Stuck Watching Britney

by RaptorsHQ - Archives on Sep 9, 2007 12:00 AM EDT in HQ International

Sergio Rodriguez didn’t even get into the game.

Yes, that’s how deep Spain is.

As our master overseas updater Sergi P has told us many a time, yes, this team is good.

It’s tough to even break things down when as Sergi mentioned, Spain took it to a Russian team that was starting to look like one of Spain’s main competition in this tourney.

Gasol had 13

Navarro had 15

Calderon had 17

Reyes had 11

Garbajosa had 11...and on and on.

I mean, Rudy Fernandez took only two shots all game!

This Spanish team is for real and it’s a shame that instead of seeing highlights of Calderon slashing to the rim, I was instead last night subjected to Britney Spears and her MTV awards comeback. If Calderon to the hoop for the basket and one is a thing of beauty, Spears’ physique, lip-synching and half-hearted attempts at dance choreography are surely the antithesis.

In fact, to dwell on this topic for another minute, was anyone else repulsed by this spectacle? Every one of Britney's dancers was in much better shape than her and each looked like they were at least putting their all into the dance moves.

Britney?

Well, let's just say you might as well have had Pavel Podkolzine in her place.

But I digress. Let's get back to the topic at hand.

The more I read about this tournament and the more the days drag on before the start of the NBA season, the more I fail to understand why RaptorsTV isn’t covering any of these games? I mean, half the cot-damn team is playing in the tournament!

Maybe we’re just due for a RaptorsTV bashing session...it seems like we haven’t had one in a while. But in all seriousness, I’d think that Raptors fans, especially at this point in the arid terrain that is late August-September of the NBA off-season, would be clamoring to see Garbajosa, Rasho, Il Mago, Calderon, Ukic and even Slokar in action!

So why not give it to them??

Obviously some of this comes down to cost, and the business of broadcasting much further away than Las Vegas. In addition, the sad reality is that if Team USA was playing in Spain right now, NBA TV, and therefore RaptorsTV would be there as well.

Yes, this tournament is really making me come to the grim conclusion that my love-affair with Team Canada probably wouldn’t have been as strong as it was had the US not been featured in the same tournament as them. Point being, RaptorsTV just wouldn’t have shown their games and who knows if The Score would still have kept up their coverage.

In any event, it’s been great the past week to follow some of next year’s crop of Raptors participating in meaningful competition and unlike Samuel Dalembert, let’s hope they all report to camp this fall injury-free. (And on the topic of Sammy D, how big of an impact does this injury have on the 76ers willingness to let him play again with Canada next summer?)

And yes, we’re still about a month away from the NBA season getting started so until then Sergi, on with the updates!

FRANCHISE

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I don't understand why there is not enough of an US audience to support this. Half the league is playing, we got 500 channels, can we not at least get the finals??

by axl on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

What do you expect when that idiot non-celebrity Paris Hilton gets more press than Eurobasketball does? It is a shame that television in NA (and the globe for that matter) cares more about gossip and what flakes wear than actual events that might be interesting to watch. At the end of the day we are all to blame for this. The fact that Franchise even watched the MTV awards instead of turning it off speaks volumes about why it was on instead of EuroBasketball (and I realise that the intent wasn't for him to watch it over everything else just that we as a society would even watch a show about awards being given out to people who make millions of dollars is stupid).
Raptors TV is a joke all around. The fact you have to subscribe to it and you only get Raptor games actually bothers me. If I am going to spend money on a channel like that, I want a ton of games to come with it. I mean how do you fill 24 hours of programming with just Raptor games and shows about one team in the NBA? Raptors tv should be changed to NBA tv and they could then show classic games from around the league and/or show other games going on the day before from different cities (this way you can track how other teams are performing in actual game context instead of box scores).
Maybe I expect to much from my entertainment options but it seems to me that for all the channels that exist, there really isnt much on. 500 channels and nothing on, wow, what a concept.

by McGateway on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

I am currently living in the UK, and feel the way Franchise feels about missing the Eurobasketball about the actual NBA season. Once a week I get a random NBA game of the week at 1am-4am on a Tuesday night!

I was actually wondering if anyone had any advice as to how I might actually get to watch games. I am willing to pay money for any computer sites, or if there is some satellite I can get or website to download games I would do it. I currently subscribe to the NBA league pass, but only seem to get the radio feeds and video highlights. I would love to get RaptorTV here, watch all the raps games and bitch about it!

In Scotland, Celtic is a football team - and a football team is a soccer team. Heck, maybe even Sergio can tell me if he gets any sky package that lets him catch NBA games.

by Robert Archibald on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

PS - Will Reggie Evans be the starter in Philly? and if he is, and he plays 30 minutes a game, how many boards will he average? I'm going with 15!

by Robert Archibald on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

"Robert Archibald says:
September 10th, 2007
PS - Will Reggie Evans be the starter in Philly? and if he is, and he plays 30 minutes a game, how many boards will he average? I'm going with 15!"

Not if he plays along with Dalembert and even Iggy..

by Aaron on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Sorry Robert but i don't think I can help you with that, because all i watch is from spanish TV. We get a weekly game on fridays on a regular (for free) channel, but 99% are games involving spanish players, which means last season I got to see the Raps a lot (great), but also Porltand (so-so) and the awful year of the Grizzlies. Of course next year these teams (Blazers and Grizzlies) should be a lot more exciting to watch, the downside being that I suspect we'll get to watch a lot more Memphis (Navarro and Pau are the undisputed national starts) than Toronto on TV, oh well... Then we have some more games on satellite (pay) TV, where there is a better game selection (you never miss the big clashes like Suns-Mavs, Lakers-Spurs, etc..) but the timezone difference makes them impossible to watch live for me (2-5am) during the week when i gotta wake up early to go to work.

Not mutch to report today as i didn't catch Italy's game (a win against Turkey that keeps them alive with a chance to qualify for the next round), Lithuania was much better than France (looking today at Parker and Saras you wouldn't tell who is the Finals MVP and who gets no NBA love) and right now Slovenia is absolutely killing a disgraceful Germany (43-77 with 2min to go!) with both Rasho and Slokar having a good game.

by Sergi P on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Although Raptor TV has definately dropped the ball on EuroChamp, I still think its well worth the 2$or 3$ a month it costs me. When the seasons on I like the shows it offers ,Raptors Today, Double Dribble, the one where all the reporters sit around and discuss the weeks(can't recall the name)Raptors game in an hour. Not to mentions Raptors post-game show. Unfortunaly during the offseason it seems fixuated on the WNBA, although McGateway there is plenty of classic games shown as well.
I am a bit surprised that with all the satellites out there our friends from Europe are unable to get it.

by Tinman on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

This site offers free links to games using p2p programs (Sopcast etc.)
http://www.myp2p.eu/NBA.htm

by bluenoser on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

and you can pay to watch games on ...
http://www.eurobasket2007.org/en/default.asp

by bluenoser on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Hold on. Britney Spears gave a half-hearted effort, was flat-footed on the floor, and showed up out of shape? Oh my God! Britney Spears and Tracy Murray are the same person!

by EHB on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Robert buddy, do you have a friend in Toronto? Set them up with a Slingbox (which they will appreciate) and you can log onto local Toronto TV (as long as you and your friend both have high speed internet) including all channels your friend subscribs to.

I got mine a couple of years ago because I got really pissed when I would travel and not be able to catch the Raps (why do Montreal hotels not carry the Score???)

Works great!

by Erezona on Sep 10, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions

Another very good game by the two Raptors on Spain's 99-73 win over Israel:

-Calderon had another very good performance, he again attacked the rim aggressively to finish with 15p (6/10 FG, including 2/5 3p) in just 18min.

-Garbajosa scored 12p (4/9 FG which were mostly his 4/7 3p) in 22 min.

Also Gasol had a great game with 26p (10/13 FG) and 7reb in only 18min of play. Spain are now awaiting rival for the quarter-final round, which should come from the winner of Italy-Germany on wednesday.

By the way did you guys get to see Ira Winderman (prominent Miami Heat journalist and blogger) ridiculous eastern conference player rankings? He just ranked Anthony Parker as the worse starting SG in the East! For god's sake, how can you write on NBA stuff and even dare rank players with such a blatant display of ignorance?
http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_basketball_heat/2007/09/winderman-wrapp.html
This is outrageous!

by Sergi P on Sep 11, 2007 12:00 AM EDT reply actions