Archive for June, 2011

  Last week, the Raptors selected Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas with the fifth pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and while Valanciunas is a highly touted prospect among draft experts and bloggers alike, many Raptors fans are in the dark when it comes to the young Lithuanian big man. Here is the 411 on the Raptors newest young gun: Strengths: Crazy wingspan Explosiveness Aggressive rebounder Amazing off the pick and roll Shot blocker 70.8% shooter in the EuroLeague last season 88.5% from the free throw line Tough Weaknesses: May not have a NBA ready body Can’t create his own [...]

I helped the great people at The Sports Bank out with their 2011 Mock Draft, and as usual mock drafts go it is basically a bunch of random bloggers from their respective teams giving their take. Credit goes to David Kay for putting this together and asking me for help. Enjoy! Sidenote: This article was published on Tuesday, before any trades were made. Side-Sidenote: I absolutely hate doing these things. Welcome to The Sports Bank‘s first ever Guest NBA Mock Draft.  The concept is simple.  I got in touch with friends around the internet who have NBA blogs that cover a [...]

This is an article I wrote during the Ricky Rubio Draft. But with this years Draft coming up and European and African prospects once again taking the spotlight I felt that this would fit. Sidenote: I know I was wrong about Rubio, don’t remind me.   Throughout the modern history of the NBA there has been a certain stigma about European players, especially those that are entering through the NBA draft. They are said to be less athletic; a product of weaker competition, unable to adjust to the style and pace of the NBA, and unable to adjust to American [...]

Shamelessly taking this interesting article from the great people at The Basketball Jones (fellow Canadians, very popular check em’ out if you haven’t already) Enjoy! Source: TBJ On Sunday night, Dirk Nowitzki, a 1998 international draft choice, led the Mavs to their first title a couple of days ago while 2003 draft alumni LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade wallowed in the misery of defeat. With that in mind, I thought it appropriate to look at NBA Draft first round picks from foreign lands. The aforementioned trio were part of the 2003 draft class that saw, arguably, the most controversial [...]

  Yesterday the Raptors decided to remove Jay Triano as head coach of the Toronto Raptors and move him into a consultant role with the team. Triano went through highs and lows with the Raptors, inheriting a team that lost its way under the Sam Mitchell, then had to deal with injuries and Hedo Turkoglu’s lack of desire to play with the Raptors, then the final hardship of losing Chris Bosh. I personally feel losing Bosh handcuffed Triano as he lacked the finesse player that could facillitate his European style of basketball that he learned while coaching Canada’s National Team. [...]