Christmas, Love and Basketball

One of the things I try to do when I talk with NBA players is find things they have in common with all of us. At Christmas time we all can think back to the gifts we got and remember them fondly. One of the things we also have in common is a love of basketball. So when we were small, be it NBA players, bloggers or just fans we all likely got some basketball memories from Christmas. Some that may have even sparked why we love the game today. We all likely have a story of some basketball related gift we got from Santa or Mom and Dad. So when I was at the last game I covered before the holiday break asked a number of Raptors and former Raptor Kris Humphries the best basketball gift they got as a kid at Christmas.

Like I said decided to include some of you as well as some of my colleagues on the Internet and twitter followers too. So here is what some of their answers were.

Holly Mackenzie From The Score AKA @Stackmack- For as long as I can remember have always got a basketball book and a Lakers Calender, even thought I am more just a fan of the game now.

Adam Francis from Raptors HQ- I'd have to say a Mark Price poster (used to be a Cavs fan) of him hitting a free-throw with the slogan "Right on the Money."He was killing the "career free-throw percentage" category at the time, and even with some sub-par seasons post-Cavs, still holds the record!

Tom Liston from Raptors Republic- Wasn't for Christmas, but it was trip to see Bird/McHale/Parrish/DJ/Ainge at the Boston Gaaaaarrden. Amazing memory.

Ray Bala from Can Ball Report- The closest thing that I've gotten that was basketball related was a video game-Double Dribble for NES or Bulls vs Blazers for Sega Genisis.

Audley Stephenenson From NBA Breakdown- It had to be the Double Dribble video game for my Nintendo!! talk about cheesy graphics! I loved the close-up graphics when you went in for a dunk. I still remember the digitized voice when it started up "Double Dribble" (computer voice) Played for days with no water or food

Ryan McNeill From Hoops Addict.com - I got was a Huffy basketball net back in the day.

Danielle De Graauw From OUR DNB Staff- A Magic Johnson vintage t-shirt from sister. She saved up to buy it for me. Plus in high school, my parents got me a pair of tear aways I still wear and oh yeah, that Shaquille O'Neal bath set with the sponge as a basketball and net to dunk as I washed..for sentimentality the t-shirt and for humour the SHAQ gift.

Kid Raptor from Kiss 92.5 and Twitter - My Kid Raptor jersey =) <-- which he got from his Uncle Mocha. His dad @TheRounder said a Raptors Dance Pak calender <--but I am pretty sure they didn't have those back when he was a kid or Raptors for that matter.

Brett Poirier a Raps Fan and DNB Reader- When I was 12 I opened a tiny box that had hotel reservations for a spot in Toronto, another note in the box said open my next gift, their I say plane tickets for my family to Toronto. I started getting really excited, and finally got to the last box, in it were Raptors tickets 5 rows ups!!! They played the Nuggets that day, with melo and A.I on the team. ill never ever forget that x-mas gift.

Some other ones from folks on Twitter.

@BayanQ- As a kid my best bbal gift was a bball net outside my home. I would have loved court side seats though! :P

@ThatPatty- Lil Sport Hoops. I was using that bball net well into my teens. It owes me nothing after years of rim abuse.

@Yarock- Trashcan backboard! I dunked so many homework assignments in my Carter jersey

@RyanJHTurvey- Best x-mas gift I got was the Jordan book Rare Air. Looked through it thousands of times.

You might say what is the point to all of this. Well there are a few of them. First be people NBA stars or just the average person we all have memories of being kids. Second we all have a common bond in a love of basketball. Aside from that it great to share our fond memories of the holidays. May these holidays create some new memories for all of you that read the Dino Nation Blog. A special thanks from me to all of the people that contributed to this. May they and you all have a great holiday and get to enjoy family and friends and the spirit of the season. May still have one more DNB surprise before the day is done. But just in case not... Merry Christmas to you all.

Oh wait a second...I never answered this did I? Well for me my mom would always get me tickets to a Raptor game when she could manage to afford it. Actually more to the point a few games. My mom always tends to go above and beyond what you tell her. I remember, the Christmas after my father passed away, she asked me for a list of what I wanted. So I made one giving her what I thought was a list of options. Instead what I got was every single item on that list. I was floored and did not know what to say. But be it 1 gift under your tree or 101 this season is about having a good feeling in your heart and sharing that with the world. This is my gift to all of you that read the blog the whole year through. It never cost me a thing but time and effort and hopefully it made you think or made you smile. If it did that make sure you pass on that smile or thought to someone else.

Raptor Rumor Season >>Don't Believe The Hype

Welcome to the silly season in the NBA as the trade deadline is just over a month away. You likely have read the silly rumour started by Peter Vecsey. In his column he threw out a trade that could never happen prior to the deadline. Andrew Bynum for Chris Bosh. Which anyone who can operate a trade checker can confirm this fact. The article itself even points out this deal could not go down till July 1st. But the title just suggests the Lakers would be interested in making a deal for Bosh. This is not exactly headline news that the Lakers are interested in Bosh. If you all recall Phil Jackson was fined 25,000 dollars for comments he made about Bosh prior to him signing his current contract extension. So not sure what exactly Vecsey was breaking exactly other than the fact Lakers would consider moving Bynum. However based on his contract it is not going to happen prior to the deadline.

Bryan Colangelo has been pretty clear that he has no desire to deal his star player in Bosh. He has been willing to roll the dice and if he can't resign him than he feels confident he can work out a sign and trade deal. That does not mean his phone is not ringing with teams taking an interest in Bosh. However to get the true value for Bosh you would never get it at the deadline. The reason is pretty simple because the team getting Bosh would have no guarantee that they keep Bosh. So if you are expecting a Bosh deal by the deadline don't hold your breath. That being said the Raptors sit in a position where it is unclear if they will be active at the deadline. Colangelo in general tends to like to make moves a that deadline. Even if it some minor tweak he tends to like to do something. But what exactly he would do is not really obvious. Fans were bringing up the name of Jose Calderon but that seems like a long shot. Lakers could have more interest in Jose than they would Bosh at this point. Pau Gasol would endorse a deal that saw his team mate from Spain coming to L.A. Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmer are not exactly on anybodies top 20 point guard list. However I would not hold my breath on that one as well.

It seems hard to imagine Andrea Bargnani being moved as well. He is finally starting to prove his worth. 17 rebounds is a number that I never thought he would reach. Andrea was the lone Raptors that played fairly well from opening buzzer to the closing buzzer vs the Pacers. You never say never in terms of trades but it seems unlikely he would move especially with Bosh's future in doubt. If Bosh were to go Bargnani would likely move over to the 4 spot if the Raptors did not bring back a power forward. So if that is the case what is left to move for the Raptors that would get you back anything that would make a major impact. There is Hedo Turkoglu but given his contract and struggles this season it seems unlikely that he is going anywhere. It also would take Colangelo making an admission that his biggest off-season move for the second season in a row was a bust. Last season he gave up on Jermaine O'Neal and moved him for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I can not imaging him admitting failure so soon on Hedo.

That leaves you with pretty much small pieces to deal that would not net you a star or even a rising star in return. It seems pretty unlikely we see a major move prior to the deadline for my money. I still feel that the Raptors as they are constructed will be a playoff team. So that probably makes a major trade less likely as MLSE has not had a team in any sport make the playoffs in a longtime. The hockey team is not looking like they will be making the playoffs anytime soon.

In a sense the Raptors will have a built in trade when Reggie Evans returns to the line-up. Evans has not played a game the entire season and in a sense when he returns it will be like acquiring a player. This is not to say that Reggie will be huge impact when he returns that will totally change the outlook for this team.

While some people love this time of the year filled with rumours and nonsense. I have never been a big fan of it. If you are hoping for a big deal for the Raptors at the deadline I think you will be left disappointed. Trading Bosh at the deadline would make little sense. Chris Bosh has it in his best interest to work with the Raptors at the end of the season for a sign and trade if they can not agree on a way to bring him back to the Raptors. Chris Bosh is not dumb and is not going to leave 30 million dollars on the table. The organization has always been good to Bosh and it really makes no sense that he would leave that kind of money on the table.

The Raptors best game plan in terms of everything including trying to keep Bosh is to get better with what they have. They have shown signs of talent and ability but they have also shown the ability to blow leads and be inconsistent. There is no trade out there that I can see the Raptors making that would have a huge impact in a positive way on their fate. Colangelo has surprised us all in the past but he really does not have a lot of chips he can play that would make a ton of sense. That won't stop a month worth of rumours and talk but it would not shock me in the least that the Raptors we see now are pretty much the same we do at the end of February.

Want to close today with an offer of congratulations to Ryan and the crew at Hoops Addict for becoming part of The Score.com Sports Federation that the Dino Nation Blog has been a part of from day 1. It is nice to see Ryan part of the fold. He has been very kind and helpful to me when I have been down covering Raptor games this year. I thank him for that and welcome him to our little family with The Score.

Starting 5 with Ryan McNeill Of Hoops Addict

Today our guest on the starting 5 is Ryan McNeill of Hoops Addict. Ryan gets a chance to cover the workouts for the Raptors so I thought that was a good enough excuse to invite him to be a guest. He was on hand to watch Ty Lawson, Earl Clark and others do there thing for the Raptors. Here is some links to the scrums of a number of folks from today at the Raptor workouts. Alvin Williams talks about his new role with the Raps. That was made official today that Alvin is joining the staff. It is great to have "Boogie" Williams back in town and part of the Raptors Organization once again. Check out the links to the scrum from today from over on Hoops Addict site.

Alvin Williams from Today
Ty Lawson from Today
Earl Clark from Today

I had a chance to chat with Ryan for his thoughts and impressions on the day that was. He also give his take on the Raptors recent trade and some thoughts on CB4 and his future.

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Ryan also has exclusive interviews with Austin Daye, Derrick Brown and James Johnson. All of which Ryan mentioned in our interview. Thanks to Ryan for his time and being a guest with us here on the Dino Nation Blog. Hope to have him back in the future as a guest.

Tuesday Timbits

Happy Tuesday. The Orlando Magic hope it will be a lucky Tuesday for them. Can they bounce back on their home floor and make this a series? If they do not the Finals are pretty much done. They always say a series has never really gets started till a team loses on their home floor. However the way the Magic lost game 2 it had to feel like they let one slip away. Magic seem to be re-acting to the Lakers and that is not really going to work. I hear Sam Mitchell saying the Magic just have to make shots!!! But it seems that the addition of Jameer Nelson has been a distraction rather than a boost.

I think the Magic would have been better served to wait till this game to have brought back Nelson. If the Magic were going to be in the same spot of down 2-0 it may have been used as something to rally behind. The Fans in Orlando would no doubt be excited to see him return. It just seems like it might have made sense.

It has to be hard for Jeff Van Gundy to be calling the series that his brother is coaching in. I have never had a brother or sister but it would seem obvious that would be difficult. He is on Twitter if you want to read J.V.G tweets.... @Notorious_J_v_G. If Jeff ever decides to put down his headset and pick up a clipboard again I will be truly sad.

Holly Mackenzie had a good write up on Jonny Flynn who recently made his way through Toronto. She is really a talented writer and one of my favourite people to talk basketball with. I have been trying to get her to come be a guest in the Dino Nation Blog for a long time. Hopefully at some point we can put it together. But till that happens you can check her out writing for the Score Court Surfing and for Slam. She loves her ball and it shows in everything she writes. I also did a write up myself called View form the North . It is over on The Hoops Doctors site. It has in there a link up from Hoops Addict to Jonny Flynn talking to the Toronto media after his workout. They also have video of Jrue Holliday talking to the gathered media. Ryan McNeill from Hoops Addict will be my guest later in the week to talk about Draft and other basketball things as he has been covering the workouts in T.O. Look for that late Wednesday or Thursday.

I had mentioned that the Orlando Sentinal was letting fans blog for the finals. They actually have someone from Canada doing one. Check it out. In the first one Alicia Bell the writer of that complains about not being able to find a bar in Vancouver with the NBA Finals on. I think all of us in Canada can relate to that one. I remember when I dated someone who worked at a bar that was my in to getting the Raptors game put on one of the several T.V's in the place. But I don't think people should have to resort to those levels.

It is not a bar but the live blogs they put on a score can give you that bar type feel from your home or if you are out on the go and have an Iphone. That is likely where you will find me for Game 3 and beyond be it working or just as a fan. The NBA Draft is fast approaching and hopefully I have some exciting news on that as it gets closer. June 25th is the date and it is always a fun time to see what will go down in N.Y.C that has become the home of the Draft in the NBA just as it is in the NFL.

Aside from the obvious interest in Chris Bosh it seems that Anthony Parker may be on the Cavs Radar. If Cavs fans think they are landing Bosh they are nuts. I was reading something on a Cleveland site that suggested that Anderson Varejao, Delonte West and trade fodder. They also suggest they may need to add a first pick. Really you think? This is what my summer is going to be? Oh man. But Parker signing with the Cavs might be a more realistic option. Parker has always said he likes Toronto and is happy here with his family but to play with Lebron James? That might be to good to pass on. But it is just a rumour and one of about 10,000 we will hear over what has the makings of a very long summer.