Raptor Rumblings

Concerning Donyell (and other vets for that matter): I recall that a vet minimum contract doesn't count against the cap. Is this true? Does it also not count against the luxury cap? If so, then mayhaps that is why BC is leaving a few roster spots open...to add one or two wily vets at some point.

I'm pretty sure Smith said the vet minimum (half of which is paid by the league) doesn't count against the cap, but it does count against the luxury tax.

High School point Guard?...Was he a Rural Raider or a Colonel Grey Cournal??

Spain 91 Lithuania 86
Calderon did not play.
When Rubio learns to shoot and score, as well as he plays defence,Spain will be set @ PG for the next 10 years. Rubio 0/6-4/6FT, 6 rbs, 4 ast, 4 pts. Spain won on defense and @ the free throw line in a tight game untill they pulled away in the 4th. Rematch with USA for Gold, with a minimum of Silver guaranteed. Calderon unlikely to play in final.

Jose's gotta do whatever it takes to get back to 100% for 08/09 period. Hopefully it turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Even though I've been a Donyell fan going back to his Utah Jazz days, his time in the L is over. No way do I wanna see him in a Dino's jersey again.

Franchise,

The "Blood Type" diet is touted to be the next big thing in diets since Atkins convinced the world a diet full of bacon was the way to a healthy lifestyle.

"partial tear of the right groin" nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/basketball/story/2008/08/22/olympics-basketball-day14.html

Re: Blood Type diet.

It is based on a book and philosophy called "Eat Right For Your Blood Type". It has actually been around for a while. Basically in order for your body to function at its best and fight off illnesses and disease, etc. you are only supposed to eat specific foods catered to your blood type. My buddy suffered from colitis and went on the diet and apparently it went into remission. If JO is so dedicated to getting healthy and being at his best that he not only is training the way he is, but is also following this strict dietary philosophy then I am really excited about this upcoming season. It really is showing just how driven and dedicated JO is to the cause...I'm salivating...better go get me some red meat!

I'm sure this has been brought up before now, but how about trying to sign Shaun Livingston?

http://www.clipsnation.com/2008/8/21/598496/so-what-is-going-on-with-s

I know all about the injury, but I still think he would be worth the gamble, especially since he could likely see time at both the 1 and 2 spots. As long as we didn't expect miracles right away, this is one investment that could pay off in the end. We don't have a whole lot of money to offer, but we do have potential playing time, which should really be more important than anything for him.

As an aside, my brother ran against Connaughton in the Provincials. He showed up in cutoff jeans and high-tops, and had signed up only to get the day off school. Needless to say, Connaughton, garbed in oakley sunglasses, spandex and proffessional sprinting sneakers, won the race.

Colin - Nice picks but nope, a good ol' Bluefield Bobcat!

On the salary issues with Donyell, yep, if we had ANY room under the luxury tax line we could sign Marshall and it wouldn't be a cap issue...but because it sounds like we're milimeters away from paying the tax and Toronto is absolutely opposed to it, no go. And that's why the Shaun Livingston idea is almost 100 per cent a no go as well...which is too bad because if he could ever prove his health he might be a VERY interesting option. I mean, if Darius Miles and Allan Houston can get other kicks at the can at their respective ages...

Good game between Spain and Lithuania today but considering the Spaniards barely pulled it out, that doesn't bode well for their rematch with the US.

Finally, thanks for the info on the blood type and diet folks...it's weird because while I'm avid follower of physiotherapy, sports-specific training, and nutritional suplementation, I had never heard of this. I'm not sure fish on a Friday night is the right play though so even though I've got the same blood type as JO, think I'll stick with steak and a beer...

Big ups to Simon Whitfield....if you guys haven't seen that, damn, that was crazy....Raptors need some of that this year! Relay squad scrapin from PEI? Damn! (Sorry HQ!He was fast enough...)

I'm conceptually a fan of the Livingston pick up. It is a risk but he had a really nice season wih the Clippers before that terrible injury. I really like what he'd bring to the table for the Raps if his game is still intact. At this point I'd run through rush hour traffic looking for contact if it meant the Raps would win a playoff series this year.

The spanish medical staff has just confirmed that Calderon won't play in the Olympic final. The good news is that the injury is relatively minor, he should be fully recovered in two or three weeks.

Marshall gave the Raptors quality minutes when he was here. Outside shooting and a good rebounder - I think we had him during his peak. Will alway appreciate what he gave us - a quality guy who liked the city. Don't think he liked Vince all that much either.

I am so tired of players getting injured for their home countries. Mark Cuban had the right idea when he did not allow certain players to play for their respective countries. It is a hell of an investment when you put in millions of dollars into athletes and they get injured playing a game that the US obviously is going to dominate. Hearing that Jose got injured didn't surprise me given the physical international play. I realize that Bryan C. and co. were at a cross roads with signing Jose this summer but, the higher ups (David Stern) needs to realize what is and is not a charity performance. The basketball Olympics should strictly be for non-professionals and should include collegiate and up-and-coming players.

I would like to see all pro athletes not be allowed to participate in the Olympics either.

The NBA does not allow players to have motorcycles go sky diving and other stuff however remember a while back when Pau broke his foot during the Olympics.

Even this year Yao has said that he is playing at 60-70 percente....considering the rockets pay him 20 million a year, plan on trying to win a championship and the fact that he has never had a single healthy season he really should not be playing for China.

However there is a major problem in trying to ban players from playing for their countries. All pro leagues would have to agree to it.

If just the NBA does it how does it help the situation of some of the best players going to Europe to play.

Lets look at Garbo's situation if he played in the nba and couldn't play in the olympics:

Garbo do you choose Europe or NBA?

In the NBA you will make less money, play a longer season and won't get to represent your country which you love doing.

In Europe the season is shorter, you get more money (they don't pay taxes and have all these crazy incentives) and you get to rep your home country which you love doing.

If the NBA wants to continue to attract the best players in the world they are not in a position to ban players from playing in the olympics unless they have all pro leagues on board.

Even as a spanish fan I understand your point of view, in fact the same thing happens to spanish clubs in football: they are paying millions to their stars who sometimes get injured while playing with the national teams.

I would never support banning NBA players from international competition, but I think a better compensation for the clubs is in order. I would suggest that, besides the mandatory injury insurance, the salaries of players injured in international competition should not count towards the salary cap at all (it didn't make sense to me that the salary of the injured Garbajosa counted against the Raps cap the entire year, at least they should be able to sign a similar-skill replacement).

Also, if the national federation is generating some kind of revenue by playing in a tournament (not sure about the Olympics, but they definitely do in the basketball World Cup) then they should somehow pay a share of the players' salary during that period. It'd be hard to put this idea into exact and fair numbers, but i think it'd make sense.

I'd liek to see the olympics go back to a time when it was all amateur, so no nbaers or nhlers or anything. That would avoid this debate entirely and would force a better developmental program out of the usa, something that I'd argue is still needed regardless of whether they win gold or not.

Yes fromlongrange, I for one am with you...

DaBlockParty
US is "obviously going to dominate"? My man these things go in cycles and unless you want to put together a commission ( before any international tournament, maybe with yourself as chairman) to decide if in that particular one the USA are going to win, your idea does not hold ground. I have a better idea, why don't we give such a committee the power to give the medals without even playing? Of course, why should we limit ourselves to Basketball? there are so many professional sports out there. BTW the USA has not won absolutely NOTHING (English language grammar mistake used for emphasis) in three attempts in the last 8 years so I would be asking you, as the president of the committee if you would like tho share with us (I do not dare to suggest we would have a say on it, mind you me) based upon what criteria you would assign the gold to the US team for manifest superiority (?)
BTW I am reading your post and writing mine just after USA defeated Spain (without Calderon) in a close and hard fought game that has done wonders to the world wide popularity of Basketball.

Did not see any of the gold medal game(yet)but did see all other US games.
How can Charlie Rosen from FOX give Bosh a B- for his efforts in these Olympics?

Where is the game being played ?..its all closing ceremonies...

TSN at 6:30pm

tks wtf....how does that work...the league notified all the executives in the nba,that the 7.2 center from Iran is available? Is he any good...and if so its all about how much over the lux tax a team wants to go .....