The Dawn Of Shawn

So, everyone is saying all of the right things since the trade went down. I dispute that this can make this team a playoff team. I object even louder that Shawn Marion has a snowball's chance in July of being resigned by the Raptors. First thing about the playoffs, not going to happen and this team has already given you evidence as to why. When this team fired Sam Mitchell did it motivate them? Nope, it became a built in excuse to talk about learning a new system. Now they will have to work in new players and it will take time. I can see the future what can I say. But time has run out. The writing has been on the wall for a long time for this basketball team. It is only the fact that they play in the Eastern Conference that keeps this playoff talk alive. Even if the Raptors make another move I am not confident it changes things. The plan is about next season not this season. In that regard Shawn Marion might have been a nice pick up as he does know Bryan Colangelo and could be willing to agree to a sign and trade. So that could help out. But even if not it is about the cap room that his contract can create regardless. The Raptors had to take Marcus Banks contract and that basically is the amount of cap space the forfeited to get cap space earlier.

Shawn and Joey

It would be a bad thing if this team made the playoffs as well based on that conditional first round pick. Basically to take a step backwards does anyone think this Raptor team was one player away from being a contender? I sure did not. If that is the case losing a first round pick sure is not the answer. All this being said Shawn Marion is a guy playing for a contract be it here or more likely elsewhere. Marion has a lot to prove after all, since he was shipped from the Suns to the Heat he has not been the same player. People have tagged him with the phrase "system player", that is a tag he wants to lose. I think we will get the best of whatever Shawn Marion has to give. Players in contract years do not worry about if the team is in the playoffs or not. Want a good example just check out Joey Graham. You can say that Joey has just been given the chance to play more. That is true but the fact his contract is coming to an end is also true. Joey now will be playing behind Marion and we will see how that all works out. It will be interesting to see what happens with Graham. I wonder if he returns back to his college roots in the off-season. Joey Graham the former Oklahoma State Cowboy might be a nice fit as a sixth man on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Will see how it all plays out.

It will also be interesting to see if Bryan Colangelo is done trading. He still has just over 24 hours to make more moves. The Marion trade was the deal he had to make anything he does beyond it he will not be under as much pressure to make a move. That does not mean he will not. Colangelo may even start conversations heading towards the off-season and draft even if we do not see anymore from him prior to the deadline. Colangelo is always looking forward and seldom looks back. He deserves credit for trying to correct his mistake with the Jermaine O'Neal trade. I forget who said this but they made the comparison of the Suns and Steve Kerr. Instead of admitting his own error in the Shaq trade that involved Shawn Marion. I has lead to a series of mistakes to justify that move he made. It has lead to Terry Porter being unemployed, and the core of those great Suns teams that Colangelo built to be scattered across the NBA. Kerr refused to admit he was wrong and to Colangelo did the opposite and admitted his error and found a quick fall back position. Shaq was an all star this year and made us all laugh with his dancing exploits. But the larger issue is that Nash was not. That speaks to how much this Suns team has changed.

The Debut On TSN 2....Sucks I know

As for tonight's debut of the new look Raptors ironically it will end up on TSN 2. You create a buzz and make a trade and your fan base is forced to find a radio or Internet feed to see the game. That is the season it has been and the TSN 2 issue will continue to pop up it's ugly head again and again. You will (if you are lucky enough to have TSN 2) see Jose Calderon return to the line-up tonight. However Chris Bosh remains a question mark. That is even more key with J.O now playing for the Heat. The Raptors depth in the front court has taken a hit. Looks like he will be a game time call. If he does not play maybe he can update fans through Twitter who do not have TSN2. I thought is was cool that Bosh was Twittering during the All-Star game in a weekend that offered me very little that was pretty neat. Many NBA players are getting into Twitter. Shaq is on there and he has got Steve Nash on Twitter to. I am not sure what all of this stuff means for the future. That being said what every that future is Chris Bosh will be at the head of the line. I find what Bosh does off the court as interesting as what he does on it. That being said I want to see him on the floor playing for the Raptors for years to come. I hope he does play tonight or it will be 24 hours of crazy rumours of Bosh being moved and maybe I am naive to all of this, but I refuse to believe that Bosh is going anywhere. Maybe it is just because if Bosh is to go my attitude as a fan of this team will drastically change. How can you truly put faith in people that are just going to leave in the end. It is the sad reality of modern sports I guess. But I held out hope that Bosh would be different and I still do. But if it turns out I am wrong then I guess will have to grow up and accept the cold reality of modern sports.

Dino Blogger Went Surfing Last Night

I just wanted to thank D.J Bennett and Randy Urban for the invite to come down and visit Court Surfing last night at The Score. I met a ton of people and it was a fun time to watch everything and get to meet people. It made that score logo you see at the top of the blog sink in for me. Instead of trying to remember all the names of all the people I met, just a general thank you to all the folks I had a chance to meet last night. I am going to be talking with Randy later today for an interview for the blog. He and D.J both have been great in helping me bring some Score folks into my blog. It is not something I am required to do but it is something I have wanted to do. Getting the chance to be part of The Score Sports Federation has been a great opportunity for me and it is one I have tried to make the best of. It has been a great experience and I look forward to it being the start of building towards something that will be better and bigger, not just for myself, but for the readers and the blog in general. It was a fun time and if you ever get a chance to watch any T.V show and you have no media background you would be blown away by it. It had been awhile since I had been in that environment myself and it was cool to be around it again.

So thanks to all the folks at Court Surfing and The Score for making the Dino Blogger feel welcome.

Update 11:40am- Bosh is a no go tonight against the Cavs and Joey Graham will start at the 4 spot with Marion at the 3. This is being reported on Fan 590.