bet Kobe is a happy camper... |
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| Sly_Guy |
| quote: | Originally posted by MarkT
big trade!
Pau Gasol from Memphis to the Lakers for Kwame Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and a couple of 1st rounders (and the rights to Gasol's younger brother for whatever that's worth).
great deal for both sides, but especially the Lakers. Assuming everyone is healthy, a playoff starting 5 of Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Gasol and Bynum is definitely a title contender.
Memphis did alright for the future, but gets nothing for right now. Kwame and McKie's contracts are up this year, so they'll have some serious cash to spend on free agents to build the team around Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and Mike Miller.
Perfect deal for the Lakers, especially with Bynum out for a while...and if they can somehow snag a true PG (Fisher is good, but more of a SG) they'll be a favourite to go all the way.
I bet Kobe is a happy camper... |
This was a steal for the lakers. Gasol for nothing more than a couple draft picks. Sure, Memphis now has virtually nothing on payroll, but those draft picks won't be good ones, the lakers will be doing too well for them to be anywhere near the top 10, and who is Memphis building around? Rudy Gay, and Mike Miller? Not exactly where I'd start building a contender around.
But as a side note, Kobe destroyed us last night. Not since Jordan have I seen someone single handedly be responsible for beating a team like he did to us last night. No one could match up with him, and he abused mismatches. But when we threw the double at him, he found the open man every time. He did everything exactly right, and it was scary as hell to watch. |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sly_Guy
But as a side note, Kobe destroyed us last night. Not since Jordan have I seen someone single handedly be responsible for beating a team like he did to us last night. No one could match up with him, and he abused mismatches. But when we threw the double at him, he found the open man every time. He did everything exactly right, and it was scary as hell to watch. |
I still remember the game where he lit up the Raps for 82 pts.
He's like the Raps bogeyman |
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