Rap Up Of A Big Day

They say first impressions are lasting ones. If that is the case Jermaine O’Neal did pretty well today. He seemed well prepared to talk about all the questions that were coming his way. The first and formost about his much talked about knee. Bryan Colangelo says that based on medical staff looking over that knee the Raptors had zero issues about it. He even went as far as to say they would not be sitting there if that was not the case. O’Neal said that he basically has been playing 2 and half years on one leg. He stated that he had a small tear and continued to play through pain and that lead to it getting to a point it was in need of some work under the knife. After that he says he returned to quickly from that. But now he has consulted doctors and that was why he sat out the bulk of the 07/08 season. But at this point his knee is 100%.

He also talked about this move to the Raptors as almost a rebirth for him. He is leaving all of the Pacer experience behind him for a fresh start in Toronto. He also is ready to be a part of Chris Bosh’s team. That he was here to help Chris and did not care about who the team belonged too. But so there was no misunderstanding he made it clear this was CB4’s team. He talked a lot about the defensive ability he brings north to Canada with him. He feels that his addition will make the Raptor defense better. Hard to argue that point. He also has said the Andrea Bargnani will be key to this team and wants to help him grow and improve. Anyone that wants to light a fire under Bargnani’s butt is cool in my books.

He also talked about how in Las Vegas, Phildelphia and since getting in to Toronto how Raptor fans had been coming up to him and seemed very excited at the fact he was coming to town. He thanked all of them. But the real thanks he can give is to stay healthy and help win games. The idea of O’Neal and Bosh together as a modern version of the Combo with the Spurs of Ducan and Robinson. Sam Mitchell has been watching tape of those Spurs team for ideas to use for his new dynamic duo. To say Mitchell is excited about this deal would be a massive under statement.

He sat down with Matt Devlin who also is new. He was officially announced as the replacement for Chuck Swirsky. I am still getting use to the whole idea of no more Chuck. I have to admit till today it never really hit home. I think what clinched it for me was the fact Devlin had a blog go up on Raptors.com. I added a link on the blog roll if you would like to check it out. I also sent off an e-mail to the man and have invited him the chance to talk with all of us here at Dino Nation Blog. Will see if he takes me up on the offer. I hope he does because I want to give him a chance to get to know us and more importantly us to know him.

He sat down with JO for a one on one interview which they have been airing on Raptors TV and I think you can check it out on the website as well. O’Neal said all the right things and really seems legit in his idea of starting fresh as a Raptor. I was not very thrilled about this trade and still have my concerns and doubts. But I did say that I was going to give O’Neal a chance. So far he has impressed me in the way he has acted and presented himself. Ultimately the health of his knee will be how this trade is evaluated in the end. But all this talk of hime being this type of bad guy seem without base. At least it seems if he was that guy he is changing and growing into a man. At 29 years old he has played close to half of his life in the NBA. He was drafted straight out of high school. I look at a guy like Kobe Bryant and see a guy who has also had his struggles although different ones and much like Kobe it seems Jermaine is growing and is more mature and has a growing family to focus on.

I am thus far impressed with Jermaine and what he has had to say. Hopefully his coming to the Raptors can lead them to being a better team overall. The Raptors seem very convinced he will.

We also had the re-signing of Jose Calderon press conference. I am happy Jose got rewarded for a very solid year. He earned every dime of that money. Bryan Colangelo made it public knowledge that Jose actually gave back a few dimes in his contract to keep the Raps out of the Luxury Tax. Jose agreed to alter the orginal deal and wait to get the money he gave back in future years of the contract. If we heard it once we heard it 1,000 times from Sam, Bryan and Jose he is a team first player. The obvious suggestion was that T.J Ford was not. I was not so cool with that but it is what it is. We all understand what a team player Jose is. I just felt it was a bit of an over sell on a fact we are all well aware of. Maybe I am a bitter T.J Ford supporter but it just seemed like to much. Still Jose is everything they said and I am not going to say any different cause it just would not be the case.

Jose did not seem to comforterable in talking about his now Ex-Teammate. He never had anything bad to say about T.J. He even suggested that he was o.k if Ford would have still been there. His quotes in Spain of wanting to start he said were more a case of feeling that he was ready to start. But he said it was not that he demanded to do so. I think that is true but I also think by suggesting he was ready to start in the end meant the same thing. He also said he has not talked to Ford since the news of the deal had broke. He feels that there relationship is still fine though. T.J Ford I do not think feels the same way. One thing I am sure about is the idea of Pacers vs Raptors in a much more interesting game to watch this upcoming season.

In talking with Paul Jones the subject of the Olympics and that’s impact on his new job came up. Calderon said that Spain has 3 point guards to share the minutes and playing in the Olympics should not have a negative effect on him for his job with the Raptors. He was also asked about his team mate now only on Spainish team Jorge Garbajosa. He said it was sad to see Garbo gone from the Raptors as he is Calderon’s good friend. But Garbo is happy and so that makes him happy.

Calderon will also have Roko Ukic as his under study and Sam Mitchell said Roko will be given the chance to contribute if he is ready to do so. But he did suggest that the Raptors would be still looking to acquire a combo type guard should Roko not be ready right away.

So much change and it really was all on display today. Well most of it. Hassan Adams and Nathan Jawai are in Vegas getting ready for Raptors first summer league game with takes place in just 3 days. That was part of the reason for double press conference today. Colangelo did mention that the Raptors were also happy to acquire Jawai in the draft as part of the trade. Jawai is really someone who could turn out to be something. He is a really raw talent and playing with Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Bosh on a daily basis should help him learn. Jawai got into basktball late in life but many NBA scouts were very impressed with the guy nicknamed “Aussie Shaq”.

KUDOS FOR THE SCORE

If you love basketball you must be a fan of the Score Televison Network. They covered the press conference live on regular T.V. They unlike the other 2 major networks in this country have shown basketball fans they matter. The have over the years expanded their coverage on the NCAA. They do more for the Raptors than anyone. Now they are helping Canada Basketball as well. They will be covering Team Canada’s Games live from the tournament in Athens Greece. They also re-air the games in primtime. The live start time is 6 am …OUCH.

I also use the Score Bullhorn as part of the promotion of this blog. If they would just answer an email I want to have some of their people on the blog for an interview. But still aside from that fact they are A+ and have treated basketball fans well. I will post the detail for the team Canada games tomorrow but this has already been a long post and a lot to read and games don’t happen for couple days yet. But I wanted to commend the Score. Maybe this will get my E-Mail answered now. But that is not why I wrote it. I wrote it because BASKETBALL FANS OWE THE SCORE some THANKS and PRAISE.

So It has been a busy day and it is truly a start of a new era of basketball in Raptorland. I quote the WWE Champion HHH and ask you…ARE YOU READY?  The Raptors think they are and have bigger goals and said the word Championship a few times today. That is what all of this change was all about getting closer to that goal.

Tags: T.J Ford, Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Sam Mitchell, Jose Calderon, Pacers, Jorge Garbajosa, Roko Ukic, Paul Jones, Raptors Offseason 08, Nathan Jawai, Jermaine O'Neal, Matt Devlin, Hassan Adam