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John’s back hosting this week, yay!

We begin with the depressing, depressing Blazers. Then, Chris Bosh, Michael Beasley, Julian’s “statgasm” segment, All-Star balloting, J.R. Smith & Marcus Thornton sitting at the end of the bench, Wagman’s “basketball bubble” segment, Sham’s point guard question, my “broner” segment, and “predictions on last night’s games.”

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Recommended links:

Woj on the Blazers
Noam Schiller on the Blazers
Art Garcia’s apology to Paul Millsap
Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post on J.R. Smith/Gary Forbes
Kevin Love’s GQ blog

Ron Turenne/Getty Images

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. Continue Reading

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Just two games on the sched, Tuesday night, and I only watched one of them. This doesn’t feel right, and neither does being done with writing by 1:00 AM. A much quicker BfB than normal as we hit the halfway mark of the season. Continue Reading

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On Tuesday, I sat down with Julian Guy-McCarvill and Eric Wagman and recorded our second podcast. We were having so much fun that we went wayyy long, so I divided it into two parts. In the first part, we examine the Lakers, Blazers, Bucks, Spurs, and Bulls; try to figure out when the Timberwolves and Nets can get a win; and discuss Ron Artest’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Also, I make stat-geeks cry by referring to “WARP” as “VORP”. In part two, we cover the strange Tracy McGrady situation, the “nicer” Stan Van Gundy, a couple of choice rookies, Josh Smith and his Hawks, Jeff Bower and his Hornets, and the dysfunctional Wizards. We also hand out some awards. Enjoy, people.

Click here to listen to Part 1.
Click here to listen to Part 2.

Gary Dineen / Getty Images

This past week, I’ve been tweeting and League Passing my face off and loving every minute of it. I’ve seen buzzer-beaters, incredible dunks, and one of the most captivating individual performances I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. Here’s a recap of the week that was, using selections from the Outside Twitter account as a guide. Continue Reading

Ahh, G-State. The G-Men. Okay, maybe not the G-Men, though I think they’d trade their issues for one Plaxico bullet wound. Where do I even start with these guys? They have so much talent it’s ridiculous. They play entertaining ball. They have a great crowd. There’s so much to love, yet they continue to self destruct. Continue Reading

Ah yes a new season is upon us. It’s a time of wonderment, of unbridled optimism, of limitless possibilities. There are still a few weeks before the season starts and cold reality slaps the majority of the Association in the face, but I figured I’d get a head start. Optimism is running wild in Toronto, but there are a few pitfalls that Raptors Nation is overlooking. Continue Reading

Ah yes, a new season is upon us. It’s a time of wonderment, of unbridled optimism, of limitless possibilities. There are still a few weeks before the season starts and cold reality slaps the majority of the Association in the face, so I’m going to embrace the optimism. To those who know me, this is no surprise; optimism is practically my middle name. But this year just FEELS different for some reason. The Raptors have almost completely remade their team. With a new coach, new philosophy, new feel overall. Continue Reading