Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - First ever rundown...

-I can't decide on who I think is more obnoxious: Don "dinosaur" Cherry or John "turducky" Madden.
-No team has ever hoisted the Larry O'Brien without snagging a game on the road, could this year's Celtics be the first? Not likely.
-More likely to happen, both the Pistons and Red Wings win it all, becoming the first teams in 61 years to accomplish the feat. Easier said than done however - just ask the New England Patriots.
-the Miami Heat are interested in either PG the Raptors are willing to let go - cue your Shawn Marion scenarios.
-Annika Sorenstam announces her retirement from the LPGA. Possibly the greatest female golfer of all time.
-Of Maxim's Hot 100, Derek Jeter has tapped a world-leading 6, while John Mayer trailing close behind at 4.
-The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are 7 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history.
-More impressive, the unassisted triple play or the goal deflected off of the defense man's head?
-Monday's episode of House? Amazing, even more so than usual.
-Wayne Gretzky in the running for the Leafs' coaching job. If it's taking this long, who isn't, really?
-New favourite television show: Law and Order: SVU.
-Once again, David Beckham will not be playing in Toronto. Tough luck, Toronto soccer fans.
-Steve Nash has an opt-out on his contract after next season, start dreaming Raptor fans.
-the New Orleans Hornets are the real deal, but you can never count out a team with the greatest power forward of all time.
-Andy/Dwight's Nissan Xterra SE from The Office for sale, literally.
-Must be nice to be a Florida Marlins fan at this point, you'd be lying if you said you expected them to be doing this well, even this early in the season.
-"6 years? That sounds sexy" - R. Kelly, SNL.

07/08 End of Season Grades - Toronto Raptors

End of season grades for the 07/08 Toronto Raptors...

Sam Mitchell - C+
-With an upgraded roster, the Smitch somehow managed to do worse this season, than last year. A few losses here and there, and the Raptors realistically could have missed the playoffs. Poor play-calling, misuse of players (see: Jason Kapono), unorthodox coaching tactics (Bargnani and the silent treatment), inconsistent and often perplexing line-up changes, need I say more?

Rasho Nesterovic - B
-The team's best low-post defender but isn't getting any younger. Played awesome basketball when Bosh was out.

Chris Bosh - A
-The guy needs help. Period.

T.J Ford - B-
-Lost his job due to injury (Al Horford incident), and struggled in his return. Gets unwarranted slack for his PR and overall demeanor, mainly due to the media and typical fairweather internet fans.

Jamario Moon - B
-improved his shooting % and shot-selection greatly in the second half of the season. Needs to utilize his athleticism much, much more in the areas of slashing (went to the charity stripe once in a blue "Moon") and offensive rebounding.

Anthony Parker - C+
-Has clearly lost a step, and unfortunately, isn't the same Anthony Parker from last year. He should not be a regular starter, however; coming off the bench, he could serve as a solid rotation player.

Jose Calderon - B+
-The "Derek Jeter" to Ford's "A-Rod" personality. Improved in a lot of areas of his game, but still, a defensive liability. His A/TO Ratio is impressive, but at times, he needs to be more aggressive offensively on fast-break opportunities - whether it is 3-on-3, 2-on-2, whatever. In layman's terms, he needs to take more risks and not let the assist:turnover ratio impact his decisions.

Carlos Delfino - C+
-This year's Morris Peterson, in terms of consistency. When things were going well for him, he looked like a superstar, but when his shots weren't falling, he looked like a D-Leauger. Fell in love with the 3-pointer way too often but for what it's worth, for 2 second rounders, he was a steal.

Andrea Bargnani - C
-Struggled all season long (minus the first few games). Here's hoping for a "Brandon Roy" type break-out season next year for Il Mago. He's got the skills, and just needs the PT. Fans need to be patient with the kid, he's only what, 22? Call it cliche but big men DO take some time to develop.

Jason Kapono - B
-Underutilized due to Moon playing 30 minutes a night...

Primoz Brezec - D
-Picked up on the trade deadline day, for Juan Dixon. Not much of a need to resign him, other than for entertainment purposes in garbage time. The guy learned English through conversations with Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest (in his time as a Pacer) as well as Hip-Hop. Enough said.

Kris Humphries - D
-Another garbage time player. Needs to stop taking shots like he's Kobe Bryant. You're a role-player Kris, your job is to rebound, block-shots and do the dirty work for the other Chris, you know, our true franchise player. So get it through your head, you hack.

Joey Graham - D
-Has about as much confidence as a girl with a zit on prom-night, as well as a very low basketball I.Q. At this point, I've lost all faith in Joey. His brother Stephen Graham could probably outplay the guy. No doubt, he'll be cut this off-season.

Darrick Martin - D-
-D-Mart was done, plain and simple - it was about time he retired. Chucking is not an NBA skill.

Thoughts on the first-round of the NBA playoffs...

From another blog of mine,

East:

Celtics vs. Hawks
-7 games? Don't make me laugh. Wait, nevermind.
-real physical series - both sides. Nice to see Zaza Pachulia not back down from Kevin Garnett. It's the NBA playoffs, show some emotion.
-Josh Childress in a Raptors uniform next season. Make it happen B.C. The guy's been compared to Tayshaun Prince in terms of team value, which is a fair comparison. Just a solid, underrated player who could fill a lot of the Raptors' gaping holes.
-Hawks get crushed in game 7. Way to show some passion and desire. Marvin Williams pulls a "Horford" on Rajon Rondo - that's not passion - that's pure bush league.

Cavaliers vs. Wizards
-the much anticipated match-up between Soulja Boy and Jay-Z.
-would I call this a rivalry? No, the Wizards need to actually win a series for it to be a rivalry.
-Lebron gets roughed up by the Wizards and that's how it should be. You don't allow players to waltz in the paint coming out unscathed in the playoffs. Foul them hard. Dare the wimps (such as Vince Carter) to enter the paint again.
-are the Wizards a better team without Arenas?
-the Deshawn Stevenson, "I can't feel my face" thing got old, real fast.

Magic vs Raptors
-Dwight Howard averaged 20 and 20 in the series. The guy's a beast, man-child, Superman, whatever.
-finally, Sam Mitchell decides to play Jason Kapono. A little too late Smitch.
-some of the bi-polar Raptor fans on the team forums are requesting the trade of Chris Bosh. Ridiculous.
-This could be the end of either T.J Ford or Jose Calderon. If you're the G.M, who would you choose?
-if indeed Sam Mitchell gets the axe, word is Mike D'Antoni is on the market.

Pistons vs. 76ers
-Sixers steal game one, yet the Pistons didn't seem fazed at all.
-Tayshaun Prince did an excellent job defending Andre Iguadala. He's tall, about 6'9, and really lanky. A match-up nightmare for most SG/SF's in the league, on both ends of the floor.
-Mo Cheeks did an amazing job this year coaching the young Sixers. Big time ups.

West:

Lakers vs. Nuggets
-Nuggets get swept which was a little surprising. I had them getting at least one game at home. Lakers did what they were expected to do, and there's not much more to say.
-Allen Iverson wants the team to focus on defense next year. I laugh at the thought of Carmelo, AI and J.R Smith playing gritty defense for 48 minutes. Camby, K-Mart and Najera are the only true defensive minded players on the team, so I wish them luck.

Jazz vs Rockets
-T-Mac still remains a second-round virgin.
-But I've gotta give the Rockets some credit, they didn't go down without a fight. Skip, Scola, Battier and the crew, scratched and clawed all the way through the series, however, in the end - Jerry Sloan's boys executed like they always do - and put an end to the Rockets' semi-magical season.*
-It will be interesting to see (depending on Yao's health, as always) how the Rockets will play next season.

*Aside from the Yao season ending injury, it was an amazing season for the Rockets' organization.

Spurs vs. Suns
-Phoenix TO's late in the final game were painfully costly.
-After the thrilling game one of the series, I thought for sure this game would go at least 7.
-So who's to blame, Shaq? Nash? Steve Kerr? Pat Burke? Why must there always be just one guy to blame, is this not a team sport?
-The window of opportunity for the "Nash era" of Suns is closing quickly, and I think that next season is their last legit chance at contending.

Hornets vs. Mavericks
-Huge Jason Kidd fan, but I'll be the first to admit that he's lost a step. No way he can play heavy minutes dueling MVP candidate Chris Paul in the playoffs.
-Dirk the choke? If Dirk doesn't get to at least the conference finals next year, I might start believing the Dirk haters' in that "he's not a winner".
-Mark Cuban's wasn't too thrilled with the second consecutive first round playoff loss, and Avery Johnson became the scapegoat. Saw that coming from a mile away.

And, finally:
Second round series to watch: Spurs vs. Hornets. Should be a fun series to watch, especially the Chris Paul - Tony "Longoria" Parker match-up.