Built Ford Tough

Barnes was pretty invisible in the 2nd half (there is still 4 minutes left, but he has been taken out, presumably for the rest of the night as it is a 44 point lead). Didn't score a point and only took 1 shot. He did grab 3 boards and looked better defensively than he did in the first half, although he still got blown by on a couple of occasions. Finished the game with 19 points and 8 rebounds on 7/10 shooting. I like his unselfishness, like you mentioned, but there are times when I want him to be more aggressive. There were a couple of times in the 2nd half when he was isolated on the wing and had what seemed like a clear path to the rim, but he just swing the ball back around the horn. Maybe it was because the lead was so large that he didn't really want to force the issue, or maybe it is still an adjustment for him, but he definitely could be more aggressive. I love his game, though. The first half showed why he is the consensous number one pick for the draft right now. There is just no denying his skill level. I think that Kendall Marshall is going to be a very good player in a couple of years. He isn't going to be a one and done or anything, at least I don't think he will, but I can definitely see him becoming a very good point guard for Roy Williams. He has great instincts with the ball and looked really good distributing it in today's game, although it was against a clearly inferior team. CJ Leslie has 2 points on 1/4 shooting in 16 minutes so far against East Carolina. I haven't been watching that game, as I was watching the UNC game and I'm taking a break before trying to find a stream for the baylor game in an hour.

It is because of the Canadian influence. We are always optimistic, especially when it comes to basketball.

http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_nba/2010/11/brown-prods-the-starters-to-run-more.html It makes sense for a team who struggles so much to score points to look to up the tempo in hopes of getting easy buckets. They clearly don't have the kind of offensively talent to consistently score in the half court, and they have some nice athletic finishers like Wallace and Thomas and a speedy point guard in Augustine who can thrive in a faster system. Their defense will ahve to improve to initiate the break, though. They haven't been playing as well defensively this season and you have to get stops to get on the break. It is interesting to hear that Larry Brown wants his team to run more. I didn't think I'd hear the day when he stressed to his team to push the ball.

If you get a chance, I definitely suggest checking it out. Barnes has been absolutely lighting it up. 17 points and 4 rebounds (no turnovers) on 6/7 shooting (4/4 from deep) in only 11 minutes so far. John Henson is struggling offensively, but has 7 boards in 10 minutes too. EDIT: Baylor (Perry Jones) is playing later tonight as well. Game is in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Texas (CoJo and Thompson) play at 9EST tonight as well. I'll definitely be sitting back and watching college ball tonight.

It is going to be interesting to see what Portland does with Oden next season. His qualifying offer is $8.8M next season, which is a lot of money for a guy who can't even get on the court, let alone stay on it. If they don't give him that be becomes a UFA. Does Portland take the chance or cut ties with him?

I don't see why not. It is definitely going to be a staple thread of the Raptors forum all season long, probably the most active thread we will have all season long, so it could definitely be stickied, at least as far as I'm concerned. Ahh, I gotcha. I thought that was a sarcastic comment or something.

I'm with Flash on this one (wow, that is surprising, haha). I'm not saying that the quote was taken out of context, because it clearly wasn't, but I understand where he (Flash) is coming from. I don't believe that Bosh actually meant he doesn't want to work hard in practices and just sit back to count his money or anything like that. I think he just isn't great at thinking before talking and it isn't until after he says something that he really thinks about what he is saying. I think that is basically what Flash is saying, but he just used a poor choice of words. From following Bosh for 7 years, I can definitely tell you that he isn't a lazy player. He isn't opposed to putting in extra work after practice or going hard during a practice. Maybe he changed after getting his big payday, who knows, but the Bosh that I watched in Toronto for 7 years wasn't a guy who wasn't willing to put in hard work. I just think he is bad at handling the media and it is showing by some of the things he has said so far this season.

Sorry, Southeast Division team forums (Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, Washington and Charlotte).

Nice work. I'll definitely use this thread. Like I said before, I thought about making one earlier, but I thought it wold be overkill at this point so I never actually did. I only have mod powers in the Southeast Forum and Gameday Forums, though. So I actually can't edit anything into your original post. It would be nice, but unfortunately not possible. One European name that you should probably add to your list is Jan Vesely. There is a good chance that he is the first International player taken in the draft, outside of Kanter of course.

Looks like he will be getting some company in the D-League, and no, it is not Ed Davis (yet).

They lost Jon Scheyer who was their leading scorer, if I'm not mistaken. They also lost Brian Zoubeck and Lance Thomas who I think saw a decent amount of minutes for them. They are definitely still a great team and could easily win it all again this year. Seth Curry, Dell Curry's son, was a transfer last season so he couldn't play, so they basically added him to the roster this year as well. They are probably my pick as well, although Michigan State looks pretty good as well, especially if Lucas bounces back from the achillies injury (it was an achillies right? For some reason I have achillies in my mind). I'd still go with Duke, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0OHiv9TTQM&feature=player_embedded He just keeps on putting his foot in his mouth. I know he doesn't intentionally make these comments, but man, he has really had some gems this season.

Believe me, I don't think any Raptor fans have any sort of expectations for him. Most would be shocked if he ever develops into a rotation player in the NBA (myself included) and realize that the chances of him ever becoming relevant are very small. I also don't expect much from him in the D-League. Not only is he insanely raw, but the D-League is a completely guard dominant league and big men never seem to put up any sort of offensive numbers. As long as he pulls down a fair amount of rebounds and blocks some shots while not looking completely lost on the floor, I'll be satisfied. One thing worth mentioning, though, is that despite the fact that he is 22 years old, he hasn't been playing basketball for very long so he is still really young in terms of basketball experience. I'm not sure of the exact time he started playing ball was, but I think he was only 15 or 16 years old.

Different knee. He had his first mircofracture on his right knee and this one is on his left knee, the one that he fractured his patella (which is also unrelated) last season. That is what is so crazy. All of these injuries are completely unrelated to the prior ones.

This sucks. He is such a good player when he is healthy and you can tell that if he could ever just stay healthy he would definitely become one of the best centers in the league, maybe even the best. It just sucks seeing what was bound to be an amazing career not even get to start because of injuries. At least with Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway and guys like that we were able to see them play at extremely high levels before being decimated by injuries. It doesn't look like we will ever get that opportunity with Oden. You really have to feel for the Blazer organization. Their future looked so bright after drafting Oden and pairing him with Roy and Aldridge. Now Oden looks like he may never be able to step onto the court and Roy's knees are shot and he will never be the same player.

I like his game, but he just doesn't have the athleticism or upside that a guy like Irving does. Great shooter, capable of taking over a game scoring wise, but I just don't see the point guard in him. He screams undersized two guard to me, but Calipari is great at working with guards so maybe he find the playmaking instincts inside of him. I don't think he has the innane playmaking skills and will be more of a Gilbert Arenas type of point guard, which isn't bad, but not exactly the kind of player that I would want as my point guard. I like Irving the best out of all of the guards in this years class, followed by Selby and then I'd probably put Knight third (although I really like Kemba Walker as well, but he obviously isn't a Freshman). As for Kanter, I agree. I haven't watched him play, but from everything that I've read about him he seems like a very solid player. One comparision I've heard thrown around is a more athletic Marc Gasol type of player, which would be amazing as I love Gasol's game. I don't know if that is accurate or not because, like I said, I've never watched him play, but he sounds very impressive. Nah, he has to wait until the draft. He can't just sign anywhere. EDIT: In a somewhat related note, is it just me that is really high on this class? A lot of people are saying that it is weak outside of the top 3, but I honestly love what I see from this class. The European prospects all sound like they could become solid players and I like this years Freshman class more than last year, outside of Wall. Is it just a case of me overrating them because Toronto has a high pick, or does anybody else feel the same way as I do?

Just thought I would make this thread to track Alabi's (and maybe Davis for his brief stint) progress in the D-League. His first game is Friday vs. Springfield and if you are interested, you can watch all of his games in the D-League online for free at: http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/dleague_webcasts.html Erie's schedule is as followed: November Fri 19 vs Springfield 7:00pm Sat 20 vs Springfield 7:00pm Fri 26 @ Fort Wayne 7:30pm Sun 28 @ Fort Wayne 5:00pm December Fri 03 @ New Mexico 9:30pm Sat 04 @ New Mexico 9:30pm Tue 07 @ Utah 9:00pm Fri 10 vs Maine 7:00pm Sat 11 vs Maine 7:00pm Fri 17 @ Iowa 8:00pm Sun 19 @ Fort Wayne 5:00pm Sat 25 @ Iowa 8:00pm Mon 27 vs Dakota 7:00pm Tue 28 vs Dakota 7:00pm Thu 30 @ Maine 7:00pm Fri 31 @ Springfield 7:00pm Averages: G GS MPG PPG RPG BPG APG SPG TO PF 06 06 22.0 08.0 6.0 3.0 0.3 0.33 1.5 3.6

Really? I don't see it. I know he has a decent mid range jumper for a guy his size, but I just can't see him having the quickness or ever developing the perimeter game to be a full time small forward in the NBA. He is definitely a natural post scorer with his skillset and even his body frame, but he just doesn't have ideal height for it in the NBA. That may not even be an issue, though, as guys like Elton Brand have shown the ability to be an All-Star caliber player despite giving up size to his opponent basically every night. I see him as a Paul Millsap type of 4. Not as athletic, but probably more skilled. I just don't know if he has the lift to score against legit NBA bigs around the rim. Yeah, I love Barnes game. Granted I've seen limited amount of action from him (a couple high school games, the All-American game and parts of his debut at UNC), but I just love the way he plays. I don't know how much upside he has, but he definitely is a legit talent and is going to be a very good pro. Curious as to why you think Jones is the second most NBA ready freshman? I don't think that is the case at all and think out of the big three of this draft (Barnes, Jones and Irving) he is far and away the least ready, but has the potential to be the best.

Probably Irving or Barnes. Barnes is already very skilled and has a great understanding of the game. Irving has NBA athleticism and skill set (just needs to learn to run an offense better). Jones may have the highest ceiling of them all, but he is definitely a work in progress. I also really like Sullinger, but you have to wonder about his size at the NBA level. He won't be able to bully people around like he has done in high school and so far at OSU. I haven't seen enough of guys like Selby and Knight to comment on them. Way too early to tell, though.

He was supposedly boning Brent Barry's wife. http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5167/erinbarry.jpg Would've been classic if it was Jon Barry and mid way through the Heat/Phoenix game he found out about it.

Hopefully next Wednsday against the Raptors. On the bright side, at least Philly has promising young prospects like Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner and, umm.... Ok, their situation is as dire as Toronto's.

To be fair, it's not like the Sixers are all that much better than Toronto, especially without Iguodala in the lineup. It shouldn't exactly be a surprise if a team like Philly loses to a team like Toronto. New career high for Weems tonight, by the way. 25 points for him.

I hate Bargnani. Why did he decide to pick tonight to actually show up in the 2nd half? They would be comfortably behind right now if he did his usual 2nd half disappearing act. Stupid Sixers. Stop out tanking the Raptors. You already got your top 3 pick last season, don't be greedy.

Nice move by Triano taking out Weems. No need to keep him in the game as he will just help them win this game. Great coaching move to support the tank.

You don't have Sportsnet at all? This is on the regular Sportsnet stations, not One. Anyways, so much for establishing DeRozan. Has he touched the ball more than twice this game so far? Reggie Evans gets more usage than DeRozan lately. PS: Jack is playing pathetic so far this year. Absolutely chucking. EDIT: Whattya know, DeRozan gets the ball, slashes into the paint and gets Bargnani a wide open look.