Game-Day Preview - Raptors vs. Cavs

here's the #1 thing i'm hoping is going to happen tonight: tj comes out playing like an animal. assists galore, racks up about 15-20, and steals the ball more often than britney's been to rehab. (with an empahsis on the assists galore part.)

then he keeps it up.

so this is his coming out party. his chance to show everybody he's been playing possom, letting the 'injuries' heal, and is now ready to take control of the spot he's getting paid big bucks to own.

here's to hoping.

IMO the only way Cleveland wins this one is if they get off to a great start early. Even then I wouldn't count the Raps out. They're well-rested, nagging injuries should be healed after almost a week of R&R.

Is there not also the distant possibility that a deal gets made and they pull a player from the roster just before gametime? That might hose them depending on who was pulled (if that were to happen, which I really strongly doubt).

UStation - In response to your post from yesterday's Jump Ball piece, I think that's what I was hinting at. If you think about it, now really would be the best time for the Raps to sell high unless Colangelo thinks that this is not yet the height of Parker or Garbajosa's abilities...not sure I'd do it chemistry wise, but looking further down the road, ya gotta at least consider it...

PS - Apologies about the Scott Adams link...the Dilbert creator had a great take on the whole Hardaway situation on his blog yesterday...looks like he pulled it though for some reason. Guess the corporate hounds came calling...

Seriously - why would anyone tinker with this team? We are just starting to see the results of this team gelling.

Why is their talk of trading AP? He's gold man!

As a total aside? Anyone here paying to be an ESPN.com insider? Is it worth it? The site kills me cause 3/4 of their articles you have to be a member for.

I'm going to buy a Raptors jersey and put "Forderon" on the back.

edubski, (from yesterday's jump ball comments) did you send in a song recommendation too? I think a united front for one song might have a fighting chance.(slim, very slim.)

I am, no joke, thinking of putting together a petition for this. maybe you guys here at the raptors HQ could throw out a poll with a bunch of songs until it's narrowed down to 2 or 3, then I could put an email together and blow it open by getting 'signatures' from anyone and everyone raptors related.

just a crazy thought from a crazy guy who's tried of watching everyone in the ACC including the players look dead as dead when the intro's come on.

Here is the link about Hardaway. Yahoo cahe files are great.

Tim Hardaway

Are you following the story of ex-NBA player Tim Hardaway’s public statement that he hates gay people? This is good news for gays. When Tim Hardaway decides to hate you, it’s time to celebrate. I want Tim Hardaway to hate me too. This post should help.

Years ago, I used to watch Tim Hardaway play for my local team, the Golden State Warriors. He single-handedly ruined my love of basketball. As a point guard, he had two noteworthy skills:

1. A great crossover dribble
2. The ability to do something stupid in the last 10 seconds to lose almost every close game.

Tim never seemed to notice that when he took the last shot in a tight game, his team almost always lost. Now, just to be clear – there’s nothing wrong with being a poor clutch shooter, unless you also happen to be the starting point guard, and it never occurs to you that passing to another player might work.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Hardaway ruined my love of basketball. That’s literally true. I didn’t mind rooting for a team with a bad record, but I couldn’t cheer for stupidity. I gave up on the Warriors and never regained my interest.

So when Hardaway said on the radio that he hates gay people, I think he was surprised that it caused a problem. He’s not good at pattern recognition. I’ll bet he spent the first week of the shit storm just shaking his head and muttering, "I didn’t see THAT coming."

And did I mention that Hardaway was scheduled to do some public appearances for the NBA during All-Star week in Las Vegas? Apparently it never occurred to him that announcing a deep hatred for a portion of your fan base and advertisers would be bad for business. More muttering, "I didn’t see THAT coming."

But my favorite part of the story is that Hardaway apparently never noticed that he’s African-American. Or maybe he never realized that enthusiastically promoting bigotry isn’t a good idea if you’re a member of a persecuted minority. Either way, it’s not the sort of thing that gets you into Mensa.

The great irony of this story is that millions of people probably had the same first reaction to his announced hatred of gays: "He’s probably gay." I doubt there’s any statistical validity to the notion that the biggest gay-haters in the world are closeted gays themselves. But lots of people believe it. So Tim Hardaway managed to insult gays while simultaneously planting the suggestion in millions of minds that he might be one.

Does he hate me yet?

The sporting world itself is based on the super macho image so I imagine that the NBA is just as bad as every other place when it comes to gay people.

I think Charles Barkley said, "What makes him think he hasn't played with a gay player already?" I'm sure a large, vocal minority of players in the NBA would hate it, a small minority would be OK with it, and the vast majority would be uncomfortable at first.

I'm sure some of the same things will be said about gay players that were said about Black players before they were allowed in the NBA.

Come on.. we gotta be able to break down a guy nicked named: Daniel "Boobie" Gibson!

Franchise: Yup I whole heartedly agree to sell high... and even then, we will still get into the playoffs. Let's start chanting for Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

What's wrong with gay people playing with balls and hoops? Getting bumped around by tall athletic men. Seems like a natural fit. Did you see those short shorts in the 60s,70s,80s? You'd swear the league was run by gay people (not that there's anything wrong with that)

Utes: You make trades to IMPROVE your team to win a championship, and not settle for a good team to get into the playoffs! What are you a leaf fan or something ;) I swear, listening to the FAN590 someone suggested trading our young prospects and draft choices for Peter Forsberg to make a run in the playoffs. It's exactly that kinda thought that keeps the Leafs from Winning.

BC is one of the best at buying low (Diaw, Barbosa) and evaluating talent. I want to see as many draft picks in his hands as possible. I want to see him work his magic and turn a 2nd rounder into a real player.

This game should be called "Battle of the Idiot Coaches" as both teams blew it down the stretch and did the worst job executing plays.