http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4649 Recent articles about Jermaine O`Neal en-us Fresh off his last broadcast of Raptors and Sixers Game. He talks about the game and a number of issues about the Raptors and the NBA. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:09:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/350147 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/350147 Thaddeus Young is impressive in a win for the Sixers over the Raptors. J.O and Brand were also on the floor for their new teams. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 14:51:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/349294 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/349294 Some thoughts on today's match-up between Sixers and Raptors in Toronto at the ACC. These two teams will open the season in Philadelphia on October 29th. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:33:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/349206 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/349206 Matt Devlin fresh off his first broadcast with the Raptors visits the Dino Nation Blog and talks about his thoughts after his first broadcast and how the Raptors are doing in the pre-season so far. Matt was up in Camp in Ottawa and shares his thoughts on that as well. A lot of great stuff and for the None Raptor Fan Matt talks about the Celtics chances of repeating in the East. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:01:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/347863 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/347863 How you can hear the game in T.O on the Net, plust some info on when we will know about status of Nathan Jawai. Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:17:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/346275 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/346275 Toronto Raptors but a wrap on camp in Ottawa with an inter-squad game for about 1500 lucky fans in Ottawa. Carleton U's Ravens Nest was jam packed with Raptor Fans excited to get the first look at Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh together on the floor. The Raptors start their Pres season vs Cavs on Tuesday. Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:17:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344761 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344761 I'm having a hard time with the few glimpses of players and the constant jawing. I'd be happy to know that the Raptors were all hidden away from all other life-forms. I would like to have them feel completely unwilling to share any basketball court with any other team by the time they come out of their confinement. I would like to see their actions when it is time to see them in action. But instead I get oceans of words about things that are still basically in the abstract. And of course I can't resist those words. All the talk is delicious. It is all at least saying that the wait is almost over. But if I had my preference, I could enjoy the wait in silence. I just want every one of them directing their thoughts towards what matters. I want them doing that intensely. I want their brains to be toughened up as much as every other muscle. Think of what a Joey Graham could amount to then! Well, maybe not. It is too hard not to suspect that all of the post-scrimmage vows, and hows, and who's, and poo-poos are just getting in the way of what really matters. Of course, that's being over-reactive, but I still have the sense that whatever might be distilled each day in training, gets a little watered-down when the microphones swarm in at the end, over-exerting a phallic primacy that just reeks of an overlying impotence . Shouldn't every Raptor, right down to the guy that does the laundry, be meditating while listening to recordings of tree-frogs, and sipping green tea infused with Gatorade? I mean for a week anyways - just lose all the face time. Would it kill them? Or us? Why can't we just cut the media out of the picture? Especially when we can all hear all there is to here while they are preparing for real if we all just put our own ears to the gym door. You just have to know how to use all the features in Google Earth. Go to 45º23'08.83" N, 75º41'34.73" W. Swoop down towards the horizon so that you can see the side of the building. You'll find a blurry door up close. Hold a drinking glass to your ear, and press it up to the door on your computer screen, and listen in. I've been doing it all week, and it's almost as good as being there. I guess since the camp in Ottawa is all but done, your chance to try this yourself at home will have to wait for another year, and you'll just have to rely on filling in all the blanks left by the traditional media coverage. It's just as well, since you have to sit through a lot of names yelled out, some hoots and howls, and basic muttering before you get something worthwhile. It's a bit like watching Raptors TV. But just like with that vaunted broadcaster, it is worth it all in the end, when you manage to get your screen-saver deactivated, and you finally get gems like this: "Y'all gotta understand now, gosh darnit, what it's going to take to make this team a real success. We have got to establish a strong identity, and each and every one of us has the perfect opportunity to help make that happen by following the lead of Chris and Jermaine. Now those are the guys that are going to get to be in all the big interviews, and have their pictures in the paper, and there are a few other guys that are going to get their chances to take the big shots. But that don't mean a thing when it comes to the identity of this team, dag nabbit. None of that stuff is any more important to establishing this team's identity than the kinds of things that some of you guys just looking for a few extra minutes can do. Again - you just have to follow what Jermaine and Chris are looking to do, and I'm talking about the defensive end of the court. Now last season we just couldn't afford the luxury of relying on an anchoring of our defense like we can now. Right off the bat we had to look at dealing with Garbo's toughness needing to be replaced. And then with Chris and TJ getting hurt, I mean I'm proud of how hard we fought, but it was really a disservice to some of you as players the way you all had to play outside of your normal, everyday roles. And it was a disservice to those guys who would have loved the chance to play outside of their roles and try to do more, and I just had to put some limits in place somewhere. There was just going to be a ceiling in place regarding our success. All because we could not establish an identity. We ended up being a little something different every night. And I'll tell you that being able to rely on defense like we can this season, would have made all the difference in the world." "This season we can all really play a part by staying within our roles. And you guys that want to play more minutes need to look no further than helping a guy like Jermaine on the defensive end. You look at guys like Bruce Bowen or Raja Bell, and they were in the same sort of situation, and now they are recognized for being invaluable components. If some of you guys can take it upon yourselves to use our anchors inside, and then make life even more miserable for opposing teams on the perimeter and in transition, then it's going to mean that we can all run more, we can all play more freely and relaxed on offense, we can keep some of our big weapons fresh and healthy throughout a marathon of a season, and I will be the first to give you all the credit in the world motherfugbug. Not only that - but you will be here and winning for as long as you are physically able. That's where you're longterm stability lies, and again I'm sorry that last season so many of our guys ended up working to fill holes instead of using their abilities to really help each other. I hope we can all accept that there were some circumstances that we could only go so far in overcoming, and now we can all come together and actually make our own circumstances. We can start now, looking towards creating a team that can overcome so much more, and not seeing any of those limits we faced before. OK? Let's go. "OK - so maybe they don't need meditation as long as they have Sam's incantations. We'll be able to judge that, and whether you can believe my technical wizardry, once they finally put their plans into action. Let's go indeed. This article courtesy of •LX• Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:12:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344477 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/344477 Jack Armstrong visits the Dino Nation Blog and you can list and read what he has to say about the Toronto Raptors. Including if healthy the Raptors could make the Eastern Conference Finals? Thoughts on Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Bosh and a lot more Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:31:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343236 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/343236 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 In this season of elections, endorsments for politicans are important. So I decided to endorse the newest Raptor after a summer of getting to know him and having him change my mind. That is what this blog is about how J.O gained my support. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:02:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/342468 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/342468 Earlier today I wrote a Live blog Titled Happy Media Day. It has a live recap and Videos of Scrums with a number of Raptors Players. But this blog is a summary of all that went on. Basically the Dino Nation Blog's What have we learned today as far as the Toronto Raptors are concerned. Which was a few things including one that may interest Cavs Fans A LOT. J.O says it was down to Cavs or Raptors as to where he was going to be traded. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:07:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341533 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/341533 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 Pretty witty story. It's about a Raptors fan struggle to convince his wife that the new look Toronto Raptors will thrive this season without the likes of Carlos Delfino & Jorge Garbajosa. Hopefully for his stake his convincing to his wife doesn't backfire in his face. ;) Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:08:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338192 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/338192