Jermaine O'Neal to Raptors

The best news today was my realization that Calderon is a restricted free agent. That means we can match any offer made to him! We will likely be able to retain him, and it becomes even more important now that TJ is no longer with us.

I liked TJ, but when compared to Jose, Calderon is better. I still think TJ is one of the fastest guards in the league, but his poor shooting really hurts the offense. Also, uncertainties about his health really make him a question mark in the Raptor's long term plans.

O'Neal used to be a great player, especially in his earlier years (when I had him on my fantasy team :) ). The key is whether he can come back from injury, and play like before. Bosh and O'Neal have very similar games, where they excel in the isolation post, so hopefully they won't get in each other's way. I am hoping it will work out like David Robinson and Tim Duncan did, although Bosh and O'Neal can't be compared to those two.

But overall, I'm happy that Colangelo isn't afraid to make big trades. Now they just need a SG and SF, one of whom will likely be a defensive specialist. Go Raptors!

Playoffs Here I come

Raptor Playoff tickets went on sale to the general public last Saturday at 11 AM. So Saturday at 10:50 AM I start hitting F5 in Firefox. Surprisingly, the site is not slow at all, so I slow down. Right at 11AM, the page loads and there's an option to buy tickets. I quickly look for some upper bowl tickets hit search....and seats are found!! OMG! I quickly fill in my purchasing info and I have a pair of Raptor Playoff Tickets! Yay!

I tried searching for more, but by 11:10 AM they were all sold out. I have never been to a Raptor playoff game before so it should be exciting. Unfortunatly, my prediction for the series is Raptors will lose in 4 (five at most), and I have tickets to game 4. Nevertheless, ACC will be rocking because the Raptor fans never disappoint. Man, I'm so excited!

Like I've mentioned before, this has been an amazing NBA season. Here are my thoughts on the playoffs.

Lakers VS Denver: Lakers in 6. Kobe will be too much for Denver to handle, but I think Denver can win some games at home, especially behind the offense of Iverson and Melo. Gasol will have trouble with Camby and Kmart, but overall I doulbt Denver's D. Oh yeah, Kobe has to stay away from resorts and 19 year old girls and Lakers should win.

New Orleans vs Dallas: I'm picking New Orleans in 6. Even though I have only watched one New Orleans game, I think they will surprise as they have during the regular season. New Orleans really seem like a cohesive unit, while the Mavs haven't looked good with Kidd. I think Kidd is past his prime. The x factor will be whether Dirk can forget about the last two season and play like the Dirk of old.

Suns vs Spurs: Unforunately I didn't watch any of the later Suns game beyond the first two weeks with Shaq. From what I've read, they've been playing well, so I'll pick the dog and go with the Suns in 7. SA is getting older and Horry won't be around to cause trouble.

Houston vs Utah: Houston is banged up and overacheived, but I think their luck has run out. I really like Utah's team and I think they can do better than they did during the regular season. Sloan will have them prepared to battle, so Utah in 5.


BOS vs ATL: Bos in 4. Not much to say here.

Philly vs Detroit: Detroit in 4. Again, not much to say here.

Orlando vs Toronto: Toronto has been playing like crap. Calderon needs to start again, Bargnani needs to wake up and Bosh won't be able to handle playoff defense and the additional contact allowed by the refs. Who will guard Howard? Moon and Parker will have their hands full with Rashard and Turk, and I don't expect them to do well. Toronto will have to push their advantage at PG and hope Howard bricks all this free throws. Orlando in 5.

Wizards vs Cavs: The most exciting Eastern conference matchup, which is also the 5th most exciting matchup after every single Western conference series. The Cav's supporting cast is abysmal, while the Wiz have a well-balanced team playing well together. I think the Wiz will have the upper hand, but it'll take 7 games despite Lebron's inevitable brilliance.

This is the only time of the year that I wish I had cable TV. I guess streaming will have to do. And most importantly, I'll be able to watch a game live! I'm so pumped!

NBA Draft

The two most exciting nights in the NBA are the NBA draft lottery and the NBA Draft itself. These two events probably affect teams more than anything else. This year Portland got Oden at #1 and Seattle got Durant at #2, in a loaded draft year.

As a Raptor's fan, I remember clearly how this has affected our team. For example, the 2nd year as a franchise, the Raptors won the lottery, but due to our new (unfair) Franchise rules, were not allowed to pick first. We ended up missing out on Allen Iverson and got Marcus Camby instead.

A more recent travesty is having the 3rd highest chance in the 2003 draft - the draft that included Lebron, Darko, Carmelo, Bosh and Wade. We weren't able to move up and actually moved down one position to the fourth overall pick. We had a fairly good shot at Lebron, and should have had at least Carmelo. We winded up with Bosh, which isn't too bad, especially since he's seems to like Toronto and is unlikely to skip out of town like certain thin-skinned athletes have in the past. But to this day, I still think of what could have been. Sigh.

When we do get lucky, it happens during a weak draft year. Last year, we had the fourth highest chance and wound up with the 1st overall pick. Usually that's spectacularly good news, but since it wasn't a strong year, we got Bargnani - not #1 pick material in my opinion. I think that even if we stayed at the number four pick, we still would have ended up with Bargnani.

Anyway, this year's draft featured two Chinese players. Yi Jianlian is suppose to be pretty good. He's an athletic forward who can score. Unfortunately, he went to Milwaukee of all places. I think there are 3 chinese people living there. What a terrible fit. I hope he gets traded to Golden State or something, where he'll be appreciated. It's going to be really tough for him to adjust to the American culture, especially when he's in the middle of no where. I feel for him. The other Chinese player, Sun Yue, is not that good, but at least he was drafted by the Lakers. It'll be a bit easier to adjust, but I don't think he'll get much playing time.

Too bad the Raptors didn't have any picks this year, but I have to say that the Raptor's progress was impressive and I am looking forward to next season already!

Basketball Playoffs

I watched the Dallas - Golden State game last night and wow. What an amazing game. When I first starting watching the Suns with Steve Nash, it was a revelation in how much fun watching basketball could be. I got that same feeling last night.

Golden State runs and runs all the time. All five players run, are athletic and can shoot the ball. They push the ball as fast as possible, quite often making a half court pass to the lead man even if outnumbered. Everyone has a green light to shoot, and their offense is dependent on movement and quick passing. It makes for fun basketball to watch. Dallas looks scared and unprepared to play this way. I fully expect Golden State to close out Dallas at home, which would be a huge upset (8th vs 1st seed).

I have a feeling Dirk will be voted the MVP this year, an award he doesn't deserve. If he hadn't of shown up in the last 3 minutes last night, he would be the one to blame. Bill Simmon's really sums it up quite nicely.

One of the best parts of the series is the coaching matchup - the protege vs the mentor. The two have completely different styles as well. Nelson is laid back and Avery is not. Nelson looks like he's enjoying himself watching the game, while Avery looks like he's about to have a heart attack. Even the owner vs the ex-coach angle is interesting and like Steve Kerr says, they need to show more of Mark Cuban (and it'd be nice if he started blogging about basketball again).

TNT didn't put their best broadcasting team on the series. Reggie Miller and Dick Stockton were calling the game, and the best line was Reggie saying GS was "going to throw the whole kitchen book at Dirk".

Oh yeah, Raptors played last night too. Vince Carter has thin skin, and had a largely forgettable game, even though he scored 30 points. The Raptor's offense is based around PG penetration and posting up Bosh. With injured PGs and NJ defense on Bosh, we'll have nothing left for offense. If they can somehow miraculously win in NJ (1% chance), they should be able to win game 7. Also a short note about the announcers...apparently TNT has Marv Albert and Steve Kerr on the Raptor/Nets series, which is their #1 team, but we are stuck with fucking Leo Rautins and Swirsky, whom I hate. Sucks.

Last year's playoffs were amazing and hopefully this year's will be just as good. Next GS-Mavs game is Thursday, don't miss it!

Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine is getting back together and playing live tonight at Coachella. That would be something worth seeing. I went over to their website to see if they had any streaming video/audio, which would be really cool. They have streaming audio/video and after installing stuipid DRM Windows Media Player 11, I could get a stream. But it turns out they aren't streaming anything on RATM. Actually I just checked, they are on at 11PM PST, so no chance I'll catch them tonight. Oh well...I guess I should just be happy they are back together.

Something not worth seeing is the fucking Raptor's game. Down by over 30 in the 3rd quarter is just inexcusable. Bosh is really sucking in this series, like most of the other Raptors (except TJ). But I suppose that can be expected since the Raps have no playoff experience whatsoever. Bosh needs to get use to how physical the playoffs are, and hopefully he'll come back next year better prepared. Also, anyone notice how the crowd is affecting Vince? He can't play in Toronto because the booing is so loud. I think he's the type that wants other people to like him and he is obviously not liked in Toronto. The booing and chanting of "VC sucks" (as my coworker and cousins tell me from being there firsthand) definitely gets to him, even if he won't admit it. I thought Raps had a chance in the series, but looks like I'll have to look forward to next year.

Anyway, I'll end with a quote from Tom Morello, from RATM: Is it coincidence that in the seven years that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE has been away that the country has slid into right-wing purgatory? I think not," he said. "It occurred to all of us that the times were right to see if we can knock the Bush administration out in one fell swoop, and we hope to do that job well. This administration has done enough damage that it may take generations to undo. This is an administration that believes it's beyond the laws of the land, which is fine for emperors, but not so great for presidents. One thing this president isn't above is the laws of physics, and there is no action without reaction. And we're part of that reaction."