Outside The NBA

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Oh when it all, it all falls down. I’m telling you ohh, it all falls down…

Seasons come and seasons go. As sports fans we are conditioned to have short term memories, reactions and expectations. When TFC missed the playoffs last year I was upset for 2 days before throwing myself headfirst into a new Leafs and Raptors season. When the Leafs season ended in disappointment I celebrated by throwing myself into the world beating Blue Jays (disclaimer: that title has a timed expiration date of… well, probably 2 weeks). This Raptors season for me, I don’t know. I can deal with bad teams, lord knows I’ve seen plenty coming out of the T-dot over the past few years. I can deal with teams underachieving, again, lord knows I’ve seen plenty of that coming out of the 416 area. What I don’t know if I can deal with is a collapse of epic proportions that screws several other teams and fan bases in the process. I don’t know if, as a sports fan, I WANT the Raptors to make the playoffs today. It feels… dirty that they even still have a chance. (more…)

Sports is a funny thing. It’s like real life, only it’s not real life. We are drawn to sports because it is a microcosm for life. We get to play voyeur and watch a person develop from a kid to a man to a grown-ass man. We see him learn the ways of the world on his journey from being a wide-eyed rookie to a hardened, smart veteran. The other thing we like about sports is, unlike real life, there are clear winners and losers. (more…)

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I don’t have the exact date that this conversation occurred, believe me I wish I did, but sometime towards late November or early December I was talking to James about the Raptors’ struggles. I looked at the calendar, saw the teams the Raptors were playing from January 27 to February 24, and got excited. (more…)

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July 3, 2009, Adrian Wojnarowski:

“Turkoglu had agreed on a five-year, $50 million deal with the Blazers, but changed his mind and is headed for a five-year, $53 million deal with the Raptors. Toronto would have to renounce three free agents – Shawn Marion, Carlos Delfino and Anthony Parker – to create the cap space for Turkoglu.”

This is a surprise, and I’m not happy. It’s not that Turkoglu is a bad player; it’s that I think this is a bad signing. He’s 30 already, was never really worth $10 million a year, and the thought of renouncing all the free agents and losing the right to use the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions makes me sick. (more…)

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

In the fourth episode of the podcast, I discuss several Eastern Conference teams with Julian and Wagman. It should be noted that we recorded this on Monday night, before AI and the Sixers thankfully snapped their horrible losing streak. I attempt to defend Nate Robinson, Wagman is shocked by Larry Hughes’s recent performance, and we all discuss Rudy Gay potentially joining Dwyane Wade in Miami next season. And yes, I messed up when talking about Rajon Rondo’s “dirty” plays last season – he hit Hinrich, not Rose.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

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As you may or may not recall, I actually wrote two previews for this current Raptors squad. One was a glowing, optimistic preview. The other, a pessimistic, worst-case preview. So now we’re 21 games in to the season and it looks like (true to common sense), the Raptors have landed somewhere between the two predictions. (more…)

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I, and I think a lot of other Raptor fans have been impressed with Amir Johnson off of the bench. He has a very good motor, puts a lot of energy into getting on the glass, plays tough defense and seems like a good teammate who knows his role. (more…)

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In our first podcast, Julian, Eric, and I discuss the Iverson/Memphis debacle, Earl Smith III, Stephen Jackson’s agent vs. Nellie, the ridiculousness of the Raptors, the success of the Suns and Nuggets, the failures of the Cavs and Hornets, and Kobe’s newfound appreciation for the post-up game. Oh, and we play a little game.

We recorded this yesterday, before watching the slew of awesome games covered here and here. So, we didn’t get to talk about Brad Miller’s near-buzzer-beater or Travis Outlaw’s vicious dunk on Rudy Gay. We’ve got you covered on Matt Bonner dunk analysis, though.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Around T.O. of late, much has been made about the lack of success we’ve had as a sports city. Outside of the Toronto Argonauts winning the Grey Cup in 1996, 1997 and 2004, and of course the Toronto Rock (lacrosse) title run that exhilarated dozens and dozens of Torontonians, the only Championship teams we’ve been able to celebrate were the 1992 and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays. (more…)

Remember how crazy the West was 2-through-9 last year? We knew no one would catch the Lakers, and we knew you’d have to win close to 50 games to make the playoffs, but we had no idea how everything would shake out in the end. There was one great team in the conference, a bunch of very good teams, and then a whole bunch of crap. No Western team won between 29 (Golden State) and 46 (Phoenix) games.

Well, the East is even crazier than that this year, but the action is all in the middle. I see three teams that should easily win more than 46 games as presently constructed and only two that might finish with fewer than 29. That’s almost what happened last season, but what’s even more interesting is that, if forced to predict team records this season, I’d argue that there are ten Eastern teams that could hover around the 40-42 win mark. (more…)