As the regular readers of the Dino Nation Blog are aware, I have been spending sometime watching and covering Team Canada. In doing so I have found another cause of sorts. Seems I come up with ideas that I fall in love with. Ron Artest as a Raptor. My support of T.J Ford and some others. But this one may be the most important of all to me. I have always wanted and craved the idea of a Raptor from this country. I hope in the past for guys like Juan Mendez and Denham Brown to find a way on to the Raptor Roster in their draft years. But they were not good enough to make the grade in the NBA as of yet. But a guy that is already crossed that hurdle of making the NBA is their team mate on team Canada Joel Anthony. He caught on with the Miami Heat and in a year where Pat Riley found little to be excited about, he is a fan of Joel Anthony. He is currently under contract to the Heat. I think the heat have an option on him for upcoming season. I do not think they will be willing to move him in a trade based on Riley and his feelings about him. But the Raptors should keep this guy on the radar as a player to add to the mix. He is a good athletic talent. Watching him play for Canada he has no problem with contact and getting to the free throw line. Making those attempts is another thing but it is something he can improve.
I really have always felt that if the Raptors can go after a talent from Canada that is equal to any other talent of better, they should make it happen. So when I look at this Raptor roster and I look at guys like Joey Graham and Kris Humphries do I think Anthony is equal or better? I do indeed think that and there is the added bonus that he is from Canada and a proud member of the national team. Sam Dalembert and Steve Nash are not going to be coming to the Raptors anytime soon if ever. But Joel Anthony is a guy that likely could be part of this team if not now but in the future. Anyone that say the name Jamal Maglorie at this point, please go shake your head. Maglorie is never coming and I think honestly does not want too. Based on his play of late and the way he treated Team Canada through his career I am not the least bit sad about that fact.
Maybe this is all me dreaming in print. But I really have always been very passionate about the idea of having a live breathing native canuck on the Raptor roster. I still say the biggest mistake beyond drafting BIG COUNTRY for the Vancouver Grizzles was not finding a way to draft Steve Nash. I firmly believe if they had we would still have a team there to this day. Sure no one could have known just how good Nash would become. But the fact he was a legit first round pick and was from B.C should have been enough to make the Grizzles move Heaven and Earth to draft him. But this is the same team that drafted Steve Francis when they knew he would not play for them. The list of draft failures in Vancouver was long for sure.
It is not to say the Raptors need to do this to save their franchise. But could Joel Anthony be a improvement to it on and off the floor? I think so. The other thing I am left to wonder is if this matters to all of you. I would like to think it does but maybe not. The world seems to be global now and things like nationalism here in Canada seem not to be as big a deal as elsewhere. I still think people would want to see this happen. I think it does matter. Why else would we still keep hearing people bang the drum about Jamal Maglorie on a regular basis. It would seem clear to me as I stated that he has little interest in playing for Toronto and does not have a great deal of value in being from Canada. I only met him once back at one of Vince Carter’s Charity games. So I have no idea what he thinks about these things but his actions suggest it doesn’t matter much.
Same goes for Joel Anthony as far as what he thinks about the idea of playing here. I never did get a chance to speak with him down at Mac. But what I did see was a slam dunk that was highlight reel worthy. A lot of effort and energy and that was enough to sell me on the idea of him as a Raptor in the future. Bryan Colangelo I am sure is at least aware of Anthony. Raptors are partners with Canada Basketball and Colangelo would pay attention to the program if for no other reason.
So add another dream to the Dino Blogger’s wish list: Joel Anthony of the Miami Heat. Here are the stats of his brief NBA Career so far:
I will tell you about Anthony and the rest of his team Canada crew later tonight as they look to take on Lebanon. If you are in the Toronto Area don’t wait for me go to the game yourself tip time is 7pm at Ricoh!!!
One other thing I wanted to mention. I was offer the chance to write for T.O Sports Magazine and have taken them up on the offer to do so. If you would like to read what I write for them here is a link:
My first article is up there now on the whole Raptor Point Guard Civil War of Jose vs T.J. I am going to add a link to my articles on the blog to make them easy to find. Thanks to the folks @ T.O Sports for the chance to write for them.
Tags: Bryan Colangelo, Canada Basketball, Denham Brown, Dino Blogger, Jamal Maglorie, Joel Anthony, Joey Graham, Juan Mendez, Kris Humphries, Pat Riley, Sam Dalembert, Steve Nash, T.O Sports
