Starting 5 With @Liston

I have mentioned in the blog, how when it started, I never real expected that it would introduce me to so many fantastic people as it has. I would rank near the top of that list our guest today in the Starting 5. He is Tom Liston a great sports fan in general and a very passionate Raptor fan as well. He has a background and works in finance. You might say if you didn't know Tom he fits the stereotype of the corporate suits that occupy the nice seats in the Air Canada Centre. But in knowing him nothing could be further from the truth. He has taken his background and has used some of that knowledge and applied it to sports. He writes for the folks at Raptors Republic doing some excellent pieces based on stats. I have never been a huge person for stats and think sometimes we have gone crazy with them. So we make for an odd pairing. But I do respect Tom and appreciate the work he puts in. He does a pretty good job of taking data and presenting in a entertaining format. Here is the most recent example of what he does at Raptors Republic. We talk everything from stats to business. If you listen to this interview I can almost guarantee you will be smarter for it.

Tom mentioned the all 4 one event and he has his own personal website and you can find more info on there. As we mentioned in the Interview the Team Up Foundation does great work. If you can afford to attend I would encourage you to do so. I would also make the point that MLSE should look to do events in a price range for the average person to take part in. I personal could never afford that cost. It is something I would hope the folks at MLSE consider moving forward. Something else that is for a good cause is what Eric Smith is doing. Eric has worked with some folks to create a T-Shirt to sell where the profits are going to aid the victims of the tragic events in Japan. Aside from doing a good thing it is a pretty cool T-Shirt. They are for sale online now and you can link here to purchase one. Both good causes and if you can afford to contribute to one or both please do. I thank Tom for taking time out to come visit with us here at the Dino Nation. He has always been supportive of me and the blog and it is a mutual thing as I have always been supportive of Tom. I look forward to having him back in the future as guest.

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.

The Ming Dynasty On Display At The A.C.C

Things just don't get any easier for the Raptors as Yao Ming comes to town. That will be followed by a Sunday visit from Superman. It just is going to be hard to imagine a way the Raptors can stay in the hunt for those playoffs. I took some time yesterday and just looked through the schedule and tried to guess what the Raptors Record should be for January and February of 2009. Being realistic the best I got was they will go .500 and that is not good enough at this point. The Raptors schedule does shift for March and April but it would take a run of just total perfection or close to it to see the Raptors make the playoffs. That is the reality of right now. Could a trade change that reality? I am not sure it may take a couple moves to make a difference and I don't think the Raptors have a lot of assets to make that happen. The one thing they should not do is risk their first round draft pick in 2009 to make that happen. The Raptors really need to add a young player that can have an impact out of this years draft.

Making trades is not easy as well. I mean in a world of ESPN Trade Machine and Real G.M Trade checkers you can play G.M to your hearts content. Not to mention video games in which my version of the Raptors on NBA 2K9 is off the charts. Even though in today's world of video games and tech devices life may seem like a video game it is not. Bryan Colangelo has to deal with real people that have all the same concerns he does. They have fan bases and an organization to answer to for the moves they make. Colangelo has no doubt seen the desire of the fan base for change but it is not easy to make it happen. It is no different than wanting to go out with an attractive women that is great but it still takes her wanting and accepting to go with you.

Game Notes For Rockets And Raptors.

Houston has a few folks that Raptor Fans will remember. Tracy McGrady was the guy Toronto booed before they booed Vince Carter. We also saw Rafer Alston a couple of times make his way through Toronto. But the big news in the off-season in Houston was they went out and brought in Ron Artest. They have needed him even more than they realized as Shane Battier as had an injury plagued season. But Ron Artest has had some decent numbers with 16.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds. He had a game right around that to close out 2008 with 15 points and 5 boards.

The Rockets have even called on the cookie monster for some help. Dikembe Mutombo does sound like the cookie monster. He may actually be older as he is in his 40's and just never seems to retire. He is like a throwback to Robert Parish, who stayed in the league well into his 40's and played in other places like Charlotte after his days in Boston winning championships. Also beyond basketball Mutombo is a great human being he built a hospital with his own money back in Africa. That is truly a fantastic thing and he deserves a lot of praise for that. Why and if he still can contribute on a basketball roster at this point is something I am not sure of at this point.

The Raptors meanwhile have minor injuries to both Jermaine O'Neal and Jason Kapono who both sat out against Denver. They are listed as game time decision at this point for tonight's game against Houston. Andrea Bargnani had a truly amazing performance in relief of O'Neal on New Years Eve. So if O'Neal is ready it will be interesting if Jay Triano just automatically inserts him back in the starting line-up. Maybe Andrea could have back to back performances with his name getting called? Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker have both struggled of late. But A.P did show signs late in that game. He had lost his spot in the starting line-up in part to an injury he had. So that will be another choice for Triano to make should Kapono be available tonight.

This is another game on TSN 2. If you are in the Toronto area and you are still shut out. Maybe make a plan to join the guys at Raptors Republic for their Raptors Party and Philthy McNasty's. It is a way to beat the TSN 2 blues on Friday nights anyway. I am going to get down to one of these Friday Night Events in the new year. It is one of my resolutions I hope to follow through on.

Eric Smith was at shoot around and had some thoughts from Triano, Bosh and Parker on tonight's Game.

The Rap- Update From Shoot Around

So that is it for today as the Raptors will try to shock us all and break a 3-game losing streak. It will be no easy task for sure. Find out how they did in the Raptor Rewind tonight.

The Jake Voskhul Era Will Not Be Broadcast For A Lot Of Folks

Well there is a lot of nothing to talk about today. Jake Voskhul signing is not exactly getting the Raptor fan base excited. I would agree with the general "So What" attitude of Raptor fans. Even if you were totally jacked up about the Jake Voskhul era you may not be able to watch it anyways. That is because Rogers and TSN still have not figured out how to make the on switch work for TSN 2 on Rogers Cable and a number of others around the country like me here on Source Cable in Hamilton. I am totally enraged that basketball fans are being treated this way by these companies. It is insulting and frustrating. The Toronto Raptors need to speak up and say something about this. They are the ones paying in the end. Fans will find other things to do if they can not see the games. The truly loyal will find ways to see the game on the Internet or they will turn on radio and listen to two good friends of Dino Nation Blog Paul Jones and Eric Smith on Fan 590. But the bottom line is get these games on the air. The next 3 games are scheduled to be on TSN 2 and with the holidays and everything the Raptors for the casual fan are going to become less a priority for them. So basically I am a pretty fired up Dino Blogger for a Monday Morning. So please adjust the volume on your blog reader, computer or mobile device.

Let's Start With Trade Talk vs Trade Reality

So this is the day that all the rosters open up around the NBA. Raptor fans thought the signing of Jake Voskhul would mean another shoe was about to drop. Well it did for George W Bush. It was thrown at him. But as for the Raptors the other shoe has still not dropped and it may not for awhile. People are scratching their heads saying how did the Raptors afford this contract? Our we paying Tax to have Jake Voskhul? Well the tax number is not figured out till the end of the year. So the Raptors could make several moves that could still see them fall under the Tax level by the end of the year. If this was always the case, why were we painted this picture of the Raptors being in handcuffs and unable to do anything? Guess that was not the case all along.

Don't misunderstand though. Bryan Colangelo is still hard at work looking to improve this roster. But the Voskhul deal is not connected to anything else directly. But it may speak to one of a few things being possible. It could mean that Nathan Jawai and his situation may not be heading to a positive outcome as far as him playing this season. There have been a few articles that suggest he may have to be forced to retire before ever playing a game in the NBA. But to this point we have heard no news on the Jawai front for a long time. The other possibility is that the Raptors are in serious talks to move a big from the roster. I think it is safe to assume that big would not be Jermaine O'Neal or Chris Bosh. So Kris Humphries or Andrea Bargnani are the only other people that would qualify. There was a crazy rumour last night on a Golden State based blog that suggested an 8 player swap that would have included Bargnani. But if you are going to make up a rumour do your homework. It also included a 2nd round pick in 2009 that the Raptors do not have. I try not to get in the rumour creating business because in the short term it might get you a lot of attention but in the long term it kills your credibility with you readers. That is something I value and am not willing to put at risk.

You can expect all of the rumours and trade talk to heat up around the league now that we have reached December 15th when all the signings and players traded for this past off season now become in play for all of the NBA teams. Here at the Dino Nation Blog, I will do my best to make it clear what is just a rumour and what is reality. I know people like rumours and hype but I am not going to waste your time with stuff that is not based in some form of credibility.

TSN 2 What Can You Do?

Well this is a two fold question. The first is what can you do to see the games. Well there are options on the Internet out there for you to find the game. The last game on TSN 2 I was able to find on Raptors Republic. But there are other options that the folks over at Raptors Forum have found for watching games on the net. It is frustrating but if there is a will there is a way. I also mentioned you can always tune in on the radio. In fact all audio for games in now free on NBA.com for all games. So those are your short term options. When it comes to the long term ones. It takes you investing time to write e-mails to the various parties involved in this mess. Rogers, TSN and the Raptors. If you say all of this is pointless and they won't listen. I can understand that point of view based on where we are at with this thing. However last year many folks sent in letters of support for Jack Armstrong to remain a part of Raptor Broadcasts. Well Jack is still here and ironically working for the network that is a part of this mess. He actually works for both with his radio show being on Rogers owned Fan 590. I have no idea if the e-mails and support that was shown for Jack impacted on him staying with the Raptors broadcasts. But I like to think it helped. I do know Jack was grateful for the overwhelming support. The one thing I do know is that if people had not wrote those e-mails of support and Jack was gone it would feel bad and I personally would wonder if I could have made a difference. This is a different case but the fact remains the same if you do not express you point of view no one is going to listen to it and that is 100% guaranteed. Doug Smith in the Toronto Star gave you some thoughts on this topic and how to maybe make your point a little more clear to the folks involved.

Vince Carter Will Be In T.O Even If We Don't See Him

Vince Carter would have preferred that it was Friday's game that many folks would not be able to view. He had one of the worst games of his career against the Raptors on Friday night. He did not make a field goal and Devin Harris was kept under control. Now we see Vince return to the place he once proclaimed even after he left was his house. I do not think the A.C.C is the house that Vince Carter built. I mean sorry to Vince Carter but he is far from the Babe Ruth of basketball. But the one thing that I will say is it is the house that he makes loud. Be it as a Raptor to boo him or cheer him and as a Net just to boo him. The hate for some of Vince Carter will just never die. Just when you think it is starting to change something like the game in which Vince scored 39 points and made the two key plays to win the game happen. The rage and hate come back like the memory of a bad relationship from your past.

Triano had a great game plan for the re-match in which the Raptors humbled the Nets. The pressure is on Lawerence Frank to make the adjustments to find a way for the Nets to win. Triano and Frank will get to match wits and see who can give their team a path to victory. Often in the Sam Mitchell era many fans would say that Sam Mitchell would be out coached by people like Frank and Van Gundy in the playoffs. Well let's see if Jay Triano has the stuff to match wits with Frank and get a much needed win for the Raptors. You know that it is not going to be as easy as it was on Friday.

Dino Blogger Has A New Place To Talk Ball

I do the majority of my writing and work here at the Dino Nation Blog. But if chances to write other places and it makes sense to do so I will. So I am pleased to announce that I am writing on the NBA and Raptors for a new exciting magazine that covers the Toronto scene. The Industry Magazine is a magazine that is focused on Toronto night life and music and a lot of other things. Well people that are into Hip Hop music and the whole urban culture are some of the same folks that love basketball. So that is why I decided to write on basketball for them. It is a bi/monthly publication that is on the net and on the streets. This is the third issue of the Magazine and I hope to be contributing to it on a regular basis in each issue they put out. So for those of you from around the Toronto area give it a look and see what is happening in the T.O. If you are one of our readers from places far a way it might give you a taste for what Toronto is like should you want to visit. There is a link to the website it the blog directory and it has been there for a bit. But now you know why it was there and what it is about.

As for my part of the Magazine I wrote about the whole 2010 free agent period that I spoke about here awhile back. In the next issue I am going to be talking about Toronto and the All-Star Game. So that should be fun. Thanks to Lisa and all the folks over at The Industry for wanting to have me on board. If a magazine like this can get that Basketball is important why can't you folks at Rogers and TSN understand that. Basketball has a much larger culture than you think it does. Be it doing radio in Montreal or writing for a magazine like this in Toronto. Even taking a look at my site map of my readers. It all speaks to basketball being a global game that does not get the respect it deserves from the decision makers in the main stream media of this country. One of the reasons this blog went on board with the Score as part of it's Sports Federation was because they respect basketball and I respect them for it.

Still despite the lack of ease to watch the game the Raptor Rewind will be up and ready for you reading pleasure after tonight's game against the Nets. If stuff happens through out the day of note I will add some updates to this post.