Valanciunas Injury. Jason Terry is Out to Kill.

Projected stud and saviour of the entire history of the Toronto Raptors, Jonas Valanciunas, was seen at practice with a walking boot this week after the team's PR department (holla CreComm!) released news that Valanciunas suffered a calf injury.

 

Forunately the injury isn't considered serious and us Raptors fans can go back to irrationally considering the Lituanian Lug (copyright Matt Bedard 2012) as our messiah.

 

In other why-is-this-athlete-saying-psychopathic-things? news, Celtics guard Jason Terry finally admits his true motivation for coming to Boston this offseason.

As reported by Espn:
 

"My mission is to kill," Terry said at the team's annual golf tournament at The International. "Whoever that is, whether it's the Heat, whether it's the Lakers. Hopefully both. That's my mission and that's what I'm here to do."

That's right Heat and Laker fans, if Jason Terry accomplishes his goal of mass murdering both franchises, you will all have to find new teams to root for.

Terry, of course, has done other crazy things but with this quote he's nearing closer to joining that exlusive group of NBA players that are outright nuts. Right now that group is led by Metta World Peace and Kevin  Garnett, with Garnett slightly edging out Peace. Sure, Ron Artest legally changed his name to Metta World Peace but that doesn't compare with Garnett's ability to disconnect with reality so impressively.

Here's a sample:

Has Garnett ever been in an actual bar fight? Since when had Charles Barkley been in a bar fight and how does Garnett know this? Most importantly, does Garnett actually believe that Craig Sager looks good in that suit? The last issue is especially telling for just how mentally unstable Garnett really is. Get help soon, Kevin.

I'm going to keep my post short this week but before I go, I give you something that you've always wanted (props to Trey Kerby from The Basketball Jones for putting this together):

 

 

That crazy Javale!

 

Raptors Roundup: Interleague Preseason Exhibition Edition!

The Raptors play their first game on October 8 against Real Madrid in an exhibition. You gotta love when the NBA schedules its teams to play against the best teams from other leagues, you know, because now NBA teams can play with even less enthusiasm than they already do during preseason.

In these scenarios the NBA teams are like the Varsity team from a high school while the foreign team is that J.V. team that doesn't really stand a chance.

The NBA teams are supposed to win (considering the NBA is the pinnacle league for basketball worldwide and all) against international teams. Sure, those international teams are good but they are littered with North American players not good enough to make it on an NBA roster.

What makes those games entertaining is when an NBA team loses to the international squad. When that happens it probably should be a little worrying to that fan base that maybe their team isn't as good as they originally thought (As in this case. The Raptors stumbled to a 41-41 record after finishing 12 games over .500 the year before.).

There are other reasons why I'm excited for the upcoming game against Real Madrid. No, it's not because by this time every off-season I'm so desperate for basketball that I'll gladly accept whatever the NBA lazily puts in front of me (Preseason! Raps! Timberwolves! MTS Centre!!!!!!!). It's an early opportunity to see: if the team has any chemistry, if the rookies can come into games and immediately have an impact, and if the guys considered to have potential have put in the work needed to improve their games over the off season.

That last point is really all I'm interested in (after all, it's only preseason). It reveals what kind of work ethic the player has, but it gives the fans an idea of whether that player can be the cornerstone for a franchise to build around.

Past Players the Raptors have Hoped would be their Cornerstone Guy:

Vince Carter: All the talent but a terrible work ethic (among other things). They have also had Chris

Chris Bosh: Great work ethic but not talented enough to be the number one option on a playoff team. But at least Bosh has videos like this:

Andrea Bargnani: He will be 27 by the start of the regular season. Including this year, he has 4 more years under contract. His work ethic is questionable - he has only averaged more than 6 rebounds per game once in his 6 year career, sometimes he settles for too many jumpers instead of attacking the rim, and his defense is often non-existent. These are all facets of his game that he can fixed.

I think he's reached his ceiling, but who knows? Maybe Dwayne Casey can continue to motivate him to play defense and rebound more.

I'll end this week's post by giving my reader(s) an apology. I've only recently been enlightened to Shaqtin A Fool by a friend (Shout out to Meghan!) and it's surprisingly funny considering how disappointing Shaq has been since joining TNT. Click on the link and enjoy Shaq actually talking loud enough to be heard.

Before I go, I need to give a shout to Marianne for mentioning one of the greatest Raptors to ever play, Jerome Junkyard Dog Williams, in the comments section of last week's post. My post (or life) wouldn't be complete without a montage of JYD putting in work.

A Sad Day, Raps Season Preview, and Memphis Gets Its Sexy Back

Sorry ladies and gents but my post this week is starting off on a sad note. After eleven years in the NBA, multiple video montages, hours spent cheering on his teammates from the bench, and even a commercial I guarantee that you will have no idea what it's advertising, the White Mamba, Brian Scalabrine, is retiring. Scal, you will be missed.

Now, as promised I'll be giving you guys my prediction on how I think the Raps will fair this season. I'll try and keep this prediction realistic despite the fact that I'm pathetically optimistic about the Raptors at the beginning of every season.

Last season the Raptors got out to a 3-3 start to have some believe, okay, maybe just me, that the Raps could be a playoff team. Bargnani played well, bought into Dwayne Casey's defensive mentality, and displayed facial expressions other than his usual completely dumbfounded look. And yep, I realize I just publically stated that Bargnani played defence.

The Raptors were floated around .500 for the few weeks of the season until Bargnani suffered a calf injury that limited him to only 31 games. With Bargs injured and Derozan regressing in some offensive categories from his sophomore year, the Raps` offence ranged from completely awful to "why is Rasual Butler shooting so much?" When the regular season concluded the Raps had stumbled to a 23-43 record, twelve games back of a playoff seed.

Considering Bargnani played less than half the season, Derozan showed little improvement and this being their complete roster, the Raps finishing with only 23 wins sounds about right. But who cares about last season? This year's team is a playoff contender!

Is this team a championship contender? Absolutely not. Will the Raptors have homecourt advantage in any of the playoff rounds? Nope. Do they have a chance to make the playoffs? They have a shot at the seventh or eighth seed. But will they make the playoffs? I don't think so.

Yes, the Raptors are significantly better than their team from last year. Yes, Jonas Valanciunas is finally going to play. Yes, Kyle Lowry will add needed depth at the point this season, and yes, if Bargnani can stay healthy, the Raps might surprise a few teams. I still can't accept that they will finish with a record good enough to get them in the playoffs. The Raptors will be better this season but not good enough to beat out the better teams in the East.

Let me break it down like this.
There are six East teams that will certainly make the playoffs this year: Miami, Boston, Indiana, Brooklyn, Philly, and New York.  
That leaves only two playoff spots for the Raptors to claim, meaning that they would have to finish better than Chicago (no Derrick Rose until March but still a good team), Milwaukee (a team that narrowly missed out on the playoffs last year), Atlanta (no more Joe Johnson or Marvin Williams, probably a good thing), and Washington (yes Washington! Look at their roster for this upcoming season. They traded away all of their head cases and acquired proven veterans to complement their young talent. Mark my words, the Wizards will compete for a playoff spot this year. Mark em!).

I have Atlanta and Chicago rounding out the East playoff picture with the Raps finishing ninth or tenth, a few games out from a playoff spot.

I don't expect everyone to agree with my predictions and if you don't, drop a comment on how you think the Raps will do this season. If I think you've made a better prediction than I have, I'll most likely delete the comment and say mean things about you in my next post for making me look bad. But other than that, I totally encourage your opinions.

Other NBA News

Memphis Gets its Sexy Back

Yep, that's right, Justin Timberlake has reportedly joined the prospective group that will soon own the Memphis Grizzlies. This kind of makes sense since Timberlake is a Memphis native and has spent his own money in the past on preserving one of the city's golf courses, I guess? 

Reggie Miller Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame

Reggie Miller is a polarizing player - you either like him or you don't. I always liked how he talked trash to players, flopped in almost every game, hit huge threes, and single handedly crushed the Knicks for years. And I have no beef with the Knicks. Congrats Reg.

Lakers Sign Draft Pick Robert Sacre

Canadian kid. Need I say more?



And finally, if this video doesn't make you like Stephen Jackson, I don't know what will.

Countdown to the Start of the NBA Season

Welcome to Matt's Raptor Roundup.

This is my first of many posts to come on this blog that will primarily focus on the Raptors and their accomplishments/many failures during the upcoming season. Of course talking about nothing but the Raptors all season would drive even the most loyal Raptors fan mad, so I'll also discuss whatever else I deem important in the NBA world.

Now that I have given you a brief introduction, let's get right into it.

After an off season that has so far ranged from the unbelievable (the Lakers acquiring both Steve Nash AND Dwight Howard) to the bizarre (Tony Parker nearly losing his left eye after a fight broke out between Drake and Chris Brown at a New York City nightclub), I am certainly glad that tip off to the NBA season is only a little over a month and a half away.

Tip off is on October 30 and will feature an exciting matchup between the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers on NBA League Pass. For us simpletons who don't have League Pass, we'll be stuck watching a Boston-Miami, Dallas-L.A. Lakers double header on NBA TV. I know, it's tough.

Considering there's roughly 6 weeks until then, my blog posts until the start of the season will focus on predictions, some analyses of off season transactions, and my favourite part of the NBA, unintentionally hilarious things the players do.

Next week I'll post my prediction of how I think the Toronto Raptors will fair during the regular season, but until then here's Rajon Rondo signing a baby: