http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4402 Recent articles about Jose Calderon en-us In the newest installation of the Fantasy Lounge NBA Draft Kit, Eno Sarris takes a look at the Raptors. The fact that Jose Calderon is good bet for top-five point guard production is no surprise. However, what Sarris says about the forwards may surprise you. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:42:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/342653 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/342653 The heat is on and it's finally time to start cooking. Actually, as I write this, all the players are taking sexy pictures with vaseline artfully applied to the lenses, producing a season's supply of promotional shots that will end up in the papers and websites, as well as on the new scoreboard screen; all in the attempt to get us as excited as the kind of food-porn cooked-up by Nigella or Rachel or Ingrid. But the head chefs at chez ACC have hopefully put together the right ingredients that will feed us all well beyond media day. Going right back to when Chef Colangelo first arrived, he immediately saw the need to season up the venison that was still a little too rare in the play of Chris Bosh. A big dash of playmaking from TJ Ford really helped bring out the complexity of the main ingredient. Rasho's starchy presence helped the Bosh beef from getting too overcooked and falling apart. And of course there was all the european herbs topping it all off a la Jamie Oliver. Luvverly-Jubberly. Or was he more cutting edge than that? An Iron Chef Morimoto? Of course his willingness to surround himself with friends and make decisions by consensus makes him resemble that french-canadian guy named Ricardo, proving a little overly satisfied with his meagre tweaking with the addition of Kapono. And picking Bargnani at number one made it seem that he was aspiring to be in Lidia's Kitchen, or Giada's bust-line (if only Andrea could prove to be that kind of a bust). Whatever the case, he has chosen his ingredients fairly wisely over the years, and left the pot to be stirred by Gordon Ramsay as played by Sam Mitchell. Last season, things got a little bitter with Garbajosa feeling as though he was being burnt, and then all the salt provided by TJ just wasn't needed in as many dashes. It got tough to keep all the ingredients in just the right balance, no matter how many f-words got tossed around. The initial introduction of TJ had enhanced Bosh's gaminess, but also brought out the best flavors in the more standard potatoes and carrots supplied by Rasho and Humps. But eventually all the herbs and seasonings weren't coming through enough. It was time to see how Bosh could work best as the main ingredient, with Jose adding his expensive designer salt. Was a wing the answer to make it all complete? A beautiful wing delicately protruding out from a golden side of quail? That might have been a nice side-dish. Certainly it would have improved upon the standard hot-and-cold chicken wings that were already in place. But I think our head chef did well to add the JO gravy, and settle on a stew that allows for strengths to come in every spoonful. Where TJ was able to raise the profiles of some of the weaker elements in the mix, Jermaine O'Neal is going to help bring out more reliability in some of the other ingredients that were good on their own, but wilted like overcooked greens when stuck in the heat to long. Parker, Kapono, and Moon are all going to benefit from being smothered in O'Neal's rich sauce (I know - the metaphor is really dying now). Even some of the new guys like Adams, Ukic and Solomon, have a good chance of finding themselves as tasty comfort food. It all starts in making the right statement. Last season's soup could pack a punch, but the flavor didn't always stand up from start to finish. Too often the attempt to finish things up on one end of the court in order to enhance the taste of the offensive palette, just fell a little flat. This dish still needed more body. A frontcourt mix of Rasho, Bosh, Bargnani, and Humphries, just couldn't hold everything together enough in the less-sweet parts of the game. They too often ended up boiling over around the opponent's basket, batting the ball around without being able to own the required amount of space. There was too much over-stirring by everyone in the mix, just to get some control of each night's fare. If the opposing team turned up the gas on the boards, then the Raptor cuisine would likely fall apart. Now with Jermaine taking up more space in the mix than a Rasho ever could, all the other ingredients can let their flavors leak out on offense and leave the opposing teams getting burned. Bosh will not have to work extra hard to try to facilitate the odd break by first securing the rebound, and he'll be able to beat his own guy down the court more often, where he can then really turn it on like a Kitchen-Maid mixer. And all the meat on all our wings can just slide off the bone and compliment the whole dish rather than show up as a strong counterpart on the side. That's the meal I'm looking for. I think that's the menu drawn-up by Colangelo and Mitchell. They've gone high-end with this stew, but not forgotten the pleasures of down-home. Unlike, last season, we shouldn't be desperate to see the dessert table to quell our hunger. And we shouldn't need constant servings of individual appetizers to keep us aware of the promise of what's cooking. I look forward to just letting it all simmer, and let the masters figure out what to add to make it just so. Luvverly. This article courtesy of LX Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:48:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341139 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341139 Jamario Moon has been MIA for Raptors unofficial pre-training camp and reports are that Raptors are not pleased. In addition a rumoured story about Jermaine O'Neal having some issues at the border. Starbury not out of New York yet but could he be in Raptors Plans? That as well as AI on the block in Denver this and more into today's blog. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:52:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338833 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338833 Bryan Colangelo is a guy who believes in High Risk and High Reward. That may never be more so than with his current roster with the 08/09 Raptors. Dino Nation Blog breaks it down. Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:01:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338358 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338358 Besides being former Warriors, what do Mike Dunleavy and Jason Richardson have in common? In '07-08, Mike-D and J-Rich shot the ball better than ever before and put up career-high numbers in several categories. In fact, you could say they had "career years," and as a result, their fantasy owners prospered. Since drafting these type of players is essential to winning fantasy leagues, the purpose of this article is to show you that, often times, career years CAN be predicted. So what else do Dunleavy & Richardson have in common? Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:32:51 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337576 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/337576 Most of the Raptors are now in Toronto getting ready for the Official start to Training Camp in Ottawa in a week. Today some thoughts on Raptors new look and how it will impact team's leadership. In addition some news and notes from around the NBA. Also a shot for local ballers to show they have game as the Idaho Stampede are holding open tryouts in Toronto. Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:02:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336506 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336506 When you attempt a lot of threes, your FG% usually pays the price. This is especially true in fantasy hoops, which is why I created the 1+ Three, 47% FG club. In '07-08, only 13 players made the cut. The year before, there were only 12. To qualify, a player must play in 40+ games, average 1+ three, and shoot 47% or better from the field. By targeting some of these players, you will achieve a superb balance between threes & FG%, immediately gaining an advantage over your opponents. If you want to dominate your league, plus find out what Steve Nash, Brent Barry, and Mike Miller have done that no one else in NBA history has, then just click on the link... Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:55:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336173 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/336173 With nations around the world having improved by leaps and bounds and Team USA re-emerging, where do all these great and exciting teams rank relative to each other? Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:47:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335796 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335796 Agent 0= 0 mins till January? Charlie V promises change as he makes an unexpected return to the Bucks for another year. While the Raptors Big 3 is going to hit the floor in Toronto over the weekend. Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:44:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335290 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/335290 Sometimes, a change of scenery or the addition of another stud on the court can have a huge impact on a player in terms of fantasy basketball - both positively and negatively. FIO writer Dan Rossi discusses some players whose fantasy value has jumped up this offseason, and some players whose value has taken a hit. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:11:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/333083 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/333083 Points in the Paint Blog has 20 + 1 questions you should ask yourself to help you out in Pre-ranking NBA players for this coming season. They involve repercussions of off-season player movement, last season's to recent injuries to TOP players, and outlook for some of last season's big name players. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:04:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331989 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331989 Raptors new play by play voice visits the Dino Nation Blog to talk about the upcoming pre-season and a few of the key members of the Toronto Raptors. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:25:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331811 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/331811 FIO and TalkHoops.net staff writer Zach Harper breaks down the Top 25 point guards heading into fantasy basketball drafts this season, including in-depth analysis about the Top 10 and some notes about the remaining players on the list. Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:57:35 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330824 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330824 Raptor fan or not this is a guide for you to use when considering selecting a Raptor in your fantasy draft. We also offer congrats to a girl who had he fantasy come through in making the Raptor Dance Pak. Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:14:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330473 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330473 In Part 1 of the Weekly Fix Fantasy Basketball Preview, this trio of fantasy experts discuss who should be ranked higher, who should be ranked lower, who will do better and who should be a sleeper for multiple positions. The positions they discuss in the Part 1 of this Fantasy Preview are : 1. Fantasy Point Guards - Deron Williams or Steve Nash? Is Jason Kidd still relevant? Will Baron Davis' numbers suffer in a slower system? Does Andy know how to say Ramon Sessions' name? Are the Knicks a hotbed for fantasy production at this position? 2. Fantasy Shooting Guards - Is Dwyane Wade close to Kobe Bryant? Andre Iguodala or Joe Johnson? How good can O.J. Mayo be? Will Kevin Martin explode into the Top 5? Is Michael Redd still good enough to draft? 3. Fantasy Centers - Marcus Camby or Dwight Howard? How many games will Yao Ming play? Is Zach the only person dumb enough to mortgage the draft on Greg Oden early? Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:00:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/319123 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/319123