Recently a professional writer reported that OJ Mayo had scored an 11 on his first attempt at the SATS. After cleaning my screen, getting chewed out by my mom for laughing hysterically and when my sides stopped hurting I went hunting for more information on the net. This had to be a typo right? Guess not. Here are experpts from the moderators log during the SAT testing that day.

8:02 A.M..

Mellisa Madden? (Present) O.J. Mayo?.....OJ Mayo?.......OJ Mayo?.......

9:34 A.M. (OJ Mayo wanders in sagging and flagging)

"Sup y'all? Sorry I'm late. My moms got all hostile cause I wanted to sleep in 5 extra minutes and threw water all over me and I had put on my clothes the night before so I could sleep in and still make it by 9:00 a.m. and I had to change my clothes and then the cab driver couldn't change a hundie n my agent didn't give me anything but hundies soes it was like a whole nother thing n whaz up?"

10:05

Moderator:  Mr Mayo do not speak to the other students please or you will be disqualified.

Mayo: I din say ####

Moderator: What did he say Mr...uh...Smith?

Mr. Smith:  He asked me if I knew how to make the letter O.

10:21 A.M.

Moderator: Mr Mayo I asked you not to speak to the other students did I not?

Mayo: U Trippen. I din say ####

Moderator:  What did he say Ms....uh...Davis?.

Ms. Davis: He said to hook a brother up and show him how to make the letters O and J.

11:45 A.M.

Moderator:  Mr Mayo and Ms Garnett that is quite enough. Not only are you speaking to each other, that qualifies as a conversation. Why don't you share with everyone what is so important that you need to speak to each other.

Mayo:  She wuz hittin on me.

Ms. Garnett: I was not. What a liar. He said would I tell him how to spell Mayo and I said it's just like, you know, Mayo that you put on a hamburger and he said he didn't eat hamburgers because his agent only feeds him lobster and whale and steak and stuff an did I want to see his #### of hundies.

Mayo:  U need to chill baby girl. I ain't lyin. I don eat no hamburger and that's on the real.

4:45 P.M.

Moderator:  Well Mr Mayo I see it didn't go well. Tell you what I will do. You got us the state championship, I know you're going to USC and I'll give you a little help here if  you can answer one question.

Mayo: I'm down. If i get it right you get a hundie.

Moderator:  There is an animal who has four legs, barks like bow wow, wears a collar and looks like something Michael Vick might fight for money. The animals name begins with a D and ends with a G. There is one letter in between. Can you tell me what that animal is.

Mayo: Why you gotta get all sarcastic with a brother? I ain't no fool ya know. Anyone knows you're goin on  bout one of them what you call them, like the name of the Toronto team...a RAPTOR...yeah that's it...you faded OG...but a T-Rex kick a Raptors ####. You don get no hundie on account ur a smart #### OG.

Moderator:  That will be fine Mr...uh... D, Z, C, X, O R, T, A, K, D, 4 ( Just took a shot that a 4 was a J there did you?) USC deserves how it will turn out with you Mr. Mayo. You have a nice day.

Maybe the 11 wasn't a typo after all.

The game has only two  minutes to go and the Lakers lose bigtime. Fisher pulled a no show, Sasha no showed, Vlad and Pau shot under .500. Not much chance of winning even though Kobe has 30 on 13 of 23 at the moment.

The refs have given the Spurs every home call possible but that's to be expected.

What shouldn't be expected is Lamar Odom tanking like he always does after a good game or two in a row. He started out shooting 1-7 and 1-4 free throws when the Lakers were still close and could have helped establish dominance on the road. Instead he prefered to tank.

For a guy making nearly 15 million a year on a team overloaded with salary I think if the Lakers end up blowing this series Odom will be gone and Artest replaces him. Odom is just pathetic under pressure.

You can look up the final stats yourself. I'm sick to the stomach. What a loser. You suck Odom.

Until Fox sees fit to fix the fact that my blog doesn't show up on NASCAR then I will continue to post NASCAR here.  I named this the 600 good, the bad and the super ugly but I see Jon has his series named that so I changed it. But the thought is still the same. Jr Nation....UGGGGGLLLLYYY

Good - While Kasey Kahne is not one of my favorite drivers at present he could be before it's all over. He's super cute and for some reason at Lowe's he's super fast.

Good - Kyle Busch got 3rd despite battling battery problems all race and increases his points leads over his closest competition.

Good - Junior finished fifth even though he had a fast car due to out and out running into the wall and flattening both tires without any reason for doing so, further solidifying his case to be star on the Go Kart circuit. (Yes I know, I shouldn't be insulting the Go Karts)

Bad - Kyle Busch is obviously the best driver on the circuit. How in the world could his Pit Chief put a car on the track that wouldn't keep the battery charged up?

Bad - Tony Stewart must be a distant cousin to Junior due to putting his car into the wall and blowing a tire with only two laps to go while cruising to the win with a 5 second lead. What were you thinking Smoke? I wouldn't have minded you winning but that was bonehead driving.

UGLLLLLYYYY - Jr. Nation. What's your excuse this time? Your hillbilly puts his car into the wall for no reason at all, can't blame this one on Kyle, nobody was even around him and not only does he speed in the pits, he passes the pace truck, is penalized a lap and then NASCAR thought about the money they make selling Junior merchandise to you (eyeroll) fools so they rescinded a penalty they would have not rescinded for anyone else with a drivers lisence on the face of the earth and he still finishes fifth. Talk about your working hard to ensure Jr finally makes the chase again. He should have finished below 20th if NASCAR was a level playing field. Your loyalty is beyond comprehension. NASCAR cheats for him and he still can't win. WHATEVER.

NASCAR has outgrown the good ole boy world. No old moonshiners still running cars. The day of the Dodge Hemi is a fantasy in some retro boy with a bondo'd Charger in his garage he works on now and then with his buddies while they mostly drink beer and smoke cigarettes, these days.

That's not to say the hick fans aren't still there. They are. In great numbers.  Most of them are followers of the not so great Dale Earnhardt Jr and they have their old guy favorites like Sterling Martin or one of the guys who's both still driving at the back of the pack and "in the hall of fame" at the same time. They're vicious and hostile and mean and hateful and support GW Bush in a time when 70% of America says Bush will go down in history as the worst president in U.S. history. But they're dyed in the wool sheep and they will never be anything but sheep following their outdated heros into the night.

NASCAR is glad to take their money. God knows they're glad to take it. They spend tons of money on gear, on mementos. Dale Jr. Outsells every other driver and hasn't won a race in two years. But you must understand Dale Jr is one of them. He's a hick. And like with Bush if you say anything about either of them the old school fans of both will come rushing like an online gang to attack you and villify you and tell you off and claim either are wonderful people from a great family and you're SO out of line. Never mind that Bush Sr told Bush Jr to stay out of Iraq and never mind that Jr is no Sr on the track. Sheep dogs understand that they don't have to turn the whole flock. Just turn the front two or three and the rest will follow and in moments you have a flock of sheep turning circles into themselves.

But while NASCAR is happy to take their money, NASCAR is nationwide now, the drivers come from all over the map and most are sophisticated, intelligent people outside their cars. Kyle Busch graduated from High School a year earlier than his grade/age level and with honors for instance.

NASCAR races all over the country and into Mexico now. Five years from now they will be international in both races and drivers. They are simply the most popular motorsport racing style in the world today. The racial abuse heaped on Juan Montoya will be constant by the old school race fans as the political hatred (and calling all non Bush lovers "liberals") is on this blog. But it won't stop the tide.

Another blogger (who happens to be a Dale Jr. Fan and older, but is the exception in that he's kind and decent) mentioned that NASCAR fan attendance is down this year all of a sudden and could this have anything to do with gasoline prices? He was immediately attacked by the right wing hick faction of NASCAR blog fans for having "attacked Bush"/ being the dreaded "liberal" and so on.

If it were not for the ignorance of these fans, it would have been hilarous the very next day ,when on the front of the NASCAR section for all them to see was an article stating that NASCAR blames rising gasoline prices as the sole reason why attendance is down due to the fact that more than half the ticket buyers to any given race come to that race from a distance of 200 miles or more.

Not one single blogger who attacked the blogger who was in advance of NASCAR's statement went back to his blog and apologized for attacking him.

 I wonder what is about some people. They attack,. harass and when stood up to their excuse is invariably, "well you deserved it. You stop being so sensitive". Really? And how sensitive are you when an outsiders of your little clique stands up to one of you? You rush to gang up on an outsider like a pack of wild animals. i was attacked for making jokes about how tough the old timers were. Was I saying they weren't tough? No. i was saying they were tougher than even their images. I was told I was worthless and critisized for my "adverb usage in a sentence" (that has to be the most insane criticism ever made by a hick.) and innumerable other insults, not once but 3 times before I ever responded and when I did the hick nation came running to defend the little saint hick because she is, well a saint (like you know each other in real life) and I was being "too sensitive" because she "didn't say anything. It's just a blog.". If it's just a blog why were you so offended that I responded to her violent outburst? If it's just a blog why did she feel it necessary to go off on me? (Oh and by the way Volfan? While ranting about my misspelling Earnhardt, which I didn't, you misspelled it. I didn't say anything but it does end in a t. Despite your ranting and hating I just assumed you had made a typo while foaming at the mouth and let it pass.)  Apples to apples, oranges to oranges.

GW Bush is the most hated man in America today and in my view rightfully so. And I'm a registered Republican. The Bush loving NASCAR fans are the dinosours of the NASCAR world. Bush got caught torturing prisoners, you got caught torturing bloggers. In both cases you say "well they brought it on themselves, they deserved it". Whatever. Wrong is wrong and it doesn't change just because you're a Republican or a Junior/Junior driver does it. And people WILL retaliate when abused wrongly.

Just like Kyle and Denny and the new breed of drivers, I am a new breed of fan and I think Junior reeks, stinks outloud and GW Bush is the worst President in history. Just like Kyle I don't care what you throw or say. YOU are WRONG and just like Denny I won't allow it to go without retaliating.  We're just as tough as you are and our favorite drivers are even tougher. And we're not wrong.  Bring it on.

Despite claims that David Stern would cheat in order to ensure a Lakers-Celtics finals, which is a ridiclous claim, I'm not so sure Stern is guiltless when it come to the referees. These are supposed to be the cream of the NBA officiating crop. The "missed calls" concerning the Celtics is unbelievable. First there was the non call when Lebron James almost ripped the Jersey off of Pierce. Tonight it was a Piston holding Garnett's arm for a good three seconds and flagrantly so and Garnett gets called for the foul for pulling it free. Pierce was mugged going up for a 14 footer and no call. In between the Lefoul misscarriage of justice going on in the NBA about not calling fouls on Lebrick, the Celtics can't catch a break. The officiating is simply the worst in the history of the NBA is how my dad sees it and I can't dispute him.

While crybabies claim Stern is favoring the Lakers and Celtics what appears to be more closer to the truth is that a bunch of referees have laid down some big money against the Celtics. I honestly think a good number of NBA referees are on the take.

Kevin Garnett had a great all around game. No arguement here. But there have been those who claim that Garnett has some choke in him. The thought wandered back into my mind tonight when Detroit made their run and Garnett missed an icing free throw then short armed an uncontested shot that he normally is automatic on. Before this series is over he will need to come up large in stress time.

Ray Allen came up big in a routine loss in Boston and reverted to his choker ways tonight, only making shots after the game was in the bag. Allen was 2-12 before the game was in the "this one is over basically" time. Going to earn your money under pressure  this playoffs Ray?

Sam Cassel is going out just like Gary Payton. He may hit a big shot here and there but he's a turnover waiting to happen, he's shoot happy, he's everything that they didn't need from a veteran point guard. Retire Gollum. You're embarassing yourself.

Chauncey Billups was 1-6, (4 assists)  spent much of the 4th quarter on the bench. His muscle pull must not be as healed as he says it is. The Celtics are not the Magic. If Billups tanks this series as he did the East finals last year, the Pistons are done.

Flip Saunders is weird. The more Rick Hamilton goes off the less Saunders calls his numbers. Is Saunders on the the pipe?

All these complaints from a rookie fan. What is the world coming to? I'll make you a deal. I'll drop all the other complaints if the NBA will just find some referees that aren't on the take and will call a fair game.

 

 

It's 3:20 P.m. in Tulsa Oklahoma as I start this blog. I went to work this morning at 7:00 a.m. at the local flea market and got home about half an hour ago, took a cold shower, sprayed myself with sunburn antiseptic and here I am.

We have semi- important business today. After watching Kristi Yamaguchi thrash the competition on Dancing with the stars and NFL's Jason Taylor finish second it has become clear to me that athletes have a strong advantage over  faded stars, singers, starlets, Broadway I never heard of her, and the sort. With this in mind I went to various athletes and asked if they would appear on Dancing with the Stars and here is their reasons why they couldn't or wouldn't.

Kobe Bryant - says at the moment he's already involved in Dancing with the Stars.

Lebron James - says nobody is his equal so he won't work with a partner.

OJ Mayo - wanted to know how much money under the table he would get.

Manu Ginobli- says the only dance he's ever learned was the Flop but would consider it if Vlade Divac could be his dancing partner.

Pat Riley - said yes but only if  he could fire his dancing partner and take over and quit before the end of the contest.

Ray Allen - said sure but only if he can show up just once in a while. .

Chris Paul - said sure but he'd prefer to just hang around and help others out.

As you can tell this was not going quite as well as I had hoped. I did the only thing left to do. I took my case to the people. I asked family, friends, customers, the man in the street who they would like to see on the athletes version of dancing with the stars. In order are the top 10 people and why.

1.) Sean Kemp - To hear him tell the judges the two ounces of cocaine, the 18 pounds of weed, and the handgun that falls out of his pockets  while dancing,  is not his, that a friend put it there.

2.)  Charles Barkley - Because you could get rich betting with him that he wouldn't win.

3.) Barry Bonds- Because his big head would break the mirror ball hanging 12 feet over the dance floor.

4.) Roger Clemens - Because he'd juice his partner and get her in Sports Illustrated.

5.) Tonya Harding - So she wouldn't make another adult video. Or Box.

6.) Mike Tyson -  To watch him tell the Judges he was going to eat their children.

7.) Willie Randolph - To hear him go into a tirade about how the judges are racist.

8.) John Rocker - Just so we can throw batteries once in our lifetime too.

9.) Terrel Owens - To see him do situps on the dance floor when he gets a bad score.

10.) Alex Rodriquez - To see what his wife's T-Top says when he chokes in the finals.

Some people are smart alecs.  

 

 

 

 

While reading all the OJ Mayo apologist blogs I feel little optomism for the future of Professional Sports concerning getting rid of gangsters and thugs. Mayo is clearly a thug.

Suspended in high school he went to court to get back on the court. A judge in the city for which he played reinstated him. No big suprise there. (How many high school player have you ever heard of that were suspended for anything other than bad grades?

( I  may be a litle young to be an authority on the subject but the only other one I could find was Lebron James for taking Sports gear illegally. He also, of course, went to court in his hometown and found a friendly judge who reinstated him.)

Mayo went to 4 different high schools in 4 years, his profile being upped by his professional sports agent "friend of the family".  Not a friend of the mother as it turns out. As it also turns out there are now allegations Mayo may have been being paid as early on as the 9th grade. He of course is denying it.

(Compare this one to Chris Webber taking money, and denying it, over the years before the pro's.)

Mayo, enraged that referee would call a foul put the senior citizen on his face on the floor by rushing him and "bumping" him to the ground. No one did anything about that one either.

(Compare this one to the Lakers bad attitude point guard Nick Van Excel's inability to control his emotions and slammed a referee into the scorer's table resulting in Van Excel being shipped out and begining a long unremarkable career while the other Lakers went onto deep playoffs and title glory.)

Mayo by all accounts is a soft spoken young man. And a dumb as a post young man who reportedly scored an 11 on his first attempt at an SAT test. (Is that possible?)

(Compare this to Kwame Brown's reported 161 on his first attempt. Although it's not even close,it's the closest I could find.)

Mayo was a high school phenom who scored at will but plays not a taste of defense.

(Compare this to Darius Miles.)

IMO there is a common thread here. We are all human. We all make mistakes but it seems that those who are without character at all are always the ones who take the money and who end up never being a part of a championship team.

None of those whom OJ Mayo has kinship with in terms of their being a thug, and/or a liar, and/or a person taking money under the table, and/ora person who has little going for him other than God given talent, and/or a person whose intelligence is openly questioned, have ever won an NBA title. Lebronists will tell you he will one day. I doubt it. Lebron is lacking in character. OJ Mayo appears to have none at all.

5 hours before game 2 of the West finals I'm reading all over the internet that the Spurs lost to the Lakers because their players (with the exception of Parker) are old. The legs are gone. The 7 game series with the Hornets have taken their legs from them. Horry is 38 Bowen is 37. On and on and on.

Ridiclous. I'm a Laker fan and this is total silliness.

The Spurs only shot 3-14 in the fourth with Ginobli having a tough night. So what? It happens. Fisher was 1-9 and Odom 2-12. Fisher is "old"? Hardly. Odom is old? He's younger than Kobe. People have bad nights and teams have bad quarters.

Horry didn't play during the closing push in the season due to injury. His legs are as fresh as a 30 year old's. The truth is that Horry has been virtually useless for a decade on offense other than a few clutch legend making shots at the end of close games. But he's missed more of those than he makes as anyone has. Horry's age is not the issue here with the minutes he's getting.

Bowen has upped his scoring average during the playoffs and looks automatic from the left baseline 3. Bryant says Bowen is toughest defender in the league on him. So much for age being the problem with Bowen.

One writer said Duncan has too many miles on him and not the player he used to be. 30 points and leading all rebounders is not too bad for someone over the hill. Silliness.

The Same writer laments that Finley is 35. Ginobli has replaced Finley at this late date as the starter and Finley is a notorious streak shooter. Coming off the bench has never been his game and Ginobli can do either. I don't question Pops decision to start Ginobli now but it definately affects Finley more than it does Ginobli or Finley being 35.

Parker is doing what Parker does. Getting points in the paint. If you catch the rest on a poor shooting streak and overload Parker and make him a jump shooter,. he's not your savior.

As a Laker fan I hope the Spurs shooting woes continue. I don't think they will. This is a championship dynasty and they will not go quietly. Seems like the Hornets series should have shown that.

My guess is that this series goes 7 games and as to who wins your guess is as good as mine. To write the Spurs off after one bad quarter  due to age, is,. as I said, ridiclous.

 

 

 

For those of you scoring at home get out your Haters handbook and get your excuses ready. (Whining to the left and sniffling to the right  please) After several hours of page after page of game stats I have some bad news for you Kobe haters.  Now don't go jumping the gun here because this is not about how he's leading the playoffs in scoring, we all know this and we know why you haters say this is so. Ball hogging, right? Refs putting him on the line and..........

Well we all know don't we? It's not as if we haven't heard your boo ha ha time and time again.,so, no that's not the bad news. Are you ready? (Please, no warm up crying. Good lord get a handle on your emotions would you? Palov's dog didn't salivate this much for food as you do when the name Kobe Bryant is mentioned.) Anyhow, here's how it works out.

Of all the players left in the playoffs there is 4 players who are leading all other players in assists. Interestingly enough there is one from each team. Who knew? Three of them are point guards. No suprise there right? That's what a point guard is supposed to do unless of course he's the triangle point guard and has to play with that ball hog Kobe who never gives up the ball. (I've been listening. You can tell, right?)

The 4th best assist person left in the Playoffs to date is Tony Parker who is averaging a solid 6.23 assists per game

The 3rd best assist person left in the Playoffs to date is none other than Rondo of the Celtics.who is averaging a nice tidy 6.92 assists per game.  That one caught you by suprise now didn't it?

We could be hostile about this whole thing and say injuries are a part of the game and average his assists by the number of games his team played but we're not that kind so we dropped the games in which he did not appear at all and only averaged the rest and the 2nd best assist person left in the playoffs is Chauncey Billups of the Pistons at a very nice 7.25 assists per game.

Which leads us to the question every rational NBA fan in the known world wants to know and that is how you can continue to call Kobe Bryant a ball hog when he is leading all players left in the playoffs at this moment with an average of 7.72 assists a game. And he's a shooting guard. And doing it while leading the playoffs in scoring.

A show of hands. How many of you still calling KB24 a ball hog are drunk this very moment?  And if not drunk would you please seek professional help. Seriously.

As the oldest of three children growing up I was not "my daddies little girl". Mikey was the baby and everything dad did Mikey did.  My other brother whom I will only refer to as the Creepazoid never much engaged anyone in the family. He lives in the world of video games and fellow geeks like himself who all wear dirty jeans and too small death metal shirts and pretend that Dragons and Sorcerers exist.

Honestly i think my parents wonder if the hospital mixed babies accidentally when they sent the creepazoid home with us. I only mention him because on Mikey's 11th birthday he was shot and killed on his way home from school by his best friend accidentally in the friends home by a gun that was left out on a kitchen table loaded.

Since then my dad mostly watched his sports alone although Mom and I like the NBA so we watched that with him. I grew to like the NBA more than any other sport.  No expert but know more about that than any sport.

Dad is a Laker fan from his days in Cali in the Navy so I am a Laker fan. Things look good. The problem for me is that I've only been to Cali once and I have no roots there and no real interest in the state other than the Lakers.

As I watched the NBA the last few years I also grew to like the New Orleans Hornets because of their stay in Oklahoma City. Because we border Texas I generally pull for the Spurs or the Mavericks or the Rockets in games that didn't involve the other two favorites.

Now we supposedly, at least someday, have the Sonics coming to Oklahoma. It may not be a good reason to you but I'm not thrilled as green is my least favorite color, the name Sonics reminds me of a drive up fast food place. Might as well call them the A & W's or the Long John Silver's as far as I'm concerned.

There are court fights going on and who knows what will happen? I don't really care. I already have my tickets for the NBA exibition game on Oct 13 at the new BOK center between the Hornets and the Rockets and the West semifinals featured 3 favorite teams out of the four and the Lakers are rolling right along. All is well in Nique's NBA world.

The Sonics? Other than the fact that they have half price slushies and shakes between 2-4? Who cares.

 

(The following interview took place during the first round of the playoffs and is presented here without editing.)

1.) Most of us in the States don't get the opportunity to see a lot of the Raptors but they are clearly building a much better team. They gave the Magic all they wanted despite losing their opening round playoff series. Let's start with your crystal ball. What seed do you really believe the Raptors can achieve next season?


The main core of this Raptors team has been together now for 2 seasons, and it has really given them the chance to gel and work hard to develop each others' games as well as their own. I honestly believe that their experience together as a team will get them into the playoffs even if no changes are made in the offseason. I believe they will again be seeded anywhere from 4 - 6 in the Eastern Conference, with a legitimate chance to make it into the second round.





2.) Chris Bosh is often referred to as a top 10 player in the league and from what we've seen he's the real deal. Still it seems he's often hurt or playing with nagging injuries. What can he do to stop this?


As a Raptors fan, I obviously have a bias towards Chris Bosh, and so, to call him a top 10 player in the league would be an accurate statement. I think in order for Bosh to stay healthy and avoid the nagging injuries, it's not so much something that he can do alone, but will need the help and guidance of the teams trainers. They'll have to teach him to understand the limitations of his body, and take calculated risks. With the Olympics coming up this summer, Bosh should easily be a candidate to be in the starting line-up for the US squad, but it's these type of decisions that must be thoroughly thought out. If he feels like he could benefit from sitting them out, he should rest.





3.) You have a point guard controversy it seems in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. How do you see this coming out?

There is definitely a controversy, and most observers would agree that it is being casued more by T.J. Ford, not Jose Calderon. T.J. was originally brought in to be the starting point guard, because based on Jose's rookie season (and Mike James bolting to the Rockets), it seemed obvious that this was a major weakness for the Raptors. Nobody would have been able to predict the huge turnaround that Jose had in his second season backing up T.J., I know I didn't see that coming. When T.J. went down for an extended period of time with his injury this season, Jose stepped up and established himself as the top man at the point, and during that stretch was easily one of the top point guards in the league. When T.J. came back, it appeared that the Raptors were going to keep Jose as the starter. Unfortunately, that did not seem to sit well with T.J. and his productivity really dropped off. This is where Jose stepped in and requested letting T.J. return to the starting line-up and possibly get him going again.

Now, after all that, the way I see this coming out is an inevitable trade of T.J. Ford, likely for some kind of packaged deal that would include a big man, plus an adequate point guard to back up Jose Calderon. Calderon is a restricted free agent this summer, but all indications are that the Raptors will match (and/or exceed) any offers made by any other teams to keep him.

I realize this is a very long-winded answer, but I feel that understanding the situation from the beginning helps in making a decision for the future.

4.) Just looking at the center situation with the Raptors it would seem this would be an area that needs to be upgraded to contend for the East seriously? Agree or disagree and why?

I totally agree. It has been one of my complaints since early on in the season. When looking at the rebounding numbers, especially in losses, there were usually huge margins of difference between the Raptors and their opponents. To me, that indicates the lack of a true inside presence at center. Rasho Nesterovic provided decent minutes at center, but I believe he is better suited coming off the bench, and Andrea Bargnani is more effective as a power forward (again, off the bench). The Raptors would probably have to dip into the free-agent pool and try to find someone who can step in as the top center. I've always believed that if they had a center who could command a lot off attention, and force other teams to double-team him, that would open things up for the perimeter shooters and allow them more open shots, making them even more dangerous and making the difference in close games. It would also take a lot of the burden off Chris Bosh's shoulders knowing that he won't have to always be the first option when grabbing rebounds.


5.) Another position we don't hear much about on the Raptors is the small forward spot. Jamario Moon averages about 8.5 ppg and 6.2 rebounds but what caught our notice is he shoots over 48%. Is this a place more offense should be exploited?

Jamario seemed very hesitant at times this season when it came to his offense. He got too worried about trying to make the right decision, and it usually resulted in a missed opportunity; like a missed shot, or passed up open shot. Obviously, he is a very effective shooter, with a decent mid-to-long range shot, explosive around the basket, and now has a season of experiece under his belt. Hopefully he has learned what he is capable of and realizes that he can be even more effective. So, the offense here can definitely be exploited even more, and I believe it is Jamario Moon who can do that by actually being more selfish when the time permits.


6.) Anthony Parker seems to be your guy at shooting guard and shoots a good percentage however this is a glamour position and at 12.5 ppg seems a little low for a shooting guard. Jason Kapono was your free agent signing who was supposed to be your outside threat. Tell us about your situation on the Raptors with point guard?

I think Anthony Parker's performance was dependent upon who his point guard was. When T.J. Ford was at the point, he held on to the ball a lot longer, and didn't really utilize his teammates enough, including Parker. Jose Calderon did a much better job as a distributor, and Parker was one of the players who really benefitted from it. I don't believe the shooting guard really has to be the first or second scoring option, I believe it should be a reliable player who can consistently put up points, or make the small plays necessary that lead to a win. There was a lot of hype about about Jason Kapono's 3-point shooting ability, and with good reason. But Parker has also been one of the best outside shooters in the league the last 2 seasons as well. Jason Kapono as a starter did not appear to work out the greatest, but when he was moved to the bench, it made for a solid situation with Parker starting, and Kapono backing up, not giving the opponents a chance to take a break.

7.) Speaking of free agent signings how are the Raptors situated with the salary cap? Should we expect an important signing in the off season? Is it easier or harder to sign people with the difference in USA and Canadian dollars?


This season, the Raptors were paying their players about $62 million in total, which put them in the luxury tax situation. We'll still see them in the same type of situation next season as well after all the dealings are done. Jose Calderon will probably be making a similar salary that T.J. Ford is (about $8 million) when the papers are signed. They may have to sign a big-man in the off-season which would not be cheap. Players would have to be unloaded, so we would probably see T.J. Ford ($8 million) being the main person gone, but probably see the likes of Jorge Garbajosa ($4.5 million), Carlos Delfino ($2.7 million), or Joey Graham ($2.5 million) offered up as well. Potentially freeing up to about $18 million. The Raptors pay their players in USA dollars, so when it comes to the accounting, there's no coversion that has to be done. I do believe this is a mandate of the NBA as well, just using one currency for all transactions. The biggest hurdle in trying to lure free-agents to Toronto is mostly with players themselves and some stereotypes that they may have (thinking back to Kenny Anderson and Steve Francis) about playing in Canada.

8.) Because Canada has only one NBA team do Canadians get much NBA on TV other than the Raptors? We're told Hockey is number one in Canada. Where does the NBA rank in Canadian sports? The Raptors are in Toronto. Is their fan base only in Toronto or country wide?

I don't know about the rest of Canada, but here in Toronto we do get the opportunity to watch a lot of the Raptors on TV. There is actually a channel called "Raptors TV" which will broadcast any games that aren't being shown anywhere else, plus they'll cover other games as well, usually a simulcast with TNT or ESPN. If one of the sports networks does show a game, it usually gets broadcast nationally. The Phoenix Suns tend to get a bit of coverage as well (since they have Steve Nash), so we could probably call them Canada's "other" basketball team...

Canadian media in general is very hockey-centric. Even the "sports" media as well. "Sports" in this case means everything related to hockey first, then a few quick highlights of any others that may have been played. It can get annoying when you want to see the results of a basketball game, or baseball, or whatever, but have to wait after about 30 minutes of hockey news to see 30 seconds of highlights, then a score.

The NBA is probably is probably 4th in Canadian sports. Number 1 is the NHL, way ahead of the rest, number 2 is the NFL (even though there are no Canadian teams, they still get a lot of coverage), number 3 the CFL (Canadian Football League), then the NBA.

The great thing about Toronto Fans in general, is that they are everywhere. There is a sense of national pride among basketball fans with the Raptors as the only Canadian team. Also, with their European players, they get a lot of attention in places like Italy , Israel, and Spain as well.


9.) What is the general feeling about the Coach, GM and Ownership of the Raptors?

Coach: Sam Mitchell - A very energetic coach that appears to get the attention of his players and makes them want to win for him. He has made some questionable decisions during the course of the season, but the same case can be made for every other coach as well. He should be the coach for a long time to come, he has a great sense for the game and should hopefully be able to utilize his players to the best of their abilities.

GM: Bryan Colangelo - When Raptors fans found out he had been hired to be their GM and President, there was a huge sense of excitement. After many seasons of being pretty much the joke of the league, they instantly became legit. He's made some great personnel moves, and has helped turn the Raptors into a playoff contender. He won't be afraid to make a big move in order to improve the team. Raptors fans love the guy. He's also effectively managed to kick out the ownership group from the team, so he can be the one making the decisions.

Ownership: Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) - This is a very touchy issue with Toronto sports fans. This group also owns the Toronto FC (soccer), Toronto Marlies (AHL), and of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL). The majority owner within this group is called the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, who do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING at all with running things. They just sit back and watch the money come in from the Maple Leafs (the Leafs are easily one of the richest sports franchises in the world) and don't seem to really care if the other franchises they own get run into the ground. They allow some really imcompetent people to run the teams, who have made terrible decisions and the teams have suffered for them. Luckily, Bryan Colangelo has not allowed them to stick their noses in the Raptors business, and the Raps have been doing well. The Maple Leafs, however, is a different story... but that is hockey, and this is about basketball.


10.) We hear Canadian beer is pretty good. Rate your 3 best beers in order.

This is probably one of the most difficult questions to answer in Canada. It's the type of question that Canadians would go to war over... (If you ever get the chance to see a movie called "Canadian Bacon," there are some great scenes... especially regarding the beer).

For me, number 1 would be Alexander Keiths India Pale Ale... a rich flavour from a long brewing heritage. Great to come home to after a long day of work, and just sit back and unwind with.

Number 2 would be Lakeport Honey Brown Lager... some people may get a bit antsy about this beer, and me calling it my number two simply for the fact that it only costs $1 dollar a bottle. It's great tasting, affordable, and very Canadian.

Number 3 is Robert Simpson... brewed locally near Toronto. The beer of choice amongst small-towners. Goes great with watching a basketball game.

(Notice: The following interview was conducted during the second round of the playoffs and runs unedited.)

 

1.) Congratulations on the Sixer season by the way. Beginning the year not much of anyone gave the Sixers a chance of making the playoffs. We're going to be talking specifics but in the most general sense of the word how satisfied are you with the Sixers season?

As a Sixer fan you had to feel Mo Cheeks came into his own as a coach, Thaddeus Young as a player, the team had real chemistry and while they lack the bench, their run at the end of the season proved they finally learned to win as a team.  In the playoffs they managed to put a scare in a team that was much better, so overall I'm happy with the direction.

 
2.) How do you feel about Ownership and Front office of the Sixers as they are structured today?

The ownership is fine and has deep pockets, the great thing is they finally jettisoned Billy King who completely destroyed the team during his tenure after initial success with Larry Brown and AI, his drafts were spectacular failures by any standards and he handed out idiotic long term deals to sub-standard players that crushed the team in terms of cap.  Most disastrously right when they were coming out of the cap wilderness he brought in a fading Chris Webber and his onerous contract that promptly buried them again.

 
3.) There were rumblings early on about Maurice Cheek's job being in jeopardy but by season's end Doc Rivers came out and said Cheeks should have won coach of the year for the job he did in Philly? Play GM for a minute. Do you keep Cheeks? An Extension?

I'd keep Cheeks because you can't give somebody a decade's worth of Billy King  blunders and then blame them for the shoddy result.   As for an extension if they were going to boot him then they should have made a run like the Knicks did at the Suns coach.  So yes I'd give him an extension.  A coach is only ever as good as his players.

 
4.) Sam Dalembert has always been a rebounder. He has been beset with what seems to be a number of injuries for a big man. Tell us about where you see Sam's future with the Sixers and what he could do to avoid these nagging injuries?

The center position in basketball is a lot like 3rd base in baseball.  It used to be a high offensive output position but as the game has moved to the perimeter the impact o####reat center has diminished somewhat.  I'm not saying they couldn't use an upgrade, a young guy I like and I think they should go after with guns blazing is Chris Kaman, he plays for a cheap stupid owner with a history of trading good players with an upside rather than pay the next contract bump and Kaman is a great scorer and rebounder.
 
5.) Andre Miller will be 33 and entering his 9th year next season. Still, since he came over in the trade for AI it seems he's been the most stable PG the Sixers have had in many years. How do you feel about Miller?

I think Miller has some good seasons left, he's a leader and has game so I'd keep him, that being said in the draft you'll come across way more SG's and tweener's who I never like, so the thing there is to add depth at PG with a guy that can spell Miller and eat up some minutes to keep his wheels fresh.

 
6.) You're the GM still. Give us a rundown on who you would keep, who you would build around (and why) and who in your mind is sucking up salary and needs to go?

Thaddeus Young.  Thaddeus Young and Thaddeus Young.  I don't think they need to blow the team up they need to draft smart and get the best player available instead of projects from Bosnia...I'd rather they keep the team young than squash the cap with veterans.
 
7.) What's your situation on draft picks? Seems a number of name underclassmen are coming out.

 With the exception of Thaddeus Young the Sixers have turned the draft into a perennial sucking chest wound.  What I'd like to see them do is draft players that can contribute now rather cleverly waste picks drafting players for other teams which has killed them in the recent past.   No projects!

 
8.) The Eastern Conference has the top two who are considered equal to anyone in the West and the Magic are expected to get better yet again while the Cavs still have Lebron. Look into your crystal ball and realistically project the highest seed you can see the Sixers achieving next season?

I'd be happy if they made the playoffs next year and got out of the first round.

 
9.) Over the course of the next 3-5 years pick who you consider to be the top teams in both the East and West and who you think will cycle out of contention (if anyone)

An interesting question I think the West is fracturing somewhat but there are so many toxic waste dump teams in the East it's hard to say.  Other than die hard  homers who else thought the Lakers would have a winning season after Kobe's Tantrum-gate in the 2007 off season?  Yet after the Grizzlies went four paws up in that trade for Pau suddenly they looked pretty damn good.  But even there future HOF'er Kobe Bryant can still talk that team into the toilet because no matter how good he actually is, (or the other players are), fundamentally he's egotistically stupid, me-me-me-ball doesn't get it done in the NBA.  He should take a cue from Jordan and realize it's the supporting cast that gets you the rings no matter how great you think or actually are...

 
10. Last question but perhaps the most important. As Beer lovers we're asking everyone to list their 3 favorite beers from their region.

Yuengling, Rolling Rock and Reading Premium Beer