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.

Bosh Thoughts And Finals

The general thought is that the Raptors must trade Chris Bosh sooner or later if he is going to explore free agency. The feeling is that if Bosh was to walk away from the Raptors it would be a huge blow. I am here to say not so much. Let's run through some questions and maybe by the end of it you will agree or at the worst understand my point of view.

So everyone knows that Chris Bosh is going to Opt out. So what kind of a deal can you actually get?

If 29 other teams know that Bosh is going to become a free agent, how much would they be willing to give up for a very good rental player for a year? My suggestion would be nothing close to the true value of a Chris Bosh. We all saw the terrible trade that was made to get rid of Vince Carter. Bryan Colangelo would never make a trade that bad. However could even he, make a trade that would match the value of a Bosh? My answer to that is no. This is one of the reasons why I would make the focus to build a better team and a team that Bosh would like to be a part of moving forward.

Could the Raptors not do better with the cap space that Bosh would create if he leaves than what they would get in a trade?

Everyone goes mental over the 2010 free agent class. So why could the Raptors not be a player in that and bring back a package from free agency than they would from any Bosh trade. Steve Nash would be out there. Joe Johnson and many others beyond James, Wade and Bosh. People will counter with the Chicago Bulls as the example of how this may not work. But I will have an answer for that as you read on. The point is if you believe the Raptors could attract some free agents I think Bryan Colangelo could do better with the money in his hands than making a trade for Bosh.

It's the Economy stupid!!!

O.k that was not a question. But I mentioned about the economy. The NBA Cap numbers are trending down and until the economy changes it likely is not going to rise anytime soon. What that means is the value of having cap space increases. Think of it in terms of currency everyday the value of our money is changing. Well in NBA terms the value of cap space is as well. If the Cap number comes down so will the MLE- Mid Level Exception, the Tax threshold and everything else. So if you are a team that has cash and is willing to spend it (Which some won't be) with a quality smart G.M making the choices there is no reason to think he can not get good players to fill the Bosh void. The Bulls did not have the economic advantage that the Raptors could have given the climate of the economy in the NBA. Older ideas of letting a guy walk for nothing being thought of as crazy may be crazy like a fox in an NBA that will not have the free spending ways of the past.

Does Bosh want to leave or does he just want to get paid?

Many people think Bosh wants to leave Toronto and head for the good old U.S.A. However his actions recently might suggest other wise. He makes a deal with a Canadian Division of a company. He has said he like Toronto and that people here have been good to him the last 6 years. He seems to have been the first player that has played here that has truly understood how to cash in on being the face of pro basketball in Canada. While at the same time has been able to keep a high profile in the U.S. It is the best of both worlds for him if you think about it. He is not going to have Nike making a puppet add for him anytime soon. But thanks to playing on team U.S.A and taking advantage of the Internet and traditional media he has made himself known in U.S as well as Canada. So it is not a case of him just not wanting to be here. He does want a max contract offer most likely. However that is not because it is Toronto it would be the same on any team that was not a top 5 team in the NBA. He also said that the odds of him returning to Toronto are good. So it remains the issue of if you think Bosh is worth a max contract or not. I think he has. If the Raptors had not messed up on some other contracts like Jason Kapono and the Marcus Banks contract they got in the Miami trade they would not be in as bad a shape to sign Bosh to a max deal. Bosh can be a max guy and if he takes his game to the level he started last season on a regular basis he will be.

So forgive me if I am not all that excited or concerned about dealing away the best player on the Raptors by a wide margin. It will be a summer of Bosh trade rumours that have no chance in hell of happening. But I think moving Bosh will be a huge mistake when people look back on it should a deal happen. I listened all last summer how we had to trade T.J Ford. Given the way all that turned out how many people would like get a redo on that? Well let's hope next summer I am not asking that about a Bosh trade gone wrong.

Finals Thoughts

Just a quick word on the NBA Finals. I actually found out late Sunday afternoon I was going to be live blogging it for The Score. What a great game 2 it was. Think the Magic showed they are much better than the team that showed up in game 1. However when the story of this series is written the miss by Courtney Lee with .6 seconds on the clock is going to be part of the story. Had he made the shot the block by Hedo Turkoglu might have been. The Magic head home down 2 games to nothing. This is why I am not a fan of the 2-3-2 format. The odds of beating the Lakers 3 straight games is pretty long no matter where they are played. If the Magic can not do that I think the chances of winning are next to nothing. 2-3-2 format may be great for T.V but it sucks for the competitive nature of the basketball series.

The Magic face a must win game 3. But I think they will get that but to win 4 and 5 is another thing. Still it seems after last night we still have a series left. But it is a series that in the Lakers to lose.

So that is it for today. Enjoy your week as we get things rolling on a Monday.

2-3-2 format and CB4

Just a quick Raptors note off the Top. Chris Bosh is scheduled to be a guest on Hoops on the Fan 590. He is said to be coming on @ 7:20pm. Show gets rolling with Eric and Paul at 7pm. It will be interesting to hear what Chris has to say and what the guys ask him. He has been out and about of late. Signed his deal with Warner and his new Iphone App. Also so a live feed of him picking the draw for a horse race. However the only thing that matters to Raptors fans ultimately is his future in Toronto. I will say this much and it may not mean much. But if you are out making deals and being out in the community it makes sense that Bosh does not hate Toronto in any way shape or form. If it works out that he is not with the Raptors at some point it will be about basketball and economics and not anything else.

Here is some proof to the point in the Star:

Bosh Talks about Future

While I am writing this I was in the Ball Don't Lie basketball chat this afternoon. I mentioned the topic of the 2-3-2 format for the Finals. It is done mostly for the media and the extra coverage and attention that comes with the finals. But honestly from the pure basketball point of view it changes things. I am not a fan. It is like change the rules of a game in middle of the game. If David Stern declared the Finals will only have 10 minutes quarters in the finals would people just accept that? In a sense the 2-3-2 format changes the entire context and approach of a series. How hard is it for the team that has to play 3 straight games at home. What are the odds on them getting 3 wins in a row. On the other side of thing if the favourite that hosts game 1 and 2 loses they face the tough challenge of 3 straight road games. to top in off if the team heading on the road for game 6 is down 3-2 they are likely dead as a door nail.

Media or not 2-2-1-1-1 is the way the playoffs go for the first 3 rounds. If that is the format it should not change at the end of the line. If you want to make 2-3-2 the way it is do it from the start or don't do it at all.

Just had to get that off my brain. So I feel better. If you have thoughts on CB4 or the 2-3-2 format. Give a shout in the comments. Always enjoy hearing from you folks. If a comment is to much effort give your thoughts on the Finals and who wins in how many games in our new poll on the right. For shorter chats follow me on Twitter @dinonationblog

With that enjoy Game 1 of the Finals.

Finally the Finals

Took the day off from the blog yesterday. But I did do a little Radio out in B.C. I posted something on the blogs Twitter account. I know at least one of my followers on Twitter checked it out. I was told I did a solid job in talking about the NBA and a bit about the story about the Pacers and the story about them being moved to Vancouver. Hopeful at some point that happens for the people in Vancouver. It would be great to see basketball come back to the west coast. So thanks to Jessica Samuels for having me on her show. Apparently there is not much buzz for basketball out there. Although I do get some readers from B.C and all across this country. I am always willing to do my part to spread the word about basketball in all parts of this country. It is the old chicken and egg debate in the rest of the country. Our people not interested in basketball or does the media not cover it enough and hence the lack of interest from the casual sports fan. There are hardcore basketball fans all across this land though. It is up to you to contact your local media and say you want more coverage of basketball. One person doing that may not have an impact but if enough do maybe it changes. I also do the show off the bench on a weekly basis in Montreal. If there is a station in this country that wants someone to talk ball in this country I will do it. No matter if it is small or large. I think it is important not just for myself but to give all basketball fans what they want be it from me or anyone else.

Magic Fans Blog The Finals In Orlando Paper

South of the border some are disappointed that the puppet show is now over. No Kobe and Lebron Finals in the NBA. That is except for the people in Orlando Florida. I was made aware of a pretty cool thing they are doing in the Orlando Sentinel. They are letting Fans blog on their website for the finals. I was made aware of this because I actually know one of the fans. Last season when the Raptors played the Magic I became friends with a young man named Greg in Florida. He is one of the folks that was selected to do this. Pretty cool. Some how I can't see the Toronto Star doing the same. The closest a Raptor fan may get is to have Doug Smith answer your question in his many mail bag editions. In Greg's first entry he went after Shaq who as many will recall did not have nice things to say about Stan Van Gundy earlier in the season. Here is what Greg wrote in the link below:

Magic Fan Blog From Orlando Sentinel

They also have a Magic Fan V-Blogging showing her Magic fandum:





Hello!!!...Oh sorry Jack was in the blog yesterday. You can follow are V-Blogging Magic fan on Twitter @os_MagicBabe, Anyway best of Luck to the Magic fan bloggers. I do this on a daily basis it is not as easy as it looks. But if my team was in the NBA finals it likely would be very easy to do. I kind of feel the same way as Jack about this series. Jack would like for his friend Stan Van Gundy to win an NBA title. But using his basketball logic he thinks the Lakers will win. I for my young friend Greg would like to see his team that he cheers for win as well. However like Jack logic suggests to me the Lakers will win in 6. I still am stunned at the fact I called this final on October 26th. I doubt that I ever pull that off again in life so I am going to enjoy it.

Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson could careless about any of these warm fuzzy feelings for the Magic. Kobe wants that ring without Shaq and Phil Jackson wants one foe the second thumb to be the first coach in history to win 10 NBA Titles. If he does he would pass Celtic Legend Red Auerbach who shares the Record with Jackson of 9 NBA titles as a coach. This will be the 3rd shot at Jackson trying to beat Red. Jackson failed to beat the Pistons and than last year lost to Red's Celtics. Maybe there is Celtic curse on the Zen Master. People in Boston are big believers in those kind of things.

Bottom line of it all is while Lebron James gets a lecture from David Stern on Sportsmanship it will be the Lakers and Magic looking to win an NBA Title and that is going to be fun. It is no Nike Puppet show but it could prove to be a very interesting basketball series. Which may be made even more interesting show Jameer Nelson return for the Magic. The Magic played the Lakers both time prior to Nelson being injured and he was a huge factor. But can a guy that has been on the sidelines step in to basketball at the highest level possible and be effective? We may just find out.

Meanwhile the guys at Hoops Doctors landed a chat with Rashard Lewis of the Magic. Check out the interview

Staff Announcement Next Week?

A little Raptor news to close. Jay Triano is hopefully that he will be able to have an announcement about his coaching staff next week. There was talk that the Memphis Grizzlies are looking for some cash if the Raptors want to sign Mark Ivaroni to the staff. Ivaroni is still under contract to the Grizzlies despite getting the boot as head coach. Just like MLSE is still sending cash to Sam Mitchell. Also as was mentioned in my interviews with Chuck Swirsky and Jack Armstrong, Alvin Williams is said to be joining the staff as well.