Linkage - Feb 18
"Given the nature of the situation that the city had to fight through, the tragedies that happened in the past, this is a little more special because this is part of the rebuilding process," said Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh, who started in place of injured Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett and scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
"You have to start somewhere and I think this game brings a lot of attention to the city," Bosh added.
“He has what we call a face-up game, where he opens up and faces the basket, very quick, very agile,” said Garnett, who will be back in action this week for the Celtics based on some strong workouts in New Orleans. “He’s the man up there. No doubt about it. [But] I like the way he conducts himself, man. He’s real mild-mannered, but there’s a little beast in there. He comes out and plays hard every night.”
It’s Garnett to whom Bosh is compared most often, a considerable compliment because Garnett is the leading candidate to earn his second career most valuable player award this season. In a poll conducted by a reporter, Garnett was voted the player in the NBA his peers would most like to see earn a championship if not themselves, perhaps the ultimate sign of respect.
“He’s mentioned the most to play like Kevin and they are similar,” Rivers said. “They both have a developed post game and they still like scoring from the elbows, they block shots. There are a lot of similarities.”
"It got for real," said Bosh. "I went up a couple times thinking I had layups, and I got Brandon Roy and Chris Paul blocking my shots from behind. That just show you how intense it was, and how bad guys wanted to win."
What isn’t debatable, according to Bosh, is that when he eventually joins the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Steve Nash on the NBA pedestal, his image will be the way Chris Bosh sees himself, not the way some image consultant, agent, marketing guru wants you to see him.
"I’d rather do it myself," Bosh said. "I know myself better than anybody else or anybody that I could hire knows me. You can hire someone to mould you and shape you but this is one I can take in the direction I want to go. Someone could tell me I want to go this route and it may even be good for me but I don’t think I would have as much fun doing it."
At the annual NBA Technology Summit on Friday morning of all-star week, Bosh’s used car salesman video was shown to a packed meeting room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. In attendance was everyone from Fortune 500 CEO’s and presidents to commissioner David Stern himself to entrepreneurs looking for some insight into the next big marketing phenomenon.
Bosh was part of a panel alongside Dallas Mavericks owner and dot.com multi-millionaire Mark Cuban, Ticketmaster CEO and president Sean Moriarty among others to discuss the socialization of sports.
Bosh has come to this event and for the past five years, but this is the first time he actually has been part of the agenda. He counts this event as a can’t-miss part of his all-star weekend routine.
"I make time for that. I like it," Bosh said. "That’s the most important thing. I like technology. I love mingling with everyone, networking with people out there and I enjoy doing it. It’s informative to me. It’s not something I have to do. It’s something I want to do."
Friday’s visit to the Summit only reinforced Bosh’s belief that the Internet is a tool he can use to boost his own visibility in a professional sports world where everyone is looking for an edge.
"I think connecting to the fans in this day and age with the Internet up and TV with the way it is, I think it’s very important," Bosh said. "You can connect to fans that are out there and probably didn’t know much about you. And then you can gain fans too. I think putting yourself out there in a positive way is good."
And best of all for Bosh, he can control it.
The Raptors lone participant, Chris Bosh, was a big part of the East’s quick start throwing down four dunks in the first 51/2 minutes. Things slowed down considerably after that for Bosh, who settled for 14 points and seven rebounds in just over 21 minutes.
"The difference this year is we were talking about winning the game right from the start," Bosh said. "Nobody was waiting until the fourth quarter."
The NBA’s Day of Service on Friday was a genuine success, not only because of the houses painted, the schoolyards spruced up and the playgrounds built, but because it once again shone the spotlight on the blight that still exists.
If even one person out in the big wide world read or saw anything from Friday’s event and learned how much there remains to be done here, the weekend and the day will have served a good purpose.
"I wouldn’t say we’ve been forgotten after a couple of years of post-Katrina but I think it’s kind of simmered down and (that) the city is getting back on its feet," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "We are, but we still are in dire need of support, we still need a lot of help, we still need the attention to let everyone know that this city is not where it should be at this particular time.
"Us who are here understand it is a process, it is going to take some time, it’s not going to happen overnight. Again, we do need the spotlight of everybody understanding that we have a long way to go."
"I look forward to playing against him every time we battle," said Garnett. "He’s up there (in Toronto) with the crazy one – that being Sam Mitchell – so he has a great group of people around him from what I know."
Bosh finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.
Okay, did Jamario get jobbed? I don’t think so. Maybe if he did a bit more prep, especially with the Kapono dunk, he could have made the final but no one was beating Howard. M Grange ™ called the Superman thing the greatest, most difficult layup ever made and maybe it was. But for depth of talent, the right guy got the prize.
All I wanted to see, though, was him to dunk a nerf ball and a basketball on that final dunk. That woulda been cool.
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So, Juan Dixon wants out. No big shocker, he’s got to be frustrated not playing, not really having a position and heading into the final two months of his contract.
I can see BC trying to package him with somebody (Martin? Graham? Hump if he gets a big man back?) this week. I don’t imagine it’ll be an earth-shattering but I do expect Toronto to do something.
And, no, I have no idea of specific players right now.
One thing I will say is that I know Colangelo is aware of Pietrus’s desire to get out of Golden State and had some interest in him in the summer.
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With an understanding that they’ll need to re-sign restricted free agent guard Jose Calderon and Carlos Delfino this summer, the Raptors are fielding offers for Jason Kapono. It’s unlikely they’ll get many considering the three years and nearly $19 million left on Kapono’s contract.
Back to Bosh though, who had a very solid, even if unspectacular scoring 14 points and grabbing 7 rebounds in the winning effort in which the Eastern Conference kind of dominated. It was quite amusing to see the East pretty much dominate the game over the Western Conference, which is obviously the far superior league, overall top-to-bottom. But this was a game featuring the best-of-the-best, showing that star for star the East can hang with the West, even if it can’t team for team.
Didn’t like the Kapono trade talk from Peter Vescey prior to the game. For those who missed it, Vescey was discussing how Kapono is basically wasting away in Toronto and he again questioned why Colangelo paid as much as he did for a player who is sitting on the bench so much. Vescey therefore was saying that BC should look to deal him to get something of value back. Vescey is perhaps correct in that Kapono isn’t being used correctly, but the reasoning behind his argument was of course way off base. Vescey claimed that the lack of productivity from Kapono was due to playing time (stuck behind Delfino and Moon) when in fact, Raptors’ fans know that it has more to do with the point guard situation and Kapono’s defense than anything else. The whole situation was yet another reminder of my feelings toward Vescey; the stuff he knows, he REALLY knows but then he also tries to extrapolate on situations that he’s clearly under-informed on. But hey, this isn’t much different than the majority of NBA "experts."
The unofficial “second half” of the season begins on Wednesday when the Raptors host the Orlando Magic. Toronto sits in decent position … with a 28-23 record and the 5TH seed in their conference. But questions - good and bad - remain about the defending Atlantic Division champs.
Let’s looks at a few:
Jamario still has a long way to go and a good career ahead of him.
Galileo, Armstrong and Jamario made a commitment to never gave up and made the impossible possible…
Fly me to the moon Jamario…
Lets go back to 2001. I still remember the exact moment when I saw Vince Carter do his first dunk at the slam dunk competition. It was literally one of the few moments where I freakin jumped out of my seat and was like ‘whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat’. That dunk contest for me, was great and made me a big basketball fan. Before then I was pretty casual fan, I mean, I liked the Golden State Warriors for awhile in 95, because I used to love using them in that game (use Hardaway/Mullin/Sprewell to shoot 3s, webber to dunk). But really, I was not a big Raptors or Grizzly fan. that slam dunk contest had just some spectacular dunks by Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis. Funny how all three careers have gone downhill drastically in the past few years.
LeBron James had a bad weekend but at least he settled his beef with Chris Bosh’s girlfriend. It was CB4’s gf that got King James heated up during a game against the Raptors in Toronto. It looks like they let bygones be bygones..
Toronto Raptors All-Star Chris Bosh is in New Orleans for 2008 All-Star Weekend. Here’s what he had to say during media availability:
Q: Can you talk about the community effort here in New Orleans?
Chris Bosh: I think with the Day of Service they’re showing they are really committed to being serious about trying to help out rebuilding the city since a couple years back. I think it’s really showing commitment, because I know we have an opportunity to help out in a couple hours too, so we’ll see how it goes.
Kapono flat out shoots the long ball better than anyone in the NBA. His silky smooth delivery and lightning quick release make him lethal from beyond the arc. No doubt the Raptors need to make better use of his shooting skills down the stretch.
3. Jonathan Bender: The fifth overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1999 NBA Draft suffered through chronic knee problems throughout his career, leading to his retirement at the young age of 25. He lasted seven years in the league, amassing only 237 games, with a mediocre average of 5.6 points per game. Some say that when healthy, Bender was a very exciting player who had all-star caliber skills.
Jason Kapono of the Toronto Raptors breaks the Guinness World Record for most three-point shots in two minutes with 43 baskets on center court during NBA Jam Session Presented by Adidas at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center February 17, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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