09.30
“On paper, in terms of just pure talent, I would say, yes, this is the best team we’ve had,” the Raptor president and general manager said Monday afternoon.
“We’re excited about the possibility of what we can be,” said coach Sam Mitchell. “Obviously, we have to get to camp, start playing, get guys gelling, get guys playing together and then you’ve got to hope we stay healthy.
“We won the Atlantic Division two years ago and until you can do that (again) and then hopefully advance in the playoffs, it remains to be seen (whether this is the best Raptor team ever). You don’t win anything on paper.”
“All in, there’s a lot of excitement and just a good feel,” said Colangelo. “Not only on the court (with) what we’ve seen informally but in the locker room. The camaraderie, the interaction, the inter-play, it’s all very positive right now.”
“Although we were more talented last year, and deeper, I don’t think we had the same chemistry and that’s something we’re going to be striving for this year.” Mitchell, entering his fifth season as the head coach, agrees with the less-is-more philosophy, especially given the talent level of his top players.
“Trimming the roster down makes my job — I wouldn’t say easier — but it limits my choices,” he said. “Last year, we had so many guys that were so similar, the tough thing about it was trying to get minutes for all those guys. It’s easier now to know who your eight, nine guys are.
“And now we’ve got guys who, when you have to go 10 or 11, you’re comfortable with those guys. When you pare the roster down, it actually takes away a lot of the tough decisions from a coach.”
“It’s about getting back to being healthy,” O’Neal said. “We pretty much have hid my knee situation for two years, and playing on painkillers of whatever it really took away a lot of joy away from it, and that’s what I want to get back to – enjoying basketball. I enjoy suiting up every night; I enjoy coming to the arena, that’s something I lost the last two years. I have just not really been happy out there.”
“I’m willing to do what I need to do to make (Colangelo) look good about the trade, and I will do that,” O’Neal said. “I promise.”
He declared his knee healthy Monday, and his body leaner and stronger than ever. He endured a gruelling off-season exercise program and a strict diet that prohibited sugars and starches, that was designed to help him slim down, especially in his upper body that was putting undo strain on his knee.
“It’s amazing, I played 12 years and never did that in my career,” said O’Neal, 12 pounds lighter for the experience. “This is the best I’ve felt in a long time. Knee feels great, I haven’t had any problems all summer and I hit all the goals I was supposed to hit, I was really happy about that.”
Now, the explosive forward is intent on proving a few people wrong.
“He has a hunger to prove to a lot of people that his game hasn’t slipped,” Mitchell said. “He’s been injured, and we understand that, the main thing for him was to get healthy and he feels really good about where he is physically and mentally right now.”
The Raptors newcomer was asked if he considered offered Bargnani a Rolex or something of similar value for the number.
“Andrea, that’s his number that he’s had, so I didn’t want to give any ill feelings toward him, that’s his number, he’s earned it,” O’Neal. “So you have to create something new, so six is the new number, and hopefully that six is going to be something that Canadians can look back at and say ‘that six was a great number.”‘
He picked No. 6 because that’s the number he wore as a McDonald’s high school all-American.
“That was the funnest year of my life,” he said. “I want to just enjoy the game like I enjoyed it back then.”
The Raptors announced Monday that Jawai will be held out of training camp after routine pre-season cardiac screenings raised concerns about the Raptors’ second-pick. Instead of playing basketball, Jawai will undergo further tests that are expected to be concluded by the end of the week.
So there was Jermaine O’Neal yesterday, speaking of “getting killed in taxes” since he transplanted his family from Indianapolis to a condo rental in Yorkville.
Was that Bryan Colangelo, the Raptors general manager who has made it an organizational tenet to recruit European players who are more amenable to Canada’s un-American-ness, racing across the room to put out the franchise-torching fire emanating from the mouth of another reluctant visitor to our home and native land?
Actually, no.
Colangelo’s spin wasn’t necessary, because O’Neal’s thrust wasn’t negative.
“I’ll take the tax situation (in Canada) all day long,” said O’Neal, 29. “I’ve saved a helluva lot of money and we’ve made a helluva lot of great business decisions, so it’s not about that. It’s about a team taking a chance on a player that’s coming off a (knee) injury.”
how else do you explain Colangelo, builder of the seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns, speaking yesterday about Toronto’s intention to play a “grind-it-out halfcourt style” for at least parts of this season?
Slow is the new fast in Raptorland. Defence, O’Neal’s strength and the side of the ball that has Colangelo all giddy, is the new offence.
Is hard, too, the new soft? (Andrea Bargnani, the Italian 7-footer who appears to have suddenly discovered the merits of the weight room, was said to have spent the offseason showing off his newly honed biceps in tank tops). Can last year’s weakness – team chemistry – really be its alleged new strength?
According to Deddrick Faison, O’Neal’s business manager, the player will see a decrease in take-home pay approaching $1 million (U.S.) on his salary of about $21 million, all because he is a Raptor. Not that the money matters to a man who has earned about $110 million the previous 12 seasons.
“He’s happy here and, in the end, how much money can you spend?” said Faison.
“We do have a streamlined team, so there’s not many places to turn to,” said Toronto president and general manager Bryan Colangelo yesterday.
“So Andrea is going to have to do it, and do it quick, and be with this team at the speed of the team. I think you’re going to see some very positive things.”
“Different players react differently to the league and the circumstances,” said Colangelo. “You’re talking about a guy who came in with the pressure of being the No. 1 pick, then the pressure of being the starting centre on a team with high expectations, a team that made the playoffs the year before. Guys evolve. He’s still just 22 – 23 soon – and it’s interesting to see people evolve.
“I do think that he’s feeling more comfortable in the locker room, on the floor with these guys. I think you’re going to see a different player and a different person this year.”
Bargnani may be more comfortable behind the scenes, but he remains a man of few words when dealing with the throng at the team’s annual media day.
He was pleasantly conversant and patient going through a group interview but was his typical quiet self when asked how his summer has unfolded.
He spent two weeks at Impact Basketball, sort of a summer home in Las Vegas for a handful of NBAers, including Toronto’s Jermaine O’Neal, and spent a week at a renowned big man camp run by veteran NBA assistant Tim Grgurich, where Bargnani spent most of his time working on low-post moves.
But the most significant move may have been to have surgeries to repair a deviated septum and remove his adenoids, operations that should allow him to – literally – breath easier.
“Oh yeah, for sure, the surgery was a big help. Now I feel much different, I can breath better,” Bargnani said. “The nose is empty.
“I don’t want to use that like an excuse but it was a problem. I was always sick, taking antibiotics. For sure I have more energy and I feel better physically.”
Here’s another reason it makes entire sense for this team, this year, to have only 13 players – all with guaranteed contracts – in camp.
Money.
If, for instance, some training camp invitee came to camp and got himself injured, let’s say he blows out a knee or wrecks his back or something like that, the Raptors would be on the hook for a salary that stretches into the season and a team with only about $1,000 to spare before hitting the tax level doesn’t want to be paying some guy who had no shot at making the team a salary all year.
It wasn’t the only reason, but it was part of the decision-making process that led them to not invite any extra bodies to camp.
“My financial adviser was saying, yeah, you’re just getting killed in taxes,” said O’Neal, a six-time NBA all-star acquired by the Raptors from the Indiana Pacers in an off-season trade after a chaotic, injury-plagued finish to his eight-year run with the Pacers.
“And I was like, look, I’ve made a lot of money over my 12 years in the NBA, and I’ve made a lot of money the last few years in Indiana. But I did not think about money one time when I was miserable.”
But O’Neal, 29, said those troubles are behind him now. He spent the summer training in Las Vegas, his new off-season home where his season preparation included a sugar-free diet for two full months.
“You ever give up sugar for two months?” he said. “It’s not easy.”
Tonight in Ottawa, the Raptors’ new veteran voice will stand up after a team dinner and try to impress that giving up sweets and having a multimillion-dollar tax bill will be a small price to pay for a rejuvenated career and a deep playoff run.
“When you’ve gone through the couple of years that I’ve had, you don’t want to go back to that point,” O’Neal said. “And you damn sure don’t want to go back to that point with a new team. You want to start fresh, you want to make sure this team stays on the right road and this team has the talent to do that.”
Top issues facing the Raptors
1. Can Will Solomon play? Or maybe Roko Ukic?
A year ago, point guard depth was a given with the Raptors, who could boast two potential starters in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. Now there is just one: Calderon. That places a heavy burden on Solomon, who has been to Europe and back after washing out in his first NBA go around, and Ukic, the Croatian rookie who will be learning the NBA game on the fly. One of them has to be able to provide quality minutes behind Calderon.
2. How do you like your small forwards?
If it’s quick and active and with a limited bag of offensive skills, than Jamario Moon will get a chance to build on his out of nowhere rookie season. If the Raptors want to spread to floor for their bigs and get some value from the four-year, $24-million (U.S.) contract they gave to Jason Kapono last season, the sweet-shooting Californian gets the nod.
3. How long can you listen to Sam Mitchell, really?
This is the fifth year for Mitchell as the Raptors head coach, making him the franchise’s longest-tenured coach. Team president Bryan Colangelo thinks this is the most talented team the Raptors have had. If the wins don’t come early and often, will Colangelo be tempted to provide his hand-picked roster with a fresh voice?
4. Can Andrea Bargnani play like a first-round pick, if not the No.1 pick overall?
The seven-foot Italian enigma regressed in every measurable way in his sophomore year, and looked mopey doing it. A diligent, team-prescribed regimen for his basketball skills over the summer, a pair of surgeries to clean up some sinus problems and a greater grasp of English are all pointed to as reasons to expect last season to be the exception, not the rule. If he plays to his potential, the Raptors suddenly have the depth of talented, skilled big men that most top-tier teams boast. If he continues to lag, he becomes Colangelo’s great mistake.
5. Is 13 enough?
The Raptors will have just 13 players on their team when they break camp because they have no room under the luxury tax threshold to add more. The good part about having just 13 guaranteed contracts is that it will be much easier for Mitchell to define roles and develop a consistent rotation. The bad part is if someone gets hurt, spare parts are hard to come by. Will ownership allow Colangelo to spend above and beyond the dollar-for-dollar tax threshold to add talent or fill in gaps because of injuries?
“I think we have got enough talent to be better,” coach Sam Mitchell said in the first of many vague statements.
“Yeah, I’ve set goals,” forward Chris Bosh added. “I don’t like to put a number on it, though. That means you limit yourself.
“This team has all the ingredients,” new addition Jermaine O’Neal said, “to be a very good team and be on top of the NBA standings at the end of the year.”
While nobody –outside of O’Neal, perhaps — was slapping a tag on just how good this team could be, one thing is certain: If all goes as planned, this year’s squad will not bear much resemblance to the one that won 41 games and fizzled out in the first round of the playoffs last year, or the one that won 47 games and failed in the first round two seasons ago.
“I’ve blocked like 40 shots in like three days,” O’Neal said of his performance in unofficial team workouts over the last week. “Playing with me first hand and working out, that’s one thing [teammates have] talked about a lot. I like to block shots, I like to take charges and I’m going to cover a lot of area in a quick amount of time.”
“Even on help side, it’s unbelievable what he can do,” Bosh said of his battles against O’Neal’s Pacer teams. “I beat my man a couple of times, and then I had to beat him, too.
“And that’s hard, to beat one guy and then to beat another. That’s tough.”
(video) Chris Bosh
The best challenge in the division is likely to come from theToronto Raptors, taking the gamble that Jermaine O’Neal has the legs left to make him and Chris Bosh arguably the best interior duo in the East. They didn’t lose any of their superb outside shooting, handing over the point guard duties to Jose Calderon in the wake of giving up T.J. Ford in the O’Neal deal.
Perhaps the most interesting part of my interview with Roko was that he admitted to feeling a lot less pressure being in the NBA and Jose’s backup, than he did playing for his own country’s national program. This of course is quite different than most players coming into the league out of the NCAA. The whole thing got me wondering if I haven’t perhaps underestimated his impact this coming season. As you can hear in the interview, he already has an excellent command of the English language, and seems to have a bit of grit in him, perhaps an excellent change of pace from the happy-go-lucky Jose.
The other interesting observation revolved around Nathan Jawai, the Aussie Shaq. Up close he was much smaller than I expected. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a big kid, but he doesn’t have the height or physique right now of a Kris Humphries. In fact it looks like he’s slimmed down some and he confirmed this when I spoke to him one-on-one. After Summer League, Jawai focused on his quickness and agility and it will be interesting to watch his development this season.
Right now, Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo can do no wrong. His Raptors are relevant, competitive, and turning a tidy profit for ownership, the controversial Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
The upcoming season is key for the NBA’s former executive of the year, though. Expectations are huge and, fair or not, Colangelo is somewhat exposed after hedging his bets on two players.
Two years ago, the Raptors drafted Italian teenager Andrea Bargnani first overall. So far, results have been mixed. His rookie campaign was promising, but the forward struggled in 2007-08 with shooting and bigger opponents.
Bargnani still has some time. However, he must justify Colangelo’s faith as the first overall pick. Complicating matters is the fine play of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Toronto selected Bargnani ahead of Portland’s star duo at the 2006-07 draft.
The talented guard spent a year refining his skills and is now ready to return to the NBA with the Toronto Raptors this season.
Adams talked with Ryan McNeill during the Toronto Raptors media day about playing in Italy last season, how he’s grown as a player over the past 12 months and why he feels it’s important to give back to the community.
If Adams’ can back up the game he talked this afternoon, then Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo will have found yet another hidden gem toiling away in Europe.
This afternoon Chris Bosh talked with the media about taking it to another level this season, how huge the acquisition of Jermaine O’Neal was, his expectations for this season, how the Raptors have to pull together as a team this season, and a host of other topics.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with Bosh.
This afternoon Jermaine O’Neal talked with the media about how basketball is more fun when you’re winning, why he’s wearing #6 this season, why this season feels like a resurrection mentally, his desire to only play six more seasons in the NBA, and a host of other topics.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with O’Neal.
This afternoon Andrea Bargnani talked with the media about his offseason training program, what he did while he was in Las Vegas, how he worked to improve his low post game this summer, his thoughts on Jermaine O’Neal, and a host of other topics.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with Bargnani.
This afternoon Jose Calderon talked with the media about his health, his thoughts on Roko-Leni Ukic, going into training camp as the starting point guard of the Raptors, and a host of other topics.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with Calderon.
This afternoon Bryan Colangelo talked with the media about Andrea Bargnani’s increased confidence, the perceived lack of depth at point guard, his expectations for this season, and a host of other topics.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with Colangelo.
Click here to listen to this media scrum with Mitchell.
It all starts in making the right statement. Last season’s soup could pack a punch, but the flavor didn’t always stand up from start to finish. Too often the attempt to finish things up on one end of the court in order to enhance the taste of the offensive palette, just fell a little flat. This dish still needed more body. A frontcourt mix of Rasho, Bosh, Bargnani, and Humphries, just couldn’t hold everything together enough in the less-sweet parts of the game. They too often ended up boiling over around the opponent’s basket, batting the ball around without being able to own the required amount of space. There was too much over-stirring by everyone in the mix, just to get some control of each night’s fare. If the opposing team turned up the gas on the boards, then the Raptor cuisine would likely fall apart. Now with Jermaine taking up more space in the mix than a Rasho ever could, all the other ingredients can let their flavors leak out on offense and leave the opposing teams getting burned. Bosh will not have to work extra hard to try to facilitate the odd break by first securing the rebound, and he’ll be able to beat his own guy down the court more often, where he can then really turn it on like a Kitchen-Maid mixer. And all the meat on all our wings can just slide off the bone and compliment the whole dish rather than show up as a strong counterpart on the side.
http://nba-tube.com/behind-the-scenes-at-raptors-media-day-sept-29-2008/
http://nba-tube.com/bryan-colangelo-interview-sept-29-2008/
http://nba-tube.com/nathan-jawai-interview-sept-29-2008/
http://nba-tube.com/jermaine-oneal-interview-sept-29-2008/
http://nba-tube.com/jermaine-oneal-training-camp-interview-092908/
http://nba-tube.com/chris-bosh-interview-sept-29-2008/
But more than just the physical part, O’Neal is happy for the first time in years and he’s motivated to prove all the naysayers wrong. He’s a guy who wants to be in Toronto, in fact he told me Monday the Raptors were one of only five teams he would have agreed to be traded to.
Will O’Neal be a 20-point, 10-rebound guy? Probably not, but he doesn’t have to be. His job will be to play defence, rebound and add something the Raptors haven’t had much of in their history—a guy who can play with his back to the basket.
Eighty-two games may be a stretch for even the healthiest of players, but if O’Neal he is what he says he is, the Raptors may very well be one of the toughest teams to stop this season.
Bosh has only played against O’Neal during informal scrimmages this week, but that will change when training camp begins in Ottawa on Tuesday.
“I’m excited to learn about him, I’m excited to see his mannerisms, his characteristics, where he likes the ball, what moves he likes to do,” said Bosh.
“Once you get a knack for it, it will be effortless.”
While he has yet to see his two big men playing together, Toronto coach Sam Mitchell has made up his mind about how his offense will work.
“The thing I’m telling our guys is, your first look is going to be inside, your second look is going to be inside and, if they throw it back out, your third look is going to be inside,” Mitchell said.
“Then, if they throw it out, then you shoot the basketball.”
(audio) Raptors media day
(audio) Jose Calderon
(audio) Nathan Jawai
First impression of the photos:
1) Who are two of these guys? Adams and Solomon, I presume.
2) “Andrea make basket.” What about defense, Andrea? “Andrea make basket.” 5 points if you can guess the reference.
Spudzs last blog post..The Top Ten Books I Have Read (of all-time)
Some additional notes:
1) Not a lot of these shots include players with tatoos. I wonder if we’re under-average in that area because we have so many ‘nice young men.’
2) O’Neal and Bosh are about the same height, but O’Neal’s arms are WAY bigger.
3) The rolex idea was brought up. I am now satiated.
4) Team chemistry is something that I felt was lacking last year. I think that if it actually exists, this will translate into more wins this season. You could see last year that people were not on the same page at all – especially with TJ running the show. I think O’Neal, Calderon and Bosh will keep this team focused this season.
Spudzs last blog post..The Top Ten Books I Have Read (of all-time)
As you know I was dreading the season a week ago. On the weekend I found out we were going to draft our season tickets soon, so I read up some more I reached the “I don’t really care either way” mentality. But this news roll was excellent. I am now feeling a tiny bit of excitement towards the season.
It is also more fun for me to turn my attention towards basketball after my fantasy football team fell to 0-4.
E, I don’t know how you can’t get excited for Bobblehead days!!
Still going with the same strategy for this year?
Spudzs last blog post..The Top Ten Books I Have Read (of all-time)
Same strategy, sort of. I put Lakers #1, then the 3 bobblehead games that I know of. Then I put home opener against Golden State, and season closer (Philly?). Next I put the Orlando games (Hooooooooooward… Hoooooooooooooooward) and then the Jersey games (VEE CEE SUCKS! VEE CEE SUCKS!). Rather than ranking based on the best “product” on the floor, this year my theme will be having fun. The rest are ordered by:
(a) Whether or not it is a Sunday game (don’t want to miss Sunday afternoon football) or a Friday game (my wife and I usually have plans on Friday nights).
(b) How good I think the team will do this year. See my 2008 predictions in the forums.
Another thing I’ve considered is just drafting best teams and all games after Christmas, and then just giving the tickets away as gifts. But the thing is, I’m not really that generous